Count That Day Lost – Log Unit

by Mir Duanis

Joined Jun 2017
Published Books 2

I – Pre-reading Activity

Exercise 1: In your opinion, what makes a day successful? Make a list of FIVE things that have to happen to make your day a worthwhile one.

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II – Reading

Count That Day Lost (Scroll down if necessary)

If you sit down at set of sun
And count the acts that you have done,
And, counting, find
One self-denying deed, one word
That eased the heart of him who heard,
One glance most kind
That fell like sunshine where it went —
Then you may count that day well spent.

But if, through all the livelong day,
You’ve cheered no heart, by yea or nay —
If, through it all
You’ve nothing done that you can trace
That brought the sunshine to one face–
No act most small
That helped some soul and nothing cost —
Then count that day as worse than lost.

George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)

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III – Basic Understanding

Exercise A: Vocabulary Exercises

Translate the following words from the poem into your native language.

Word or phrase	Translation
at set of sun
an act
self-denial
a deed
to ease
a glance
to cheer
cheer (noun)
through
to trace
a soul

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Choose the correct definition of the word or phrase as used in the poem:

If you sit down at set of sun

in the morning 2. in the afternoon 3. in the evening

And count the acts that you have done,

things 2. performances 3. mistakes

One self-denying deed,

self- help 2. self-made 3. self-sacrifice

One self-denying deed,

promise 2. action 3. contract

That eased the heart of him who heard,

soothed 2. prepared 3. simplified

One glance most kind

act 2. sight 3. look

You’ve cheered no heart
enjoyed 2. made happy 3. yelled
through all the livelong day,
during 2. after 3. finished
nothing done that you can trace
draw 2. find 3. copy
That helped some soul
foot 2. heart 3. person

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Take a look at the following words from the poem.
Count

The word ‘count’ appears a number of times in the poem. It does not always have the same meaning.

Following are several definitions of the word ‘count’. Copy words/lines from the poem which match the definitions. Circle the definition which is not found in the poem.

to say or name things ………………………..
to consider …………………
to be important ………………….

Sun

The word ‘sun’ appears in several lines in the poem. Copy out those lines:

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Find more examples of words in the poem that are repeated. Explain why these words are repeated.

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Exercise B: Understanding the Poem

What does the poet suggest you do in order to make your day count? (List two things)
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What happens if you do not do any of the above things?

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IV- Analysis and Interpretation

Literary terms – Metaphor/ Simile/ Rhyme Scheme/

Rhythm/ Alliteration

Metaphor: Using the characteristics of one thing to describe another. In other words, a metaphor is a way to compare by saying one thing is another thing.

For example: wings of love, an icy look, a sunny smile

Simile: Expressing an idea by comparing one thing with an aspect of another thing, using ‘like’ or ’as…as…’ to show similarity.

For example: He is as brave as a lion.

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Exercise 1: Decide which of the following are metaphors, which are similes, and which are neither.

Sentence	Metaphor	Simile	Neither
He was as black as coal.
Her heart was as hard as a rock.
The dog dug a bone out of the ground.
There was black smoke from the back of the car.
My heart is a lonely hunter.
She had a long and good life.
The rain came down in long knitting needles.
He was as tall as I am.
This year’s test was as hard as last year.
I’ve been working like a dog.
He smokes like a chimney.
The lonely hunter sat and smoked his pipe.
Life is a journey.
It rained without stop the whole day.

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Exercise 2: Using metaphor and simile in the poem

How does the sun help us define the length of the day?

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Where is sunshine used as a simile in the poem?

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Where is the sun used as a metaphor in the poem?

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Why did the poet use the sun as the main image of the poem?

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A rhyme scheme is a pattern of sounds that rhyme or have the same sound.

In the following poem, the last word of each verse (line of poetry) is underlined and a small letter in sequence of the “a,b,c” is given for each rhyme.

For example:

Hush little baby don’t say a word,	a
Papa’s gonna buy you a mocking bird.	a
If that mocking bird won’t sing,	b
Papa’s gonna buy you a diamond ring.	b
If the diamond ring turns to brass,	c
Papa’s gonna buy you a looking glass.	c

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Exercise 1: Do the same for the poem “Count That Day Lost”.

If you sit down at set of sun
And count the acts that you have done,
And, counting, find
One self-denying deed, one word
That eased the heart of him who heard,
One glance most kind
That fell like sunshine where it went —
Then you may count that day well spent.

But if, through all the livelong day,
You’ve cheered no heart, by yea or nay —
If, through it all
You’ve nothing done that you can trace
That brought the sunshine to one face–
No act most small
That helped some soul and nothing cost —
Then count that day as worse than lost.

Alliteration is a sound pattern repeated at the beginning of words or repeated within words, usually consonants. For example, “I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet.” (Robert Frost)

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Exercise 1: Find examples of alliteration in the poem.

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Exercise 2: What effect does the rhyme scheme and alliteration have on the poem?

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HOTS “Explaining Patterns”

A pattern, from the French word “patron”, is a type of theme of recurring events or of objects, sometimes referred to as elements of a set. These elements repeat in a predictable manner.

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In the poem “Count That Day Lost” there are several patterns. There is repetition of certain words and phrases (count, sun, if, one, and), there is a rhyme scheme, and alliteration. What effect does the use of these patterns have on the poem?

