20 TH CENTURY POETRY English & U.S. History Paper 11 th Grade 2011

MAYA ANGELOU

“One of America's most beloved poets, increasingly recognized as one of the greatest English-language poets of the 20th century.” Historical Connections: Poetry, Loss ELIZABETH BISHOP POEMS

“Brooks's earliest poetry reflected the lives of poor urban blacks. Critics acclaimed her writing as city-folk poetry. The New York Times Book Review hailed Brooks for her revelations of the African experience in the United States, particularly her sensitive portraits of black women.” Historical Connections: African American experience GWENDOLYN BROOKS SELECTED POEMS

“In these brilliant poems, Rita Dove treats us to a panoply of human endeavor, shot through with the electrifying jazz of her lyric elegance. From the opening sequence, "Cameos", to the civil rights struggle of the final sequence, she explores the intersection of individual fate and history.” Historical Connections: Civil Rights era RITA DOVE ON THE BUS WITH ROSA PARKS: POEMS

“It contains one hundred of Cummings’s wittiest and most profound poems, harvested from thirty-five of the most radically creative years in contemporary American poetry. These poems exhibit all the extraordinary lyricism, playfulness, technical ingenuity, and compassion for which Cummings is famous. They demonstrate beautifully his extrapolations from traditional poetic structures and his departures from them, as well as the unique synthesis of lavish imagery and acute artistic precision that has won him the adulation and respect of critics and poetry lovers everywhere.” Historical Connections: Treatment of foreigners e.e. cummings 100 SELECTED POEMS

“Harjo, who belongs to the Muscogee Nation, includes a long introduction, as well as extensive notes on the origins of and elements in each poem, and contends that poetry is not only a way to save the sanity of those who have been oppressed to the point of madness, but that it is a tool to rebuild communities and, ultimately, change the world: "All acts of kindness are lights in the war for justice." Alive with compassion, pain and love, this book is unquestionably an act of kindness.” Historical Connections: Modern Native American experience JOY HARJO HOW WE BECAME HUMAN

“As the chief figure among the Beats, Ginsberg changed the course of American poetry, liberating it from closed academic forms with the creation of open, vocal, spontaneous, and energetic postmodern verse. Ginsberg's raw tones and attitudes of spiritual liberation also helped catalyze a psychological revolution that has become a permanent part of our cultural heritage, profoundly influencing not only poetry, popular song, and speech but also our view of the world.” Historical Connections: Beat Generation, 1960s ALLEN GINSBERG COLLECTED POEMS:

“When her poems first emerged from the Black Rights Movement in the late 1960s, she immediately became a celebrated and controversial poet of the era. Written in one of the most commanding voices to grace America's political and poetic landscape at the end of the twentieth century, Nikki Giovanni's poems embody the fearless passion and spirited wit for which she is beloved and revered. ” Historical Connections: Racism, African American experience NIKKI GIOVANNI BLACK FEELING, BLACK TALK, BLACK JUDGEMENT

“This new collection of Sandburg’s finest and most representative poetry draws on all of his previous volumes and includes four unpublished poems about Lincoln.” Historical Connections: Voice of American people for social issues CARL SANDBURG SELECTED POEMS

“A collection of haiku that celebrates the gifts of life and mourns the deaths of revered African American figures in the worlds of music, literature, art, and activism. ” Historical Connections: African American experience SONIA SANCHEZ MORNING HAIKU