Cold as Heaven poem Analysis liturature

1. ELTE510 Literature in TEFL
Yousa Eldaik Hafsa Sabri
Supervised by: Prof. Dr : Behbud Muhammed
Lyric poems

2. Contents
• Anticipating students problems- method –elicit –student center – skills –
grammar- vocabulary
• 1 Before Reading
• Activate students’ schemata with connecting to the title
• Facilitate their understanding and Stimulating students interest
• Build their background –main idea
• Make connection
• Connect the author background to the poem
• Analayze the literature
• Pre-teaching vocabulary

3. Contents
• 2 While Reading
• Reading the poem – dived – activities to check understanding
• 3 After Reading
• Activity – general idea
• Activities – specific ideas
• Activates for vocabulary checking
• Activities for analyzing the literature
• Activities that apply Bloom’s Taxonomy (understanding- applying-
analyzing- evaluation and creating)
• Activity for Writing using past simple tense

4. Cold as Heaven
• Is the heaven cold?
Is it possible to know heaven or to describe it for
someone else?
What purpose or purposes does the idea of heaven
serve for society?

5. Cold as Heaven
The story is about……..

6. Where are they?

7. IV feeding

8. • The grandma asks her about …..

9. The answer of the girl….

13. Build Background (continued)
Do you think most young people today have close relationships with one
or more grandparents?
Grandparents are becoming the forgotten generation, with youngsters
now too busy to listen to their stories from the olden days.
Just one in five young people spend time with their grandparents, study
finds
The poem that you will read it is like a conversation between grandma and grandchild. It
captures a beautiful and tender moment of connection between generations and explores
the themes of memory, change, and the enduring bond between family members. It
reminds us of the importance of sharing stories and memories to create a sense of
continuity and understanding across the generations

14. • Is your grandma still alive?
• when it was the last time you have seen her?
• When it was the last time when you have spoken to her?
• What did she tell you ? And what did you tell her?
• How it was your relationship with her?
• Think of one thing you would like your grandma to know?
• Think of one thing you would like to know about her life?
Make Connection

15. What aspects of life today might affect the relationships between
grandparents and their grandchildren?
Lack of time, divorces, geographic distance between them, family conflicts.
The state of health of grandparents can also affect this connection, for
example if they develop dementia
Why the relationships between the grandchildren and grandparents
are important?
A close relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is mutually beneficial
when it comes to the health and well-being of both. Grandparents provide
acceptance, patience, love, stability, wisdom, fun and support to their
grandchildren. This, in turn, has positive effects on a child’s well-being.

16. • What are the benefits that grandparents have from their
relationship with their children?
• For grandparents, a close relationship with their grandchildren can
boost brain function ,protect against depression ,and increase their
lifespan
• Could help protect against the negative effects of isolation, including
depression, heart disease, and dementia.
• How can parents help cultivate a close relationship between their
children and grandparents?
• Parents can help grandparents and grandchildren build close
relationship by encouraging frequent contact. Where possible,
grandparents should be invited to visit their grandchild’s home often.

17. Meet the Author and connect her with the poem
• Judith Ortiz Cofer (1952-2016) , Hormigueros , Puerto Rico
• 1954, was a small child when she emigrated from Puerto Rico /ˌpwɜːtə ˈriːkəʊ/
to the United States with her family.
• Spanish
• How the weather like in Puerto Rico?
• Too hot . No snow
• What ocean is Puerto Rico in?
• Caribbean Sea
What is the dominant language
of Puerto Rico?

18. Meet the author and connect her with the poem
• Judith Ortiz Cofer said that family is one of the main topics of her
poetry: “The place of birth itself becomes a metaphor for the things
we must all leave behind; the assimilation of a new culture is the
coming into maturity by accepting the terms necessary for survival.
My poetry is a study of this process of change, assimilation, and
transformation.”

19. Among her numerous publications are :
• The novels The Line of the Sun (1989), in which a young girl relates the
history of her ne’er-do-well uncle’s emigration from Puerto Rico,
• The Meaning of Consuelo (2003))
• Call Me Maria (2006)
• The poetry collection A Love Story Beginning in Spanish (2005)
• The Latin Deli (1993)
• The Year of Our Revolution (1998)
• Two collections that seamlessly interweave fiction, nonfiction, and poetry,
thereby demonstrating, in Ortiz Cofer’s words, “the need to put things
together in a holistic way.”

