ENGLISH POETRY
Week 1-2
FREEWRITE
What do you already know about English poetry?
 What sorts of themes do you associate with that
term?
 Can you name any English poets?

BRAINSTORMING


Shakespeare
Edgar Allan Poe – dark, gothic Romanticist











Trochees, throchaic octameter
Frost, Dickinson, Mr. and Mrs. Browning
Rhyme scheme – sound the same
Riddle poems
Free Verse – Unrhymed Iambic Pentameter
Symbolism – where one thing stands for another
Ballad – poem, lovey dovey, sad
Epic – narrative poem, heroes, Odyssey, Beowulf
Personification – inanimate objects have human
characteristics
metaphor/simile – Comparing things, Similes use “like” or
“as” – He was a bear! vs. He was like a bear!
C.W.
ENGLISH POETRY
As the country that spawned our language, it
would be nice to have a foundational
understanding of the people that have put it to
its best use: the poets.
 These are names I can personally guarantee you
will hear, not only in your careers as students of
language, but as consumers of culture, both popand American.

ROUGH OUTLINE

Elizabethan

Metaphysical

John Donne




Satire


Victorian and after
Spenser
Shakespeare



Swift
Romantic
Wordsworth
 Coleridge
 Shelley’s
“Ozymandias”



Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Browning & Browning
Carroll
Kipling, IF
Modernism
T.S. Eliot – “Prufrock”,
“Wasteland”
 EP

IN ADDITION TO PLAYS…
Shakespeare was a master of the courtly sonnet.
 What’s a sonnet, you ask?

WELCOME!
Please take your seat
and title a new
heading in your notes
The Shakespearean
Sonnet
THE SHAKESPEAREAN SONNET - #1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
From fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauty’s rose might never die.
But as the riper should by time decease,
His tender heir might bear his memory:
But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes,
Feed'st thy light’s flame with self-substantial fuel,
Making a famine where abundance lies,
Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.
Thou that art now the world’s fresh ornament
And only herald to the gaudy spring,
Within thine own bud buriest thy content
And, tender churl, mak'st waste in niggarding.
Pity the world, or else this glutton be,
To eat the world’s due, by the grave and thee.
REFLECT:

1 minute: What jumped out at you?
What do you remember?
 What did you feel?

Any personal connections, emotions, or beliefs
that influenced your reaction? Memories?
 What specific words, phrases or ideas elicit these
feelings?
 Now let’s notice some specific mechanics about
this type of poem…

PARAPHRASING
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
pretty people should have more babies
that way beauty can live forever
over time even the beautiful will die
so children can carry on their beauty
But you, are obsessed with yourself
you’re a narcissist
you have the ability but aren’t using it
you’re only hurting yourself
You are currently the most beautiful
And only hint at the ugly future
You’re not concerned about the beauty of the future
You’re hoarding the beauty
Take pity on the world and share your beauty
Otherwise you will eat it up as you age
THE SHAKESPEAREAN SONNET - #1
a
From fairest creatures we desire increase,
b
That thereby beauty’s rose might never die.
a
But as the riper should by time decease,
b
His tender heir might bear his memory:
b
But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes,
Feed'st thy light’s flame with self-substantial fuel, c
b
Making a famine where abundance lies,
c
Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.
d
Thou that art now the world’s fresh ornament
e
And only herald to the gaudy spring,
Within thine own bud buriest thy content
d
And, tender churl, mak'st waste in niggarding.
e
Pity the world, or else this glutton be,
f
To eat the world’s due, by the grave and thee.
f
QUATRAINS AND COUPLETS
Quatrain – a distinct segment of a
stanza or poem that contains
FOUR (quatro) lines
Couplet - a distinct segment of a
stanza or poem that contains
TWO (a couple of) lines
THE SONNET-BALLAD
BY GWENDOLYN BROOKS
From fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauty’s rose might never die.
But as the riper should by time decease,
His tender heir might bear his memory:
But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes,
Feed'st thy light’s flame with self-substantial fuel,
Making a famine where abundance lies,
Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.
Thou that art now the world’s fresh ornament
And only herald to the gaudy spring,
Within thine own bud buriest thy content
And, tender churl, mak'st waste in niggarding.
Pity the world, or else this glutton be,
To eat the world’s due, by the grave and thee.
a
b
a
b
b
c
b
c
d
e
d
e
a
a
Q1
Q2
Q3
C
METER
What do
we notice?
WRITING A QUATRAIN

