DOCSLIB.ORG

Poem A: ‘Preface to an Anthology’ by Roy Fuller

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Poem A: ‘Preface to an Anthology’ by Roy Fuller What did the national curriculum do for poetry? Pattern, prescription and contestation in the poetry selected for GCSE English literature 1988-2018. Julie Vanessa Blake Homerton College June 2019 This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except as declared and specified in the text. It is not substantially the same as any that I have submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for a degree or diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared and specified in the text. I further state that no substantial part of my dissertation has already been submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for any such degree, diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. It does not exceed the prescribed word limit for the relevant Degree Committee. Abstract For schools in England and Wales, the 1988 Education Reform Act established the foundation for a national curriculum and a new type of public examination for all pupils at the end of their compulsory schooling. In the statutory orders for English in the national curriculum and the new GCSE qualifications in English and English literature, the study of poetry was made mandatory. My object of enquiry is the poetry selected and prescribed as material for the GCSE English literature examination between 1988 and 2018. Configuring these poems, poets and collections in an original database underpins a “scalable reading” method derived from Digital Humanities. This method uses quantitative data and close reading to track the effect of policy on the poetry set text. That effect is striking: in 1988 there was a combined GCSE corpus of 6,903 poems by 1,039 poets, in 2018 there were 119 poems by 73 poets. This study explores the shifting pattern of government prescription and professional contestation over 30 years. By tracking the relationship between poets named in the national curriculum and those featured in six series of GCSE anthologies, I show the dynamics by which the pedagogical canon was reshaped. Through close reading of the most salient poems I demonstrate how this process operated within a longer historical stewardship of the pedagogical canon rooted in the poetry of Victorian mass schooling. Quantitative analysis allowed me to model the process of real-time canon formation I observed using a theoretical framework derived from anthology studies, literary reception history and period studies. This contributes a case study to debate about how schooling shapes public taste and understanding of poetry. I argue that the possibilities of poetry as encountered by young people at school have been diminished, in part the consequence of a depletion of the state’s processes and infrastructure for principled expert curriculum review. I conclude that it is timely for a less polarised debate about the place of poetry in the English curriculum, more securely grounded in the empirical evidence of subject history. ii Table of contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. ii List of tables and figures ....................................................................................................................... v List of abbreviations ............................................................................................................................ vii Poem A: ‘Preface to an Anthology’ by Roy Fuller ............................................................................ viii 1. In living memory: schooling, curriculum and social class ............................................................. 1 Implementing a new national curriculum and examination system ............................................. 6 In living memory ............................................................................................................................... 9 Why poetry, why now? .................................................................................................................... 14 2. Finding a better anchor: the problem with “the problem with poetry”....................................... 18 The “problem with poetry” ............................................................................................................. 22 Value ................................................................................................................................................. 26 Relevance ......................................................................................................................................... 31 3. Unsettling ways of seeing: a methodological challenge ............................................................... 38 Three methodological principles.................................................................................................... 43 Data sources ..................................................................................................................................... 46 Research instrument: the GCSE poetry database ......................................................................... 52 Analytical methods .......................................................................................................................... 59 The research design ........................................................................................................................ 60 Poem B: ‘Teaching Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan’ by Karen Lockney ................................ 63 4. Parameters for poetry: defining a national curriculum for English ............................................. 64 Initial Conservative definitions: English in the National Curriculum (1) and (2) ...................... 70 Conservative amendment: English in the National Curriculum (3) ............................................ 74 Labour revision: Attainment Targets and Programmes of Study in English (4) ........................ 78 Labour amendment: English Programme of Study: key stage 4 ................................................. 81 Coalition “Significant reform”: English programmes of study: key stage 4 ............................... 85 5. Following the things: the hybridisation of school poetry anthologies. ........................................ 90 GCSE English literature assessment ............................................................................................. 