YOUR TEXT

This phase will crystallize your knowledge and understanding of your target
concepts and skills through deeper exploration of the poem in focus.
Doubtlessly, you know that appreciating a poem is like appreciating a picture,
photo, illustration or drawing.

Task 8 Ten minutes IMAGE Talk

Although it is never stated, you as a reader/ viewer can infer thoughts,

feelings and intention based on the details of information presented in the photo /
picture or drawing. You can focus on the lines, angles, colors, even shapes of the
objects/ images presented and relate them to real life experiences for you to
understand its message/ meaning.

• Pair up, and look closely at the drawing.

( At the harbour, a teenager is looking intently at the giant incoming ship

full of people wearing different costumes; these smiling people are waving to
the teenager as if they’re beckoning him/her to join them.)

• Talk about / discuss what it communicates to you.

• Use the following guide questions.
.
✓ What do you think the drawing wants/ intends you to believe?
✓ Does it suggest/ answer the question: What roles can I perform
that will make a difference in my life?

✓ How closely do you think/ believe the drawing matches your mental
image of recognizing and performing roles in life? Prove your point.
✓ What details of the drawing tell you about recognizing and
performing roles in life?
✓ How well do you think/ believe the drawings/ illustrations fit the value
of recognizing and performing roles in life?
✓ How does the picture make you feel about recognizing and performing
roles in life?
• After 10 minutes, convene and share your responses.
• Find common grounds about your ideas.
Task 9 For SIGNIFICANT HUMAN EXPERIENCES

Reading a poem paves the way to making meaning in life . It allows you to
share certain experiences. Oftentimes, you find you share something in common
with that experience that makes the poem meaningful. This is when you think back
and recall a time when you have much in common with the same experience than
what you originally thought. The poem speaks to you as you explore the human
condition.

Now, find out how the poem “The SEVEN AGES OF MAN” from the
comedy “AS YOU LIKE IT” by William Shakespeare provides cherished pieces of
information about the human condition.
• Listen to your teacher read the poem.
• As you listen to your teacher read the poem, read it silently and watch out for
words which are difficult for you to understand. List them in your vocabulary
notebook and have them as entries in your word bank.

THE SEVEN AGES OF MAN

(from: “AS YOU LIKE IT” ) by: William Shakespeare

All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women are merely players;
They have their exits and entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts
5 His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,

Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms;

And then the whining school boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
10 Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like a pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
15 Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,

In fair round belly with good caper lined,

With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of white saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
20 Into the lean and ,slippered pantaloons,

With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;

His youthful hose well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
25 And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,

That ends this strange eventful history,

Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
 Poetry is a personal type of writing where words flow and carry you along
the realms of beautiful thought. What really contribute to the poem’s meaning?
Doubtlessly, you know that the orchestration of sounds, story, sense and form
brings about “life” in a poem you read. That absolutely drives you to “feel” life in it.

Some poems are full of words that are fun to say aloud. You can express the
meaning of the words by reading them aloud and you can use your voice to
express their meaning.

• In small groups of five, read the poem, “The SEVEN AGES OF MAN” from
the comedy “AS YOU LIKE IT” by William Shakespeare aloud.
• Decide who will be the first, second, third, fourth and fifth readers.
• Try to make the meaning of the words come alive through using good
expressions.
• Remember to produce the correct critical consonant sounds in words like: in
/s/ - s, z, sh, or zh.
e.g sooth - /s/ zoo - /z/ shoe-/sh/ sure /zh/
• Watch out for words in the poem that have the same sounds.
• Also think back on the importance of using appropriate stress to words you’ll
read to convey meaning.
e.g. SEven PLAYers MEWling INfant, PANtaloons

aGES sPECtacles obLIvion

• Remember that the parts in capital letters receive the primary stress / ‘ /. Stress
the words properly.
• Read the poem aloud again. Use the appropriate stress and produce the
correct sounds of the letters that make up the words.

Task 10 SGDW ( Small Group Differentiated Works)

Form eight (8) small groups and perform your assigned tasks.
Group 1 Looking for Rhymes

Remember that rhyme is part of what we mean when we say poetry is

musical. When the ending sounds of words are repeated, we call it rhyme.
Rhyming words do not appear only at the end of the lines ( end rhyme) in
poems, but they may appear within the line ( internal rhyme).
e.g. “ I think that I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree. “ [ see-tree]--- end rhyme

“ the crows in boughs throws endless brawls” -- internal rhyme

Some poems rhyme; others don’t. But one thing is sure, each poem
captures moments in time, feeling, thoughts and experiences. Though this
poem is a sample of BLANK VERSE ( poetry with an unrhymed iambic
pentameter lines) that was widely used by Shakespeare, it contains internal
rhyme.
• Read the poem once more and spot the words that rhyme.
 • Make a list of these rhyming words, and determine which are examples
of internal rhyme and end rhyme.
• Copy the table as shown below, and fill it out with the appropriate
entries.

RHYMING WORDS in “The SEVEN AGES OF MAN”

END RHYME INTERNAL RHYME

• .Share your findings with the other groups.