Start by writing the four lines of stuff you want to say in
un-metered sentences.
EX: Music 1) listening 2) playing guitar 3) dancing
1)
2)
3)
Music makes me feel great when I listen to it. I can listen
to music all day and not get bored. It is like a soundtrack
to my life. My life is like a music video!
Making music on my guitar is such a joy! Whatever is in
my head or heart can be expressed through chords and
melodies. Bands playing their own songs can be magical.
Letting the music affect your body can be wonderful!
Dancing alone or with friends is always great. It connects
you to the music you listen to.
FINDING THE STRESS
u
/
u
/ u
/ u /
u /
Your Mother has the best in mind for you.
u
/
u/
/
Your big bright smile
u
/
u /
u / u /
u
/
You would not be here if your mom had gone.
YOUR SONNETS

Please take the next ten minutes to compile your
quatrains onto the handout from last week.
MULTIPLE CHOICE PRACTICE
Take
the whole period to work
on this packet.
Circle
or underline any terms
you don’t know.
Finish
for homework.
NON-SHAKESPEAREAN SONNETS
For each
1. Count the lines. Are there quatrains? couplets?
2. write out the rhyme scheme in letters after each
line.
3. Count the beats in each line and find the
rhythm
HELLO!
Please take your seat and take out your copy of
the John Donne poem passed out yesterday.
 After a second read, what differences can you
articulate between this poem and Shakespeare’s
sonnets?

DONNE VS. SHAKESPEARE

Metaphysical - Highly intellectual poetry often
focusing on a dramatic event, such as damnation,
salvation, death, or love. Although such poetry
can be highly emotional, it is often more
argumentative in nature
ARGUING FOR DONNE
Choose one of the listed perspectives. Which is
true of the speaker and audience?
 Make your case in a few paragraphs.


What key words or phrases let you know who is
speaking and to what purpose?
WELCOME!
 Please
finish your sonnets and put them
all on the handout.
 If
no one has written the couplet at the
end, the two lines that summarize, work
together as a group to finish it.
 Then,
in your notes, title a new heading
“English Romanticism”
ROMANTICISM =/= LOVEY DOVEY
ROMANTICISM VS _____________
In America…


In England…
Puritanism

People tired of rules,
religion, society


Enlightenment
18th century (1700’s)
characterized by
science and reason
Things were being
labeled and
categorized, including
poeple.
ROMANTICISM
 The
Romantic era was characterized by a
movement away from societal norms, and an
inward focus on the self as part of a larger
system.
Freedom
Ideals/Imagination/Intuition
Rejection of Rules
Emotion & Escape
ROMANTICISM
 William




Wordsworth
Published Lyrical Ballads in 1798 with
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Defined what Romanticism was
Many examples in this tradition
Wordsworth described poetry as "the
spontaneous overflow of powerful
emotions recollected in tranquility: it
takes its origin from emotion recollected
in tranquility."
HELLO!

Please take out your copies of Wordsworth’s “I
Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” and be prepared to
discuss when the bell rings.
SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE
Co-founder of the Romantic movement with
Wordsworth
 Tremendous influence on American Romanticism
(Thoreau, Emerson)
 Suffered from depression and anxiety (bipolar?)


The treatment? Laudanum, a medical opiate, on
which he was chemically dependent much of his life.
1.
2.
Stops a guy
wedding
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Mariner starts his story
Sun
Party/Wedding
Storm
iceberg
ice
Bird
followed them
Shoots the bird
HELLO!
Please take out your copies of “Rime…” so that I
may check for annotations.
 While I do, take six minutes to choose any
particular passage of the poem that you found
interesting or exciting.
 Please write in your notebooks why you felt this
way.
 Things to consider in your reflection:

content: zombies, monsters, the supernatural
 technical detail: rhythm, rhyme, meter
 symbolism: weather, the cosmos, the albatross, colors

REVIEW SHEET
WHERE’S THE FIRE?
 Why
is “Rime” in the Romantic tradition?
 Freedom


Imaginative


not concrete, based on experience
The Natural


Open seas, away from constructs of
civilization
weather, the cosmos, animals, life/death
Liminality

The place on the edge of a realm or between
two realms. Oneiric realities.
HELLO!


Please take out your copy of “Rime…” as well as the review
sheet.
Part 1
3
grabbed him, skinny hand, glittering eye
 Cursed, shot the albatross, had to tell the story
 Sun; Male – Storm; Male



Part 2





Sun; male
Thought the albatross was a good omen
drop to drink
around his neck
Part 3




Too dry
Ghost ship, made of bones
Women, dice-game
died

Part IV







Part V






Rain
come back to life, man the ship
Wind
spirit
penance more will do
Part VI





scared
die, drink, speak, PRAY
Moon; female
hoary flakes of elfish light
sleep, pray
Falls off and sinks
spirits
lighthouse, homeland
seraphs
Pilot, his son, hermit
Part VII



