This Week
For Monday please read
Shelley's "Ozymandias" (411).
For Wednesday please read Browning's
"My Last Duchess" (413).
For Friday read Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" (438).
Every day this week, please come to class prepared to
discuss the tone of the poem and the persona and character of the
speaker or speakers.
Journal Activity
Both last week and this one we are thinking about persona and tone in poetry. Poetry is capable of an incredible amount of nuance and subtlety in its tone, and we as readers are capable of an incredible amount of disagreement. For this week's writing assignment I want you to think more about persona and tone in poetry.
Write the first two paragraphs of an imaginary essay about the tone of one of the poems we've read together. Follow the style and tone of a formal essay, and try to make us feel that you have a whole essay written but we're only seeing the first two paragraphs.
Example
In Dorothy Parker’s “One Perfect Rose” the final stanza effectively subverts the expectations built by the previous two. The language of the first two stanzas follows a pattern that should be familiar to us—and certainly was familiar to Parker. This familiarity leads us into a false sense of security. We think we know what kind of poem this is, and we think we can predict what the conclusion will be. Parker’s abrupt shift in tone subverts these expectations and forces us to reread the entire poem. With the new understanding of the speaker’s tone that we gain in the final stanza, we are able to reread the tone of the first two stanzas as well, and to understand the irony that was at first inaccessible.
Parker's first stanza begins with the line, "A single flow'r he sent me, since we met" (1). Parker could expect that her readers would immediately recognize the symbolic meaning of a single flower. When this line is coupled with the title of the poem, "One Perfect Rose", it immediately sets expectations of the reader. We recognize the sentiment as conventional and even cliche. The speaker is being romantically pursued by the "he" of the first line. She is the passive recipient of gifts and he is the conventional wooer. The use of an apostrophe in the word "flow'r" is a strange one here, however. It is, in 1926, when the poem was written, an archaic device. The language of the poem in its first line, then, is conventional, predictable, and even stale.
Looking ahead to Next Week
Next week we'll be reading three poems about death. Though they're assigned for different days, and we will most likely stay with them in that order, please come to class on Monday having read all three so that we can feel free to compare if we need to.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Monday, January 21, 2013
Week 3: Poetic Language
This Week's Classes
For Monday please read Shakespeare's "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day" from page 374 and William Wordsworth's sonnet "Nuns Fret Not", found on page 3940 of our text book, as well as McMahan's advice on writing about poetic language on pages 370-381.
For Wednesday, please read McMahan's advice on writing about persona and tone, as found on pages 352-364, and come to class prepared to discuss the persona and tone of Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz" (354) and Parker's "One Perfect Rose" (357).
On Friday the 25th we will be writing our first essay in class. If you want to talk to me about it before then--to prepare an outline or to talk to me about your ideas--please come by my office or send me an email.
Journal Activity
As you write this week, please continue to think about form and its relationship to content and meaning, but add to that a consideration of poetic language, tone, and persona. Remember that all you need to do to get full marks is to try. Nothing will help you to understand the sonnet as a form like writing one.
1. Write an original sonnet. Keep in mind the rules of the form (iambic pentameter, 14 lines, a b a b, c d c d, e f e f, g g rhyme scheme).
2. Write a brief reflection on your sonnet. Do you think the form had an influence on your subject matter, mood, tone, or language? Why or why not? Did you deliberately use poetic language? Why or why not?
Example
Here is a sonnet written by me, about my daughters.
When Guinevere was born, the sun broke through
the clouds that had been raining all that night.
She opened wide her eyes, so small and new;
The sunshine bathed her perfect face with light.
I thought that must be how all babies are.
The world takes note, because the world has changed.
But Margaret went unnoticed by the stars
And I thought that it was strange.
She is as much a miracle, and as rare
As beautiful, as lovely, as adored
As was her sister. Why should the sky not care?
Why should her birth by nature be ignored?
"Because she is herself" the answer came
"she's not her sister. Don't force them to be the same."
As I wrote this sonnet, the constraint of the form definitely affected my content. I wrote the first line first, and didn't know where to go from there, but the form of a sonnet--not just the meter and the rhyme but also the volta in the last two lines helped me choose a direction for the poem. I knew I needed to change the thrust of the poem in the last two lines, so I decided to use them to answer a question I would raise in the rest of the poem. I was probably also influenced by Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, in which he both uses and also undermines natural symbolism. I tried to make the sun breaking through the clouds a symbol of my love for my daughters, but also to say that it's just the sun and clouds and the rain.