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Count That Day Lost – Log Unit by Mir Duanis - Ourboox.com

V – Bridging Text and Context Activity

Exercise 1: Below are two drawings depicting life in Victorian England

Hungry street-children are given bread and a hot drink by volunteer charity workers. Notice the children’s ragged clothes. The women helping are better-dressed.

This is Victorian slum in 1872. This shows what a crowded,

poor neighborhood looked like and why people needed help.

Describe what you see in the pictures. Explain how these drawings help you understand the poem and its message better.

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Exercise 2: Read the following biography of George Eliot and answer the question that follows.

Biography of George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)

1819-1890

Mary Anne Evans, better known by her pen name George Eliot, was one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She is the author of seven novels, including Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Middlemarch (1871–72), and Daniel Deronda (1876), most of them take place in provincial England and are well known for their realism and psychological insight and messages.
She used a male pen name, she said, to make sure her works would be taken seriously. Female authors were published under their own names during Eliot’s life, but she wanted to escape the stereotype of women only writing lighthearted romances.

Life

Early life and education

Mary Anne Evans was the third child of Robert Evans (1773–1849) and Christiana Evans (née Pearson) (1788–1836), the daughter of a local farmer.

The young Mary Anne was obviously intelligent and loved to read. Because she was not considered physically beautiful, and thus not thought to have much chance of marriage, and because of her intelligence, her father invested in an education not often allowed to women.
After age sixteen, Mary Anne had little formal education. In 1836 her mother died and she (then 16) returned home to act as housekeeper. Thanks to her father’s important role on the estate, she was allowed access to the library of Arbury Hall, which greatly helped her self-education and breadth of learning. Her frequent visits to the estate also allowed her to contrast the wealth in which the local landowner lived with the lives of the often much poorer people on the estate, and different lives lived in parallel would reappear in many of her works.
Move to Coventry

When she was 21, her brother Isaac married and took over the family home, so Mary Anne and her father moved to Coventry. The Coventry society brought new influences, especially those of Charles and Cara Bray. Charles Bray had become rich as a ribbon manufacturer and had used his wealth in building schools and other philanthropic causes. Mary Anne, who had been struggling with religious doubts for some time, became good friends with the free-thinking Brays, whose home was a meeting place for people who held and debated radical views. When Mary Anne began to question her religious faith, her father threatened to throw her out, although that did not happen. Instead, she respectably attended church for years and continued to keep house for him until his death in 1849, when she was 30.
Relationship with George Lewes

The philosopher and critic George Henry Lewes met Mary Anne in 1851, and by 1854 they had decided to live together. Lewes was married to Agnes Jervis, but they had agreed to have an open marriage. In July 1854, Lewes and Mary Anne travelled to Germany together for the purpose of research. The trip to Germany also served as a honeymoon as Mary Anne and Lewes now considered themselves married. It was not unusual for men and women in Victorian society to have affairs. What was scandalous was their open admission of the relationship.

First publication

Her first complete novel, published in 1859, was Adam Bede and was an instant success, but it prompted an intense interest in who this new author might be. In the end, the real George Eliot stepped forward: Marian Evans Lewes admitted she was the author. The revelations about Eliot’s private life surprised and shocked many of her admiring readers, but this apparently did not affect her popularity as a novelist.
After the popularity of Adam Bede, she continued to write popular novels for the next fifteen years. Within a year of completing Adam Bede, she finished The Mill on the Floss, inscribing the manuscript: “To my beloved husband, George Henry Lewes, I give this MS. of my third book, written in the sixth year of our life together, at Holly Lodge, South Field, Wandsworth, and finished 21 March 1860.”
Her last novel was Daniel Deronda, published in 1876, whereafter she and Lewes moved to Witley, Surrey; but by this time Lewes’s health was failing and he died two years later on 30 November 1878.
Marriage to John Cross and death

On 16 May 1880 Eliot married a man twenty years younger than herself, and again changed her name, this time to Mary Anne Cross. The legal marriage at least pleased her brother Isaac, who had broken off relations with his sister when she had begun to live with Lewes, but now sent congratulations. John Cross inexplicably jumped or fell from their hotel balcony into the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy during their honeymoon. Cross survived and they returned to England. The couple moved to a new house in Chelsea but Eliot fell ill with a throat infection. This, coupled with the kidney disease she had been afflicted with for the previous few years, led to her death on 22 December 1880 at the age of 61.
Eliot was not buried in Westminster Abbey because of her denial of the Christian faith and her “irregular” though monogamous life with Lewes. She was interred in Highgate Cemetery (East), Highgate, London in the area reserved for religious dissenters or agnostics. In 1980, on the centenary of her death, a memorial stone was established for her in the Poets’ Corner.

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After reading the short biography of George Eliot, we can see that in several ways she was a reflection of the period in which she lived, however, she was also ahead of her time. Explain.

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Exercise 3: After reading about George Eliot’s life, why do you think she called the poem “Count That Day Lost”?

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VI – Post-Reading Activity

Watch the following clip. Can the passerby consider his day well-spent or worse than lost? Explain how the passerby made the blind man’s day worthwhile. You should refer to the poem “Count That Day Lost” in your answer.

A FILM OF 4 MINUTES THAT WON at THE CANNES FESTIVAL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-K8bpoDn-8&feature

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