Exploring the Desert Phenomenon Through Language
The essay on page 56 delves into the enchanting portrayal of the desert using figurative language, connotative words, and technical details. It captures the sense of wonder and competition amongst plants intertwined with the significance of female versus male rains in sustaining desert life. The author skillfully weaves these elements to illuminate the desert's beauty and resilience.
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12/15 Entry Task: Get out your answers to questions 1-6. Prepare to discuss your answers. Objective: SWBAT select evidence, and draw conclusions about the effectiveness of figurative, connotative or technical language.
ANALYZING THE TEXT ON PAGE 56 1. Cite Evidence: How does the author use figurative language to establish a tone of wonder in the first two paragraphs of the essay? Provide specific examples and explain how they provide the reader with a unique sense of the desert. She describes the desert as a show and says the residents were cheering (line 4). She also describes the desert s blooming as a miracle (line 17). This language depicts the desert as a magical place.
ANALYZING THE TEXT ON PAGE 56 2. Summarize: Reread lines 26-49. How does this passage help develop a central idea of Kingsolver s essay? Explain that central idea in an objective summary. In lines 26-49 Kingsolver develops the central idea that the flowering of the desert can t be explained. She tells us that many people don t know the desert blooms at all, and compares the predictions to Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog that predicts the end of winter. Even though she and her friends are scientifically trained, one points to God as the source of the beauty. Despite the best efforts of the experts to make predictions., everyone is surprised when the desert blooms.
ANALYZING THE TEXT ON PAGE 56 3. Cite Evidence: Throughout the essay, the author uses connotative words and phrases such as treasure hunt (line 13) that suggests a contest or competition is taking place in the desert. Find several other examples of language that suggests competition. Explain how these discrete, or separate, word choices work together to shape the overall meaning and tone of the essay. In lines 58-59, Kingsolver says the object of the game is persistence, as if the plants are competing directly against each other. Plants outwit every peril and lie in wait (lines 85-87). Plants depend on the soaking female rains for the water to grow. Male rains are too inconsistent to benefit plant life.
ANALYZING THE TEXT ON PAGE 56 4. Compare: What is the difference between the female rains and the male rains ? What are the effects of each type of rain on the desert, and why is this difference significant? Female rains are slow, persistent rains that fall in winter and soak the desert completely. Male rains are the thunderstorms of summer. They drench some land but leave other plots dry (lines 60-67). Plants depend on the soaking of female rains for the water they need to germinate and grow. Male rains are too inconsistent to benefit plant life.
ANALYZING THE TEXT ON PAGE 56 5. Analyze: In the second half of the essay, the author uses technical words and phrases to provide more scientific description of how plant seeds survive in the desert. Find some examples, and explain how this technical language helps refine, or sharpen, her ideas about desert seeds. In the second half of the essay, Kingsolver uses technical terms, such as germination (line 78), seed bank (line 80), and latency periods (line 86) to provide detailed information about how desert plants survive. The first half of the essay takes a more emotional approach to desert life. Providing technical details, she gives the reader a scientific basis for the sense of beauty and wonder she has infused in her writing.
ANALYZING THE TEXT ON PAGE 56 6. Draw Conclusions: Reread the last paragraph of the essay. Why did the author conclude by stating that the flowers will go on mystifying us ? In the final paragraph, Kingsolver returns to the writing style used in her opening. Even though experts understand the science behind the flower of desert plants, there are too many variables for them to accurately predict, there are too many variables for them to accurately predict when they will bloom. Science can t overcome the mystery of life.
