1. Extra Credit Poetry Reading! For extra credit, I asked the class to bring a favorite poem to class with a typed paragraph about why the poem is a favorite. – Read the poem you brought (or part of it if it is excessively long). – You must also briefly share your reasons for choosing it with the class. – Make sure to turn in your paragraph to me by the end of class to get the extra credit you have earned.

2. Reading Due Today: Textbook Reading: “The Speaker in the Poem” p. 427 and “Myth” p.610 Lit Reading: 6 Poems (Pick only 3 for Reading Response!) Langston Hughes “Negro” p. 429 and “Harlem” p. 506 Percy Bysshe Shelley “Ozymandias” p. 447 William Butler Yeates “The Second Coming” p. 717 Robert Frost “Fire and Ice” p. 436 Samuel Taylor Coleridge “Kubla Khan” p. 664-665

3. Myth and Allegory: As you know from Monday, Symbols are elements in stories that have a more complex range of meaning than their literal meaning. Related to this, but not exactly the same thing, authors also use allegory and references to myth in order to give their works figurative meaning. An allegory is a story where the most important characters and events represent abstract concepts. Animal Farm, for example, is an allegory about Communism. Myths are stories that contain the ideas by which a culture constructs meaning and significance. Myths are not the same as fairy tales, and calling something a myth doesn't automatically mean that it is "fake“ Referring to myth in a story can give depth and a sense of significance and history to a story. Referring to myth can also give the reader symbolic hints to what is going on in the story in a subtle way, without being obvious

4. Mythological Allusions in Literature An “allusion” is a reference in literature to another story. Mythological allusions might take the form of: – A character with a similar name to a mythological character. – Events in a story that closely parallel events from a myth. References from the Bible and Greek/Roman myth are quite common in Western Literature, and being familiar with the basics of these mythological systems will make reading literature easier for you. If you are not familiar with them, they can be easily looked up.

5. History and Myth in Poetry: Langston Hughes One of the foremost members of the Harlem Renaissance Great American poet and early innovator of Jazz Poetry—a forerunner of modern Slam and Jam Poetry

6. History and Myth in Poetry: Langston Hughes “Negro” (1926) Who is the speaker here? Is the speaker intimate and personal or larger than life? What do you make of the fact that this speaker embodies or stands in for an entire group of people? What images caught your attention as you read this poem? “Harlem” (1951) What is the “dream deferred”? How many metaphors does this poem contain? What makes the last line so powerful? Is it more powerful because the reader must infer the final metaphor themselves? Look at the time gap between these two poems. Does this change your understanding of the frustration and anguish simmering under the surface of the second poem?

7. Catch Up From Last Class: Referential Poetry “Red Wheelbarrow” (490) and “An Apology” (494) Let’s read both poems and then discuss their connection to each other. Other examples of this: Christopher Marlowe “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” p. 693 and Walter Raleigh “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd” p. 699 We will be reading these next week for our week on the Theme “Love in Literature”!

8. References in Poetry, Art, and Pop Culture Just like poems can refer to other poetry, other forms of literature (novels, essays, drama) and pop culture (movies, song lyrics, etc) can refer to poetry as well. For example, Xanadu the crazy futuristic fantasy film from the 80s (made into a music in 2007!), was inspired by the poem “Kubla Kahn” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Coleridge was inspired to write his poem after reading about the real Xanadu, the summer palace of Kublai Khan, the Mongol ruler and emperor of China. This poem was also “inspired by” the massive amount of opiates Coleridge was high on at the time. In fact, this poem was written in one sitting when he woke up from an opium dream and was never finished because someone came to the door and he forgot everything after answering.

9. Watch Brian Cranston preform “Ozymandias” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3dpghfRBHE

10. "Ozymandias" by Percy Shelley p. 501 A couple of difficult words before we start: – Trunkless: In this case, a body lacking a torso – Visage: Face How does the author create irony here? What specific words does he use that set up the contrast between those "two levels of experience"? Be sure to tell me how the words you choose answer this question. Why did the original builder of the statue want people to "despair"? Why might people still "despair" when they see the statue, but for different reasons?

11. Next Week: Introducing Themes Our first theme? ~~~L~O~V~E~~~ Tuesday, March 11 Topics: Themes Across Genres: Love. Traditional Love Poems. Homework Due: Read introduction “Poems About Love” p. 637. Read 5 poems and choose 3 to do Read and Respond: EB Browning’s “How Do I Love Thee?” p. 638 Shakespeare’s “Let me not to the marriage of true minds” p. 702 Pablo Neruda’s “Tonight I Can Write” p. 695 Christopher Marlowe “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” p. 693 Walter Raleigh “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd” p. 699