- Narrative
- Ode
- Elegy
- Haiku/Senryu (pick three of these on the same theme)
- Sonnet
- Acrostic
- Lyric
- Limerick
- Free Verse
- Catalog or Concrete (your choice)
Provide the text of the poem, date written, and bibliographical entry. For each poem you will choose at least two of these three options:
- Explain one example of figurative language used effectively (simile, direct/implied/extended metaphor, hyperbole, personification)
- Examine one sound device used effectively (alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia, repetition)
- Analyze how the structure (lines, stanzas, meter, rhyme scheme) affects the theme
Sign up below for "dibs" on which form you want to talk about. Please include your name, which form you want, and at least poet & title if you can't post the full text. First-come, first-served.
RESOURCES
List of literary poets, bios, etc.
Quizlet bank for poetry terms you need to know, find, and identify.
Mr. Dennis - Ode (someone else still needs to pick ode, too)
ReplyDeleteRichard Corey by Edwin Arlington Robinson
Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
'Good-morning,' and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich - yes, richer than a king -
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.
STRUCTURE: Iambic pentameter sets up the formality of the poem, and makes the last line such a shock. Many students predicted "dead" would rhyme with "bread." The obvious (but not used) bread/dead rhyme foreshadows his death, but not necessarily his suicide.
The rhyme scheme of /ABAB/ also separates RC from the speaker's class of people. Had it been written in couplets (AABB), it would have seemed like the speaker was a close personal friend to RC. An ode often puts the subject on a pedestal, which Robinson effectively does through use of structure.
Though the iambic pentameter sets up the formal tone of this ode, that same formal structure helps to make the ending more of a shock.
FIG. LANG.
the figurative language helps to elevate the character of Richard Cory so that his suicide is as much a shock to the reader as it was to the speaker. "Glittered when he walked" is an implied metaphor that gives a sense that everybody notices him when he walks by. It's a nice contrast to the conservatively-dressed description of him in lines 3-6. This along with the hyperbole "fluttered pulses when he said good-morning" are the first examples of figurative language, also setting RC apart from the speaker.
The stark literal image of the last line also adds to the surprise. The contrast of a calm summer night adds to the speaker's and reader's surprise and confusion.
Elizabeth - Narrative
ReplyDeleteAjla - Lyric
Omar - Senryu
ReplyDeleteMercedez - Limerick
2014!
ReplyDeleteTia - acrostic
Beth - Lyric
Kendra - Haiku & Senryu
Jenna - elegy
Bella - concrete
Nikita - narrative
Jordan - Sonnet
Adric - Limerick
Taryn - Ode
Peyton - Catalog
Jacob - Limerick
ReplyDeleteJordan Slater - Lyric
Sophie - Haiku & Senryu
Andrew - Free verse
Marco - Sonnet
Haley - Concrete
Luke - acrostic
Jordan P - Elegy
Bailey - catalog
Dallas - Ode
Ciara - Narrative