Mrs. Spurlock. Poetry Unit Pre-AP English 1

Transcription

1 Mrs. Spurlock Poetry Unit Pre-AP English 1

2 1 Poetry Unit Poetry is eternal graffiti written in the heart over everyone Lawrence Ferlinghetti

3 What is Poetry? Poetry is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. It consists largely of oral or literary works in which language is used in a manner that is felt by its user and audience to differ from ordinary prose. It may use condensed or compressed form to convey emotion or ideas to the reader's or listener's mind or ear; it may also use devices such as assonance and repetition to achieve musical or incantatory effects. Poems frequently rely for their effect on imagery, word association, and the musical qualities of the language used. The interactive layering of all these effects to generate meaning is what marks poetry. Because of its nature of emphasizing linguistic form rather than using language purely for its content, poetry is notoriously difficult to translate from one language into another: a possible exception to this might be the Hebrew Psalms, where the beauty is found more in the balance of ideas than in specific vocabulary. In most poetry, it is the connotations and the "baggage" that words carry (the weight of words) that are most important. These shades and nuances of meaning can be difficult to interpret and can cause different readers to "hear" a particular piece of poetry differently. While there are reasonable interpretations, there can never be a definitive interpretation. Video of Rita Dove, American Poet Laureate What is Poetry? <iframe src=" video/ ?title=0&amp ;byline=0&portrait=0" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0" webkitallow- FullScreen mozallow- ii

4 Shel Silverstein ( ) The Little Boy and the Old Man Backward Bill by Shel Silverstein <iframe width="560" height="315" src=" O5JHUj4aiI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Said the little boy, "Sometimes I drop my spoon." Said the old man, "I do that too." The little boy whispered, "I wet my pants." "I do that too," laughed the little old man. Said the little boy, "I often cry." The old man nodded, "So do I." "But worst of all," said the boy, "it seems Grown-ups don't pay attention to me." And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand. "I know what you mean," said the The old man nodded, "So do I." "But worst of all," said the boy, "it seems Grown-ups don't pay attention to me." And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand. "I know what you mean," said the little old man.

5 3 Shakespeare s Sonnets Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. William Shakespeare

6 Sonnet 29 When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself, and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featured like him, like him with friends possessed, Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope, With what I most enjoy contented least; Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising, Haply I think on thee, and then my state, Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate; For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings. Sounds romantic...but what does all this mean? The best way to understand a sonnet is to break down into pieces that you can understand. Watch this YouTube Video by Matthew Mcfadyen <iframe width="420" height="315" src=" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> 5

7 Shakespeare s sonnets are easier to understand if you chunk them or break them into smaller parts and summarize each part. When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself, and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featured like him, like him with friends possessed, Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope, With what I most enjoy contented least; Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising, Haply I think on thee, and then my state, Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate; For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings. What chunking looks like: 1. Break the sonnet down into quatrains. How many do you see? Quatrain 1: When I m in disgrace with everyone and my luck has deserted me, I sit all alone and cry about the fact that I am an outcast, and bother God with my useless cries. which fall on deaf ears,and look at myself and curse my fate Quatrain 2: Wishing that I had morehope for, wishing I had this, man s good looks and that man s friends, this man s skills and that man s opportunities, and totally dissatisfied with the things that I usually enjoy the most. Quatrain 3: Yet, as I am thinking these thoughts and almsot hating myself, I happen to think about you, and then my condition improves-- like a Lark at daybreak rising up and leaving the earth far behind to sing hymn to God. Volta or Twist: For when I remember your sweet love, I feel so wealthy that I d refuse to change places even with a king. Pair/Share: What is the theme of this sonnet? Where is the personification? 6