Note-Taking Time
Time to be positive. What makes America so special?
Time to be negative. What Are America's biggest problems?
What is poetry to you?
Reading Whitman's "I Hear America Singing."
On the poem itself, answer these questions:
Discussion Questions:
Final Task:
"I, too, sing America" by Langsotn Hughes
On the poem itself, answer these questions:
1. Based on the information given in the poem, describe the speaker. Who is he? What might he do for a living?
2. Who is the "they" that the narrator refers to? Do you think he is addressing actual humans, or society as a whole?
3. Explain how this poem presents America.
4. Explain the conflict found in this poem. Is it internal or external, or both? Is it between the narrator and himself, the narrator and another human, the narrator and society, or the narrator and nature? Explain.
5. Does the narrator feel that the "American Dream" is within his grasp? Why or why not?
6. From the narrator's perspective, what is the "American Dream"?
7. Explain the significance of the title "I, Too, Sing America".
8. Explain the difference in tone/attitude between this poem and Whitman's "I Hear America Singing".
Discussion Questions:
9. This poem was written in the early 1900s, but may take place during the era of slavery. Do you think the idea in this poem could apply today? Why or why not?
10. In today's society, who is left out of the "singing"? What kinds of people are excluded from the American Dream, and why?
Whitman and Theme Statements: What is a Theme in Literature?
Langston Hughes Poems: What was the Harlem Renaissance?
Helene Johnson Poems:What is Tone? (From Poetry for Dummies:))
Claude McKay Poems: The Harlem Dancer, America, The White House
Analyze/Unpack the final couplets
More Hughes: Mother and Son, Trumpet Player:
Choose a way to look at and analyze these poems: 1) Break the Poem into Sections. 2) Play the Pronoun Game 3) Choose Key Images that convey the poet's vision? 4) Unpack a central metaphor
Write two possible theme statements for the work.
Classwork:
Find similes in your poems if there are any.
1) My Papa's Waltz. Is this a "tough" poem or a "tender" poem? How might it be both? Find and present evidence.
2) Poem (as the cat). How would you describe the style of the poem? How does the style suggest the poet's philosophy for what poetry should be like?
3) Maggie and Millie and Molly and May. What big ideas are suggested in the last three lines? What do you personally "find" at the ocean?