Read through the excerpt below from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and familiarize yourself with the passage.
Next, go back through the passage and highlight, underline, or take notes on the following:
Every example of figurative language that you see: look for personification, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, simile/metaphor, nuances, and alliteration
Any words that you are unsure of the meaning or unclear on
Make notes on the structure (chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in this excerpt as you read so that you are able to describe this structure in the next part of the activity
After you have noted the specified examples/requirements, open a word processing document and get ready to analyze and examine the items that you noted in the text.
Your examination of this text excerpt should include and analyze the following:
Figurative Language
(find at least three different instances of figurative language, though there are more)
Provide the sentence (or sentences) that feature an example of figurative language
Identify the specific type of figurative language used in the sentence
Write three to five sentences examining and analyzing the use of this particular figurative language: how does it improve or add to the text, why do you think the author used it, could its usage be improved or, if not, how is it used well, etc.
Vocabulary
Identify three specific words that you are unfamiliar with or unsure of the meaning of and provide the sentence (or sentences) that each is used in
Explain how you are able to interpret each word based on the context it is used in
Provide an explanation of how the context helped you understand each word
Look up the actual definition of each word in a dictionary or other reference resource and discuss how your interpretation of the word based on context clues measured up to the actual definition of the word
Briefly discuss nuances in the meaning of other words with a similar denotation as each of your chosen words
Structure and Tone
Describe the structure of events, ideas, concepts, or information in the text excerpt—point out and identify where you notice chronology, comparison, cause/effect, or problem/solution
Evaluate how the author’s word choice and use of syntax contribute to the excerpt’s overall meaning and tone
You are free to organize your analytical examination of this text excerpt however you feel best expresses the information that you are providing—bullet points, paragraphs, an outline, etc. Just make sure that you thoroughly address all of the information outlined above. Make it easy to understand no big or complex words
Excerpt Adapted from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain by Samuel Clemens (1876)
Saturday morning was come, and all the summer world was bright and fresh, and brimming with life. Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush. He surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy settled down upon his spirit. Thirty yards of board fence nine feet high. Life to him seemed hollow, and existence but a burden. Sighing, he dipped his brush and passed it along the topmost plank; repeated the operation; did it again; compared the insignificant whitewashed streak with the far-reaching continent of unwhitewashed fence, and sat down on a tree-box discouraged.
He began to think of the fun he had planned for this day, and his sorrows multiplied. Soon the boys would come tripping along on all sorts of delicious expeditions, and they would make a world of fun of him for having to work—the very thought of it burnt him like fire. At this dark and hopeless moment an inspiration burst upon him! Nothing less than a great, magnificent inspiration.
He took up his brush and went tranquilly to work. Ben Rogers hove in sight presently—the very boy, of all boys, whose ridicule he had been dreading. Ben’s gait was the hop-skip-and-jump—proof enough that his heart was light and his anticipations high. He was eating an apple, and giving a long, melodious whoop, at intervals, followed by a deep-toned ding-dong-dong, ding-dong-dong, for he was personating a steamboat. As he drew near, he slackened speed, took the middle of the street, leaned far over to star-board and rounded to ponderously and with laborious pomp and circumstance—for he was personating the Big Missouri, and considered himself to be drawing nine feet of water. He was boat and captain and engine-bells combined, so he had to imagine himself standing on his own hurricane-deck giving the orders and executing them:
“Stop her, sir! Ting-a-ling-ling!” The headway ran almost out, and he drew up slowly toward the sidewalk.
Tom went on whitewashing—paid no attention to the steamboat. Ben stared a moment and then said: “Hi-yi! You’re up a stump, ain’t you!”
No answer. Tom surveyed his last touch with the eye of an artist, then he gave his brush another gentle sweep and surveyed the result, as before. Ben ranged up alongside of him. Tom’s mouth watered for the apple, but he stuck to his work. Ben said:
“Hello, old chap, you got to work, hey?”
Tom wheeled suddenly and said:
“Why, it’s you, Ben! I warn’t noticing.”
“Say—I’m going in a-swimming, I am. Don’t you wish you could? But of course you’d druther work—wouldn’t you? Course you would!”
Tom contemplated the boy a bit, and said:
“What do you call work?”
“Why, ain’t that work?”
Tom resumed his whitewashing, and answered carelessly:
“Well, maybe it is, and maybe it ain’t. All I know, is, it suits Tom Sawyer.”
“Oh come, now, you don’t mean to let on that you like it?”
The brush continued to move.
“Like it? Well, I don’t see why I oughtn’t to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?”
