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Born on February 2, 1923, James Dickey was born in Buckhead,
Georgia.
Became the quarterback at Clemson, but left college in order to join
the Air Force.
At the age of thirty-three, Dickey moved to New York, where he was
hired to write advertising copy at the prominent McCann-Ericson
agency.
In 1960, Dickey's first collection, Into the Stone, and Other Poems, was
published, and he soon abandoned his career to devote his life to
poetry.
Known for his ambitious experimentation with language and syntax.
Many of Dickey's poems also address humanity and violence
About a girl that Dickey used to know as
a child.
 Went to the dance with her and is
reflecting back on the memory.
 The girl, Jane Macnaughton, committed
suicide by jumping out of a hotel
window.


Images!!!!!
› The images drive this poem.
› Images of both the past and present.
› Vivid images including, “running in my mind”
and “Prancing foolishly as bears”
› Each of the leaps in the poem represent a
different aspect of life.
The voice gives us insight into the
thoughts of the poet.
 A shift occurs at the beginning of the
forth stanza, from an amazement of the
first leap to horror of the second.
 Phrases like “Slow footed yokels” show
the admiration he once had for her. He
was in awe because she did what the
boys wouldn’t.

The leap is a symbol, but each leap
represents something different.
 The first leap shows a since of
accomplishment, while the second leap
shows how she is over come by the
pressures of life.
 The narrator wants to only remember her
by the first leap.

The leap is extremely ironic because they
are so different but both can represent
the same thing.
 The first leap expresses freedom by
showing she is capable of doing what no
one else can do, the second leap shows
her freedom to not be alive.

Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in
Ottawa and grew up in northern Ontario,
Quebec, and Toronto.
 She has published more than fifty
volumes of poetry, children’s literature,
fiction, and non-fiction.
 Also helped invent the “Long Pen”

The speaker is one of the three Sirens of
Greek mythology.
 The songs were so tempting to passers
that anyone who heard them were
attracted to the island.

Lures the sailor in by making him feel
special, “Only you”
 However once he is hooked she
exclaims that it works every time.
 She claims that she will reveal the song
to him, but the “boring” song she sings is
the bait.

Atwood uses humor in the syntax she
chooses.
 “bird suit”, “squatting”, “feathery
maniacs”, and “looking picturesque and
mythical”
 These words are humorous but also are
deceptive
 Some people argue that this poem is
meant to be funny while others claim it is
about women’s control over men.

Men are too easy,
Men are too light.
sing one little song
And not a one of them won’t bite
Except for this one man, a cold heart named Zac.
He never looked over, he never looks back
He’s the bane of my existence
In spite of my persistence
Never fear though,
For he’s only one man
I can catch all the rest
Like Brian McCann
Soto was born in 1952 to parents of
Mexican heritage.
 He worked as a manual laborer until he
graduated from high school.
 Soto has written a number of poems and
three novels.
 His works are known for their focus on the
ordinary life.
 He lives in Northern California.

Like the cat he scratches the flea
camping in fur. -Simile
 Unlike the cat he delights in water up to
his ears. – Contrast.
 He has befriended the kingdom of
animals: He once ran with wolves but
admittedly not very far, He stepped two
paces into a cave and peeked at the
bear. - Hyperbole

 Soto
uses many rhetorical
techniques but in focusing on
those we might lose the true
meaning behind his literary
expression.
Dogs.

Soto focuses on his dog, Nelson. But, his
adoration for his pet is easily
personalized when the reader realizes
his/her affection for a four-legged friend.

“Nelson is a companion, this much we
know”

“If you call him, he will drop his tennis
ball, Look up, and come running, This
muddy friend for life. When you bring
your nose To his nose for something like a
kiss, You can find yourself in his eyes.”

“But again, he is happiness.”
Soto is a little bit artsy,
Undoubtedly a Californian man
But he touches on some good things
And it’ll be a sad day when he kicks the can.
With this dog thing, especially, I could relate
Huckleberry Finn, the Eighteenth, that’s my best mate
He is a little bit more manly than Nelson is described
But Nelson can’t talk, maybe he lost a bribe.
Huck is a pretty swell dog
Just the other day he brought his first skeleton in
It’s like he just got his degree, in awesomeness.
He is so close to me, he about feels like kin.
Yep, look at all this prideful ambling,
Soto hit on something, I’m just rambling
I guess dogs really do mean that much to us
If I ever pull a Case I think I’d want a dog on my tour bus.