*All assignments are listed BELOW the poetry project requirements.
Poetry: An Introduction
_Poetry is right at the top of the list of genres that students can
misperceive - and subsequently miss the challenges and joys of reading
and writing poetry.
Often our struggle with poetry stems from our early experiences with the genre. We think poetry has to rhyme, or have a specific rhythm. Our effort to write poetry that conforms to our schema subsumes the making of meaning.
This is why we'll focus on writing free-verse poetry.
How Free-Verse Poetry Works
Free verse poetry is poetry that doesn't have a regular rhythm, line length, or rhyme scheme. It relies on the natural rhythms of speech. Today it is the form of poetry that most American poets prefer. Free-verse poetry invents and follows its own forms, patterns and rules.
We'll look at a wide range of poems and poets over the next three weeks, and you are welcome to try any forms you'd like.
Often our struggle with poetry stems from our early experiences with the genre. We think poetry has to rhyme, or have a specific rhythm. Our effort to write poetry that conforms to our schema subsumes the making of meaning.
This is why we'll focus on writing free-verse poetry.
How Free-Verse Poetry Works
Free verse poetry is poetry that doesn't have a regular rhythm, line length, or rhyme scheme. It relies on the natural rhythms of speech. Today it is the form of poetry that most American poets prefer. Free-verse poetry invents and follows its own forms, patterns and rules.
We'll look at a wide range of poems and poets over the next three weeks, and you are welcome to try any forms you'd like.
Poetry Project - due Dec. 15th
Requirements
Instead of a set number of poems, or a required length for individual poems, you will be required to write 30 lines of poetry total. This could be one really long narrative poem; several short poems (at least 3 lines each); or a combination of short and long poems.
Because of the brevity of poetry, you will also be expected to revise liberally. No poems will be accepted without evidence of revision, so be sure to save each draft that you write.
Remember, the strongest poems are written about deeply personal experiences; use poetry to bare your soul in a new way.
Here are some suggestions for getting started:
The Power of I
•To build a poem’s momentum.
•To create rhythm.
Instead of a set number of poems, or a required length for individual poems, you will be required to write 30 lines of poetry total. This could be one really long narrative poem; several short poems (at least 3 lines each); or a combination of short and long poems.
Because of the brevity of poetry, you will also be expected to revise liberally. No poems will be accepted without evidence of revision, so be sure to save each draft that you write.
Remember, the strongest poems are written about deeply personal experiences; use poetry to bare your soul in a new way.
Here are some suggestions for getting started:
The Power of I
- You are the only one who can tell your feelings, observations, ideas and stories.
- First person experiences need a first person.
- Wave your I flag; put “I” and “me” into your work.
- The conclusion of a poem often conveys its deepest meaning. It needs to be strong.
- The conclusion should leave the reader with a a feeling, idea, image or question.
- Consider an echo structure: repeat significant lines from the poem in the conclusion.
- When breaking lines and stanzas, remember that poetry is written to be read and spoken.
- Break lines on strong words: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs; avoid ending on “and,” or “or.”
- Experiment with the size, shape, and length of lines and stanzas.
- Be concise; poetry is about efficiency and economy of language
- Weigh every line and every word; does it do anything for the poem?
- Use repetition to:
•To build a poem’s momentum.
•To create rhythm.