That put the thing in a new light. Ben stopped nibbling his apple. Tom swept his brush daintily back and forth—stepped back to note the effect—added a touch here and there—criticized the effect again—Ben watching every move and getting more and more interested, more and more absorbed. Presently he said:
“Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little.”
Tom considered, was about to consent; but he altered his mind:
“No—no—I reckon it wouldn’t hardly do, Ben. You see, Aunt Polly’s awful particular about this fence—right here on the street, you know—but if it was the back fence I wouldn’t mind and she wouldn’t. Yes, she’s awful particular about this fence; it’s got to be done very careful; I reckon there ain’t one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, that can do it the way it’s got to be done.”
“No—is that so? Oh come, now—lemme, just try. Only just a little—I’d let you, if you was me, Tom.”
“Ben, I’d like to; but Aunt Polly—well, Jim wanted to do it, but she wouldn’t let him; Sid wanted to do it, and she wouldn’t let Sid. Now don’t you see how I’m fixed? If you was to tackle this fence and anything was to happen to it—”
“Oh, shucks, I’ll be just as careful. Now lemme try. Say—I’ll give you the core of my apple.”
“Well, here—No, Ben, now don’t. I’m afeard—”
“I’ll give you all of it!”
Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face, but alacrity in his heart. And while the late steamer Big Missouri worked and sweated in the sun, the retired artist sat on a barrel in the shade close by, dangled his legs, munched his apple, and planned the slaughter of more innocents. There was no lack of material; boys happened along every little while; they came to jeer, but remained to whitewash. By the time Ben was tired, Tom had traded the next chance to Billy Fisher for a kite, in good repair; and when he played out, Johnny Miller bought in for a dead rat and a string to swing it with—and so on, and so on, hour after hour. And when the middle of the afternoon came, from being a poor poverty-stricken boy in the morning, Tom was literally rolling in wealth. And when the middle of the afternoon came, from being a poor poverty-stricken boy in the morning, Tom was literally rolling in wealth. He had besides the things before mentioned, twelve marbles, a piece of blue bottle-glass to look through, a spool cannon, a key that wouldn't unlock anything, a fragment of chalk, a glass stopper of a decanter, a tin soldier, a couple of tadpoles, six fire-crackers, a kitten with only one eye, a brass door-knob, a dog-collar—but no dog—the handle of a knife, four pieces of orange-peel, and a dilapidated old window sash.
He had had a nice, good, idle time all the while—plenty of company—and the fence had three coats of whitewash on it! If he hadn’t run out of whitewash he would have bankrupted every boy in the village.
Figurative Language:
1. Sentence: "Life to him seemed hollow, and existence but a burden."
Type: Hyperbole
Analysis: The use of hyperbole exaggerates Tom's feelings, emphasizing his sense of despair about having to whitewash the fence. It also adds a touch of humor to the situation by highlighting the dramatic nature of Tom's emotions.
2. Sentence: "He was boat and captain and engine-bells combined."
Type: Metaphor
Analysis: This metaphor compares Ben Rogers to a steamboat, illustrating how fully he embodies the role and persona of a steamboat. It adds to the playful and imaginative tone of the passage.
3. Sentence: "Tom was literally rolling in wealth."
Type: Hyperbole
Analysis: This hyperbole exaggerates Tom's newfound abundance of items, emphasizing the contrast between his previous poverty and his current richness. It adds to the sense of triumph and satisfaction that Tom feels.
Vocabulary:
1. Melancholy: "He surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy settled down upon his spirit."
Interpretation based on context: Based on the contrast with "gladness," melancholy appears to refer to a feeling of sadness or despondency.
Definition: A feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause.
2. Anticipations: "Ben’s gait was the hop-skip-and-jump—proof enough that his heart was light and his anticipations high."
Interpretation based on context: Anticipations refers to Ben's excited expectations or hopes for the day's activities.
Definition: Expectancy, looking forward to something.
3. Alacrity: "Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face, but alacrity in his heart."
Interpretation based on context: Alacrity suggests that Tom willingly and eagerly passed the brush to Ben, despite his initial reluctance.
Definition: Brisk and cheerful readiness.
Structure and Tone:
- The structure of events in this excerpt follows a cause/effect pattern. The cause is Tom's realization that he has to whitewash the fence, and the effect is his feeling of despair and the subsequent plot development.
- The author's word choice, such as describing Ben's actions as "hop-skip-and-jump" and the steamboat sounds as "ding-dong-dong," contributes to the playful and imaginative tone of the passage. The use of dialogue also adds to the lively tone. Additionally, the overall structure of the passage, with the repetition of certain phrases like "from being a poor poverty-stricken boy in the morning," emphasizes the transformation and success that Tom experiences throughout the events.