Group 2 The Best CLUE

The poet uses words that suggest sounds at the same time describe
actions being made. ONOMATOPOEIA is a sound device used by poets to
suggest actions, movements and meanings.
e.g. The hissing of the snake made me shoo it away.
The bubbling brook breaks
• Read the poem aloud once more, and watch out for words that suggest
sounds of movements, actions and meaning.
• Find examples of onomatopoeia in the poem .
• Picture each word in your mind, and try to bring each image in clear focus.
• Use the following questions to guide you.
✓ What does it look like?
✓ What kind of sounds does it make?
✓ How does it move?
• List them in the table shown below.

ONOMATOPOEIA in “The SEVEN AGES OF MAN”

Sample line / words It looks like The sound it How it moves
makes

• Share your findings with the other groups.

Group 3 A 2 & C ( ALLITERATION, ASSONANCE and CONSONANCE)

Other interesting features of a poem that make it musical is the presence of

sound devices like alliteration,assonance and consonance.
ALLITERATION is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of
the words like: doubting, drearing dreams no mortal
enter dared to dream before.
--- Edgar Allan Poe, from “The Raven”
 while ASSONANCE calls for the repetition of vowel sounds within words;
e.g. along the window sill, the lipstick stabs
glittered in their steel shells. – Rita Dove, from “Adolescence III”

CONSONANCE is the repetition of consonant sounds within and at the end

of the words.
e.g. Some late visitor entreating entrance at
my chamber door --- E.A. Poe, from “The Raven”
• Read the poem again, and look out for words or lines that sound like they
are examples of alliteration, assonance and consonance.
• List all of them and chart them on the space provided below.

From : The Seven Ages of Man by: William Shakespeare

Alliteration Assonance Consonance

• Share your findings with the other groups.

Group 4 IMAGERY

Through the words used by the poet, as expressed by the “persona” /

speaker, the vivid images, clear sounds, and exact feelings are clearly conveyed.
The descriptions help in making sense of the poem.
• Read the poem silently and think of the images the words created in your
mind.
• Picture them in your mind and try to bring them in clear focus.
• List these words that create clear pictures in your mind.
• Share the feeling each image evokes.
• Point out the real life experience or observation in life that each image
suggests.
• Copy the chart shown below and fill it out with the entries called for.

IMAGERY in “SEVEN AGES OF MAN”

Words/ Lines Images Created Feelings Meaningful
Evoked Experience

• Share your findings with the other groups.

Group 5 WORD Bank

One way to enlarge your vocabulary is to build a Word Bank. A Word Bank
is a collection of words that you can use for special purpose/ appreciate for a given
situation.
• Read the poem silently, and look out for words in the poem that fit each
description below.
1. a lyric poem that tells a story
2. a fat chicken
3. crying
4. promises or pledges to accomplish
5. display unconsciousness or nothingness
6. throwing up or vomiting due to sickness
7. a school bag
8. refers to stem or branch
9. produces a high sharp sound
10. unhappy or sorrowful sound

• Check if these words you have unlocked are also found in your list of loaded/
heavy words you made earlier.
• Add those words which are unlocked to your Word Bank.
• Copy the Chart shown below, and fill it out with your loaded / heavy/difficult
words and their meanings.
•
New / heavy/ loaded Meaning Sentence
Word
 • Share your findings with the other groups.

Meaningful Encounter
A poem is a meaningful musical expression of significant human
experiences where powerful words are used to signify the beauty and grandeur of
life. These powerful words give hue to important messages.

• Read the poem silently to find its meaning.

• Reflect on and discuss the answer to each of the following questions.

1. What comprises the seven ages of man or stages in life of man

according to the poem?
2. Describe the school boy’s attitude towards school?
How do you feelabout these pictures of childhood?

3. What is compared to the” stage” in the first two lines?

How are the tworelated?
4. In Lines 13 & 14, what is compared to “reputation’?

5. What other comparison are used in the poem? Which

are examples ofmetaphor? Which are examples of
simile?

6. According to the speaker or “persona” in the poem,

what physical andmental changes take place as a man
reaches the sixth and seven ages?

7. Do you agree with the persona’s description of old age? Why?

8. What other acceptable descriptions of old age can you think of?
9. In the last line of the poem, the word SANS is
repeated. What do youthink is the purpose of
repeating it four times?

10. Repetition is a central part of poetry that adds to the

enjoyment of a poem. Words, phrases or lines are
repeated to serve a purpose. Poets often make sure
their words stay in the reader’s mind.

Does it help in the understanding of this

poem’s meaning? Find other examples of
REPETITION in the poem. List them.

11. What effect does the word it have in the description of

the last stage ofman?

12. How are the seven ages of man described by the persona?
13. How do the roles of man differ based on the persona’s
description?
14. Do you think the persona has a great understanding
of the universalexperience of man performing a
role in each stage? Explain.
15. Which lines describe the roles in life that man performs?
16. Under what circumstances may it be better to be young
rather than beold or vice versa in performing roles in
life?
17. How does the poem make you feel about the importance
of recognizingand performing a role in life effectively?
18. Why is it acceptable/ better to recognize and perform your role in
life?
19. How does the poem make you think of the importance
of recognizingand performing a role in life effectively?
20. What are the advantages and disadvantages of not
recognizing andperforming your roles in life?
21. What would be the most effective way of performing your role in
life?