Homework 4/29

Make sure you bring your annotations with you to 6 and 7th tomorrow.

For Thursday--
Print a copy of Kubla Khan out and do a complete annotation. There is a link to the poem on the right of the page.

Note that the piece moves through 4 specific phases:
A description of paradise, as a walled garden.
A description of a turbulent river flowing towards its source
Ancient Voices that present strangely paired images
A vision (within the main vision) that expresses the power of art itself.

Be able to discuss this idea in relationship to the poem: what is the power of art?

Homework Addendum

If you come to the presentations tonight, and IF you check in with me, I will excuse you from the homework tonight. You will still need to do it--but I won't collect it until Monday.

See you.

Homework 4/24

You should have emailed me your two new poets--if you haven't done so yet, please do--you are late!
Find two new poems by each of the poets you chose--that's 4 poems total.
Print two copies of each poem--that's 8 copies.
Keep one clean copy of each poem to give to me to use.
Annotate each poem. Bring the annotation to class.

Be prepared to speak about the poets without using the bio's for props. You should know about them, and be able to talk about them.

Homework 4/21

Come to class on Wednesday with complete annotations for both the poems you and your partner chose in class Monday. Annotations should document--and show that you have considered--title, paraphrasing, understanding, patterns (imagery, language, sound arrangement), changes, narrator/speaker, crucial moments, form & function.

I expect you to have an understanding of the biography and poetry of BOTH poets you and your partner were assigned!

How To Read A Poem

Click Here to download and print a copy of a "How to Read A Poem" if you lose it. You need to bring this to class with you from now on. Part of the document literally walks the reader through a process for successful poetry reading--reading to understand. The other part of the document is a list of terms used to analyze and discuss aspects and elements of poetry. You will be required to memorize and use these terms in discussion and in your writing.

Read Billy Collins' poem "Introduction to Poetry."

What is the effect of reading these two documents in relationship to one another?

About the Project

As you know, you will be broken into groups to research poets, and find representative works by them. As we are doing this, we will study poetry that we choose to look at in class. Sometimes the poems will be of my choice, and other times, I will ask you to find poems to bring in to class. You will be given some terminology that you will be asked to master in order to talk about and write about poetry. You will also be asked to memorize and recite poetry for your classmates. The culminating piece of this work will be a "music video" that you produce that uses poetry you have chosen as lyric.