Nebraska Poetry Project

Fireside Theme Poster

We have been making an iMovie based on a Fireside or another 19th century American poet. The 19th century poets began writing uniquely American poetry. The theme of the poetry reflected the growth of America and individualism and the style began to focus on content rather than form. Until this time, American writers modeled their work after Europeans. This begins to change as American literature takes its own strides. Based on the pictures that you’ve chosen for your movie, I think that you understand why the poetry is uniquely American and fits the common theme of individualism of this period. I am going to give you a chance to skip the test for this unit by creating a poster that shows you understand the period. This assignment is worth 100 points. Any student that receives a 100 may skip the test and receive the poster grade for the test.

Assignment: Take the poem that you are doing your iMovie on and make a poster to show that you understand both the era (Individualism) and theme. You must include the following information:

 Title with name of poem and the poet’s name.  Select your favorite picture from the movie.  Type the lines that you will say under the picture. (Notice that there has to be lines, not just one or two words.  Give a reason that your poem fits in the Individualism era (Hint: Look on pages 340-342).  Explain what you think the theme of the poem is. (What does the author believe about human nature or society?)

Example: on the back of this page. Notice that even though this is in black and white, I put careful thought in the font, etc. I want yours to be printed in color so choose your colors wisely too. Here are some meanings of the colors:

Color Symbolism

1. Red is the universally understood color of danger, anger, and passion. 2. Yellow has the universal potential to convey two quite different ideas – happiness and sickliness. In western culture, it may also convey fearfulness or cowardice. 3. Blue can convey sorrow and loyalty in western culture. Universally, it is associated with eternity and serenity, probably because of associations of a blue sky. 4. Green is universally the color of life and hope because of green vegetation; in our culture it also stands for envy and jealousy. 5. Purple in western culture is the color of royalty. Both Women’s Rights and Gay/Lesbian Activists have also adopted it. 6. White is associated with both purity (US) and death (universal). 7. Black is universally associated with the unknown; culturally, with death, the fearful, and evil.

** You may also find some other symbolic colors on the Internet or think of your own, these are just some of the most common.