Examples for Monday, Dec. 12th: Cut to the Bone
1st Draft
_MUSIC
Music—it has the power against myself to control my emotions and that creates a need for me to own it and control myself. Each new genre of music releases an explosion inside myself of adrenaline which I am eager to run off and use. Every music store is an Amazon of new bands fighting to release their own personal effect on everybody. But I am also fighting to try the new bands first and accept and enjoy the effect that music throws at me. |
Final Copy
_MUSICAL EMOTIONS
Music: the only power I have over myself to change my emotions whenever and however I please: from frustrating anger to soothing calm to enthusiastic happiness— each new genre of music added to my collection equals another emotion for me to explore. |
3rd Draft
_
Alcohol
All the names of bars have not yet to surprise me by far Like Tom’s Shrub or The Pub Well I know that will put my life on a plug I know when I get into that frightening car Those wheels won’t take me very far I come to the stoplight Then I see the cop lights When I come to a panic and know I need to get out of sight And then all of a sudden I see something so bright The thought of dying Has never run through my mind When life has given me something so precious, soft and so kind The hypocrite inside of me screams Don’t hide from me The alcohol will pick me up and Turn me around till there is nothing left to see of me But a frown. Alcohol has a way of saying “you’re Ok” When I know it’s lying and Everything inside of me is dying Then I leave the Alcohol smiling When it didn’t even have to try To make me die I didn’t plan to be stranded I know I didn’t plan this All I want to do is scream DAMNIT! Most teenage deaths are caused by alcohol Something most of them wouldn’t want to fear at all The shatter of death will only happen if you Dare pick up and drink Alcohol |
Final Copy
_
Alcohol
When I get into that frightening car Those wheels won’t take me very far The thought of dying Has never run through my mind life is precious, soft and kind The alcohol will pick me up and Turn me around till there is nothing left Everything inside of me is dying |
Assignment for Thursday, Dec. 8th
Yesterday we talked about four types of repetition:
- Repeated words, phrases, and refrains
- Syntactical repetition (repeated sentence structure)
- Beginning and ending repetition
- Anaphora (beginning each line with the same word
_Read the selections below and determine which type or types of repetition are being used.
1. This poem by Walt Whitman is about the death of Abraham Lincoln. Whitman uses the metaphor of the nation as a ship. Lincoln was the captain of the ship who dies bringing it safely to port.
_2. This poem, by T.S. Eliot, is one of a group called "Landscapes."
Eliot was an American-born poet who lived and worked in England. In this
poem, he is remembering a scene from his earlier home.
3. Langston Hughes' early poems explore the nature of, and the beauty in, the African element of African-American identity.
4. Ezra Pound was an influential and innovative poet of the Modernist period. He attacked the traditional verse-style poetry of his time because of its lock-step adherence to metrical structures. In his Cantos, Pound plays with the white space in his poems, purposefully breaking with the flush-left orientation of most Western poetry.
Assignment for Wednesday, Dec. 7th
In honor of the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, our selections today all come from American poets. Please read the following three poems. What literary technique do these poems have in common? You do not need to write anything down, but be prepared to share.
1. If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease on life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
-- Emily Dickinson
2. Mother to Son
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
-- Langston Hughes
3. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
-- Robert Frost
1. If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease on life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
-- Emily Dickinson
2. Mother to Son
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
-- Langston Hughes
3. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
-- Robert Frost
Poems and Examples from Today's Lesson
_The documents below are examples for various types of repetition, each of which we talked about today. Refer to them as needed when you write your own poems.
Assignment for Tuesday, Dec. 6th
_Maya Angelou has had a remarkable and distinguished career, and she is widely considered one of the greatest writers of her generation. Her poetry has earned her a Pulitzer Prize nomination.
We're going to continue exploring the ways in which poets use white space. Read the poems by Maya Angelou below; choose one, and write a paragraph in your notebook explaining how the form (the layout/line breaks/stanzas) impacts your understanding of the poem. Include a brief analysis of the purpose of each stanza.
1. Life Doesn't Frighten Me
Shadows on the wall
Noises down the hall
Life doesn’t frighten me at all
Bad dogs barking loud
Big ghosts in a cloud
Life doesn’t frighten me at all
Mean old Mother Goose
Lions on the loose
They don’t frighten me at all
Dragons breathing flame
On my counterpane
That doesn’t frighten me at all.
I go boo
Make them shoo
I make fun
Way they run
I won’t cry
So they fly
I just smile
They go wild
Life doesn’t frighten me at all.
Tough guys fight
All alone at night
Life doesn’t frighten me at all.
Panthers in the park
Strangers in the dark
No, they don’t frighten me at all.
That new classroom where
Boys all pull my hair
(Kissy little girls
With their hair in curls)
They don’t frighten me at all.
Don’t show me frogs and snakes
And listen for my scream,
If I’m afraid at all
It’s only in my dreams.
