“cruel tribute.”

on the third day all the youths and maidens of the city were brought together in the market place, so that lots might be cast for those who were to be taken. then two vessels of brass were brought and set before king aegeus and the herald who had come from crete. into one vessel they placed as many balls as there were noble youths in the city, and into the other as many as there were maidens; and all the balls were white save only seven in each vessel, and those were black as ebony.

then every maiden, without looking, reached her hand into one of the vessels and drew forth a ball, and those who took the black balls were borne away to the black ship, which lay in waiting by the shore. the young men also drew lots in like manner, but when six black balls had been drawn theseus came quickly forward and said:

"hold! let no more balls be drawn. i will be the seventh youth to pay this tribute. now let us go aboard the black ship and be off."

what effect does the author create with the sequence of events in this passage?

the author builds events slowly to create tension.
the author races through events to create excitement.
the author maintains the pace to create peacefulness.
the author alternates the pace to create frustration.

try to do soaps tone.

s-subject

o-occasion (the reason the author wrote the poem)

a-audience (who is this poem mostly for)

p-purpose (was it to convince, inspire, etc. the audience)

s-speaker (can be the author or another character, like is a child, adult, woman, elderly, animal narrating the poem)

tone- the mood the reader gets from this poem

mood- the mood the author had with their own poem

meaning- what do you think the meaning is?

message- what is the author trying to explain to the audience? like what is the theme?

if you still don't get it try showing everyone the poem so they could unravel it

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the miracle worker themeswilliam gibson

themes and meanings

(comprehensive guide to drama)

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there are two central themes in  the miracle worker: that the human spirit can triumph over even the most daunting of disabilities and that a dedicated teacher can transform the lives of those with whom he or she comes into contact. these inspirational themes have long been personified in the widely known true-life relationship between helen keller and annie sullivan, but  the miracle worker  also dramatizes collateral issues that extend beyond the particular case. underlying helen’s process of learning basic principles of what annie terms “obedience” (decorum, etiquette, and hygiene), there are more universal lessons of self-governance—the inculcation of self-restraint instead of willfulness, the development of self-discipline instead of self-indulgence. only when these lessons have been mastered can helen begin to acquire language—which, annie says, “is to the mind more than light is to the eye.”