April = Poetry Month

Favorite Poem Video ~ Langston Hughes  We will hear another video from “My favorite poem” – I am showing these to illustrate the transcendent (meaning to extend beyond the ordinary limits) of poetry.  These videos present personal relationship with poems; I hope that you, too, find yourselves making a personal relationship with a poem.

Teacher with no voice (otherwise known as: Written Instruction & Student Reading!) THE PLAN:  Please put your name on the paper and make notes in the column. We will turn these in.  As a class, we will start with the first two pages only (six poems).  After that, you will move into small groups to work on the third page.  If you are called upon, please participate with enthusiasm!

Edward Estlin Cummings Popularly known as E. E. Cummings, he was a Modernist poet who experimented radically with form, punctuation, spelling and syntax, abandoning traditional techniques and structures to create a new, highly idiosyncratic means of poetic expression.

Imagism in poetry is often considered a “kickstart” to The Modernist Movement. It has been described as “a succession of creative moments” rather than any continuous or sustained period of development.” (Pratt, 1963).

Grasshopper by E.E Cummings  What is happening while you read it?  How might you read it aloud?  Why do you think the poem is written the way it is?

“Grasshopper” interpreted with blatant visual – not how it was printed.

William Carlos Williams Known as an imagist and a modernist, he was famous for his innovations and experimentations. (*Fun side note: he was also a doctor, and he claimed writing was harder!)

Read “The Red Wheelbarrow” by Williams  This is his most famous poem, and it is representative of his style as well as his emotional identification with subjects (often objects.)  Note his use of the line, his punctuation (or mostly lack thereof), and the seeming simplicity of his subject.

Ogden Nash When he died in 1971, The New York Times called that his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best- known producer of humorous poetry.”

Concrete Poems (sometimes called shape poems) are related to Imagist poems, and are defined by an arranging of the words to convey the intended effect of the poem.

Epigram: An epigram is a short, pithy saying, usually in verse, often with a quick, satirical twist at the end. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oscar Wilde’s work was famously “studded” with epigrams: I can resist everything except temptation. Reflections on Ice-Breaking By Ogden Nash Candy Is Dandy But liquor Is quicker.

Enjoy “Celery” and “Reflections,” by Nash  Nash was full of pithy phrases; he makes these look easy, but this is deceptive – you’ll see when you try!  Note how much funnier the second poem is when accompanied by the title; is the title the punch line?

I’m not going to talk about Nemerov, except to say that he is a little later-in- the game and perhaps not as well- known, but he claims this “Found Poem” which is lovely. Read and enjoy.  Read the poem by Nemerov.  What is a Found Poem?

A FOUND POEM is a poem consisting of words found in a non-poetic context and usually broken/altered into lines that convey a verse rhythm.

Found Poem from War Stories, Howard Nemerov, after information received in The St. Louis Post-Dispatch,

In small groups (+/- 3-4)  Read the remaining three poems (by cummings & Nash, as well poet Dorothy Parker).  In your groups, follow the directions. Consider any thematic relationship between the poems and Gatsby.  Be prepared to share. (the backside of this page is for people who want more; there is no assigned work associated with these poems)

. Please turn in today, or bring tomorrow.  Like your Gatsby study- packet, this is graded on diligence and effort. It is considered “formative” participation.