I’ve got a magic charm
That I keep up my sleeve
I can walk the ocean floor
And never have to breathe.
Life doesn’t frighten me at all
Not at all
Not at all.
Life doesn’t frighten me at all.
2. Fightin' Was Natural
Fightin' was natural, hurtin' was real,
and the leather like lead
on the end of my arm
was a ticket to ride
to the top of the hill.
Fightin' was real.
The sting of the ointment
and scream of the crowd
for blood in the ring,
and the clangin' bell cuttin'
clean through the
cloud in my ears.
Boxin' was real.
The rope at my back
and the pad on the floor,
the smack of four hammers,
new bones in my jaw,
the guard in my mouth,
my tongue startin' to swell.
Fightin' was living'.
Boxin' was real.
Fightin' was real.
Livin' was ... hell.
We're going to continue exploring the ways in which poets use white space. Read the poems by Maya Angelou below; choose one, and write a paragraph in your notebook explaining how the form (the layout/line breaks/stanzas) impacts your understanding of the poem. Include a brief analysis of the purpose of each stanza.
1. Life Doesn't Frighten Me
Shadows on the wall
Noises down the hall
Life doesn’t frighten me at all
Bad dogs barking loud
Big ghosts in a cloud
Life doesn’t frighten me at all
Mean old Mother Goose
Lions on the loose
They don’t frighten me at all
Dragons breathing flame
On my counterpane
That doesn’t frighten me at all.
I go boo
Make them shoo
I make fun
Way they run
I won’t cry
So they fly
I just smile
They go wild
Life doesn’t frighten me at all.
Tough guys fight
All alone at night
Life doesn’t frighten me at all.
Panthers in the park
Strangers in the dark
No, they don’t frighten me at all.
That new classroom where
Boys all pull my hair
(Kissy little girls
With their hair in curls)
They don’t frighten me at all.
Don’t show me frogs and snakes
And listen for my scream,
If I’m afraid at all
It’s only in my dreams.
I’ve got a magic charm
That I keep up my sleeve
I can walk the ocean floor
And never have to breathe.
Life doesn’t frighten me at all
Not at all
Not at all.
Life doesn’t frighten me at all.
2. Fightin' Was Natural
Fightin' was natural, hurtin' was real,
and the leather like lead
on the end of my arm
was a ticket to ride
to the top of the hill.
Fightin' was real.
The sting of the ointment
and scream of the crowd
for blood in the ring,
and the clangin' bell cuttin'
clean through the
cloud in my ears.
Boxin' was real.
The rope at my back
and the pad on the floor,
the smack of four hammers,
new bones in my jaw,
the guard in my mouth,
my tongue startin' to swell.
Fightin' was living'.
Boxin' was real.
Fightin' was real.
Livin' was ... hell.
Assignment for Monday, Dec. 5th
How poets use the white space on a page can often be just as important as the words themselves. Read the poems by Langston Hughes below; choose one, and write a paragraph in your notebook explaining how the form (the layout/line breaks/stanzas) impacts your understanding of the poem.
1. The Negro Speaks of Rivers
I've known rivers:
I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than
the flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy bosom
turn all golden in the sunset.
I've known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
2. I, Too
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.
Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--
I, too, am America.
1. The Negro Speaks of Rivers
I've known rivers:
I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than
the flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy bosom
turn all golden in the sunset.
I've known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
2. I, Too
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.
Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--
I, too, am America.
Poems and examples from today's lesson
We talked about using white space, specifically line breaks and stanzas. The first two documents below are examples of revising to include meaningful line breaks. The third document is an example of meaningful stanzas. Here are the examples from class:
Assignment for Friday, Dec. 2nd
Begin drafting a poem.
Assignment for Wednesday, Nov. 30th and Thursday, Dec. 1st
Directions: Watch the video, Urban Youth Poets: Quest for the Voice. What poems or poets did you like best? What do you notice about the subject matter? What about the delivery and performance?
Assignment for Tuesday, Nov. 29th
Directions: Read ALL of the poems and song lyrics below. Choose ONE section and answer the questions that follow in your notebook.