94 The corpus of poetry books for GCSE English literature ............................................................. 99 The changing material form of poetry books for GCSE English literature .............................. 122 The changing aesthetic encounter with poetry ........................................................................... 128 6. Tracing power and agency: the naming of poets ........................................................................ 136 Tracing power and agency ............................................................................................................ 143 The effects of statutory power ...................................................................................................... 145 Effects at the tension point ........................................................................................................... 150 iii The effects of professional agency ............................................................................................... 154 7. A tacit definition of ‘adolescent poetry’: the super-salient poems ............................................. 162 Poem C: ‘Casabianca’ by Felicia Hemans ................................................................................... 163 Identifying the super-salient poems............................................................................................. 166 The relationship between generations ......................................................................................... 170 A gothic tenor ................................................................................................................................ 175 The tragedy of doomed youth ...................................................................................................... 180 Familiar simplicity: form, style and storytelling .......................................................................... 183 8. Observing canon formation: a real-time case study .................................................................... 187 Tracking and visualising poet status over time ........................................................................... 193 Weaving the web of a pedagogical canon .................................................................................... 213 9. “And miles to go before I sleep”: reflecting on the journey. ...................................................... 218 Implications for education policy and practice ........................................................................... 222 Original contributions to knowledge ........................................................................................... 227 Poem D: Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost ............................................ 235 References
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Ecological Activism and Some of the Poems of Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney and Dylan Thomas
    Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL) A Peer Reviewed (Refereed) International Journal Vol.6.Issue 1. 2018 Impact Factor 6.8992 (ICI) http://www.rjelal.com; (Jan-Mar) Email:[email protected] ISSN:2395-2636 (P); 2321-3108(O) RESEARCH ARTICLE ECOLOGICAL ACTIVISM AND SOME OF THE POEMS OF TED HUGHES, SEAMUS HEANEY AND DYLAN THOMAS ARINDAM GHOSH M.A. English, Presently Pursuing Research Under Visva-Bharati ABSTRACT With the rise of ecological branch of literary criticism many critics have attempted to explore the relationship of literature and environment. Consequently the role of literature, and especially poetry is re-examined from ecocentric perspective, that is, poetry is considered as promoting ecological consciousness. Some of the critics eve argue that this consciousness can be converted into activism. To them poetry can be successfully utilized in arresting the present ecological degradation and thus can save the planet from disaster. Here some mid-twentieth century poet, namely Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney and Dylan Thomas are taken and their works are considered as promoting ecological consciousness. Further, some of the poems are thought to have reached to the level of ecological activism. Hughes’ poetry directly addresses the problem of man’s cohabitation with the non-human world. Heaney attempts to establish deeper connection of the individual with the soil. And Thomas’ pantheism is often considered as having deep ecological values. In the context it is also judged if at all poetry can have the seeds for promoting a global ecological movement. Key Words: Ecocriticism, ecological activism, poetry, deep ecology, sense of place, pantheism, eco-poetry .
    [Show full text]
  • Metamorphosis: from Light Verse to the Poetry of Witness by Maxine Kumin from the Georgia Review, Winter 2012
    Metamorphosis: From Light Verse to the Poetry of Witness by Maxine Kumin from The Georgia Review, Winter 2012 How did I become a very old poet, and a polemicist at that? In the Writers Chronicle of December 2010 I described myself as largely self-educated. In an era before creative writing classes became a staple of the college curriculum, I was "piecemeal poetry literate"—in love with Gerard Manley Hopkins and A. E. Housman, an omnivorous reader across the centuries of John Donne and George Herbert, Randall Jarrell and T. S. Eliot. I wrote at least a hundred lugubrious romantic poems. One, I remember, began When lonely on an August night I lie Wide-eyed beneath the mysteries of space And watch unnumbered pricks of dew-starred sky Drop past the earth with quiet grace ... Deep down I longed to be one of the tribe but I had no sense of how to go about gaining entry. I had already achieved fame in the narrow confines of my family for little ditties celebrating birthdays and other occasions, but I did not find this satisfying. There were no MFAs in poetry that I knew of except for the famous Iowa Writers' Workshop, founded in 1936; certainly there was nothing accessible to a mother of two, pregnant with her third child in 1953 in Newton, Massachusetts. I have noted elsewhere that I chafed against the domesticity in which I found myself. I had a good marriage and our two little girls were joyous elements in it. But my discontent was palpable; I did not yet know that a quiet revolution in thinking was taking place.
