Question

Read the next paragraph from Ellison's essay, then generate two or three questions each about diction or syntax. from On Bird, Bird-Watching and Jazz Ralph Ellison Mimic thrushes, which include the catbird and brown thrasher, along with the mockingbird, are not only great virtuosi, they are the tricksters and con men of the bird world. Like Parker, who is described as a confidence man and a practical joker by several of the commentators, they take off on the songs of other birds, inflating, inverting and turning them wrong side out, and are capable of driving a prowling ("square") cat wild. Utterly irreverent and romantic, they are not beyond bugging human beings. Indeed, on summer nights in the South, when the moon hangs low, mockingbirds sing as though determined to heat every drop of romance in the sleeping adolescent's heart to fever pitch. Their song thrills and swings the entire moon-struck night to arouse one's sense of the mystery, promise and frustration of being human, alive and hot in the blood. They are as delightful to the eye as to the ear, but sometimes a similarity of voice and appearance makes for a confusion with the shrike, a species given to impaling insects and smaller songbirds on the points of thorns, and they are destroyed. They are fond of fruit, especially mulberries, and if there is a tree in your yard, there will be, along with wonderful music, much chalky, blue-tinted evidence of their presence. Under such conditions, be careful and heed Parker's warning to his friends — who sometimes were subjected to a shrikelike treatment — "you must pay your dues to Bird."

Answer 1

Questions about diction:

1. What other words or phrases does Ellison use to describe the mimic thrushes?

2. What connotations does Ellison evoke by referring to Parker as a "confidence man"?

3. How does Ellison's choice of words emphasize the delightfulness of the mimic thrushes?

Questions about syntax:

1. What is the effect of the parallel structure in the sentence "Like Parker, who is described as a confidence man and a practical joker by several of the commentators, they take off on the songs of other birds, inflating, inverting and turning them wrong side out"?

2. How does the sentence structure of the sentence "Their song thrills and swings the entire moon-struck night to arouse one's sense of the mystery, promise and frustration of being human, alive and hot in the blood" add to the imagery?

3. How does the syntax of the sentence "Under such conditions, be careful and heed Parker's warning to his friends — who sometimes were subjected to a shrikelike treatment — 'you must pay your dues to Bird'" add to the irony?