Final nine weeks

Final nine weeks


Grade One, due on April 16 (40%)

50% neat, organized, well-formatted, easily followed study guide submitted to me with the following information:

• your two focus poets

• three focus poems from each (one will be the flagship poem)

• five key philosophical points relevant to each poet and his age (metaphysical, romantic, Victorian)

• clear illustrations of each point with a few lines of his poetry and brief, relevant commentary

• five key biographical points about each of your focus poets that are related to their times and poetry

• three concise, pithy comments from world-class critics about each of your two poets and brief application of your understanding of these comments with reference to poetry

• adequate evidence that you have read all required poems by both poets



50% oral commentary in which you will be required (in buddy groups) to do the following during the week of April 16. Unreadiness when called on constitutes late work:

• Ten minutes for this part:

o identify, contextualize, and explain an extract from each of your poets

o apply knowledge from above (avoiding the biographical approach)

o identify key literary features (metaphor, simile, hyperbole, line length, meter, conceits, structure of entire poem or of extract, and more) and explain their contribution to meaning

o use world-class critics in a useful, pointed, appropriate way

o compare and/or contrast the work represented by each extract to another poem by the same author

o compare and/or contrast the work represented by each extract to the other extract

• Ten minutes for this part: Respond to a question in a fully developed way with reference to the Paper 2 rubric adapted for oral response



Grade Two (20%): due week of April 30 or before.

Memorize, introduce, and perform one poem from the poet you have not researched. You may pair for longer poems and interpret as we did “Prufrock.”



Grade Three (40%): complete a thorough, researched explication of one of the poems that is at least twenty lines in length. For poems longer than thirty lines, you may work stanza by stanza rather than line by line. Draw conclusions about the poem based on this close reading.

• Draft one with research sources and at least five lines attempted: March 26, both classes.

• Draft two with complete attempt, typed and formatted, my comments addressed: April 16

• Draft three with my comments addressed: April 23

• Proofread and finalize: April 30

• Graded on deadlines and response to comments. Twenty points deducted for missed deadlines; lost credit for work over a week late.