Looking Ahead to Next Week
For next week we'll be talking more about persona and tone, and about how poets create a voice. Please come to class each day ready to think and to talk about the tone and poetic voice of each assigned poem and how the poet has achieved that tone and voice.
For Monday please read Shakespeare's "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day" from page 374 and William Wordsworth's sonnet "Nuns Fret Not", found on page 3940 of our text book, as well as McMahan's advice on writing about poetic language on pages 370-381.
For Wednesday, please read McMahan's advice on writing about persona and tone, as found on pages 352-364, and come to class prepared to discuss the persona and tone of Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz" (354) and Parker's "One Perfect Rose" (357).
On Friday the 25th we will be writing our first essay in class. If you want to talk to me about it before then--to prepare an outline or to talk to me about your ideas--please come by my office or send me an email.
Journal Activity
As you write this week, please continue to think about form and its relationship to content and meaning, but add to that a consideration of poetic language, tone, and persona. Remember that all you need to do to get full marks is to try. Nothing will help you to understand the sonnet as a form like writing one.
1. Write an original sonnet. Keep in mind the rules of the form (iambic pentameter, 14 lines, a b a b, c d c d, e f e f, g g rhyme scheme).
2. Write a brief reflection on your sonnet. Do you think the form had an influence on your subject matter, mood, tone, or language? Why or why not? Did you deliberately use poetic language? Why or why not?
Example
Here is a sonnet written by me, about my daughters.
When Guinevere was born, the sun broke through
the clouds that had been raining all that night.
She opened wide her eyes, so small and new;
The sunshine bathed her perfect face with light.
I thought that must be how all babies are.
The world takes note, because the world has changed.
But Margaret went unnoticed by the stars
And I thought that it was strange.
She is as much a miracle, and as rare
As beautiful, as lovely, as adored
As was her sister. Why should the sky not care?
Why should her birth by nature be ignored?
"Because she is herself" the answer came
"she's not her sister. Don't force them to be the same."
As I wrote this sonnet, the constraint of the form definitely affected my content. I wrote the first line first, and didn't know where to go from there, but the form of a sonnet--not just the meter and the rhyme but also the volta in the last two lines helped me choose a direction for the poem. I knew I needed to change the thrust of the poem in the last two lines, so I decided to use them to answer a question I would raise in the rest of the poem. I was probably also influenced by Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, in which he both uses and also undermines natural symbolism. I tried to make the sun breaking through the clouds a symbol of my love for my daughters, but also to say that it's just the sun and clouds and the rain.
Looking Ahead to Next Week
For next week we'll be talking more about persona and tone, and about how poets create a voice. Please come to class each day ready to think and to talk about the tone and poetic voice of each assigned poem and how the poet has achieved that tone and voice.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Week 2: Form
This Week
Please come to class on Monday having read pages 348-351 of the text book and Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 (Let Me Not To the Marriage of True Minds).
For Wednesday read pages 388-95 and be ready to discuss poetic form in general and the poems "We Real Cool" and "landscape: 1" in particular.
For Friday we'll keep talking about form, and we'll be thinking especially about how to write an essay about poetic form. We'll work toward writing essays on the haikus and limericks on pages 398-400, so come to class with essay ideas ready.
Journal Activities
Poetry is an especially useful place to begin thinking about form in literature, because the form of poetry is so unlike the form of casual writing or conversation. Whether in poetry, in fiction, in non-fiction or even in conversation, however, form contributes to meaning. A writer's use of form is always deliberate, never arbitrary, even if the writer doesn't know the terms to describe the form. No one has ever accidentally written a haiku when she intended to write a limerick, or accidentally written a limerick when he meant to write a story. Form is also one of the least subjective parts about literature. The subjectivity of literature is one of the things that excites some readers and frustrates others. Some of us love the way a poem can mean different things to different people. Others just want to know the right answer! Form is a part of literature for which there are often objective right answers. That makes it a good place to start. It gives us firm footing, so that once we understand form we will always be able to say something intelligent and correct about a poem; it also gives us the necessary roots so that we don't end up drifting away into hot air.
As you complete your journal activities this week, whether you choose the creative or the critical option, please try to think critically about the relationship of form to content.
Choose either the creative OR the critical option to complete.
Creative
1. Write an original haiku. Remember the rules of the form, not only the rhythmic rules (three lines, following a syllable pattern of five, seven, five), but also the conventions of content (nature imagery, allusion to a season).
2. Write an original limerick. Remember the rules of both meter and rhyme scheme (five lines, anapestic, a a b b a rhyme scheme).
3. Write a brief reflection on how the form of your writing influenced your content.
Critical
1. In a few paragraphs, analyse the form of Gwendolyn Brooks' "We Real Cool." You may wish to answer some or all of the questions posed about the poem on p. 395-396.