1. Read Harlem: A Dream Deferred, and the excerpt from Juicy, then answer the questions in your notebook.
Harlem: A Dream Deferred
by Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun
Or fester like a sore-
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over-
Like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
from Juicy
by Notorious B.I.G.
It was all a dream
I used to read Word Up magazine
Salt'n'Pepa and Heavy D up in the limousine
Hangin' pictures on my wall
Every Saturday Rap Attack, Mr. Magic, Marley Marl...
Now honies play me close like butter played toast
From the Mississippi down to the east coast
Condos in Queens, indo for weeks
Sold out seats to hear Biggie Smalls speak
Livin' life without fear
Puttin' 5 karats in my baby girl's ears
Lunches, brunches, interviews by the pool
Considered a fool 'cause I dropped out of high school
Stereotypes of a black male misunderstood
And it's still all good ...
We used to fuss when the landlord dissed us
No heat, wonder why Christmas missed us
Birthdays was the worst days
Now we sip champagne when we thirst-ay
Uh, damn right I like the life I live
'Cause I went from negative to positive
And it's all...
It's all good
Response:
2. Read Ain't I a Woman? and For Women, then answer the questions in your notebook.
Ain't I a Woman
by Sojourner Truth
That man over there say
a woman needs to be helped into carriages
and lifted over ditches
and to have the best place everywhere.
Nobody ever helped me into carriages
or over mud puddles
or gives me a best place...
And ain't I a woman?
Look at me
Look at my arm!
I have plowed and planted
and gathered into barns
and no man could head me...
And ain't I a woman?
I could work as much
and eat as much as a man---
when I could get to it---
and bear the lash as well
and ain't I a woman?
I have born 13 children
and seen most all sold into slavery
and when I cried out a mother's grief
none but Jesus heard me...
and ain't I a woman?
that little man in black there say
a woman can't have as much rights as a man
cause Christ wasn't a woman
Where did your Christ come from?
From God and a woman!
Man had nothing to do with him!
If the first woman God ever made
was strong enough to turn the world
upside down, all alone
together women ought to be able to turn it
rightside up again.
from For Women
by Talib Kweli
A daughter come up in Georgia, ripe and ready to plant seeds,
Left the plantation when she saw a sign even thought she can't read
It came from God and when life get hard she always speak to him,
She'd rather kill her babies than let the master get to 'em,
She on the run up north to get across that Mason-Dixon
In church she learned how to be patient and keep wishin',
The promise of eternal life after death for those that God bless
She swears the next baby she'll have will breathe a free breath
and get milk from a free breast,
And love beeing alive,
otherwise they'll have to give up being themselves to survive,
Being maids, cleaning ladies, maybe teachers or college graduates, nurses, housewives, prostitutes, and drug addicts
Some will grow to be old women, some will die before they born,
They'll be mothers, and lovers who inspire and make songs,
But me, my skin is brown and my manner is tough,
Like the love I give my babies when the rainbow's enuff,
I'll kill the first person that mess with me, I never bluff
I ain't got time to lie, my life has been much too rough,
Still running with barefeet, I ain't got nothin' but my soul,
Freedom is the ultimate goal,
life and death is small on the whole, in many ways
I'm awfully bitter these days
'cuz the only parents God gave me, they were slaves,
And it crippled me, I got the destiny of a casualty,
But I live through my babies and I change my reality
Maybe one day I'll ride back to Georgia on a train,
Folks 'round there call me Peaches, I guess that's my name.
Response:
3. Read Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night and Me Against the World, then answer the questions in your notebook.
Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night
by Dylan Thomas
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
from Me Against the World
by Tupac Shakur
With all this extra stressin'
The question I wonder is after death, after my last breath
When will I finaly get to rest? Through this supression
they punish the people that's askin questions
And those that possess, steal from the ones without possesions
The message I stress: to make it stop study your lessons
Don't settle for less - even the genius asks-es questions
Be grateful for blessings
Don't ever change, keep your essence
The power is in the people and politics we address
Always do your best, don't let the pressure make you panic
And when you get stranded
And things don't go the way you planned it
Dreamin of riches, in a position of makin a difference
Politicians and hypocrites, they don't wanna listen
If I'm insane, it's the fame made a brother change
It wasn't nuttin like the game
It's just me against the world
Response:
4. Read Mirror and I Am Music, then answer the questions in your notebook.
from Mirror
by Sylvia Plath
I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful-
from I Am Music
by Common
You can feel me all over alive, I help culture survive, I opened the eyes of many
Styles y'all wrote in the skies, with your lows and highs, open your mind to hear me
In the streets I beat cops and obsolete
On every station it's hot you can't stop my heat
I taught J and Dre how to rock the beat
On what's going on today yo, I gots to speak
I take the stand, yo you could feel me bam
Whether in Larry Graham or Steely Dan
Live I be killing it man
For how long I survived yo I'm realer than man
Got a soft side but I'm still a man
For me women cry and children dance, I'm trying to eat
I could'a got a mil and ran
But like Sly for the fam still I stand
I am music
Response:
1. Read Harlem: A Dream Deferred, and the excerpt from Juicy, then answer the questions in your notebook.
Harlem: A Dream Deferred
by Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun
Or fester like a sore-
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over-
Like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
from Juicy
by Notorious B.I.G.
It was all a dream
I used to read Word Up magazine
Salt'n'Pepa and Heavy D up in the limousine
Hangin' pictures on my wall
Every Saturday Rap Attack, Mr. Magic, Marley Marl...
Now honies play me close like butter played toast
From the Mississippi down to the east coast
Condos in Queens, indo for weeks
Sold out seats to hear Biggie Smalls speak
Livin' life without fear
Puttin' 5 karats in my baby girl's ears
Lunches, brunches, interviews by the pool
Considered a fool 'cause I dropped out of high school
Stereotypes of a black male misunderstood
And it's still all good ...
We used to fuss when the landlord dissed us
No heat, wonder why Christmas missed us
Birthdays was the worst days
Now we sip champagne when we thirst-ay
Uh, damn right I like the life I live
'Cause I went from negative to positive
And it's all...
It's all good
Response:
- Identify how Hughes uses imagery for all five senses in his poem.
- How does the sum total of all of the imagery add up to answering the question put forth by the speaker in line one, "What happens to a dream deferred?"
- In the poem, what is the unspoken message the speaker is telling the reader about going after their own dreams?
- Line 16 of Juicy, the lyrics claim that birthdays are the worst days. Why do you think the artist felt this way?
- What images from the lyrics does the artist use to evoke images of the poverty he endured prior to achieving hip-hop fame?
- What images from the lyrics does the artist use to evoke images of the rewards of wealth and hip-hop fame in the reader's mind?
- What message do both Hughes and B.I.G. send with their poems?
2. Read Ain't I a Woman? and For Women, then answer the questions in your notebook.
Ain't I a Woman
by Sojourner Truth
That man over there say
a woman needs to be helped into carriages
and lifted over ditches
and to have the best place everywhere.
Nobody ever helped me into carriages
or over mud puddles
or gives me a best place...
And ain't I a woman?
Look at me
Look at my arm!
I have plowed and planted
and gathered into barns
and no man could head me...
And ain't I a woman?
I could work as much
and eat as much as a man---
when I could get to it---
and bear the lash as well
and ain't I a woman?
I have born 13 children
and seen most all sold into slavery
and when I cried out a mother's grief
none but Jesus heard me...
and ain't I a woman?
that little man in black there say
a woman can't have as much rights as a man
cause Christ wasn't a woman
Where did your Christ come from?
From God and a woman!
Man had nothing to do with him!