    [Show full text]
  • "Lady Lazarus" and Lady Chatterley
    Plath Profiles 51 "Lady Lazarus" and Lady Chatterley W. K. Buckley, Indiana University Northwest For the October Conference on Plath at IUB, 2012 and Plath Profiles, Volume 5 Supplement, 20121 I. I remember my first reading of Plath, in college, at San Diego State University. We read, of course, all her famous poems from Ariel, as well as "The Jailor" ("I am myself. That is enough"[23]), "The Night Dances" ("So your gestures flake off" [29]). In my youth, on the beaches of Southern California, around a campfire, a group of us read to each other one night the poems of Plath, Ginsberg, Wilfred Owen, and D.H. Lawrence—seeing ourselves as prophets against war, despite that a few of us had been drafted to another oil adventure, including me. (Some of our friends had returned with no eyes or feet). We thought such famous poets could change America. They did not. (Despite Shelley's famous proclamation). Plath said in "Getting There": "Legs, arms, piled outside/The tent of unending cries—" (Ariel 57). Same old, same old historical mistakes: America, our 20th Century Roman Empire, we thought then. On the homefront, sexual activity in public places was then, as is now, monitored by our police, given our rape, murder, and "missing women" statistics, first or second in the world for such. Yet on that night, on that particular night, there was something "warmer" in the air on La Jolla Shores, as if we thought the world had calmed down for a moment. When the police arrived at our campfire, we all invited them to take it easy, since we saw ourselves as ordinary people, having ordinary activities in our ordinary bodies.
    [Show full text]
  • At the Intersection of Poetry and a Lower
    At the Intersection of Poetry and a High School English Class: 9th Graders‟ Participation in Poetry Reading Writing Workshop and the Relation to Social and Academic Identities‟ Development DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Susan Koukis Graduate Program in Education The Ohio State University 2010 Dissertation Committee: Anna Soter, Advisor George Newell Mollie Blackburn Terry Hermsen Copyright by Susan Koukis 2010 Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine whether “marginalized” (Moje, Young, Readence, & Moore 2000) 9th grade students in a low-level, tracked English class perceived themselves as more successful students in English class after participating in a 10-week Poetry Reading Writing Workshop. A second purpose was to determine whether their knowledge of poetry terms and concepts such as metaphor, and subsequent performance on the poetry sections of standardized tests improved. My nested case study focused on 19 students in a low-level 9th grade English class. As the practitioner researcher, I conducted in- depth research with six focus students chosen through purposeful sampling. I collected data over the course of three months, using the types of instruments most common to case study research. Data analysis for my nested case study was ongoing and recursive between field work and reflection. Data were coded for patterns that represented categories pertaining to my research questions and coding was refined as I gathered and re-read additional data sources. The findings revealed that students learn better, and are more engaged when they have choices (Atwell, 1998; Lauscher, 2007).