Sank
Pilot’s boat
Free
SYMBOLISM IN “RIME”
Symbolism: The practice of representing things by
means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings
or significance to objects, events, or relationships.
 Symbols or objects in a story or poem stand for
something more meaningful

SYMBOLISM IN “RIME”

Weather



The Sun, Moon, and Stars


Are these religious symbols? Do they stand for the
gods?
The Albatross


What does it mean in “Rime”? What does it do?
It gets worse, then better, then worse, then better.
Why? What significance is the weather to the
Mariner?
Is it better alive or dead? What does it mean?
Religion

What does the Mariner’s entire tale teach him about
organized religion, God, and prayer? How has he
learned this?
HOMEWORK
Consider one of the symbols discussed in class
(Weather, the cosmos, the albatross, or religion).
 Briefly (2 or 3 paragraphs) trace this symbol
throughout the poem and reflect on what it
means.
 Consider the questions:

What is its connection to the fate of the Mariner?
How does this symbol affect his journey?
 Why is this connection important?
 What does Coleridge want us to “get” out of this
symbol?

WELCOME!
 In
your notes, please describe one of
your most vivid dreams or
nightmares, especially one that truly
upset or perplexed you. Be sure to go
into detail, using details to not only
recreate this nocturnal vision, but
also to explain your reaction to it.
COLERIDGE AND “KUBLA KHAN”

Co-founder of English Romanticism with Wordsworth

Addicted to opium – like weed mixed with acid

Reading a Chinese travel book and fell asleep

Dreamt of Mongolian warlord Kubla Khan

Awoke and tried to write down his dream

Interrupted by business halfway through

Tried to finish later in same style

The author continued for about 3 hours in a profound sleep,
at least of the external senses, during which time he has
the most vivid confidence, that he could not have composed
less than from two or three hundred lines … On waking he
appeared to himself to have a distinct recollection of the
whole and taking up his pen, ink, and paper, instantly and
eagerly wrote the lines that are here preserved. At this
moment he was unfortunately called out by a person on
business from Porlock, and detained by him above an hour,
and on his return to his room found, to his no small
surprise and mortification, that though he still retained
some vague and dim recollection of the general purport of
the vision, yet, with the exception of some eight or ten
scattered lines and images, all the rest had passed away
like the images on the surfaces of a stream into which a
stone has been cast, but alas! without the after restoration
of the latter!
IMAGERY
vivid, descriptive language that
appeals to one or more of the five
senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste,
and touch).
Aconsonance:
FEW MORE POETIC DEVICES
repetition of a consonant sound found throughout



1.
2.
3.
a sequence of nearby words
alliteration: repetition of a consonant sound at the beginnings
of nearby words
On our own:
Choose a speech sound (p, l, m, x/z, k/c)
list as many words that contain that sound (not the letter,
the sound), at the beginning, the middle, or the end.
string 10 of them together in ONE sentence
T: time, night, right, ting, tick, light, tickle, tilt, till, hurt
At night time the tick tickled a tilted light and hurt till it tinged
just right.
IMAGERY OF “KUBLA KHAN”
Read
closely, looking for imagery
In pairs draw as many concrete
visual images Coleridge
describes.
YOUR GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT



What is the greatest thing you have achieved in
your life, thus far?
What would you like people to remember about
you, generations from now?
What are the chances that this will come true?
OZYMANDIAS,
AKA RAMSES II
HELLO!
Please take out your notebooks as well as your
copy of Brownings “The Cry of the Children.”
 Finish Reading

“CRY OF THE CHILDREN” ANIMALS - TPS

1.
2.
3.
Take another look at the first stanza
What is Browning saying about the status of
free animals vs. the urban poor?
How does the landscape (setting) of the animals
compare with the landscape of the urban poor?
Find quotations to support your answer.
What is her intent on the reader in this first
stanza?
HELLO!
Please grab a copy of the
Browning poems on the
circular table and take
your seat.
2ND PERIOD – BRITISH LIT

