March 22 - Ekphrasis Agenda: Poetry groups Intro to Ekphrasis Analyzing “Hunters in the Snow” HW: Read all poems (in ekphrasis packet) – choose one OTHER poem that you’re drawn to (for any reason) and write: Why It appeals to you Answers to all of the “Questions to Consider” Prepare to discuss both poems in class tomorrow

Gather with your poem group Read the poem once to yourself (without stopping) Read your poem aloud in your group Examine the title – what does/might it mean? Paraphrase the poem in the margin Visualize the poem – draw a rough sketch of the image or images that the poem reflects Prepare to the present your poem (and sketch) to the class: take note of punctuation, shifts, and rhyme

Ekphrasis Each poem you have been assigned is an example of ekphrasis: a verbal or written description of a specific work of art Ekphrasis describes a painting or a sculpture, or it could even take into consideration one section or scene of that work of art To study ekphrasis is really to examine how poetry can verbally express physical artwork, or how poets can hold an imaginary conversation with a work of art or with the artist him/herself The poet can approach the work of art in several ways: he or she might address the image directly, or make the people or animals in the painting speak. They might speak of it interpretively, or might meditate upon the moment of viewing it or seeing it for the first time.

“Hunters in the Snow” Look at the following painting by Pieter Brugel the Elder (1565) Fill in the “viewing guide” Begin by yourself Discuss with your group Continue to add details as we discuss as a class

Return to the Poem Reread the poem The knowledge that this is an ekphrastic poem should lend a new understanding Answer the “questions to consider” in the packet

In your group Share your answers to the “questions”: Approach: What does the poet take into consideration first? What features of the painting does the poet dwell and what does he ignore? What is the poet’s most central preoccupation? What is the bottom line?   Guided Viewing: How does the poet guide your eyes across the painting? Top-to-bottom (vice versa), diagonally? Drawing attention to coded clues in the painting? Description: Could you reconstruct the painting from the poem without actually seeing it? Interpretation: Is the poem simply an objective verbal description of the work of art, or does the poet make conclusions about what the painting means? Do you agree with the meaning the poet "reads" in the painting, or do you think the writer misreads it or warps the scene depicted to personal ends? Philosophy of Art: How does the poem show us the significance of art? Does the poem speak to the process of how art is made? What are some differences between painting and poetry? Lyric versus Narrative: Does the poem retell a story the writer believes is depicted in the painting, or does it focus solely on distilling the imagery absent any discernable story?