Poetry Template Assignments

Please read the following biography on Walt Whitman: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/126.  

Some of you may be having difficulty getting started with your poetry analysis.  Let me give you a place to start.  This is just a 1, 2, 3 guideline and not a required process.  

Poetry Analysis Steps

1. Read the poem several times. 

2. Define any unknown words including possible allusions. 

3. Identify:

a. Sound Devices: the rhyme scheme, alliteration, consonance, assonance 

b. Figurative Language: metaphors, simile, hyperbole, personification 

c. Other Poetic Devices: symbolism, irony, allusion

4. Identify the tone of the poem. What diction supports your answer? 

5. Identify the point of view. Who is the speaker(s) of the poem? Who is the audience? 

6. What is taking place in the poem? (action or ideas) 

7. What is the central purpose of the poem? (theme)

In our post this week please feel free to ask your classmates their opinion about lines in the poetry you have chosen to analyze.  If a line, sound device, or poetic device is confusing you, please, use this week as an opportunity to glean wisdom from your classmates.   Basically, instead of ME asking YOU a question feel free to ask your classmates a question about your poetry assignment.  I will read all of your questions to make sure they get answered.  You are still responsible for two blog posts this week.  The first, to ask a question and the second, to answer a question posed by your classmates.  

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Dear class,

I'm half-way done with Uncle Tom's Cabin and can hardly put the book down.  I hope you are making progress.  Please make sure you have at least read through Chapter 12 by October 8th.  This week's blog question is similar to the American Hymns of the 18th and 19th century.  This time, I would like you to focus on Negro Spirituals of the 18th and 20th century.  Depending on how far you have read in Uncle Tom's you will notice there are quite a few spirituals and hymns described.

Please find a Negro Spiritual, copy the words (giving credit to source), list any history or facts about the spiritual and if you can copy a mp3 file of the spiritual on to your blog post.  Finally, I'd like to hear your opinions on why Negro Spirituals are a form of American Literature.

Thank you for the chocolate treats. I'm hoping that if I put "I really would like a new car" you all will come through for me too...... yes?

There is no extra credit this week.  Read, Read, Read Uncle Tom's Cabin! Work on Poetry Assignments!

Slave Narratives

This week I would like you to read these three quotes from the autobiography.

“If you teach that nigger (speaking of myself ) how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master” (p. 49).

“I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty—to wit, the white man’s power to enslave the black man. It was a grand achievement, and I prized it highly. From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom” (p. 49). (Education)

“In learning to read, I owe almost as much to the bitter opposition of my master, as to the kindly aid of my mistress. I acknowledge the benefit of both” (p. 50). (Education) *

Blog question of the week: Why was education, for the slaves of the 1800's, the key to freedom? In what ways do these quotes apply today to our society, other societies? In what areas can you apply these quotes? 

Reading Uncle Tom's cabin, you are.   (What literary device is that? For extra credit)    

Week 6: I hope you turned in your essay

Dear Class,

Uncle Tom's Cabin put a human face to the debate on slavery during the mid 1800's.  For this week please read the following PDF file- concentrate on pages 4-17.  

http://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/worxcms_files/teachers_guide_no.pdf

This week's  and next week's assignment is to read The Autobiography of Fredrick Douglass including the Letter by Wendell Phillips.  You will have two weeks to read this autobiography.   

http://www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/Douglass/Narrative/Douglass_Narrative.pdf

EXTRA CREDIT: The Man Without A Country by Hale and answer the following question: Which is more important for making attached American citizens: the love of American principles or love of our native land? Email me your answer for credit.  

http://www.bartleby.com/ebook/adobe/3106.pdf

ONGOING: You should be reading Uncle Tom's Cabin and working on your 4 poetry analysis' for the rest of September and part of October.  Please turn in the 4 poetry analysis' on October 17th in class.  My suggestion is that you are at least at the half-way point or beyond for Uncle Tom's Cabin by the first class in October. 



So what is the blog posting for this week?  Surprise!!!! There is not a blog question for this week.  Take a break- you have some reading to do.  Be prepared to answer a blog question NEXT week on Fredrick Douglass' autobiography.  

Week 5: Hymns

This week's blog post will focus on the Hymns of the late 1700's and the 1800's.  As a young girl growing up in a Baptist church I learned just as much theology from the hymns we sang as I did the sermons or Sunday school lessons I heard.  The place of Hymns and Spirituals as a literary category in American history is undeniable.  Hymns are simply faith filled poetry put to music.   


The blog question  this week ask you to research some early hymns.  (We will focus on Negro Spirituals another week).  I'd like for you to tell us about their author and any circumstances involved in the writing of the hymn.   Share with us the most profound lines and what they mean to you.  PAY attention to the date of the hymn and that the hymn writer is considered to be an American hymn writer.  Anything after 1899 will not be counted as a correct response.  You may end up choosing a hymn you have never heard before and that's okay.  You do not have to have a personal connection to the hymn.  If you do choose a new hymn try and find the lyrics put to music.  Here is a website for your reference. 

http://www.theoldtimegospel.org/dev/hymn7.html

Joseph Gillmore and William Bradbury wrote "He Leadeth Me" in 1864.  Gillmore scribbled the lines down after preaching a sermon on Psalms 23.  His wife sent his scribblings to a publisher and Bradbury put the words to music.  Gillmore was surprised when he opened a hymnal to find his words in the hymn.  A profound quote for me is: 

"And when my task on earth is done,
When by Thy grace the vict’ry’s won,
E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee,
Since God through Jordan leadeth me"

These lines reference the verse in Psalms 23 that says: 
⁴ "Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,^[a]
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me"

I love this hymn because not only does it teach a fundamental beautiful truth that not even death can separate us from Him; but, it was also my Papo Clark's favorite hymn. He would sing this hymn in his big green truck on our way to the lake to fish.  I was amazed that a man I thought to be strong, brave and capable in all things would need anyone to lead him anywhere.   The fact my Papo sang this song with conviction showed me that there was something wonderful about being led by Jesus.  

Just encouragement....

LOVING your comments on the Raven.  Thoughtful and so insightful.  For those of you reading all three works by Poe this week I thought you might appreciate this clip to lighten the mood....

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=001C01NU

This little girl is the opposite of Edgar Allan Poe in life outlook.  Yes?

Week 4: On to the Romantics

This semester just keeps ticking away doesn't it? I hope you've enjoyed reading the selections I've chosen for this class.  Remember, September 17th is the big "turn in your essay" day.  You may turn the essay in earlier if you'd like.  Out next novel is "Uncle Tom's Cabin" for those of you finished with Scarlett Letter.  Remember, to keep a list of the literature you read.  We've read Franklin, Irving, Hawthorne, Poe and many Historical Narratives.

1. This week we will be reading Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem, "The Raven" and short story, "Tell Tale Heart".  Please read the selections first:

http://www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/Poe/Raven.pdf
http://www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/Poe/Tell-Tale_Heart.pdf


2. Edgar Allan Poe- a short biography

http://poestories.com/biography.php


3. Blog question for the week: What literary techniques do you find in the Raven.  Give examples from the poetry in your answer.  What shared themes or literary techniques do you find in both pieces of literature from this week?

4. The Raven Analysis- Read AFTER you read "The Raven" by Poe and AFTER you answer the blog question for this week.

http://www.poedecoder.com/essays/raven/

Extra Credit Assignment this week: Read the short story, "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Poe.