Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

Today, we began with Dickinson, writing Journal #4: Does the language in "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" draw you in or distance you? Explain.

In her homework, Keeley concluded that "[Dickinson] likes not being someone because she sees that there is no privacy in celebrity." This ties in well with Dickinson's largely reclusive life. She wrote over 1700 poems in her 55 years, only publishing a few anonymously. Her world-wide fame came only after her 1886 death, upon publication of the first edition of her poems in 1893. Ronaldo characterized this poem nicely as well, saying it is "commentary on the nature of identity and individuality, both its relevance and irrelevance."

Then, we focused on Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," a poem first published in 1915 in Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. In the course of the discussion, we added two terms to our literary toolbox, dramatic monologue and stream of consciousness. Then, in groups of 3-4, students analyzed assigned sections of the poem, working through the Prufrock Analysis Worksheet. I look forward to hearing everyone's conclusions on Wednesday.

Due Wednesday: Two questions, one related to "Dusting" (360) and one related to "This is a Photograph of Me" (369).

Constructing a Self & Bidart

Today, we concluded our discussion of Ammons' "Easter Morning" and then turned our attention to "Constructing a Self," as outlined in Vendler.  We specifically considered how the poet gets the reader to "turn into" the speaker.  Strategies included:

~ Construct temporal space

~ Relocate the speaker in space and time (Heaney's "Mid-term Break")

~ Add depth (round vs. flat)

~ Include details that make it seem as if the author has intimate knowledge of a given historical time and place (Whitman's "Hush'd Be the Camps To-Day")

~ Ensure the speaker's motivations, justifications, and conclusions are reasonable (Harper's "Nightmare Begins Responsibility").

In this context, we examined Bidart's "Ellen West,"  answering the following questions:

1. Does Bidart construct temporal space within the poem?  In other words, do you get the sense that life has been lived prior to this moment?  Explain.

2. Does the speaker move through time/space within the poem?  Explain.

3. Does the speaker seem round (multi-dimensional, have depth)?

4. Do the details make it seem as if the author has intimate knowledge, in this case of an eating disorder?

5. Do the speaker's motivations, emotions, etc. seem reasonable?  Why or why not?

Tonight's homework:  Write a sentence about Emily Dickinson's "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" and T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

Heaney, Plath, and Ammons

Today, we worked in groups, revisiting the questions:

- What piece of life is it concerned with?

- Where and when is this life being lived?

- How does the author bring originality to the moment?

Each group discussed "Digging" and either "Easter Morning" or "Daddy."  Tune in tomorrow for each group's findings.  In the meantime, here are a few insights from the class:

"Digging" is "an observation and introspective point of view on inheritance, responsibility, and destiny.  A father's disappointment and loss is his son's progress and fulfillment.  A conflict between mundane obligation and artistic calling" -- Ronaldo Bryant

"Daddy" - "I feel it more than I can understand it." -- Nhung Tran

"This particular poem was interesting to read because of the imagery, metaphors, and passion that is evident throughout. Her points are...visually expressed, which draws in the reader and paints beautiful (yet dark) mental images" - Chad Albright

We also listened to a short clip of Seamus Heaney talking about his formative years, an interview which linked nicely to "Digging." The link is below.

9/24 - Poetry as Life

Today, we began thinking about poetry in the context of private moments: “Poems have their origins in life, especially in the formal or informal ceremonies that occur at crucial moments or phases in a single private life – birth, adolescence, marriage, death…(Vendler 1)

We looked specifically at Anne Bradstreet's "To My Dear and Loving Husband," Ben Jonson's "On My First Son," and Michael Harper's "Nightmare Begins Responsibility." We discussed both content and form, adding these terms to our literary vocabulary:

alliteration - the matching or repetition of consonants

anaphora - repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses

couplet – a pair of rhyming lines

elegy - a song or poem expressing grief for one who is dead (poem of mourning)

free verse - verse in which lines are different widths, and which does not have a regular rhyme scheme

Tomorrow, we will discuss A.R. Ammons' "Easter Morning," Seamus Heaney's "Digging," and Sylvia Plath's "Daddy." Due tomorrow: one sentence each for "Easter Morning" and "Daddy."

Due Monday: Choose any poem from the Week 1 reading list. In approximately one page (double-spaced), discuss the following:

~ What piece of life is it concerned with?

~ Where and when is this life being lived?
~ How does the author bring originality to the moment?

(from Vendler)

In closing, below are two good insights from today's homework:

"["To My Dear and Loving Husband"] is a proclamation of a woman's love for her mate. It's a love poem meant to say 'I know we'll be together forever." - Christin Helt

My thought on "Nightmare Begins Responsibility" is that he expresses both pain and fear, the agonizing pain of losing both sons after only one day of life...and the fear of his children's lives in a stranger's hands." - Quinton Bailey

9/23 - What is poetry?

Today, we looked at the article, “Definition of poetry splits the literati” and responded to the quote, “I would say, if [poetry] doesn’t have rhyme or metre, then it is not poetry, it is just prose. You can have prose that is full of imagery, but it is still prose.” (Journal #1) Then, in groups, we defined poetry, definitions we will return to at the end of the quarter.

I shared a quote from Helen Vendler, noting that economy of language and precise word choice are often cited characteristics of poetry:

“A word in a poem is used because it ‘fits’ the overlapping schemes of the poem better than any other word. From one angle, it fits because it is a word the speaker of the poem might ‘really’ use…From another angle, it fits because it has the right number of syllables for that place in the line. From yet another, it fits because it begins with the same letter as a word closely allied to it nearby in the poem. From yet another, it fits because it disrupts the expected rhythm and therefore introduces force into the line. From yet another, it fits because it inserts semantic surprise, on the one hand, or semantic confirmation, on the other, into the semantic configuration of the poem or stanza. Substitute another word for this one and you have a loss of force, a loss of surprise, a too-short line, an inappropriate diction for the envisaged speaker, or an absence of a binding phonetic link between a given word and another 'belonging' to it (as, say, an adjective ‘belongs to’ its noun.) Neither orators nor letter writers take such care with every word as poets do (3)”.

Finally, we discussed the homework: Write one sentence about each of the following poems:
“To My Dear and Loving Husband”
“On My First Son”
“Nightmare Begins Responsibility”
These poems will be the focus of Wednesday's discussion.

Monday, September 22nd - Welcome

Today was the first day of English 133 - Intro. to Poetry. We reviewed the syllabus and got to know one another a bit better. We have several writers in the class -- which is wonderful. When asked to identify particular areas of interest, students said Japanese haiku, macabre, the Beat poets, and Spoken Word.

For our haiku fans, this poem seems appropriate, given that today is the first day of fall:

First autumn morning:
the mirror I stare into
shows my father's face

Kijo Murakami (1865-1938)

I look forward to working with you all! Amanda