18. LUG
LUG

20. About Seamus Heaney
 Born April 13, 1939
 Lived on family farm in County Derry
(Ireland)
 Published Eleven Poems in 1965 with
the Belfast Festival
Honored with the Poetry Book Society
Choice of the year award for Door into
the Dark
 In 1984, he was named Boylston
Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, one
of Harvard’s most prestigious offices

21. Under my window a clean rasping
sound
comprehension aesthetic
When the spade sinks into gravelly
“DIGGING”
ground:
My father, digging. I look down
Till his straining rump among the
flowerbeds My grandfather cut more turf in a
Bends low, comes up twenty years day
away Than any other man on Toner's
Stooping in rhythm through potato bog.
drills Once I carried him milk in a bottle
Where he was digging. Corked sloppily with paper. He
straightened up
To drink it, then fell to right away
The coarse boot nestled on the lug, Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving
the shaft sods
Against the inside knee was levered Over his shoulder, digging down and
firmly. down
He rooted out tall tops, buried the For the good turf. Digging.
bright edge deep
To scatter new potatoes that we The cold smell of potato mold, the
picked squelch and slap
Loving their cool hardness in our Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an
hands. edge
Through living roots awaken in my
By God, the old man could handle a head.
spade, But I've no spade to follow men
Just like his old man. like them.
Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.
Evaluation

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33. NICE TRY! DON’T WORRY!
 You can click here to try again.

34. Back to the poem
COMPREHENSION CHECK
 Read the first stanza. What is the speaker
doing?
 What does he observe about his father and his
grandfather?
 What memories come to the speaker in the
poem? How do these memores become a part
of his experiences?
 What does the speaker say he lacks? What did
the speaker decide to do?
 Why is the title enclosed in quotation marks?
Based on the poem, does the title have
denotative and connotative meanings? Explain

35. Back to the poem
AESTHETIC
 Based on the lines, can you point out what
kind of poem “Digging” is? Is it a sonnet? A
free verse? A haiku? Or a quatrain?
 Is there repetition in the poem?
 What figurative language was used in this
poem?

36. Back to comprehension
DENOTATIVE
 Denotation refers to the literal meaning of a
word, the "dictionary definition.“
 For example, if you look up the word snake in a
dictionary, you will discover that one of
its denotative meanings is "any of numerous
scaly, legless, sometimes venomous reptiles.
Having a long, tapering, cylindrical body and
found in most tropical and temperate regions."

37. Back to comprehension
CONNOTATIVE
 Connotation, on the other hand, refers to
the associations that are connected to a
certain word or the emotional suggestions
related to that word.
 The connotative meanings of a word
exist together with the denotative meanings.
The connotations for the word snake could
include evil or danger.
Let’s compare!!!

38. Back to comprehension
COMPARISON
 There he is getting everything he wants
using his “puppy” eyes.
 Oh look at the “puppy” it’s finally learning to
bark.

39. DRAW A SYMBOL THAT BEST DESCRIBES
THE PERSON WHO HELPED IN SHAPING
WHO YOU ARE TODAY. BELOW THE
SYMBOL, WRITE A BRIEF COMPARISON
BETWEEN THIS PERSON AND THE SYMBOL
YOU HAVE DRAWN.

40. EXAMPLE:

41. ASSIGNMENT:
 Write a letter of appreciation to your parents.
 Share a photo or video reaction of your
parents in class.