1.
2.
3.
4.
Read the poem aloud in your table groups in its
entirety and answer the following questions in your
notes
What is her intent on the reader in this first
stanza?
Beginning in line 37, why might Alice be happy
about how her life has changed? What does this
say about children working at the time?
Why do the children refuse to be free and play in
lines 57-64?
Do you think she changed things in England with
this poem? Are there better ways to help those that
need it?
ROBERT BROWNING
E.B. Browning’s husband
 master of the dramatic monologue in poetry
 Dramatic monologue: A composition in which a
speaker reveals his or her character during an
important occurrence to a perceived listener or
reader.
 The is also often a disconnect between the
passion of what is being said and the flippant
way of how it is said.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFLW7HFGP
b0&src_vid=Pbqzw3Il1dw&feature=iv&annotatio
n_id=annotation_673333
COMPONENTS OF A DRAMATIC
MONOLOGUE
1.
2.
3.
a speaker (but not the poet) who addresses an
individual present (but not the reader);
as the character speaks he or she unwittingly
reveals usually unpleasant and nasty
aspects of his or her character;
the reader becomes aware of the gap between
the sweet words and the awful acts
THE DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE
Any
text that tells
a story from one
person’s point of
view
DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE “DOUBLE VISION”
Critic Daniel Karlin’s view of the way our reading of
Browning’s dramatic monologues typically sees us go
through two distinct stages in reading these poems.
Firstly, says Karlin
The conventional reading of [Browning’s dramatic
monologues] takes these poems to be using the technique of
the dramatic monologue as a means of ironically revealing
the speakers’ warped passions and prejudices. When we
first encounter these poems we see that they offer a
critique of hatred…When we first encounter Browning’s
speakers our first instinct is simply to condemn their
atrocious behaviour.
(Browning’s Hatreds, Daniel Karlin, pp.74-75, OUP, 1993)
DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE “DOUBLE VISION”
But then, claims Karlin, as we reread these poems
…We subject them to a kind of “double vision”. On a
rereading we tend to read the poems aesthetically
(rather than simply morally)…As we reread we may
be struck by the vitality, the intensity of the speakers’
artist-like visions, their vivid evocations of the
sensuous loveliness of the world around them…These
speakers’ may be decadent but they have a vitality of
consciousness that sets them apart from their dull
victims.
(Browning’s Hatreds, Daniel Karlin, pp.74-75, OUP,
1993)
“PORPHYRIA’S LOVER”


To what extent is the speaker in this poem alive
to “the sensuous loveliness of the world around”
him?
Are there redeeming qualities in the speakers
appreciation for love and beauty?
“MY LAST DUCHESS”

Read in small groups.
First read for understanding
 Second for noticing of aesthetics (rhyme, rhythm,
word choice)

OUR OWN DRAMATIC MONOLOGUES

As a class:

Step 1: Character
26 year old guy in a club
 party animal
 gambler
 likes trouble


Step 2: Situation
caught cheating
 out of money
 broke


Step 3: Audience

bartender
Oh, man I’m in big trouble. I lost my
house I lost my job, lost my family, and
my life savings. I owe this club
thousands and they told me never to
come back. I’m desperate, if you can
lend me $200 I can turn it around, I
promise!
WELCOME!
Please grab a copy
of the summary of
the Victorian Age
from the spinny
chair.
MAIN IDEAS ARE…

Specific and Inclusive

Hunger Games 1

Katniss, a brave, loving sister, lives in a poor district
controlled by the capitol.
Goes through fence
 Volunteers for sister
 Hunts for food

 Alfred,
Lord
Tennyson (1809-1892)

Victorian hallmarks:
Wanted order from
changing times
Moralising (saying
what is right and
wrong)
Social Justice
Self-indulgent
melancholy/depression
Conflict of religion and
science

Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892),
 chief representative of the
Victorian age
 succeeded Wordsworth as Poet
Laureate in 1850.
 Romantics influence in imagery
 Classical/mythological
influence
"The Lady of Shalott,” - Camelot
 "The Lotus-eaters" – Homer’s
Odyssey
 "Morte d'Arthur" – King Arthur
 "Ulysses" - Homer’s Odyssey

THANKS WIKIPEDIA:

A number of phrases from Tennyson's work have
become commonplaces of the English language,
including:






"Nature, red in tooth and claw",
"'Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to
have loved at all"
"Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die",
"My strength is as the strength of ten, / Because my
heart is pure",
"Knowledge comes, but Wisdom lingers",
"The old order changeth, yielding place to new".
#1-6
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
a) Crimean War, b) soldiers c) rising: going into the
valley; falling: dead d) ambush, get shot, chaos, die,
e) war and death; hardships of war; death and
glory; bravery; loyalty; speaking up
Lets people understand soldiers. It encourages
soldiers because it gives them honor after death.
Glorifies bravery of soldiers
Loyalty
Remember them as honorable
Honor: They know it’s dangerous, still do it to
protect us, value of following orders
1.
Pity: could have saved lives

The Light Brigade should be honored for what
they did.
VOTE WITH YOUR FEET


The Light Brigade should be honored.
Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly
Disagree
AN ARGUMENT



An argument for why a well-rounded education is
important to my personal happiness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP1s7o3oATA
There are jokes in every medium we absorb every
day. To “get” these jokes, you need the same
knowledge base as the writers who wrote them.
LEWIS CARROLL
Pen name for Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
 His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures
in Wonderland and its sequel Through the
Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The
Hunting of the Snark" and "Jabberwocky", all
examples of the genre of literary nonsense.
 Queen Victoria herself was a fan of Alice

