Monday, March 18, 2013
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Saturday
For the explication, you need critics on the poem you're investigating. Essays with titles like "Chick Fleas: Extended Metaphors and the Rhetoric of Love in the Poetry of John Donne." School library has several collections edited by Harold Bloom and a big reference set on poetry. Winthrop and the state system (jstor and others) would have all you need. You can use Wordsworth's own "Preface to Lyrical Ballads" as one source on Wordsworth. That's a critical essay explaining what he and Colerige intend.
Use ESSAYS and BOOKS by legitimate critics, not Sparknotes. Are SNs referenced? If so, sure, use them to find other sources and for first ideas, but don't rely on SN as a critic. You are not looking for background but for the opinions of educated, published, "expert" readers on your chosen poem. You use little short, perfect insights from the critics to enrich your explication, to make it a little bit of a conversation between you and a few critics -- a few other readers -- rather than a monologue. Cite their published, copyrighted words as research using MLA style.
Use ESSAYS and BOOKS by legitimate critics, not Sparknotes. Are SNs referenced? If so, sure, use them to find other sources and for first ideas, but don't rely on SN as a critic. You are not looking for background but for the opinions of educated, published, "expert" readers on your chosen poem. You use little short, perfect insights from the critics to enrich your explication, to make it a little bit of a conversation between you and a few critics -- a few other readers -- rather than a monologue. Cite their published, copyrighted words as research using MLA style.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Tuesday addendum
Review “Poem to a Dead Soldier,” “Open Letter to the South,” and “Dark Youth of the U.S.A.” Here is a .pdf of the IOC rubric.
Tuesday
Game day tomorrow! Here is the pack of notes from your fellow students. It has all notes turned in today, including those from late in the class period.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Thursday
Please bring your Langston Hughes book to class tomorrow, A-day. Everybody, work on your assigned poem for next class.
Orals begin Wednesday.
Orals begin Wednesday.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Monday, February 4, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013
Friday
Read and annotate "Down the Mine."
Alert: Your free eight-minute section of your oral commentary WILL BE ON HUGHES. The twelve-minute discussion will be on Wilson and Orwell.
Alert: Your free eight-minute section of your oral commentary WILL BE ON HUGHES. The twelve-minute discussion will be on Wilson and Orwell.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Wednesday
For those students who insist that the handout for "A Hanging" is not on the blog, please check the previous posting labeled "Wednesday, January 9" and click on the text "A Hanging." HA HA HA.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Wednesday
Prepare for your essay on Thursday (report to the TOK room) and for your orals Friday, Monday, and Tuesday.
Here are the handouts from Wednesday concerning "A Hanging" and "Marrakech" for those who might have been absent.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nkp4g7st5edm4rb/Marrakech.pdf
Here are the handouts from Wednesday concerning "A Hanging" and "Marrakech" for those who might have been absent.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nkp4g7st5edm4rb/Marrakech.pdf
Monday, January 7, 2013
Monday part deux
Finish writing your Orwell emulation.
Read “A Hanging” and note how Orwell makes a persuasive case.
Monday
You will all meet with me on Thursday, January 10, for the timed essay. You are responsible for all we have read this semester.
Orals begin Friday.
See the links at the right of this page for the entire Orwell packet consisting of seven essays.
Orals begin Friday.
See the links at the right of this page for the entire Orwell packet consisting of seven essays.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Thursday
We are about to begin the Orwell essays. Be sure to sign up for a time for your oral commentary: the sign-up sheet is on my door.
Remember that we all meet together on January 10 for the timed essay.
Remember that we all meet together on January 10 for the timed essay.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
Monday
To ensure that your files open on my computer, I advise you “save as: filename.rtf.” An “.rtf” is a Rich Text Format document, and in that format, you can open it almost anywhere.
.pdf is also a good choice.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Monday
Read below for the list of poems and the order of presentation. The flipchart page is linked in the November 16 post below.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Friday: The Basics of Reading a Poem.
Basics of reading a poem:
1. Identify the speaker. What can you tell about the speaker? You may not know a name or gender or anything else, but identify the perspective: poems, at some level, will always have a consistent perspective if they have nothing else. The lines do not drop from the sky but from a perspective.
