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Lesson 1: What Is Poetry? Poems Used - Laura Thompson

Lesson 1: What Is poetry ? Poems Used: Marianne Moore (1887-1972), " poetry ". frank O' hara (1926-1966), "Autobiographia Literaria". Mark Strand (born 1934), " eating poetry ". Lucien Stryk (born 1924), "Summer". Wislawa Szymborska (Poland, born 1923), "Some People Like poetry ". Charles Wright (born 1935), "The New Poem". The attempt to define poetry -the reasons for writing it, the experience of reading it, the public's conception of it--is a frequent topic of poetry . How serious are the answers these authors give in their Poems on poetry ?

Lesson 1: What Is Poetry? Poems Used: • Marianne Moore (1887-1972), "Poetry" • Frank O'Hara (1926-1966), "Autobiographia Literaria" • Mark Strand (born 1934), "Eating Poetry" • Lucien Stryk (born 1924), "Summer" • Wislawa Szymborska (Poland, born 1923), "Some People Like Poetry" • Charles Wright (born 1935), "The New Poem" The attempt to define poetry–-the reasons for writing it ...

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Transcription of Lesson 1: What Is Poetry? Poems Used - Laura Thompson

1 Lesson 1: What Is poetry ? Poems Used: Marianne Moore (1887-1972), " poetry ". frank O' hara (1926-1966), "Autobiographia Literaria". Mark Strand (born 1934), " eating poetry ". Lucien Stryk (born 1924), "Summer". Wislawa Szymborska (Poland, born 1923), "Some People Like poetry ". Charles Wright (born 1935), "The New Poem". The attempt to define poetry -the reasons for writing it, the experience of reading it, the public's conception of it--is a frequent topic of poetry . How serious are the answers these authors give in their Poems on poetry ?

2 Analytical Questions 1. Begin the Lesson by identifying serious elements, comic elements, and ironic elements in each of these Poems . Return to your discussion of irony at the end of the Lesson , before beginning the first writing assignment. 2. Identify where these Poems present a reader's perspective and where they present a writer's perspective. 3. Subject and style (or content and vehicle) are inextricable in the best of Poems , and it can be instructive to distinguish between them. What rhetorical strategies do these poets adopt?

3 Match the six Poems with one of the following descriptions each. (The class will need to study these words in the dictionary and discuss them.). fantasy psychoanalysis skepticism concession recusal observation 4. Which of these Poems function rhetorically as an apology for poetry ? 5. Explain the unique structure of "Some People Like poetry ," carefully distinguishing between literal and figurative levels of meaning? 6. Explain how " eating poetry " is constructed around a controlling metaphor. 7. Explain how " eating poetry " contrasts two ways of enjoying poetry .

4 Does Strand indicate a preference for one or the other? 8. Do you think Wright is presenting a poetics or a mock-poetics in "The New Poem"? What things do you think people typically expect from poetry ? 9. What does O' hara seem to be saying about the formation of a poet? What kinds of people do you think become poets? Activities 1. Examine some surrealist paintings and compare their effects to the effect of " eating poetry .". 2. Read the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, and compare "The New Poem." Why do the authors of these works use anaphora?

5 Writing 1. Choose one of the Poems , and write a 1-2 page analysis of how it uses irony in order to present a complex answer to the question, What is poetry ? Choose one of the first five poets on the reading list, or choose another poet you are familiar with. Write a fictional and tongue-in-cheek "Autobiographia Literaria" for this poet. Or write a non-fictional "Autobiographia Literaria" for yourself. ---------------------------------------- -------- Lesson 2: Poems of Childhood Poems Used: Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), "In the Waiting Room".

6 Robert Hayden (1913-1980), "Those Winter Sundays". Robert Hayden, "The Whipping". Seamus Heaney (Ireland, born 1939), "Digging". Audre Lorde (1934-1992), "Hanging Fire". Theodore Roethke (1908-1963), "My Papa's Waltz". All literature confronts the effects of life-changing events. With its special affinity for raw emotion and fleeting images, poetry seems particularly well suited to convey memories of childhood. Analytical Questions 1. Summarize in a short sentence the main idea of each of these Poems . 2. Characterize the speaker in each of these Poems .

7 How old is the speaker? Can you distinguish different time periods in the poem or different ages in the speaker? 3. How does each poet convey the perceptions of a child? How does this control the setting of the poem? 4. What childhood emotions are portrayed? 5. How does each poet convey adult reflections? How does this affect the form of the poem? 6. What adult thoughts about childhood are communicated? 7. Compare yourself to the child in one or two of the Poems . What do you have in common? What not? How would you feel if you were him or her?

8 8. List the details that create an ambiguous mood in "My Papa's Waltz," and discuss two different interpretations for each detail. 9. Scan "My Papa's Waltz." What meter is used? Where does Roethke alter the dominant metrical pattern? How does the alteration at this point reflect the subject matter? 10. "My Papa's Waltz" employs a strict stanza form. List its elements. What other poem in this Lesson employs a strict stanza? List its elements. 11. Discuss the use of metaphor and assonance in "Digging." How can this poem be seen as a statement of poetics?

9 12. Describe the effect of the refrain in "Hanging Fire.". 13. Notice how Bishop establishes the sense within minute, exact details. Some of the details are relevant to the themes and action of the poem, while others may simply be part of the setting and not especially significant. Discuss whether you think the following details are thematically significant or not: "arctics and overcoats"; "the inside of a volcano"; "black, naked women"; "I read it right straight through. / I was too shy to stop"; "the War was on"; "outside, / in Worcester, Massachusetts, / were night and slush and cold.

10 ". 14. The speaker of "In the Waiting Room" confronts some essential, almost exestential questions about identity and existence. Make a list of questions young children ask their parents and a list of questions philosophers entertain;. compare these questions to the scenario represented in the poem. Activities 1. Research changes or differences in parenting practices over the past several decades or around the world today. Present your findings in class in the format you deem most suited. Consider how a larger perspective on parenting helps us to appreciate the feelings expressed in Hayden's Poems .