HELLO!
Please grab a copy of
“Jabberwocky”and in
your notes, jot down
the main hallmarks
of Victorian
literature we’ve been
discussing.
HUMPTY DUMPTY'S EXPLANATION
"You seem very clever at explaining words, Sir",
said Alice. "Would you kindly tell me the
meaning of the poem 'Jabberwocky'?"
"Let's hear it", said Humpty Dumpty. "I can
explain all the poems that ever were invented-and a good many that haven't been invented just
yet."
This sounded very hopeful, so Alice repeated the
first verse:
HUMPTY DUMPTY'S EXPLANATION
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
"That's enough to begin with", Humpty Dumpty
interrupted: "there are plenty of hard words there.
'Brillig' means four o'clock in the afternoon--the time
when you begin broiling things for dinner."
"That'll do very well", said Alice: "and 'slithy'?"
"Well, 'slithy' means 'lithe and slimy'. 'Lithe' is the same
as 'active'. You see it's like a portmanteau--there are
two meanings packed up into one word."
HUMPTY DUMPTY'S EXPLANATION
I see it now", Alice remarked thoughfully: "and what are
'toves'?"
"Well, 'toves' are something like badgers--they're something
like lizards--and they're something like corkscrews."
"They must be very curious creatures."
"They are that", said Humpty Dumpty: "also they make their
nests under sun-dials--also they live on cheese."
"And what's to 'gyre' and to 'gimble'?"
"To 'gyre' is to go round and round like a gyroscope. To
'gimble' is to make holes like a gimlet."
HUMPTY DUMPTY'S EXPLANATION
"And 'the wabe' is the grass plot round a sun-dial, I
suppose?" said Alice, surprised at her own ingenuity.
"Of course it is. It's called 'wabe', you know, because it
goes a long way before it, and a long way behind it--"
"And a long way beyond it on each side", Alice added.
"Exactly so. Well then, 'mimsy' is 'flimsy and miserable'
(there's another portmanteau for you). And a
'borogove' is a thin shabby-looking bird with its
feathers sticking out all round--something like a live
mop."
HUMPTY DUMPTY'S EXPLANATION
"And then 'mome raths'?" said Alice. "If I'm not giving you too
much trouble."
"Well a 'rath' is a sort of green pig, but 'mome' I'm not certain
about. I think it's sort for 'from home'--meaning that they'd
lost their way, you know."
"And what does 'outgrabe' mean?"
"Well, 'outgribing' is something between bellowing an
whistling, with a kind of sneeze in the middle: however,
you'll hear it done, maybe--down in the wood yonder--and
when you've once heard it, you'll be quite content. Who's
been repeating all that hard stuff to you?"
"I read it in a book", said Alice.
JABBERWOCKY
Can
we still
understand
the poem
without
understandin
g every word?
How is that?
WHEN YOU FINISH YOUR OWN DEFINITIONS
Describe
how this poem, or
your knowledge of Alice in
Wonderland, fits or does not
fit into our discussion of the
hallmarks of Victorian
literature.
CARROLL THE VICTORIAN

Social Justice: Alice faces much discrimination
and prejudice in Wonderland


Class is VERY important
Struggle between religion and science
The imagination blurs the boundaries between we
can and can not know
 The realities of Wonderland are skewed toward the
fantastic

RUDYARD KIPLING
Rudyard
Kipling born 1865 in
Bombay, India
British Father ran an art school
India until 6, then England.
Bullied for five years in foster
home
Deep psychological scars and a
sense of betrayal.
RUDYARD KIPLING

The Jungle Book

Collection of short stories and fables, using animals in an
anthropomorphic manner to give moral lessons. The verses of
The Law of the Jungle, for example, lay down rules for the
safety of individuals, families and communities. Kipling put in
them nearly everything he knew or "heard or dreamed about
the Indian jungle."
Hey man, you
wanna do
some “If”?
HELLO!
Please take your seats, take
out your notes and start a
heading entitled:
“Subordinating
Conjunctions”
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
Remember our conversation in Coordinating
conjunctions?
 [ind. clause] [FANBOYS] , [ind. clause].
 What’s the rule? Comma after FANBOYS if there
are two independent clauses on either side.


So what’s a subordinating conjunction?
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS


Subordinating Conjunction: after, although, as if,
because, before, even though, since, unless, until,
once, when, while, and most importantly for this
lesson, if
Subordinating conjunctions always introduce
adverb clauses, something that modifies a verb,
adjective, or adverb.
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

Format:
[ind. clause] [sub. conj.] [ind. clause]
 Notice, NO COMMA after a subordinating
conjunction, even though it has independent clauses
on both sides.