    [Show full text]
  • Literary Terms Definition Example Example from Class Poetry Alliteration: a Number of Words, Having a Big Bully Beats a Baby Boy
    Name: ______________________________________ Poetry Unit: Literary Terms Definition Example Example from Class Poetry Alliteration: a number of words, having A big bully beats a baby boy. the same first consonant sound, occur close together in a series Assonance: takes place when two or Men sell wedding bells. more words, close to one another repeat the same vowel sound, but start with different consonant sounds. Blank Verse: un-rhyming verse written in The dreams are clues that tell iambic pentameter. In poetry and prose, it has a consistent meter with 10 syllables in us take chances. each line (pentameter); where, unstressed syllables are followed by stressed ones, five of which are stressed but do not rhyme. Consonance: repetitive sounds Behind Me -- dips Eternity -- produced by consonants Before Me -- Immortality -- Myself -- the Term between -- within a sentence or phrase Death but the Drift of Eastern Gray, Dissolving into Dawn away, Before the West begin -- Couplet: having two successive rhyming “The time is out of joint, O cursed spite lines in a verse, and has the same meter to That ever I was born to set it right!” form a complete thought. Foot: combination of stressed and Example of Iambic Pentameter: Iamb: unstressed syllables. there are various Combination of unstressed and stressed types of foot, each of which sounds syllable – (daDUM) differently Free Verse: poems have no regular meter or rhythm. They do not follow a proper After the Sea-Ship by Walt Whitman rhyme scheme; these poems do not have After the Sea-Ship—after the whistling any set rules. winds; After the white-gray sails, taut to their spars and ropes, Below, a myriad, myriad waves, hastening, lifting up their necks, Tending in ceaseless flow toward the track of the ship.
    [Show full text]
  • Guide to the Papers of the Summer Seminar of the Arts
    Summer Seminar of the Arts Papers Guide to the Papers of The Summer Seminar of the Arts Auburn University at Montgomery Library Archives and Special Collections © AUM Library TABLE OF CONTENTS Content Page # Collection Summary 2 Administrative Information 2 Restrictions 2 Biographical Information 3-4 Scope and Content Note 5 Arrangement 5-6 Inventory 6-24 1 Summer Seminar of the Arts Papers Collection Summary Creator: Jack Mooney Title: Summer Seminar of the Arts Papers Dates: ca. 1969-1983 Quantity: 9 boxes; 6.0 cu. ft. Identification: 2005/02 Contact Information: AUM Library Archives & Special Collections P.O. Box 244023 Montgomery, AL 36124-4023 Ph: (334) 244-3213 Email: [email protected] Administrative Information Preferred Citation: Summer Seminar of the Arts Papers, Auburn University Montgomery Library, Archives & Special Collections. Acquisition Information: Jack Mooney donated the collection to the AUM Library in May 2005. Processing By: Samantha McNeilly, Archives/Special Collections Assistant (2005). Copyright Information: Copyright not assigned to the AUM Library. Restrictions Restrictions on access: There are no restrictions on access to these papers. Restrictions on usage: Researchers are responsible for addressing copyright issues on materials not in the public domain. 2 Summer Seminar of the Arts Papers Biographical/Historical Information The Summer Seminar of the Arts was an annual arts and literary festival held in Montgomery from 1969 until 1983. The Seminar was part of the Montgomery Arts Guild, an organization which was active in promoting and sponsoring cultural events. Held during July, the Seminar hosted readings by notable poets, offered creative writing workshops, held creative writing contests, and featured musical performances.
    [Show full text]
  • Poetry: Why? Even Though a Poem May Be Short, Most of the Time You Can’T Read It Fast
    2.1. Poetry: why? Even though a poem may be short, most of the time you can’t read it fast. It’s like molasses. Or ketchup. With poetry, there are so many things to take into consideration. There is the aspect of how it sounds, of what it means, and often of how it looks. In some circles, there is a certain aversion to poetry. Some consider it outdated, too difficult, or not worth the time. They ask: Why does it take so long to read something so short? Well, yes, it is if you are used to Twitter, or not used to poetry. Think about the connections poetry has to music. Couldn’t you consider some of your favorite lyrics poetry? 2Pac, for example, wrote a book of poetry called The Rose that Grew from Concrete. At many points in history across many cultures, poetry was considered the highest form of expression. Why do people write poetry? Because they want to and because they can… (taking the idea from Federico García Lorca en his poem “Lucía Martínez”: “porquequiero, y porquepuedo”) You ask yourself: Why do I need to read poetry? Because you are going to take the CLEP exam. Once you move beyond that, it will be easier. Some reasons why we write/read poetry: • To become aware • To see things in a different way • To put together a mental jigsaw puzzle • To move the senses • To provoke emotions • To find order 2.2. Poetry: how? If you are not familiar with poetry, you should definitely practice reading some before you take the exam.
