Read-Me-a-Poem Project
For this project, which will ultimately take the form of a presentation, you’ll put your understanding of
Pinsky’s book—and more important, the concepts he delineates—into practice by giving the class a “tour”
of a poem’s craft.
Project Goals
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To learn about prosody (the study of metrical structure) and other technical features of poems that
contribute to the poem’s “music.”
To be able to use those concepts by studying and talking about a poem.
To practice reading a poem out loud in front of a larger group.
What the Project Involves
In this packet you’ll be presented with a list of poems to choose from. I’ve assembled these so that
you’ll have a lot to think and talk about with regard to its musical and rhythmic qualities. You may choose
some other poem if you like, but you have to get it approved by me first. Regarding the list, no more than
three people can choose the same poem, so starting right now I’ll be keeping track of your choices on a
first-come, first-serve basis. That doesn’t mean rush, necessarily—but don’t wait until the last minute, either.
You must choose a poem no later than 2/21.
Once you’ve selected your poem, start studying it! Review Pinsky’s approach to doing so if you need to—
the idea is to help us see how the poem does its work. Part of this will naturally include you thinking about
what the poem is saying literally—or figuratively. Work with the list of concepts that you’ve generated
(which you’ll find repeated in this packet).
The actual presentations will be during class on 3/2, 3/7 and 3/9. As you make your selections I’ll put
together a presentation schedule so you’ll know what day is yours.
The Presentation Requirements
While it’s up to you to come up with a method for organizing and delivering the material, here’s what the
presentation should include:
 You actually reading the piece to us.
 Some commentary on what the poem is about.
 A “tour” of what we should all notice in the poem, with regard to its rhythmic/musical qualities.
You may, as Pinsky does, also comment on how those qualities mesh with the content of the poem.
Evaluation Criteria
The project is worth 170 points, or %17 of your course grade. As I watch the presentations, in my mind
you’ll start out with a “C.” The extent to which you go above or below that depends on the following:
 How you read the poem—we’ll work in class on how you pronounce the words, project your voice
and pace the reading;
 How organized your “tour” is. Is it a random rambling through concepts, or do you have a point
to make in the end, and an organized method for helping us understand what you see and hear?
 To what extent and how accurately you’re able to use terminology from “the list.” I’m not
expecting you to cover every concept—some may not be appropriate for a given poem. But
avoiding the jargon altogether shows me you’re not comfortable using it.
 How clearly we can follow along with your “tour”—handouts or other visuals (such as
PowerPoint, if you wish) can help in this regard.
 How you use time. The presentations should be about 8-10 minutes long.
The List of Terms
Here’s the jargon we’ve been discussing while reading Pinsky. I’ve put gridlines around some of the terms
that seem related in some fashion:
accent/stress
duration
pitch
acoustic prominence
sibilant sound
dental sound
nasal sound
syntax
caesura
end-stop
enjambment/run-on
stanza
foot
iamb/iambic
trochee/trochaic
anapest/anapestic
foot/feet
blank verse
diction
rhyme
end-rhyme
internal rhyme
slant rhyme
consonance
assonance
rhyme scheme
Germanic root
Latinate root
alliteration
aerminal alliteration
The List of Poems
Here are the titles of the poems, followed by the actual text of all of the choices.
 Sharon Olds, “Sex without Love”
 Charles Simic, “Crazy about Her Shrimp”
 Yusef Komunyakaa, “Facing It”
 Naomi Shihab Nye, “The Traveling Onion”
 James A. Emanuel, “Fishermen”
 James Wright, “A Blessing”
 Duane Niatum’s “Street Kid”
 Henry Taylor, “Barbed Wire”
 Marge Piercy, “Barbie Doll”
 May Swenson, “Question”