EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY

Your final exam counts 20% of your final grade. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could add 5 points to the final essay grade?!  All it takes is your time and attention. Attend a performance of Middle Georgia State's production of The Glass Menagerie this week and bring in proof of your attendance (this is given out after every show).  The performance is FREE for all MGSC students. Here are the specs:

Poetry for Discussion

Acquainted with the Night

By Robert Frost 1874–1963 Robert Frost

I have been one acquainted with the night.

I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.

I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.

I have passed by the watchman on his beat

And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet

When far away an interrupted cry

Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;

And further still at an unearthly height,

One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. 

I have been one acquainted with the night.

The Journey by Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice--

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

"Mend my life!"

each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do--

determined to save

the only life you could save

The Significance of Titles in Poetry

IN poetry, as well as prose and drama, titles are of great significance; in some cases the title itself becomes the first line of the poem. In other instances, if there is no title to a poem (also common for poets), the editor/publisher uses the first line of the poem as the title.

In the Robert Frost poem, “Out, out—“ the title is taken from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In his speech, Macbeth considers first the untimely death of his wife, then the brevity of human life and whether life itself has meaning. By using the title “Out, out—“ Robert Frost expects his reader/audience to:

• make the connection to the speech in Macbeth
• see a similarity in the situation he presents in the poem
• contemplate the same eternal aspects of death

It is important then to familiarize oneself with titles and question whether there are underlying meanings or allusions* to fully understand the poem. (*allusion – a reference to the past, whether historical, literary or religious)

From Shakespeare:

Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

"What are the topics going to be like on the final essay?"

Sample:

A dramatic monologue is a poem whose speaker is NOT the poet, but a persona created by the poet. In a dramatic monologue, the speaker addresses a silent audience and in his/her speech reveals the dramatic situation and his/her own character. Explain "Hazel tells Laverne" and "My Last Duchess" as dramatic monologues. What words, phrases, lines from each poem indicate the situation and reveal the speaker's character.

Poems for Discussion the week of 4/21

The  Dramatic Monologue - an emphasis on the SPEAKER of the poem
*A dramatic monologue is a poem in which the speaker addresses an unseen or silent audience, imagined to be present; in so doing, the speaker reveals the situation and some aspect of his/her own character/personality.

• 608 - "Hazel Tells Laverne"
•  please read the student essay on this poem, pages 609-610
• 702 - "My Last Duchess"

Irony in poetry:

• 685 - "Richard Cory"
• look for symbolism in this poem
• 691 - "Surprise"
• 554 - "Oh, oh"

Carpe diem [seize the day] in theme and importance of diction that creates tone:

• 612 - "To the Virgins to Make Much of Time"
• 888 - "Nothing Gold Can Stay"
•        - "Ozymandiaz"

Similarity and difference in tone and theme:

• 689 - "A Man Said to the Universe"
• 885 - "Out, Out--"
• be aware of the source of the title

Final Exam Dates - FYI !!!

English Comp. II - 08 - Exam is Wednesday, May 7, 2014 - 1:00 - 3:00


English Comp. II - 96 - Jones Co. - Wednesday, May 7, 2014 - 8 a.m.




Last full day of class is Monday, May 5


Any/all of the poems we discuss in the last two weeks are subject to being addressed in the final.


Topics will NOT be given in advance, but all possible topics are in the book.  In addition to the 2-3 questions under "Considerations For Critical Thinking and Writing" that follow each poem, read further down to "Connection to Another Selection" (see the example on p. 703) to contemplate which topics would be appropriate for a final essay topic.


Whichever topics are chosen, you will need to find specific support from the poem's diction and syntax. Your essay will need to use supporting language from the poem, followed with your explanation of words/phrases/lines.


PLEASE read some of the student essays that analyze poetry to have an idea of what is expected. (Examples: pg. 609; 647; 669; 764; 789; 813; 861) NOT all of these are long and involved, but each uses specifics to support a thesis based on the poem(s).

Introduction to Poetry

Introductory Powerpoint:

Please note -- there is a powerpoint which we may or may not watch in its entirety. It's filled with wit (ha!) and funny cat pictures (and who doesn't love a funny cat photo). Sadly, I was unable to email it to you because D2L does not allow a file this large to be emailed. If you would like a copy, please let me know and I will email it to you, individually. The powerpoint is intended to introduce poetry in a less formal manner than these standard notes, and also to remind you that poetry, like any art form, is meant to be appreciated, as well as studied.

Since we may not have "world enough and time" [as Andrew Marvel penned] for the above powerpoint introduction, our study will begin HERE:

Needed to understand poetry: PATIENCE - ATTENTION - a GOOD DICTIONARY, AND
 an awareness that the poet loves language and what it is capable of saying and not saying. Poets draw upon words the same way a painter uses composition, value and color to create a masterpiece.

Please read the introduction that begins on 548 and the two poems WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE COMMENTARY:
p. 550: "The Secretary Chant"
p. 551 - "Those Winter Sundays"
pgs. 560-562 "The Fish" - term: speaker, bottom of page 562

*Strategies for READING poetry, pg. 568-569 (don't worry about #11)

*Strategies for WRITING about poetry, pg. 592-593: 1-16; 18

TERMS--note that some include examples of poems:

figurative language
literal language
connotation
denotation
685-686: irony - "Richard Cory"
symbolism
683 - allegory - "The Haunted Palace"
605 - tone
metaphor
simile
personification
601 - diction
605 - syntax
636 - image
     Terms connected with the SOUND in poems:
           rhyme
           rhythm
           onomatopoeia
           assonance
           consonance
           alliteration

We will be reading a selection of poems. The final essay will be based on our study of the specific poems we read. PLEASE!! Take advantage of the sample student papers in the book to get an idea of how you can develop an essay upon a poem. 

You will NOT be given the topic of the final in advance. To have an idea of what to expect, examine the "Writing Topic Suggestions" that follow some of the poems. You will note that in most cases you are asked to compare and contrast specific aspects of two poems.