Today, you need Notebook, open to reading journal Writing utensil Poetry packet While Im stamping homework, discuss: Whatd you write about in your journals? From the Question Box Questions for Discussion: I am Offering this Poem, J.S. Baca
Text-Based Questions The phrase I love you is repeated after each stanza; how does that affect you as a reader? What figurative comparisons (simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole) are used? What is their impact? How can you describe the meter? How do you feel about it? What message is communicated to the reader? Critical Literary Theory Look at this text through a gender studies lens; how does it impact your reading? Try an eco-critical lens; what else can you pick up on? What about a Marxist lens? Do not go gentle into that good
night, Listen to Dylan Thomas read his poem here. Questions for Discussion: Do not go gentle into that good night, D. Thomas Pick two to discuss: Text-Based Questions Label each line so you can identify the rhyme scheme. What effect does this pattern have on you as a reader? Two phrases are repeated throughout this poem; why are they significant? What figurative comparisons (simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole) are used? What is their impact?
What message (theme) is communicated to the reader? Critical Literary Theory Dylan Thomas father was battling cancer at the time he wrote this poem; how does this information help you to historicize it? Villanelles Highly structured 19 lines 5 tercets (three line stanzas) 1 quatrain (four-line stanza) Lines 1 and 3 of first tercet are repeated Alternate in last lines of next four stanzas
Become two concluding lines in final stanza Interesting Facts: Villanelles didnt start out as rigid poetry with fixed rules! Started in France, but didnt become popular until English poets claimed the structure and made it their own. Source: Poetic Form: Villanelle Sonnets Italian sonetto = a little sound or song," Traditional Sonnets:
14 lines Iambic pentameter Has a rhyme scheme Thematic organization Poets dont craft sonnets on accident. Two Original Sonnet Forms Petrarchan Shakespearean
Italian; named after poet Petrarch Divided into two stanzas English; named after Shakespeare Divided into three stanzas octave (the first eight lines) presents an argument, observation, question, or some other answerable charge turn or volta between lines 8 and 9
indicates shift in focus sestet (the final six lines) counterargument, clarification, or whatever answer the octave demands Rhyme Scheme: abba, abba, cdecde or cdcdcd three quatrains (first twelve lines) turn/shift between lines 12 and 13 rhyming couplet (last two lines)
concludes poem; can refute, amplify, or describe an epiphany Rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg Source: Poetic Form: Sonnet Youve already read a sonnet! The very first poem we read together (The Windhover by Gerard Manley Hopkins) is a sonnet.
Take a look at it; is it Petrarchan? Shakespearean? Its NEITHER. Many modern poets have played with sonnets and made the form their own. If whatever youre reading has fourteen lines, has some rhyming, and a distinguishable meter, its likely a sonnet. (Just so you know.) BalladsA History European folk tradition
Shared orallypassed down through many generations Topics: religious themes, love, tragedy, domestic crimes, and sometimes (*gasp*) even political propaganda Plot Driven (characters working towards some dramatic end) Descriptivesubscribe to Show, dont tell philosophy Construction: quatrain (4 line) stanzas rhyme scheme, either: the second and fourth lines of each stanza all alternating lines. Writers start printing ballads in 15th Century (1400s) Some Renaissance poets started selling their ballads; not
respected by many because writers were of the lower class. Ballads in Modern Day Poems that tell a story; may be sung and/or set to music. Lets look at/listen to an example! Little Margaret, traditional, performed by the Carolina Chocolate Drops Questions for Discussion: Little Margaret, performed by the Carolina Chocolate Drops Text-Based Questions
Summarize the plot. Who are the characters? What happens to them? What do you notice about the sounds at the end of the second and fourth lines of each stanza? In the third stanza, Little Margaret appeared all dressed in white. What does that mean? What comparisons can you make between this text and others youve read? Do you see any similarities? Critical Literary Theory Analyze this text using a Marxist lens. How could this ballad be a commentary on social class? Try using a gender studies lens; how do social constructions of gender impact your reading?
Homework: ALL of your Readers Response/Journal Entries are due TOMORROW (FRIDAY). If you didnt complete this as we all went along, plan to have some caffeine tonight as you strive to complete this weighty endeavor. We did warn you. Are you already done? Feel free to hand them in before you go.