    [Show full text]
  • Mrs. Luthke 2018-2019 Page | 1 Siddhartha ​ by Herman Hesse the Alchemist ​ by Paulo Coelho 8 Poems by a Teacher-Approved
    Mrs. Luthke 2018-2019 Page | 1 English 12 AP Summer Assignment Overview Grade 12 Siddhartha by Herman Hesse Prose Reading: ​ ​ Advanced Placement The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho Expect to take a quote ​ identification/ analysis test on Siddhartha and The Alchemist within 8 Poems by a teacher-approved poet ​ ​ ​ the first full week of school. (100 or poet from the following: ​ points) Maya Angelou, Matthew Arnold, John Ashberry, W. H. Auden, Elizabeth Bishop, You will also create a slide William Blake, Gwendolyn Brooks, presentation with 2-3 of your Lucille Clifton, S. T. Coleridge, Countee classmates which compares & Cullen, e.e. cummings, Emily Dickinson, contrasts some aspect of the two John Donne, Rita Dove, Lawrence young men’s journeys. (25 points) Ferlinghetti, Robert Frost, Nikki ​ Giovanni, Robert Hayden, Seamus Poetry: Heaney, Robert Herrick, A.E.Housman, Langston Hughes, Ted Hughes, John You will need to complete typed Keats, Robert Lowell, Pablo Neruda, analyses of 8 poems that will be Wilfred Owen, Robert Pinsky, Sylvia turned in to turnitin.com before or Plath, Ezra Pound, Adrienne Rich, by the second day of school, Friday, Theodore Roethke, Christina Rossetti, September 7th. (30 points) Our Carl Sandburg, Anne Sexton, William ​ ​ ​ Class ID is18222391 and our Class Shakespeare, P. B. Shelley, Stevie ​ ​ password is Luthke12. Smith, Edmund Spenser, Wislawa ​ Szymborska, Dylan Thomas, John Updike, Derek Walcott, Walt Whitman, Richard Wilbur, William Carlos Williams, William Wordsworth ** Further details available online via ​ ​ the Woodbury School web page and via the English 12 AP teacher Mrs. Luthke 2018-2019 Page | 2 AP English 12 Summer Reading The Required Commitment .
    [Show full text]
  • Download (15MB)
    https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ Theses Digitisation: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/research/enlighten/theses/digitisation/ This is a digitised version of the original print thesis. Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] VERSE FORM IN ENGLISH RENAISSANCE POETRY: A CATALOGUE OF STANZA PATTERNS BY MUNZER ADEL ABSI THESIS SUBMITTED IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LITERATURE FACULTY OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW 1992 ABSI, M.A. ProQuest Number: 10992066 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10992066 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC.