If the first woman God ever made
was strong enough to turn the world
upside down, all alone
together women ought to be able to turn it
rightside up again.
from For Women
by Talib Kweli
A daughter come up in Georgia, ripe and ready to plant seeds,
Left the plantation when she saw a sign even thought she can't read
It came from God and when life get hard she always speak to him,
She'd rather kill her babies than let the master get to 'em,
She on the run up north to get across that Mason-Dixon
In church she learned how to be patient and keep wishin',
The promise of eternal life after death for those that God bless
She swears the next baby she'll have will breathe a free breath
and get milk from a free breast,
And love beeing alive,
otherwise they'll have to give up being themselves to survive,
Being maids, cleaning ladies, maybe teachers or college graduates, nurses, housewives, prostitutes, and drug addicts
Some will grow to be old women, some will die before they born,
They'll be mothers, and lovers who inspire and make songs,
But me, my skin is brown and my manner is tough,
Like the love I give my babies when the rainbow's enuff,
I'll kill the first person that mess with me, I never bluff
I ain't got time to lie, my life has been much too rough,
Still running with barefeet, I ain't got nothin' but my soul,
Freedom is the ultimate goal,
life and death is small on the whole, in many ways
I'm awfully bitter these days
'cuz the only parents God gave me, they were slaves,
And it crippled me, I got the destiny of a casualty,
But I live through my babies and I change my reality
Maybe one day I'll ride back to Georgia on a train,
Folks 'round there call me Peaches, I guess that's my name.
Response:
- Sojourner Truth is a celebrated, famous women's rights activist who has received great recognition for her work. Talib Kweli is a skillful hip-hop poet whose work is largely unknown outside the contemporary world of hip-hop music. Do you feel that the work of Kweli deserves the same type of "literary merit and attention" that the work of Truth does? Why?
- What is the overall message about women that both Truth and Kweli share?
- Do you feel that the work of contemporary hip-hop poets in general get the positive recognition they deserve? Why or why not?
3. Read Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night and Me Against the World, then answer the questions in your notebook.
Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night
by Dylan Thomas
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
from Me Against the World
by Tupac Shakur
With all this extra stressin'
The question I wonder is after death, after my last breath
When will I finaly get to rest? Through this supression
they punish the people that's askin questions
And those that possess, steal from the ones without possesions
The message I stress: to make it stop study your lessons
Don't settle for less - even the genius asks-es questions
Be grateful for blessings
Don't ever change, keep your essence
The power is in the people and politics we address
Always do your best, don't let the pressure make you panic
And when you get stranded
And things don't go the way you planned it
Dreamin of riches, in a position of makin a difference
Politicians and hypocrites, they don't wanna listen
If I'm insane, it's the fame made a brother change
It wasn't nuttin like the game
It's just me against the world
Response:
- What is the essential, overall meaning of Dylan Thomas's poem?
- How does repetition emphasize the meaning in Thomas's poem?
- In your own words, what is the line, "Do not go gentle into that good night," really saying?
- In your own words, what is the line, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light," really saying?
- What is the essential, overall meaning of Tupac's lyrics?
- How does Tupac suggest we overcome oppression?
- What are some of the common beliefs that you believe Tupac Shakur and Dylan Thomas share about life?
4. Read Mirror and I Am Music, then answer the questions in your notebook.
from Mirror
by Sylvia Plath
I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful-
from I Am Music
by Common
You can feel me all over alive, I help culture survive, I opened the eyes of many
Styles y'all wrote in the skies, with your lows and highs, open your mind to hear me
In the streets I beat cops and obsolete
On every station it's hot you can't stop my heat
I taught J and Dre how to rock the beat
On what's going on today yo, I gots to speak
I take the stand, yo you could feel me bam
Whether in Larry Graham or Steely Dan
Live I be killing it man
For how long I survived yo I'm realer than man
Got a soft side but I'm still a man
For me women cry and children dance, I'm trying to eat
I could'a got a mil and ran
But like Sly for the fam still I stand
I am music
Response:
- What are some of the "human" actions that the mirror takes in Plath's poem?
- What kind of "human attitude" has the Plath given the mirror?
- In "I Am Music," what are some of the "human" actions taken by music in Common's lyrics?
- What kind of "human attitude" has Common given music?
- How are the poems of Plath and Common alike?
- How are the poems of Plath and Common different?
Assignment for Monday, Nov. 28th
_Directions: Read ALL of the poems below. Choose ONE response to put in your notebook.
1. Poetry can help us remember, capture, and celebrate what matters to us, before the essential details slip away.
This poem is an elegy; that is, it's a poem that mourns a death. This is a sad poem about a sad subject, but it also does the work of a good elegy: it brings some measure of comfort to the poet.