• OR
[sub conj.] [ind. clause] , [ind. clause]
 Here is when you use a comma, usually in an
“if/then” sentence

SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS



Examples:
[ind. clause] [sub. conj.] [ind. clause]

I eat burgers because I get hungry.

I brush my teeth before I go to bed.
[sub conj.] [ind. clause] , [ind. clause]


Because I eat so many burgers, I am gaining weight.
When I brush my teeth, I get a weird clicking sound in my
jaw.
“IF-”
Notice all the subordinating conjunctions and the
punctuation.
 Circle every “if.”
 Can we summarize the traits a man must have,
according to Kipling (a very Victorian thing to do,
btw, telling us how to behave)?

CREATE YOUR OWN “IF” POEM!


Develop a career or kind of person you’d like to
become. Make sure it is a NOUN, you can add an
adjective to it, if you’d like.
EX:





Artist
Chef
Hairstylist
Powerful CEO
Fast Runner
Then, develop three adjectives that that person must be in
order to become that thing.
EX: Artist: creative, dedicated, intelligent
CREATE YOUR OWN “IF” POEM!

Next, develop three things this person should
learn to do well.

Delivery guy:
Drive fast
 Avoid traffic
 Throw packages over fences


Then, develop three things this person should
NOT do. Connect them to the last three if
possible.
Drive fast and not get pulled over
 Avoid traffic and never get stopped at red lights
 Throw packages over fences and never get caught.

FINAL “IF” POEMS

You need:
6 adjectives to describe the person you recommend
becoming
 6 activities to do
 6 things to avoid being or doing


Format:

Most sentences should look like the original Kipling
poem “If”:


“If you can _________ without______,”
the last line should reveal who or what you
recommend becoming:

“Then you will be a great _________”
STUDENT EXAMPLES
How to Be a Child
If you still play hopscotch and tidily-winks
With your shoes laces flopping and untied.
by Katy, high school poet
If you can run through a park
And not care about the scratches on your shins,
If you’re still afraid of the dark
But the monster under your bed never wins.
If you can throw a huge fit
And forget it the next day.
If you can kick, squeal and hit
But say sorry to the kid that cried and ran away.
If you still think coming home at dark stinks
But you obey your mom and look on the bright side.
If you’re completely convinced Santa still exists
And you know the tooth fairy visits at least once a week.
If you think chocolate ice cream is bliss
And when you play tag, there is no technique.
If you scream at the sight of a bug,
Or you’re one of the others that find them fun.
If you’re still excited about a simple show
And would wake up at 5 o’ clock in the morning to see
it.
If you can make friends with people you don’t know
And become best friends and stay closely knit.
If you can hold your little head up high,
And be harshly judged but not care.
If you feel better from just a simple hug
And your legs never hurt when you run.
If you can take everything one day at a time,
And not worry if the future will be challenging or wild.
If there’s no tree in the world you are afraid to climb,
You are indeed a free spirited child
Hairstylist
by Liane, ninth grade poet
If you like to sigh and smile and snip
As your shiny scissors go clip clip
If you whistle as you make dye dip
And cherish heads of hair, thin or thick
If your manicured nails can stroke
But never strangle any split strand
And have a room temp bottle of Coke
To grab in your left and unused hand
If you can clone Halley Berry hair
On some woman with not much left
If you like to trim split ends with care
With precision very quick and deft
If your bubble gum will always pop
With a gleeful l click as you measure
If your heart leaps at every grey
And you know just what to make it
brown
If a customer had a bad day
And you know to bring him up from
down
And giggle and chirp and make fine
talk
As you trim all her uneven locks
But most of all enjoy doing soThen you will be a hairstylist
POSSIBLE FUTURES –
PROFESSIONS AND CHARACTER TRAITS

Massage therapist:

patience


work ethic, tirelessness


If you know how to have a good conversation.
technique


If you work tirelessly and have a good work ethic
conversational


If you have patience.
If you know just what to do.
make people feel better and healing them

If you can turn someone’s bad day into a brighter day.
nimble hands, elbows, hot/cold rocks
soothing music
precision
 knowledge of anatomy
 optimism




Then you will be a fantastic massage therapist.
WELCOME!


