10.20 Poetic structure

The book covers the language for discussing poetic structure, and we reviewed the terms used for rhythym, rhyme, line arrangements (stanzas), and syntax, and then we (briefly) considered why/how you might use these classifications in writing an essay.

I didn't write down the notes from the board, but some of the points I remember from the discussion of rhythm suggested that you might characterize the poets use of feet and line length:

• to characterize to tone or mood of the overall poem (as we did in our dicussion of cummings poem);
• to note correlations between particular meanings and rhythmic patterns and  (where the poet used a repeating rhythm to signal something = as cummings signaled the passage of time);
• to characterize/contrast the feeling/tone/meanints of different parts of a poem
• to identify connections to particular poetic genres (eg Elizabethan sonnets with their iambic bongos)
• to describe the musicality/effect of a poem

In the discussion of rhyme, we noted alliteration, consonance and assonance , and again, we noted that types of rhyme, as well as specific rhyme schemes, are often associated with a particular historical period and/or poetic genre.  We also noted that rhyme can contribute to emphasis, mood/tone, musicality, and as a result => the way the poem means.

We discussed e.e. cummings poem with hits "poetic syntax" and noted how he used just about all of the elements discussed to "remake" the way language means.

At the end of class we started to talk about choosing your two poems for your essay.  Most of you sounded like you are on the right track.  Be sure to identify your basis for comparison, check back to the assignment sheet, and start thinking about what you have to say.


For next class:
Write: Brainstorming for poetry essay.  Keep working on choosing your two poems, only this time do some writing to decide what you have to say about the two poems.  Pick out specific form features which you can compare - and think about how the different ways these features are used works to produce each poem's meanings.  Go back and re-read the assignment sheet sometime during your brainstorming process to make sure you are making the right kinds of points.

In class you will work on turing your brainstorming notes into an essay.  We will review the overall form for this kind of an essay, do some peer work, and have one-on-one conferences for those of you who request them.

Have a good week  and see you Thursday.