2. In a few paragraphs, analyse the relationship of form to content in bp Nichol's "landscape: 1."
Looking Ahead to Next Week
Next week we will be continuing our discussion of form, and starting to think about poetic language. Please come to class on Monday having read McMahan's "Writing about Poetic Language," (370-381), Shakespeare's "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?" (374) and Wordsworth's "Nuns Fret Not" (394-395).
Good luck with your writing and enjoy your reading!
Please come to class on Monday having read pages 348-351 of the text book and Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 (Let Me Not To the Marriage of True Minds).
For Wednesday read pages 388-95 and be ready to discuss poetic form in general and the poems "We Real Cool" and "landscape: 1" in particular.
For Friday we'll keep talking about form, and we'll be thinking especially about how to write an essay about poetic form. We'll work toward writing essays on the haikus and limericks on pages 398-400, so come to class with essay ideas ready.
Journal Activities
Poetry is an especially useful place to begin thinking about form in literature, because the form of poetry is so unlike the form of casual writing or conversation. Whether in poetry, in fiction, in non-fiction or even in conversation, however, form contributes to meaning. A writer's use of form is always deliberate, never arbitrary, even if the writer doesn't know the terms to describe the form. No one has ever accidentally written a haiku when she intended to write a limerick, or accidentally written a limerick when he meant to write a story. Form is also one of the least subjective parts about literature. The subjectivity of literature is one of the things that excites some readers and frustrates others. Some of us love the way a poem can mean different things to different people. Others just want to know the right answer! Form is a part of literature for which there are often objective right answers. That makes it a good place to start. It gives us firm footing, so that once we understand form we will always be able to say something intelligent and correct about a poem; it also gives us the necessary roots so that we don't end up drifting away into hot air.
As you complete your journal activities this week, whether you choose the creative or the critical option, please try to think critically about the relationship of form to content.
Choose either the creative OR the critical option to complete.
Creative
1. Write an original haiku. Remember the rules of the form, not only the rhythmic rules (three lines, following a syllable pattern of five, seven, five), but also the conventions of content (nature imagery, allusion to a season).
2. Write an original limerick. Remember the rules of both meter and rhyme scheme (five lines, anapestic, a a b b a rhyme scheme).
3. Write a brief reflection on how the form of your writing influenced your content.
Critical
1. In a few paragraphs, analyse the form of Gwendolyn Brooks' "We Real Cool." You may wish to answer some or all of the questions posed about the poem on p. 395-396.
2. In a few paragraphs, analyse the relationship of form to content in bp Nichol's "landscape: 1."
Looking Ahead to Next Week
Next week we will be continuing our discussion of form, and starting to think about poetic language. Please come to class on Monday having read McMahan's "Writing about Poetic Language," (370-381), Shakespeare's "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?" (374) and Wordsworth's "Nuns Fret Not" (394-395).
Good luck with your writing and enjoy your reading!
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Announcements: Storms, cancellations, and blogs
Hi everybody,
As I'm sure you noticed, classes were cancelled on Friday. We'll go ahead with class as scheduled on Monday, talking about Shakespeare's sonnet.
As for you blogs, I know many of you, like me, were without power on Friday and some are still without power. With this in mind, I'll change the time requirement for this blog post. Write a blog post analyzing the lyrics of a song of your choice and post it at any time before next Friday and you'll still get full credit for completing the assignment.
Have a good weekend, and I hope to see you all on Monday.
As I'm sure you noticed, classes were cancelled on Friday. We'll go ahead with class as scheduled on Monday, talking about Shakespeare's sonnet.
As for you blogs, I know many of you, like me, were without power on Friday and some are still without power. With this in mind, I'll change the time requirement for this blog post. Write a blog post analyzing the lyrics of a song of your choice and post it at any time before next Friday and you'll still get full credit for completing the assignment.
Have a good weekend, and I hope to see you all on Monday.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Week 1: Getting Ready
Hello everyone, and welcome to English 1080.
Each Monday on this blog I will post this week's writing activity or activities, as well as other information of value to you in the coming week. Sometimes that will be reminders of what we have previously covered in class, sometimes that will be a preview of the coming week's readings and lessons, and it will also include any announcements or administrative business I need you to know.
