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.