Remembrance of a Friend
My sight is blurred by tears
as we walk to the field.
I wish you were here beside me,
your paws padding the ground,
your pink tongue tasting the air.
Your life was long.
You, who babysat me
when I was nine months old,
watching me bounce
in my johnny-jump-up,
only your eyes moving
as you pretended not to notice
when I landed on your snout.
You, who Dad lifted
and plopped on the sled
so you could slide down
the driveway with me,
my hands burrowed
in black fur,
your ears drawn back
by the icy wind.
You, my dog Buster,
who will be buried in the field
along with your bed that lived
under the piano,
so in the springtime
dandelions will grow
over your grave
- Benjamin F. Williams
Some features to notice:
Response:
Go back into this poem and record 2-3 favorite lines in your notebook. Explain why these lines struck you deepest.
2. If I had to name the most important poem of the 20th century - important because of its influence on poets who followed - it would be "The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams. In 16 words, it expresses a view of the world - a writer's vision - that helped every poet since Williams understand that poetry begins as an act of perception. "So much depends upon" noticing!
1. Poetry can help us remember, capture, and celebrate what matters to us, before the essential details slip away.
This poem is an elegy; that is, it's a poem that mourns a death. This is a sad poem about a sad subject, but it also does the work of a good elegy: it brings some measure of comfort to the poet.
Remembrance of a Friend
My sight is blurred by tears
as we walk to the field.
I wish you were here beside me,
your paws padding the ground,
your pink tongue tasting the air.
Your life was long.
You, who babysat me
when I was nine months old,
watching me bounce
in my johnny-jump-up,
only your eyes moving
as you pretended not to notice
when I landed on your snout.
You, who Dad lifted
and plopped on the sled
so you could slide down
the driveway with me,
my hands burrowed
in black fur,
your ears drawn back
by the icy wind.
You, my dog Buster,
who will be buried in the field
along with your bed that lived
under the piano,
so in the springtime
dandelions will grow
over your grave
- Benjamin F. Williams
Some features to notice:
- The voice: an I speaking to a you.
- The use of vignettes: little stories that show Ben and Buster in action and suggest what their relationship was like.
- The sensory language, especially the verbs.
Response:
Go back into this poem and record 2-3 favorite lines in your notebook. Explain why these lines struck you deepest.
2. If I had to name the most important poem of the 20th century - important because of its influence on poets who followed - it would be "The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams. In 16 words, it expresses a view of the world - a writer's vision - that helped every poet since Williams understand that poetry begins as an act of perception. "So much depends upon" noticing!
The Red Wheelbarrow
so much depends upon the red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens. - William Carlos Williams |
Poem
As the cat climbed over the top of the jamcloset first the right forefoot carefully then the hind stepped down into the pit of the empty flowerpot - William Carlos Williams |
Some features to notice:
Response:
Go back into the poems and record images in your notebook that you can see in your mind, and any connections you are able to make.
- The simple, everyday diction
- How Williams invents a form for each poem
- His omission of punctuation
- The lack of figurative language; instead, direct descriptions
Response:
Go back into the poems and record images in your notebook that you can see in your mind, and any connections you are able to make.
3. Poets, like just about every human on the face of the earth, love their pets. It's easy to fall in love with a pet, and it's satisfying, fun, and easy to write a love poem about that relationship.
Man and Dog
Who's this - alone with stone and sky
It's only my old dog and I -
It's only him; it's only me;
Alone with stone and grass and tree.
What share we most - we two together?
Smells, and awareness of the weather.
What is it makes us more than dust?
My trust in him; in me his trust.
Here's anyhow one decent thing
That life to man and dog can bring;
One decent thing, remultiplied
Till earth's last dog and man have died.
- Siegfried Sassoon
Some features to notice:
The conventional form: four-line stanzas of rhyming couplets
The simple, elemental diction, which suggests the simple, elemental relationship between man and dog
The we voice, the tone of devotion, and the theme of loyalty: here, man and dog are one
Response:
Go back into this poem and record 2-3 lines that you like in your notebook. Explain why these lines struck you deepest.