20. Analyze literature: Lyric poem
 Lyric poem: refers to a short poem, often with songlike qualities, that
expresses the speaker’s personal emotions and feelings.
 1 Theme: massage that an author conveys in a piece of writing
 2 A speaker is the character who speaks in, or narrates, a poem.
• 3 Tone (mood) is the emotional attitude toward the reader or toward the
subject implied by a literary work

21. • 4 Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds.
• The boy buzzed around, as busy as a bee
• 5 Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close to each
other in a sentence or phrase.
• No pain, no gain
• tell the reader a lot about the mood and the message of the poem
• Assonance is used to create rhythm in writing.
• 6 Liquid Consonance The use of “liquid consonants,” such as r, l, m, n, and w,
sustains sounds and provides fluidity to the verse.
• 7 Personification:the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to
something non-human, or the representation of an abstract quality in human
form:
•

22. • 8 Simile: a figurative of speech that compares two unlike things, using
the word : like as appear or seem
• 9 Metaphor: a figurative of speech in which one thing is spoken about
as if it were another. A metaphor helps readers see the similarities
between these two things.
• 10 Rhyme: the repetition of ending sounds in two or more words.
• I was angry with my friend;
• I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
• I was angry with my foe:
• I told it not, my wrath did grow.
• 11 Rhythm: the pattern of stresses and unstressed syllables in a poem
• 12 Anaphora: repetition of the same word at the beginning of verses.

23. PREVIEW VOCABULARY
Breeze
/briːz/
noun
Snow drifts
/drɪft/
noun
Mummy
/ˈmʌm·i/

24. PREVIEW VOCABULARY
Key Words and Phrases
Read each key word and rate it
using this scale:
1 I don’t know it at all.
2 I’ve seen it before.
3 I know it and use it.
Words and Phrases
in Context
Read to see how the key
word or phrase can be
used in a sentence.
Definition
Write down what you think
the word or phrase means.
Then use a dictionary to
check your definition.
Practice
Practice using the key words
and phrases by completing
the following sentences.
enveloping
/ɪnˈveləpɪŋ/
The snow was enveloping
everything in the city so you
can not see anything
Darkness fell and enveloped
the town so ………
Blizzard
/ˈblɪzəd/
noun
We got stuck in a blizzard
for six hours. The roads were
blocked by snow.
The road that leads to our
city was blocked by blizzard
so ………
Hesitant
/ˈhezɪtənt/
adjective
the baby’s first few hesitant
steps
she was hesitant because….
Immobilize
/ɪˈməʊbəlaɪz/
verb
Some snakes inject their prey
with poison in order to
immobilize it
The car was immobilized
because………

25. PREVIEW VOCABULARY
Key Words and Phrases
Read each key word and rate it
using this scale:
1 I don’t know it at all.
2 I’ve seen it before.
3 I know it and use it.
Words and Phrases
in Context
Read to see how the key
word or phrase can be
used in a sentence.
Definition
Write down what you think
the word or phrase means.
Then use a dictionary to
check your definition.
Practice
Practice using the key words
and phrases by completing
the following sentences.
enveloping
/ɪnˈveləp/
The snow was enveloping
everything in the city so you
can not see anything
to wrap
somebody/something up or
cover them or it completely
Darkness fell and enveloped
the town so ………
Blizzard
/ˈblɪzəd/
noun
We got stuck in a blizzard
for six hours. The roads were
blocked by snow.
a snowstorm with very
strong winds
The road that leads to our
city was blocked by blizzard
so ………
Hesitant
/ˈhezɪtənt/
adjective
the baby’s first few hesitant
steps
slow to speak or act because
you feel uncertain,
embarrassed or unwilling
she was hesitant because….
Immobilize
/ɪˈməʊbəlaɪz/
verb
Some snakes inject their prey
with poison in order to
immobilize it
to prevent
something/somebody from
moving or from working in
the normal way
The car was immobilized
because………