2. Identify the audience. Often the audience is the general reader, but just as often there is an audience for the speaker within the poem, a person or idea that the speaker addresses. Occasionally, as in Hughes, the audience will be white Americans or black Americans specifically. Determine which, and be clear and consistent.
3. Identify the subject. The subject of the poem is literal and clear. Be sure you recognize it and give it a name.
4. Identify the plot. In a poem, this task can be a little tricky, and the plot, or narrative, might not be very strong or complete, but something happens. What?
5. Identify the big structural components of the poem. Does it have a beginning, middle, and end? How do you know where the poem progresses from one part to another? There might be more than three parts. What does each part do, or what is its function?
6. When identifying structural components, explain how the poem works as it progresses from one part to another. If “God” appears in the first part, and “Lucifer” appears in the next, explain the connection, or how the first part moves into the second with contrast or opposition as one organizing principle.
7. Identify key small structural components. Are there patterns of line length, of repetition, of rhyme? What patterns do you notice at the “micro” level, and if they have an effect you can identify, make that effect explicit and explain.
8. Identify the theme. How does the poem’s concrete language suggest universal abstractions or social commentary? (Social commentary is a poet’s judgment of some aspect of society).
9. Identify the mood. The mood can shift as the poem progresses. A definition of mood and a great many words to describe mood can be found here. Explain how you know the mood using evidence from the poem.
10. Identify the tone. Tone is usually quite consistent. A definition of tone and many useful words for describing it are also here. Explain how you know the tone using evidence from the poem.
11. What part do musical devices (sound devices, like alliteration, assonance, consonance, repetition, internal and end rhyme, caesuras, end stops, line length, meter) play in accomplishing any of the poem's effects? Do not emphasize these without pointing out their effects!
1. Identify the speaker. What can you tell about the speaker? You may not know a name or gender or anything else, but identify the perspective: poems, at some level, will always have a consistent perspective if they have nothing else. The lines do not drop from the sky but from a perspective.
2. Identify the audience. Often the audience is the general reader, but just as often there is an audience for the speaker within the poem, a person or idea that the speaker addresses. Occasionally, as in Hughes, the audience will be white Americans or black Americans specifically. Determine which, and be clear and consistent.
3. Identify the subject. The subject of the poem is literal and clear. Be sure you recognize it and give it a name.
4. Identify the plot. In a poem, this task can be a little tricky, and the plot, or narrative, might not be very strong or complete, but something happens. What?
5. Identify the big structural components of the poem. Does it have a beginning, middle, and end? How do you know where the poem progresses from one part to another? There might be more than three parts. What does each part do, or what is its function?
6. When identifying structural components, explain how the poem works as it progresses from one part to another. If “God” appears in the first part, and “Lucifer” appears in the next, explain the connection, or how the first part moves into the second with contrast or opposition as one organizing principle.
7. Identify key small structural components. Are there patterns of line length, of repetition, of rhyme? What patterns do you notice at the “micro” level, and if they have an effect you can identify, make that effect explicit and explain.
8. Identify the theme. How does the poem’s concrete language suggest universal abstractions or social commentary? (Social commentary is a poet’s judgment of some aspect of society).
9. Identify the mood. The mood can shift as the poem progresses. A definition of mood and a great many words to describe mood can be found here. Explain how you know the mood using evidence from the poem.
10. Identify the tone. Tone is usually quite consistent. A definition of tone and many useful words for describing it are also here. Explain how you know the tone using evidence from the poem.
11. What part do musical devices (sound devices, like alliteration, assonance, consonance, repetition, internal and end rhyme, caesuras, end stops, line length, meter) play in accomplishing any of the poem's effects? Do not emphasize these without pointing out their effects!
Friday, November 16, 2012
Friday: Instructor rubric
Here is the "Instructor for a Day" rubric. Please LOOK at this rubric as you prepare.
Here is the list of poems and instructors and their order. I have updated this list to include the numbers for B-day, which had originally been written outside the margins of the flipchart page.
Here is the list of poems and instructors and their order. I have updated this list to include the numbers for B-day, which had originally been written outside the margins of the flipchart page.
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