1. ENGLISH 102 INTRODUCTION TO POETRY

2. A Question to Get Us Started: Do you enjoy or avoid poetry? If you enjoy it, why do you enjoy it? If you avoid it, why do you avoid it? Please don’t worry: there are no wrong answers to this question. For example, I’ve answered both ways at different points in my life. I have a complicated relationship with poetry.

3. Extra Credit Poetry Reading! On the schedule, I asked people to bring a favorite poem to class with a typed paragraph about why the poem is a favorite for extra credit. – To get the extra credit you must 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.

4. Some suggestions/advice for reading poetry: 1. Read it out loud. Just like Drama is meant to be seen, POETRY is meant to be heard. 2. Pay attention to punctuation. Don't stop at the end of the line just because it's the end of a line. Try reading it different ways. 3. Familiarize yourself with new vocabulary. 4. Paraphrase the poem in your own words sentence-by- sentence if the meaning is difficult to unravel. 5. Pay attention to places that strike you as particularly meaningful or beautiful. Mark them, highlight them, and write about them. 6. Pay attention to places that seem to encapsulate meaning or significance. 7. Try to identify themes and sources of tension in the poem. Look for word choices, rhymes, images that enhance theme or conflict.

5. A Bit of Poetic History Epics: Some of the earliest poetry we have. These were often extremely long and dealt with the actions of heroes and gods. Examples: The Iliad, Odyssey, The Epic of Gilgamesh. The earliest poetry in English is Anglo-Saxon poetry. Poetry was very popular with the Anglo-Saxons (and the Vikings!) and it almost always told tales of warriors and heroic deeds. Examples: Beowulf, The Battle of Maldon. Anglo-Saxon poetry was characterized by alliteration, not rhyme. Alliteration is a much more natural poetic form for the English Language. Rhyme was imported from Europe and eventually become dominant due to the popularity of Romantic Poetry from France, Italy and Spain—all of which speak Latinate language to which rhyme comes easily. Later poetry in the Middle Ages become primarily concerned with religion: Piers Ploughman, The Divine Comedy (The Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso), and The Canterbury Tales (this last one isn’t just about religion, but it does feature heavily)

6. A Bit of Poetic History, continued The Renaissance: Poetic drama (Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe) and poetic stories (Edmund Spenser and John Milton). The sonnet form and other metered forms become dominant. Romanticism (18 th Century): poetry begins to have a stronger sense of individualism and self-expression, a fascination with nature and myth. The time of the “celebrity poet” (Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley). Modernism (early 20 th century): experimentation with new styles and subjects (Yeats, Ezra Pound, T.S.Eliot “The Wasteland”) American Poetic Movements: Harlem Renaissance (Langston Hughes), Beat Poets (Ginsberg “Howl”) and The Black Arts Movement (Gwendolyn Brooks) Newer Movements: Slam Poetry, Spoken Word, Poetry Jam

7. Let’s Get “Meta”: Poems about Poetry "Introduction to Poetry" p. 666 To whom is this poem addressed? Who is "them"? Is the poem addressed to “them” or to some other person or group? What does the speaker want? What actually happens? Where is the “turning point” in this poem? What do you think of the metaphors being used? What does all this say about poetry in general? About interpretation?

8. More Poems about Poetry Marianne Moore: "Poetry" p. 414 Archibald MacLeish: "Ars Poetica" p. 692 You all (hopefully!) read these in preparation for today. Which one was your favorite and why? Let’s take a look at each of these poems answer the following questions: What is the speaker’s point of view about poetry? What lines strike you as beautiful or interesting? In what ways are these poems similar/different? A bonus poem about poetry that wasn’t assigned: “Poetry Searches for Radiance” p. 415

9. Who or what is the “Speaker” of a Poem? The speaker in a poem is like the narrator in a short story. Some speakers are virtually indistinguishable from the poet, some are not. Speaker does NOT = poet. It is more like a mask or persona. Some speakers are fully developed characters, and others are more of a mystery and reveal themselves only through tantalizing hints. Learn more about speakers by reading the section “The Speaker in the Poem” p. 427 in your textbook.

10. "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" by Emily Dickinson p. 426 At first, the speaker in this poem seems playful or mischievous. How does the speaker come to be more complex as the poem progresses? The poem inverts commonly held ideas about fame. How? Does examining the speaker here help you as a reader to get more out of the poem?

11. "In a Station on a Metro" by Ezra Pound p. 491 First, read the poem to yourself. Make a mental list of everything that is “going on” in the poem. Think carefully. What contrasts are created by these two lines? What associations do you have with the images and the settings? This poem is remarkable for its brevity. How do you think that brevity contributes to the effect of the poem?

12. “Red Wheelbarrow” (490) and “An Apology” (494): Referential Poetry Let’s read both poems and then discuss 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”!

13. Essay 1: Reminders Remember: Essay 1 is more of a Project than a traditional Essay 2 Parts: 1 part creative, 1 part analytical Now that you all have had awhile to look at the prompt, do you have any questions? When in doubt: RE-READ THE PROMPT and then email me.

14. Due Next Class: 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