Assignment 7
ASSIGNMENT #7
Analysis of a POET - please note there are 3 (three) parts to this assignment!
USE THE RESOURCES BELOW OR SEARCH THE WEB FOR A POET YOU WOULD LIKE TO RESEARCH AND WHOSE WORKS YOU WOULD LIKE TO ANALYZE— Note, you can also use one of the books of Poetry from the classroom or library:
PART 1
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Research the life, times, and works of a poet of your choice. You will be writing about your poet by becoming that person. Tell me about yourself (your poet) in narrative form using factual information from your research.
For example, you could begin like this....
“There are those that say I invented the detective story. I'm also a poet. I've written such poems as ................ . A common theme of my poetry is ...........
My parents were traveling actors. My father, David, and my mother, Elizabeth, died around 1810 and 1811. A merchant named John Allan brought me up, but never legally adopted me. Etc., etc.”
THIS DOES NOT HAVE TO BE LONG! Your assessment will include whether or not you have included all of the elements listed below and how well you have written the piece. Have you gone through the editing process?
INCLUDE ALL OF THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IN YOUR WRITING:
1. Is the author still living? If not, when did s/he live? If yes, how old is this author?
2. Where did/does this author live?
3. Parents' names? A bit of childhood information?
3. How long was s/he a poet?
4. Did this author do anything significant in his life? What?
5. What things of significance have happened to this author in his/her life?
6. What kind of poetry did/does this author write? For example, does s/he write long poems? short poems? poems that are written all over the page (e. e. Cummings)? free verse? love poems?
Don’t forgot to document your information—if you’re not sure how, consult me.
Possible online resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_poets#P
http://www.poets.org/poets/index.cfm
http://www.poetonline.com/one.html
http://www.infoplease.com/people.html
http://www.favoritepoem.org/poems
http://www.bartleby.com/index.html
Of course, you could also type your poet's name in a search engine to get pages on that specific person.
PART 2
ANALYSIS OF TWO POEMS
Choose two poems of at least two stanzas each by this poet. I suggest reading the following requirements before choosing the poems. Some poems lend themselves better to certain assignments.
Include a copy of each poem here. Complete a Response Journal for each poem:
Response Journal
Your Response Journal should convince me that you have read and thought carefully about each poem. To a limited extent, it is true that a poem means what the reader thinks it means; you must, however, be able to explain your interpretation by specific references to the poem. If your understanding of the poem is "wrong," yet your journal clearly proves that you read (or misread) the poem, you may well receive full credit. Your grade is based on what you have to say and how well you say it -- your personal reaction to the poem and your explanation of the logic that led to your interpretation.
Include the following in your journal:
1. a general statement of the poem's content (what’s it about?)
2. a discussion of the title's significance (what does the title mean?)
3. an analysis of the poet's persona, i.e. the poem's speaker--What can you tell about the poem's speaker from your reading of the poem? (whose voice is speaking?)
4. a paraphrase of the poem--Put the poem in your own words.
6. a statement relating the poem to your experience or ideas. (Have you felt this way, done this, etc.?)
7. an explanation of problems you had in understanding the poem. (Was anything confusing?)
8. your opinion of the poem, good or bad, supported by specific references from the poem. (Quote the poem if you need to)
PART 3
WRITE A POEM IN THE STYLE AND THEME OF THE POET YOU HAVE CHOSEN.
The poem must be at least 6 lines long. Explain how your poem is written in the style and theme of your poet. What is the poem about? Explain what this poem means to you. Use your best writing in paragraph form. Details are needed to write complete answers. Don't write one sentence statements to address the required information.