26. PREVIEW VOCABULARY
Key Words and Phrases
Read each key word and rate it
using this scale:
1 I don’t know it at all.
2 I’ve seen it before.
3 I know it and use it.
Words and Phrases
in Context
Read to see how the key
word or phrase can be
used in a sentence.
Definition
Write down what you think
the word or phrase means.
Then use a dictionary to
check your definition.
Practice
Practice using the key words
and phrases by completing
the following sentences.
conjure
/ˈkʌndʒə(r)/
She wants to learn how
making things disappear and
appear. To learn, she asked
her grandfather to taught her
conjure
a magician who conjures……
Teeming
/ˈtiːmɪŋ/
adjective
the teeming streets of the
city were making notice
The teaming scene of
children….
Purifying
/ ɪŋ/
noun
The purifying of the blood is
the main function of kidneys
The purifying of water
means ……..

27. PREVIEW VOCABULARY
Key Words and Phrases
Read each key word and rate it
using this scale:
1 I don’t know it at all.
2 I’ve seen it before.
3 I know it and use it.
Words and Phrases
in Context
Read to see how the key
word or phrase can be
used in a sentence.
Definition
Write down what you think
the word or phrase means.
Then use a dictionary to
check your definition.
Practice
Practice using the key words
and phrases by completing
the following sentences.
conjure
/ˈkʌndʒə(r)/
She wants to learn how
making things disappear and
appear. To learn, she asked
her grandfather to taught her
conjure
to do clever tricks such as
making things seem to appear
or disappear as if by magic
a magician who conjures……
Teeming
/ˈtiːmɪŋ/
adjective
the teeming streets of the city
were making notice
present in large numbers; full of
people, animals, etc. that are
moving around
The teaming scene of
children….
Purifying
/ ɪŋ/
noun
The purifying of the blood is
the main function of kidneys
Cleansing -to remove bad
substances from something to
make it pure
The purifying of water
means ……..

28. The poem
• Before there is a breeze again
• before the cooling days of Lent, she may be gone.
• My grandmother asks me to tell her
• again about the snow.
• We sit on her white bed
• In this white room, while outside
• the Caribbean sun winds up the world
• like an old alarm clock. I tell her
• about the enveloping blizzard I lived through
• that made everything and everyone the same;
• how we lost ourselves in drifts so tall
• we fell through our own footprints;
• how wrapped like mummies in layers of wool
• that almost immobilized us, we could only
take hesitant steps like toddlers
toward food, warmth, shelter.
I talk winter real for her
as she would once conjure for me to dream
at sweltering siesta1 time,
cool stone castles in lands far north.
Her eyes wander to the window,
to the teeming scene of children
pouring out of a yellow bus, then to the bottle
dripping minutes through a tube
into her veins. When her eyes return to me,
I can see she’s waiting to hear more
about the purifying nature of ice,
how snow makes way for a body,
how you can make yourself an angel
by just lying down and waving your arms
as you do when you say
good-bye.

29. Where is the poem set?
What time of year is it?
Who are the main characters?
Who is the speaker?
What they are talking about?
Where are they?

30. Cold as Heaven written by Judith Ortiz Cofer
• Before there is a breeze again
• before the cooling days of Lent, she may be gone.
• My grandmother asks me to tell her
• again about the snow.
• We sit on her white bed
• In this white room, while outside
• the Caribbean sun winds up the world
• The first speaker ,the grandchild, describes the sitting ( the time and the place)
when she was chatting with her grandma before her death. It was before the lent ,
winter, outside the Caribbean. It might be in February or March. They are in a
hospital.
• Her grandma asks her again about snow. Repeating her question might show that
her grandma has never seen or felt the snow and she wants to know more. She
lived in Puerto Rico. The weather their is hot and there is no snow.
• Shift Anaphora

31. • the Caribbean sun winds up the world
• like an old alarm clock. I tell her
• about the enveloping blizzard I lived through
• that made everything and everyone the same;
• how we lost ourselves in drifts so tall
• we fell through our own footprints;
• how wrapped like mummies in layers of wool
• that almost immobilized us, we could only
• take hesitant steps like toddlers
• toward food, warmth, shelter.
• I talk winter real for her,
The weather outside is shinny. The
author is comparing two unlike
things, the sun and an alarm clock
The Caribbean sun is what wakes the
world, just like an alarm clock does.
Cofer tells her grandma the reality
of snow that she went through.
There was snow storm that
covered everything. And the drifts
were high and felt cold so they
wore heavy clothes like mummies.
This mad them unable to walk like
toddlers when they went out for
getting their necessary things.
This metaphor suggests that the
snowdrifts were so deep that they
obscured the speaker's path and
sense of direction

32. • How are everyone and everything were the same during enveloping
blizzard?
• Why the people were unable to walk?
• What are the figurative language that the poet used to describe the
images and make them clear?