To the right you will find some helpful links, including the course outline, the website for our course texts, and links to MLA style guides. Please make good use of these resources. Please try to pick up your course text books as soon as possible. The McMahan text, Literature and the Writing Process will be our major text book, and you will be expected have read the appropriate sections for each class. The recommended Troyka text, Quick Access: Reference for Writers, is a handbook to which we will not make specific reference in class but which will be useful to you as you write your major essays. I have made it "recommended" rather than "required" because I don't want you to buy texts you won't use, but I do genuinely recommend it; if you actually use it it will make you a better writer.
Journal Activities
This week you will have two journal activities: one due on Wednesday and one due on Friday.
For Wednesday:
I do not expect you to make a critical stand yet, to decide for all time how you will approach reading and writing. However, it is useful to you to have some sense of what approaches there are. Now that you have read McMahan's explanation of some of the critical approaches for interpreting literature (p. 819-824), I would like you to respond.
One idea I will bring up as we proceed through this course is the value of an attempt. The word "essay" comes to English from the French essayer, meaning to try or to test. We'll come back to that idea when it comes time to write your essays, but the same approach is useful here. Think of these critical approaches more like tools you are able to try out then like something you need to choose forever. With this in mind:
1. Write a paragraph explaining which of the approaches McMahan mentions is the most appealing to you.
2. Put your favourite approach into practice analyzing any poem of your choice from our text.
For Friday
The most common experience we have with poetry on a day to day basis in our society is through popular music. Please choose a piece of music you enjoy and provide a two or three paragraph analysis of it as a poetic work, paying special attention to form and to poetic language. Remember when you're talking about form that what I'm looking for is an analysis of the poetic form, so don't talk about the music, just the words.
If you can find it, please provide us with a link to the song you have chosen, or include a link to a you-tube video, or otherwise give us the ability to hear the song.
Looking Ahead to Week 2
Please come to class on Monday of next week having read Shakespeare's sonnet "Let Me Not To the Marriage of True Minds" and prepared to read it aloud if I call on you.
Please consider looking at the syllabus and reading ahead--not all days will be equal in work load. Please feel free also to ask me if you have any questions, either by finding me during my office hours, by commenting here on the blog, or by e-mailing me. Good luck on your journal activities this week. I look forward to reading your work this week, and this year.
Each Monday on this blog I will post this week's writing activity or activities, as well as other information of value to you in the coming week. Sometimes that will be reminders of what we have previously covered in class, sometimes that will be a preview of the coming week's readings and lessons, and it will also include any announcements or administrative business I need you to know.
To the right you will find some helpful links, including the course outline, the website for our course texts, and links to MLA style guides. Please make good use of these resources. Please try to pick up your course text books as soon as possible. The McMahan text, Literature and the Writing Process will be our major text book, and you will be expected have read the appropriate sections for each class. The recommended Troyka text, Quick Access: Reference for Writers, is a handbook to which we will not make specific reference in class but which will be useful to you as you write your major essays. I have made it "recommended" rather than "required" because I don't want you to buy texts you won't use, but I do genuinely recommend it; if you actually use it it will make you a better writer.
Journal Activities
This week you will have two journal activities: one due on Wednesday and one due on Friday.
For Wednesday:
I do not expect you to make a critical stand yet, to decide for all time how you will approach reading and writing. However, it is useful to you to have some sense of what approaches there are. Now that you have read McMahan's explanation of some of the critical approaches for interpreting literature (p. 819-824), I would like you to respond.
One idea I will bring up as we proceed through this course is the value of an attempt. The word "essay" comes to English from the French essayer, meaning to try or to test. We'll come back to that idea when it comes time to write your essays, but the same approach is useful here. Think of these critical approaches more like tools you are able to try out then like something you need to choose forever. With this in mind:
1. Write a paragraph explaining which of the approaches McMahan mentions is the most appealing to you.
2. Put your favourite approach into practice analyzing any poem of your choice from our text.
For Friday
The most common experience we have with poetry on a day to day basis in our society is through popular music. Please choose a piece of music you enjoy and provide a two or three paragraph analysis of it as a poetic work, paying special attention to form and to poetic language. Remember when you're talking about form that what I'm looking for is an analysis of the poetic form, so don't talk about the music, just the words.
If you can find it, please provide us with a link to the song you have chosen, or include a link to a you-tube video, or otherwise give us the ability to hear the song.
Looking Ahead to Week 2
Please come to class on Monday of next week having read Shakespeare's sonnet "Let Me Not To the Marriage of True Minds" and prepared to read it aloud if I call on you.
Please consider looking at the syllabus and reading ahead--not all days will be equal in work load. Please feel free also to ask me if you have any questions, either by finding me during my office hours, by commenting here on the blog, or by e-mailing me. Good luck on your journal activities this week. I look forward to reading your work this week, and this year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)