Poetry Discussions

Poetry Lesson Plan

Day 1

Focus: situation of the poem, metaphor (the power of suggesting instead of saying);, words (connotation)

Focus on three thing today:

1. The situation of the poem

Instead of diving in an trying to figure out hidden meanings, look at the poem as a whole. Who's speaking? Who are they speaking to? What's happening (literally) in the poem? Look, especially, at pronouns: who are what is the he/she/it? Just as in fiction, pay attention to the date to gain an understanding of what might be been occurring at the time and to understand the values and attitudes of the period.

2 Metaphor

As in short stories, poets often say instead of suggest. Why? probably because it's fun to figure out what the writer is getting at. That's why poets play with both the literal and figurative meaning of words -- words as play doh that can be stretched and pulled into different shapes.

3 Words

In particular, pay attention to connotative meanings of words -- what do you associated with, for example, a knife? A fork? A table? These associations often create meaning.

Back to #1 though: keep in mind that you shouldn't jump to "reading between the lines." Instead, actually read the lines and figure out -- literally -- what the speaker is saying before jumping to figurative meanings.

"Richard Cory"

Who's speaking in this poem?
How can you tell what kind of people they are?
what lines words in the poem suggest that Richard was rich? Which suggest that he was upper class?
What is he contrasting here?
What is ironic about this poem? see description of irony on page 611
What's the differences between the pop song and the poem it was based on?

Emily Dickinson

It dropped so low -- in my Regard --
I heard it hit the Ground --
And go to pieces on the Stones
At bottom of my Mind --

Yet blamed the Fate that flung it -- less
Than I reviled Myself,
For entertaining Plated Wares
Upon my Silver Shelf --

About 1863

What does the first stanza of the poem refer to? What the speaker mean when she says "My regard" -- what, for instance, can you have regard for?
How does she make something abstract, concrete?
What's the difference b/t "Plated Wares" and "Silver Shelf"

Day 2

"The Lamb"

How does religious imagery work in this poem
Which words suggest peace?

"The Tyger"

Religious imagery again
Which words suggest danger
Why the repetition?
Why the subtle change b/t the first and last stanza

Given these two poems, which seems to rule? The Lamb or the Tyger?

Day 3

"Four Word Lines"

Who is the speaker? Male? Female? How can you tell?
Who/what is the object of the speaker’s desire? Gender?
How tone/content of what the speaker play on gender stereotypes?
Read the title of the poem quickly – how is it a play on words?
Poets choose words very carefully to convey both meaning – but sound as well. Read over the poem paying attention not to the meaning of the words but to the sounds? Are the words hard or soft sounding? Is the appropriate or not appropriate to the subject? Remember that poets try to equate sound with sense
Not only are the sound qualities of the words important, but their placement and sounds together. Are there any rhymes here? How do they contribute to the meaning? Repetition=rhythm=fascinating rhythm
What's the tone of the poem? Which specific words contribute to the tone of the poem?
Does the metaphor suit the topic of the poem? Why or why not?
From textbook: how does this differ from newspaper prose?
Is this an effective love poem?

"Once In a While, a Protest Poem"

What is he protesting? What is so bad about a picture of a starving women's breast? Anesthetization of society – we become immune to pain and suffering and have to be titillated by sex to pay attention.
Why does he keep repeating the word "tit" -- and why spell it "tit" instead of "teat"? What’s the difference b/t using "tit" and using "breast"?
Why is "cropped" repeated? Any significance to this word? Why repeat "over and over"
What are the connotations of the word "silicone"?
Sentence #2 – in addition to rhyme, etc., poets can use punctuation to add to their meaning. Read this sentence out loud – what seems added on? Why?
Show pictures from Time magazine cover – and letters to editor and their response.

! paraphrase to see what's lost (585-586)

"Castoff Skin" (685);

What word connections can you make?
Why "Castoff" and not "shed" skin? Castoff implies motive -- she wanted to cast it off
What's the significance of the quote "Pretty good figure for an old lady" -- what does it say about the woman, and what other words relate to it?
Is this a poem about death or about life?

Blake

"My Last Duchess"

What's the duke's character?
What "was" the last duchess like? But how do you know this; is the interpreter reliable?
What is the duke's view of art? Does he feel differently about his wife now that she is a fresco? (cf. "I call/ That piece a wonder, now" 2, last lines about "Taming a sea horse") Is there any relation between his feelings about art and his feelings about his wife?
Why repeat (2, 47) "as if alive"
What do you make of the interruptions 22, 32, 37?
What's the meaning of lines 34-35?
What's the last image -- of the bronzed sea horse -- mean?
What might a political reading of this poem take into consideration? Note, especially, lines 33-34; 39-43.
feminist reading?
psychoanalytic reading? (fetishes, repression, subconscious, word slip ["Taming a sea horse"])

"Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock" 654

ceinture: sash

What 2 things are being contrasted in this poem?
Question 2 What's the difference b/t the connotations of haunted nightgowns and the sailor?
What's the "disillusionment" of the speaker? What other words in the poem pick up on illusion -- what's the difference b/t them?
Does every color have to have some hidden meaning?

"The vividness of the imagination in the dullness of a pallid reality Ronald Sukenick

"Only the drunkard, the irrational [Stevens once wrote that "Poetry must be irrational] man, who is in touch with the unconscious -- represented here, and often elsewhere, by the sea -- can awake his own passionate nature until his blood is mirrored by the very weather." Edward Kessler.

According to the information presented in these poems, what are some of the ways society typically views masculinity?

Are the poets agreeing with, or criticizing the prevailing views of masculinity? How can you tell?

"Facts" (765)

1.What's the father's world view?
2.Is the speaker being ironic? Does he seem to agree with his father's view of life?
3.Does he cry at his father's funeral?
4.Theme of this poem?

"First Practice" (785)

1.Why does the poet open with an image of a doctor feeling the scrotum of each of the players? How is this symbolic of manhood? Of the military?
2.What military language/imagery is included in this poem? Why?
3.What was the speaker's attitude toward this event when it occurred? What is his attitude now? How can you tell?

"Rites of Passage" (612)

What is a rite of passage?
How are the boys like men?
How are they like little boys?
What is she saying about the nature of boy’s games – and adulthood?
What is she suggesting about their interactions with each other?
Why is the title plural? What rites is her son passing through?

"The Fish"

How is the fish personified?
Why is it personified?
Why does does speaker let him go?

"A Mongoloid Child Handling Shells on the Beach" (655)

how is the child like the sea? How is she unlike the other children?
Who or what is the "they" in line 4? The girl and the seashells
what words which quiet and peace are in the poem? Which of noise?
what is the "sea's/small change"? The sea shells What are "its slow vowels." The sound of the ocean in the sea shells.
Why are the sea shells "broken bits" of the sea itself?
Question 3: What do the differences between the sea and surf contribute to the poem?
What's the tone of this poem? Does it contribute to the meaning?

Theme: There is a quiet beauty to a Down's Syndrome child, similar to those of sea shells, and of the sea itself. This beauty speaks of the depths of emotion and insight that go unseen and unheard, like the leveling effect of the sea itself.

"Peeling an Orange"

Can you tell the genders of the two people? How?
Why The World’s Illusion? What’s the connotations of the title
Why is one of the people crying?
How does this effect your vision of the scene (i.e. does it modify the idea of them nude)
How does the language of the poem connect to the actions (i.e. rich colorful language – "sensual" in the full meaning of the word)
What as the act of sex become to these people?
Given the last two lines, what’s the tone of this poem?