Chapter NINE & TEN Assignment 12/2/20 6:53 AM WINDMILL POETRY PAIRING THE WINDMILL HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW Reading 1 Behold! a giant am II Aloft here in my tower. With my granite jaws I devour The maize, and the wheat, and the rye.. And grind them into flour. I look down over the farms; In the fields of grain I see The harvest that is to be, And I fling to the air my arms, For I know it is all for me. I hear the sound of flails Far off, from the threshing-floors In barns, with their open doors, And the wind, the wind in my sails, Louder and louder roars. I stand here in my place, With my foot on the rock below. And whichever way it may blow. I meet it face to face. As a brave man meets his foe. And while we wrestle and strive, My master, the miller, stands And feeds me with his hands; For he knows who makes him thrive, Who makes him lord of lands. On Sundays I take my rest; Church-going bells begin Their low, melodious din; I cross my arms on my breast, And all is peace within. Read silently or aloud all the way through for enjoyment. Reading 2 Highlight all of the words that signal the personified power of the windmill. Reading 3 Annotate the tone of the poem. How does the speaker feel about his role? Reading 4 Annotate on the relationship between the windmill and the miller (man). Reading 5 How does the personification of the windmill contrast with that of Boxer? WINDMILL SYMBOLISM Literal windmills harness wind and convert that energy into something beneficial. With that in mind, lets consider how windmills might be used as symbols. In the classic story of Don Quixote, the misguided nobleman fights a windmill because he mistakes it for a giant. He is greatly out of fouch with reality and has an impossible dream defeating the giant." Another thing to consider is that windmills are at the mercy of the wind. If the wind blows, the windmill works. If the wind stops, so do the blades. When one puts his or her dreams at the mercy of outside forces. then that dreamer loses control. Lastly, windmills and the toy version, pinwheels, are used to represent hope. There's no front, back, beginning, or end to the blades: they will perpetually spin as long as the world has wind...and hope. What is the literal interpretation of the windmill in Animal Farm? What is the promise that it will convert wind into something beneficial? How might the windmill in Animal Farm represent "an impossible dream?" How might the animals be symbolically "at the mercy of the wind?" How does the windmill represent hope in Animal Farm?