    [Show full text]
  • Poetry Newsletter
    LITERARY ANGELS ’ poetry newsletter What are Haiku Poetry, Sonnet, Traditional Cinquain, Modern Cinquain, What are Haiku Poetry, Sonnet, Traditional Cinquain, Modern Cinquain, and Villanelle? What other styles are there? Jamie ~ Ca and Villanelle? What other styles are there? Jamie ~ Ca Haiku poetry originates from Japan. It consists of three lines: First line Haiku poetry originates from Japan. It consists of three lines: First line ?— fi ve syllables, second line — seven syllables, third line — fi ve syllables. — fi ve syllables, second line — seven syllables, third line — fi ve syllables. A haiku traditionally contains a season word that represents the season ? A haiku traditionally contains a season word that represents the season in which the poem is set, or a reference to the natural world. Sonnet in which the poem is set, or a reference to the natural world. Sonnet derives from the Italian word “Sonetto” meaning “little song”. It consists derives from the Italian word “Sonetto” meaning “little song”. It consists of fourteen lines. There are various rhyme patterns, which vary in the of fourteen lines. There are various rhyme patterns, which vary in the sonnet forms and the modern sonnets are more fl exible. Traditional sonnet forms and the modern sonnets are more fl exible. Traditional Cinquain: Forms can be in the style of English quintets, individual Cinquain: Forms can be in the style of English quintets, individual French the American cinquain image form. Cinqku is a fi xed-form fi ve- French the American cinquain image form. Cinqku is a fi xed-form fi ve- line tanka or cin-quain image poem with no title, 17 syllables, with a line tanka or cin-quain image poem with no title, 17 syllables, with a surprise or turn in line 4 or 5.
    [Show full text]
  • TED HUGHES & ROMANTICISM a Poetry of Desolation & Difference
    Cercles 12 (2005) TED HUGHES & ROMANTICISM A Poetry of Desolation & Difference JANNE STIGEN-DRANGSHOLT University of Bergen, Norway The common end of all narrative, nay, of all, Poems is […] to make those events, which in real or imagined History move in a strait Line, assume to our Understandings a circular motion—the snake with its Tail in its Mouth. ——— Coleridge, Letter to Joseph Cottle, 1815. In the 1960s and early 1970s a new mood began to make itself known in British poetry, manifesting itself in greater linguistic daring and a reassertion of the primacy of the imagination. This mood was far removed from the realism and trivialities of the Movement. In an interview, Ted Hughes delineates the difference: One of the things [the New Lines] poets had in common I think was the post-war mood of having had enough […], enough rhetoric, enough overweening push of any kind, enough of the dark gods, enough of the id, enough of the Angelic powers and the heroic efforts to make new worlds […]. The second war after all was a colossal negative revelation […], it set them dead against negotiation with anything outside the cosiest arrangement of society. They wanted it cosy. It was a heroic position […]. Now I came a bit later. I hadn’t had enough. I was all for opening negotiations with whatever happened to be out there. [Faas 201] Hughes’s willingness to open “negotiations with whatever happened to be out there” places him in a dynamic relationship with important undercurrents in what we like to think of as Romanticism.
    [Show full text]
  • In His Writings, on Other Poets and on Himself, Ted Hughes Emphasises
    Chapter 1: Poems as Explorers 1 n his writings, on other poets and on himself, Ted Hughes emphasises the Iimmutable and inviolate relationship between the poetry produced and the life of the poet. His commitment to this view emerges strongly, for example, in a comment he made on Dylan Thomas: Everything we associate with a poem is its shadowy tenant, no matter how New Critical purist we try to be... Thomass life, letters and legends belong to his poetry, in that they make it mean more.... (WP, p.81) This comment applies to Hughes own poetry and prose. Indeed, he comments on a symbiotic relationship between his biographical self and his poetic self when replying to Peter Orrs question on whether topical issues move him to write poems: You only produce the poetry you find in yourself Its not something that you easily apply to something that interests you. Hughes answer implies the poetic impulse begins as a subconscious process, and that his poetry is derived from the raw materials of amorphous personal experience. The relationship of the poetic self to the true self is of great interest to Hughes. His article entitled "The Poetic Self: A Centenary Tribute to T.S.Eliot" argues that communion with the "genetic nucleus, the true self, the self at the source, the inmost core of the individual, ... is healing, and redeems the suffering of life, and releases joy" (WP, p.275). Hughes, in his alchemical and shamanistic poetry, as discussed by Ann Skea, 2 puts such belief into practice: the resulting poetry is regenerative, passionate and joyous.
    [Show full text]