American Poets outside Project
Your job this semester is to compile an author study on one of the
famous poets in American Literature. Your author study will be very
inclusive, so you will want to plan out your information and budget
your time. Do not wait until the last minute to do this as it will certainly
overwhelm you! I may give you some time in class to work either in the
room or in the lab, but most of the project will need to be done at
home. At the conclusion of the project, we will be using the information
gathered to compose a formal essay (more info on that later). Your best
option is to get a folder to keep all of your papers together as you will
have numerous things throughout the project to collect.
Items required for Poet study:
1. Locate 6 poems written by your author. You should choose poems
from that author that speak to you, are rich in figurative language,
and have substance to them. Print them out. (You may want to
print out 10 and then choose your 6 from those. It is always good
to have backups!)
2. Analyze the poems for the following:
a. Figurative language
b. Symbolism
c. Tone and mood
d. Deeper meaning (iceberg)
3. Find biographical material about your poet. Find out all pertinent
information regarding his/ her life: before, during, and after the
poet’s literary heyday. Consider time periods, family issues,
literary circles, socioeconomic status, political practices,
philosophies, personal struggles and triumphs, state of mind, etc.
Construct a 2 page bibliography/biography about your poet using
at least 3 different resources (1 print). Books will be located in the
back of Mrs. Brown’s room.
a. Page 1 lists the poet’s publications, accomplishments, and
awards
b. Page 2 is a timeline of significant dates in the poet’s life
4. Create your own poem imitating or modeling your poet’s style,
devices, and themes
5. Works Cited page (In MLA format) for each of the resources you
used including the sites where you found the poems.
Possible American Poets: You may choose form the list or find one of
your own (requires pre-approval)
Edgar Lee Masters
Edgar Allan Poe
Emily Dickinson
Robert Frost
Walt Whitman
Maya Angelou
Billy Collins
John Ashbury
William Wordsworth
William Carlos Williams
Edwin Arlington Robinson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Wallace Stevens
T.S. Elliot
E.E. Cummings
Langston Hughes
John Greenleaf Whittier
Stephen Crane
Claude McKay
Anne Bradstreet
Paul Lawrence Dunbar
Gwendolyn Brooks
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Herman Melville
Dorothy Parker