Please trace the evolution of British poetry that
we’ve studied, so far.
Consider the hallmarks and reasons for shifts
between
Shakespeare
 The Age of Reason
 Romanticism
 Victorianism


Then, predict how World War I would change the
way people thought about the world.
TAKE THREE MINUTES…


Briefly list (not complete sentences, fragments
are perfect) whatever sounds you can
remember from the beginning of today until now.
From shadows of sounds while sleeping, to
getting ready at home, traveling to school, to
actually being here, what are some distinct, and
individualized sounds you’ve heard?
MY MORNING
A dog barks
 My tumbly rumblies
 Drip….drip………..drip
 Blathering on the radio
 The click of my car keys in the ignition
 Quiet footsteps on concrete
 Fingernails clicking on a keyboard
 A copy machine, zhhhh, zhhhh, zhhhh

THE FRAGMENT

Modernism in poetry is characterized by the use
of the fragment as a fundamental
construction piece. On their own, and often
together, a meaning may be hard to decipher.
Often, the reader is left asking, “So what? What
does this all mean?”
 Making meaning from these seemingly disparate
fragments is the fun and challenge in Modernist
poetry.
WRITING AND THE RULES
 Age
of Enlightenment: Look at my
new rules!!!!
 Romanticism:
No thanks, I’ll break
some rules!!!
 Victorianism:
Things are getting
weird! Rules, please!
WWI
IMAGISM & FRAGMENTS



Little bits of different things, not a complete
whole.
Departure from moral storytelling popular in
Victorian.
Focus on clear images, sharp language,
experimentation
IMAGISM & MODERNISM

Visual fragments
Ezra Pound. 1884
“In a Station of the Metro”
THE apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals
on a wet, black bough.
MODERNIST POETRY

Remember our pendulum?
Form/Reason
Age of Enlightenment
Rejection/Imagination
Romanticism
Victorian Era
Modernism
MODERNISM – WHY?




The “alienation” of the artist emerges in full force,
stemming from the indulgent depression of Victorian
poets
Literacy rates up at the end of Victoria’s reign. Poetry
back to the people.
Freud’s psychoanalysis changed understandings of
rationality, consciousness, and identity.
WWI sparked a massive questioning or outright
rejection of many rules and norms thought to be
stable.
WILFRED OWEN

“Dulce et Decorum Est”

http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/owen1.html
MODERNISM AND T.S. ELIOT
Fragments
of thoughts,
sounds, images
Poets
pessimistic: alienated,
dissillusioned, angry
Unsure
of what they mean
“THE LOVE SONG OF J. ALFRED PRUFROCK”
An
animated
reading!
ONE INTERPRETATION OF “THE LOVE SONG
OF J. ALFRED PRUFROCK”
HTTP://WWW.NERC.COM/~TAM/PRUFROCK.HTML

The Italian epigraph is from Dante’s Inferno. One
of the damned, asked to tell his tale, replies: “If I
believed my answer were being given to someone
who could ever return to the world, this flame
(his voice) would shake no more. But since no one
has ever returned alive from this depth, if what I
hear is true, I will answer you without fear of
disgrace.”
ONE INTERPRETATION OF “THE LOVE SONG
OF J. ALFRED PRUFROCK”
HTTP://WWW.NERC.COM/~TAM/PRUFROCK.HTML

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” depicts the
consciousness of a single character, a timid, middle-aged man.
Prufrock is talking or thinking to himself. The epigraph, a
dramatic speech taken from Dante’s Inferno, provides a key to
Prufrock’s nature. Like Dante’s character, Prufrock is in a
“hell,” in this case the hell of his own feelings. For the first
forty-eight lines of the poem, he contemplates the aimless
pattern of his divided and solitary self. He is a lover, yet he is
unable to bring himself to declare his love. He is both the “you
and I” of line 1, pacing the city’s grimy streets on his lonely
walk. He observes the foggy evening settling down on him.
Growing more and more hesitant, he postpones the moment of
his decision. Should a middle-aged man even think of making
a proposal of love? “Do I dare / Disturb the universe?” he asks.
In lines 49-110, Prufrock wrestles with his desire and his
doubt. And, in lines 87-110, he imagines how foolish he would
feel if he were to make his proposal only to discover that the
woman had never thought of him as a possible lover; he
imagines her brisk, cruel response: “That is not what I meant,
at all.”
ONE INTERPRETATION OF “THE LOVE SONG
OF J. ALFRED PRUFROCK”
HTTP://WWW.NERC.COM/~TAM/PRUFROCK.HTML

