Modern Shakespeare, Dickinson, & Frost Wish They Had It This Good

Imagine if the greatest poets had access to the music and technology that artists use in 2010 to express them- selves. It makes you wonder if William Shakespeare would have written fewer sonnets so he could devote his time to writing soundtracks for blockbuster movies. The talented Emily Dickinson may have collaborated with Lady Gaga to write the ultimate dance hit. Robert Frost may have stayed out of the snowy woods and instead travelled the same poetic road home as Chris Daughtry. Our greatest poets were creative innovators and seem to have possessed amazing lyrical aptitude. Why wouldn’t they have used today’s media to expand their creative horizons? Do we dare appall classical poetry purists and suggest that some of today’s musical artists are producing amazing poetry that shakes four hundred years of what has been regarding as the greatest poetry ever written? Yes, we dare and the elements of classic poetry support us. This is your opportunity to break down some of the barriers to understanding poetry that have been created by time and, perhaps, an overly eager urge to point to the past as producing better poetry than current poets who express themselves in creative, provocative ways that Frost and his poetic brothers and sisters would love. Will Beyonce, Rihanna, and the Black Eyed Peas be cited in poetry class in one hundred years? Yes, they may endure if held to the same lyrical standards as we attribute to the poetic heavyweights who preceded them. Assignment 1. During class, record notes that address specific poetic elements. Many are listed below.

A. Meter B. Scansion C. Metrical : , , , , , , heptameter, and D. Types of Feet: , , , anapest, , form, , hypermeter E. Internal rhyme, end rhyme, perfect rhyme, slant rhyme (near rhyme), and rhyme scheme F. Assonance, consonance, and alliteration G. Enjambment, stanza, and refrain H. Personification, allusion, repetition, and symbol

2. Identify a song that has lyrics you believe are especially poetic. Do not choose a song with potentially objectionable material. Locate the lyrics and print them so you may have a copy on which you can conduct a close reading, called an explication. Annotate the song/poem, identifying each of its poetic elements.

3. Decide upon a graphic symbol that you will embed within your written analysis. The graphic should enrich the message of your song/poem.

4. Answer the questions that help you write about your song/ poem.

5. Compose a 1-2 page, MLA-format typed analysis of your song/poem. What to Consider When Writing About Poetry*

Who is the speaker? 1. What is the speaker’s gender? Age? Class? 2. What it the speaker’s diction? 3. Is the speech fragmented, or grammatically complete? 4. Where is the speaker? Is the place specified? 5. Does the speaker observe, persuade, meditate, or fantasize? 6. What are the speaker main concerns? 7. What is the speaker’s emotional state, and how does it change throughout the poem?

Who is the audience? 8. Is the speaker aware that he or she is speaking to anyone? If so, who? 9. If the speaker is aware of the audience, what is his/her attitude regarding that audience? 10. What is the reason for the speaker addressing his or her audience 11. Is the speaker persuading the audience of anything? 12. Is the speaker confiding in the audience?

What is the main subject of the poem? 13. What is the speaker mainly talking or thinking about? 14. Is it a thing, feeling, situation, or problem? 15. Is it the speaker or another person? 16. Is the subject introduced appropriately, or thrust upon us haphazardly? 17. How does the speaker’s treatment of the subject change by the end of the poem? 18. Does the poem focus upon emotional states or events? 19. Is the subject covered in detail, or sketched in broad strokes? 20. What does the poem leave out? Does the poem belong to a genre? (epic, dramatic, lyric, ode, elegy, or prose poem) 21. How does the poem’s genre affect the poem’s subject?

What are the form and meter of the poem? 22. Does the poem have a consistent meter, or does the meter change? 23. Does the meter make the poem flow quickly or slowly, bouncily or solemnly? 24. Are there any natural divisions in the poem? 25. How do the parts of the poem relate to each other? 26. Does the poem rhyme? What effects do the rhymes produce? 27. Are there refrains, or any form of repetition in the poem? 28. What organizational patterns does the poem use? 29. How does the structure express the subject of the poem? 30. Where does the poem’s climax occur? 31. How does the form relate to the poem’s subject?

What figures of speech are used in the poem? 32.Are there similes or metaphors? 33.Are the figures wild and outlandish, or modest and familiar? 34.Do the figures illustrate ideas, or alienate us? 35.What particular moments in the poem are figurative? Why? 36.Is there a connection between the figures used and the subject?

Theme: How do the answers to these questions help you under- stand theme? 37.How does the poem describe a truth about the human experience?

What were the poet’s life and times like? 38.What is the poet’s national and social background? 39.Did the poet belong to a movement or school of poetry? 40.Did the poet have a strong religious faith? 41.Was the poet committed to any ideas or doctrines? 42.Did the poet lead an active, adventurous life, or a quiet, sedentary one? 43.Did the poet have any social ambitions? 44.Did the poet have a family life?

*from SPARKCHARTS Poetry