33. • as she would once conjure for me to dream
• at sweltering siesta time,
• cool stone castles in lands far north.
• Her eyes wander to the window,
• to the teeming scene of children
• pouring out of a yellow bus, then to the bottle
• dripping minutes through a tube
• into her veins. When her eyes return to me,
The grandmother's eyes look towards
the window which on the outside there
are kids getting off from a yellow bus
and
then she looks at the bottle with a tube
that drips into her veins.
She looks back at the grandchild and
then she continues talking about the
cold and finishes by saying good-bye
talks about winter, but “Grandma”
decided to talk more about the
sweltering heat in the Caribbean
especially during afternoon. The
castle stone which are in the north of
Caribbean are cool.
The person who is talking
• One talks about the struggle in a blizzard
• Other talks about sweltering Caribbean.

34. • I can see she’s waiting to hear more
• about the purifying nature of ice,
• how snow makes way for a body,
• how you can make yourself an angel
• by just lying down and waving your arms
• as you do when you say
• good-bye.
: “When her eyes return to me, I can see she’s waiting to hear more about the purifying
nature of ice, how snow makes way for a body, how you can make yourself an angel by
just lying down and waving your arms” (Cofer). These lines describe winter as a place
where angels are made. It mentions that even when the snow touches you, it is a feeling
of purification. This symbolizes that heaven is a place filled with angels that purify you.

35. - Q: What do you think the main theme of this poem?
.
• The theme really makes you think about loved ones and how much time you
spend with them. So for the theme we believe that it's a remembrance of
family and that life is short so cherish those seconds you spend with each
other. Towards the end of the poem it really brings upon a cloud of sadness due
to the fact that her grandmother is dying yet it still has a sense of hope because
after death she'll be in Heaven.

36. • Focus on “Cold as Heaven”
• Fill in the Blanks Write the word or phrase that correctly completes
each sentence.
• 1. The speaker’s grandmother wants the speaker to tell her about…..
• _____snow______.
• 2. The setting of the poem is …….
• Caribbean country.
• 3. The speaker describes a(n)……..to her grandmother.
• blizzard
• 4. The “bottle dripping minutes through a tube” is actually a (n)…….
• an IV tube .

37. • Multiple Choice Circle the letter of the
correct answer.
• 5. The speaker says her grandmother will
soon
• A. go out in the snow. C. return home.
• B. recover. D. die.
• 6. The phrase “wrapped like mummies in
layers of wool” is a(n)
• A. metaphor. C. symbol.
• B. simile. D. understatement.
• 7. Which is the best paraphrase for the
line “I talk winter real for her”?
• A. “I describe winter so it seems true-to
life.”
• B. “I discuss the hard realities of living in
a cold place.”
• C. “I speak a language spoken only in
cold regions.”
• D. “I help her recall what she used to do
in winter.”
• 8. The main contrasting imagery in the
poem is between
• A. old people and young people.
• B. light and darkness.
• C. rich people and poor people.
• D. heat and cold

38. Vocabulary checking

39. Analyze Literature: Lyric poem.
Lyric poem: refers to a short poem, often with songlike qualities, that expresses the
speaker’s personal emotions and feelings.
The poem ‘Cold as Heaven’ does have elements of a lyric poem, although it is not a
traditional example of the genre. Lyric poems typically express personal emotions
and feelings in a subjective and often musical way. While this poem includes
some narrative elements, it also contains emotional and reflective aspects. It
explores the relationship between the speaker and their grandmother and delves
into shared memories and experiences. Therefore, you could say it has lyrical
elements in its reflection on personal experiences and emotions, even though it's
not a purely lyric poem.

