Another great way to engage your students is through the creation of storyboards that examine Tone, Word Choice, Imagery, Style, and Theme. This activity is referred to with the acronym “TWIST”. In a TWIST, students focus on a particular paragraph or a few pages, to look deeper at the author’s meaning.
Using the full text of “O Captain! My Captain!” or just a single stanza, students can depict, describe, and analyze the way poetic elements work together to create a central message or theme.
TONE |
Distressed: The speaker struggles to process the death of his hero. He is overcome with sorrow and shock. |
WORD CHOICE |
O heart! heart! heart!, bleeding, cold, dead, pale, still, no pulse, mournful tread, fallen |
IMAGERY |
“O the bleeding drops of red..." |
STYLE |
Each eight-line stanza is split into two distinct parts. The first four lines are long and praise Lincoln's achievements. The last four lines are short and give agitated descriptions of Lincoln's dying moments. |
THEME |
The speaker's distress is made greater by the heroism of the captain. This conveys a theme about honoring our fallen heroes. |
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Perform a TWIST analysis of a selection from “O Captain! My Captain!”. Remember that TWIST stands for Tone, Word Choice, Imagery, Style, Theme.