Finally, in lines 111-131, Prufrock decides that he
lacks the will to make his declaration. “I am not
Prince Hamlet,” he says; he will not, like
Shakespeare’s character, attempt to shake off his
doubts and “force the moment to its crisis.” He feels
more like the aging, foolish Polonious, another
character in Hamlet. He is able only to dream of
romance. Thus, in the youthful fashion of the time
(around 1910), he will have his trousers tripped with
cuffs at the bottom. He will “walk upon the beach,”
though he probably will not venture near the water.
He has had a romantic vision of mermaids singing an
enchanting song, but assumes that they will not sing
to him. Prufrock is paralyzed, unable to act upon his
impulses and desires. He will continue to live in a
world of romantic daydreams—“the chambers of the
sea”—until he is awakened by the “human voices” of
real life in which he “drowns.”
PRUFROCK ANALYSIS WORKSHEET
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Dude, to himself, imaginary women
City, party, smoggy, smoky
The sky is drugged, the streets are winding, annoying,
angering
Party where he feels uncomfortable
Cat or dog – rubs its back, muzzle, curls up
Has lots of time but scared to take chances.
Partying, chatting
Terrified, overanalyzing, overcomplicating, awkward,
anxious
Yeah, break out of shell, ask why, figure him out
Insignificant life, just about coffee, worthless,
thoughtful planning, not really living, too much
pressure
PRUFROCK ANALYSIS WORKSHEET
11.How should I presume? Unsure of
continuing/trying, adds to
anxiety/depressed/panicked/indecisive/frustrated
19.
POETIC RESEARCH/ANALYSIS

Objective:


Further delve into a particular poetic movement
How we do it

Research the influences on and influence of the
movement of your choice


Analyze a NEW poem from that movement (I have
suggestions, but yours are okay, too)


Search sources, provide citations, etc.
Decide how it does/not fit into the hallmarks of that
movement
Write it all out in 3-5 pages (< 3 pages will not be
accepted)
STEP BY STEP
1.
2.
Set up/share a Google doc
Name the file
1.
2.
3.
4.
Upper right, blue “Share” button
Choose/Research a movement
1.
5.
Click File->rename
Last, First – British Poetry
Shakespeare, Victorian, Romantic, modernism, Age
of Enlightenment, Renaissance stuff
Find THREE credible sources on the history of
your movement
ELIOT’S “THE WASTE LAND”

On a first read:

Pay attention to:
emotions expressed
 Meter and rhyme (hint: or lack thereof)
 objects


DO NOT read for:
logical plot progressions
 understanding every word, phrase or stanza


Just try to pick out the FEELINGS he’s expressing
WELCOME!

Please take out your copy of Eliot’s “Waste Land”
and any notes or annotations you took in your
reading.
ALLUSION

a reference to something outside the text, such as
a historical, literary, biblical, or mythical figure
or event.
OBJECTIVE CORRELATIVE

An objective correlative - a symbolic article
used to provide explicit, rather than implicit,
access to such traditionally inexplicable concepts
as emotion or color.
OBJECTIVE CORRELATIVE


Eliot used the term exclusively to refer to his
claimed artistic mechanism whereby emotion is
evoked in the audience:
“The only way of expressing emotion in the form
of art is by finding an "objective correlative"; in
other words, a set of objects, a situation, a chain
of events which shall be the formula of that
particular emotion; such that when the external
facts, which must terminate in sensory
experience, are given, the emotion is immediately
evoked.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK?

The purpose of art is to mirror or mimic reality.
HELLO!
Please take out your copies of
Swift’s “Modest Proposal”
and prepare for a FreeWrite

SWIFT

Which section that you came across last night
was the most shocking to you? If you were not
shocked, tell me what you felt as you were
reading.
JONATHON SWIFT
Page 227
 Famous for Gulliver’s Travels
 Enlightenment Era
 Satire – 1813 – a literary genre whose works
attack and ridicule human behavior
 people are usually shocked by his writing


People of misinterpret Gulliver’s Travels
His satire addressed problems he saw in society
and culture
 More moderate than his writings suggested


Picked out extreme policies and ridiculed/defended
them
HELLO!
Please take out your notes
along with Swift’s “Modest
Proposal” and prepare for a
Think-Pair-Share.

TPS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Why is the word “modest” used in the title of
this proposition?
Irony – the opposite of what is expected
What is significant about Swift’s use of “the
American” as “the other”?
Let’s talk about the chart.
King Lear Test Results
SATIRE
A literary work that ridicules its subject through
the use of techniques such as exaggeration,
reversal, incongruity, and/or parody in order to
make a comment or criticism about it.
 Examples:

WRITE YOUR OWN SATIRICAL SOLUTION

Do what Swift did:
Notice a problem in your life, community, school, or society
 Propose a radical solution from a particular perspective





Use irony (opposite of what is expected)
Hyperbole (exaggerated)
Sarcasm (opposite of what you mean)
For Example:





Problem (1par.): Poor student behavior
Perspective: Administration
Solution (1par.): Identical, bright-orange, full-body jumpsuits
with no zippers or draw-strings, and why not handcuffs, too?
Clearly prison uniforms, but would serve a number of educationrelated purposes
Naysayers? (1par.):
Final defense (1par.)