40. Analyze Literature: Lyric poem.
• 1 Theme
• 2 Speaker
• 3 Tone
• 4 Alliteration
• 5 Assonance
• 6 Liquid consonants
• 7 Personification
• 8 Simile
• 9 Metaphor
• 10 Rhyme
• 11 Rhythm
• 12 Anaphora

41. Analyze Literature: Lyric poem
• 4 Alliteration (initial consonant sounds)
• 5 Assonance (vowel sounds)
• 6 Liquid Consonance (r, l, m, n, and w)
• Before there is a breeze again
• before the cooling days of Lent, she may be gone.
• My grandmother asks me to tell her
• again about the snow.
• We sit on her white bed
• In this white room, while outside
• the Caribbean sun winds up the world

42. Analyze Literature: Lyric poem
• 4 Alliteration (initial consonant sounds)
• 5 Assonance (vowel sounds)
• 6 Liquid Consonance (r, l, m, n, and w)
/əˈɡen/ /əˈbaʊt/
/ɪn/ /ðɪs/
• Before there is a breeze again
• before the cooling days of Lent, she may be gone.
• My grandmother asks me to tell her
• again about the snow.
• We sit on her white bed
• In this white room, while outside
• the Caribbean sun winds up the world

43. Analyze Literature: Lyric poem.
• Rhyme and Rhythm
• 1 Before there is a breeze again
• 2 before the cooling days of Lent, she may be gone.
• 3 My grandmother asks me to tell her
• 4 again about the snow.
• 5 We sit on her white bed
• 6 In this white room, while outside
• 7 the Caribbean sun winds up the world
Free verse rhyme
The lines vary in terms of syllabic and rhythmic patterns
It doesn't adhere to a strict pattern but instead flows naturally, much like the act of storytelling or sharing
memories with a loved one.

45. 1a. She described winter and snow to her in the United States. She told her about the
envelopingblizzard that covered everything in the city. That made them unable to walk
toward their food and shelter. This cold weather makes them also wear heavy clothes
that struggle their movement.
1b. Because she has never seen or felt the snow and she wants to know more. She lived in
Puerto Rico. The weather their is hot and there is no snow. She may want to make herself an
angel. She might want to lye down and waves her hands in the snow in a way that she feels
purification of the snow . This symbolizes that heaven is a place filled with angels that purify
you.

46. 2a The creation of the snow angel- a simple process:
• Find an undisturbed plane of fresh snow.
• Lie with arms and legs outstretched, on the snow.
• Sweep your limbs back and forth, creating a trough through the snow.
• Get up carefully so as not to disturb your snow creation
• When complete, the snow angel should have the appearance of a stylized angel, the movement of the arms
having formed wings, and that of the legs having formed a gown. Fresh, light, powdery snow makes the best
snow angel rather than heavy, sticky snow.
• 2b After reading the poem, I believe the meaning of the poem is that the cold is something that the
grandmother never experienced, and the cold refers to heaven. The grandmother has not yet
experienced heaven and she is curious. In lines 25-30: “When her eyes return to me, I can see she’s
waiting to hear more about the purifying nature of ice, how snow makes way for a body, how you can
make yourself an angel by just lying down and waving your arms” (Cofer). These lines describe winter
as a place where angels are made. It mentions that even when the snow touches you, it is a feeling of
purification. This symbolizes that heaven is a place filled with angels that purify you.

47. • 3a The grandmother used to conjure "cool stone castles in lands far north" for
the speaker when they were young. This description represents the images the
grandmother would create for the speaker during hot afternoons in the
Caribbean. These imaginary castles in the distant, cooler lands served as a form
of escapism and a way to provide comfort and respite from the tropical heat.
• 3b On one hand, the grandmother transports the grandchild to a cooler and
distant world, providing an escape from the Caribbean heat and perhaps a
sense of wonder and comfort.
• On the other side, the grandchild's narration of a real winter experience,
including the details of a snowstorm, osing themselves in drifts, and the
challenge of winter, is likely more evocative and serves to connect the
grandmother with the grandchild's life and experiences. It also offers a sense of
shared memory and conversation.

48. Writing with using past simple tense
• Think about times you have spent with older family members. What
kinds of communication, verbal and nonverbal , did you use?
• How did your communication differ from communicating with
young people or with your parents?

49. Speaker and tone