Further preparation for the final exam: Writing About Poetry

There is no secret to writing about poetry, any more there was the short story or drama; the difference is only that we have not done it before.To get a good idea of what is expected, read the sample student essay in your text, pages 861-864, AND pay special attention to the accompanying notes in the margin. This is an essay on Emily Dickinson’s  poetry.   

Note the following: 

•          The first paragraph contains an introduction to Dickinson and provides a thesis statement that indicates the essay will discuss Emily Dickinson’s religious faith that is seen in her poetry. Your first paragraph should introduce Robert Frost and provide a thesis statement concerning a particular aspect that can be evidenced in Frost’s poetry.

•          Each body paragraph provides an explanation of a specific poem and how it relates to the thesis statement—the paragraph does NOT try to analyze the entire poem; it focuses specifically on the topic raised in the thesis sentence.  In the same manner, if you are analyzing a particular trait in Frost’s poetry, perhaps the importance of setting along with tradition and custom, you will NOT need to analyze the “Out, Out—” in regard to the inevitability of change. Or, to be blunt, an analysis based on the internet could be informative, but will not satisfy the essay assignment.

•          Note that there are at least 3 poems analyzed and used to support the thesis statement. That should tell you how many poems you need to use

•          The essay on Dickinson concludes with a “well-supported final analysis of the poet’s views on God and faith.” Likewise, your essay on Frost and his poetry should conclude with a well-supported statement of the poet’s views on which ever topic you have analyzed.

•          Note how lines of poetry are quoted in the essay on Dickinson; the title of the poem should be in quotation marks; lines, phrases, words from a poem are also quoted, with quotation marks, exactly as they appear in the poem and the line(s) given in parentheses.  Pay attention to this, as it is in the correct format and is expected, particularly if you are seeking an “A.”

You will have 3 topics from which to choose. If you want to bring a laptop, type your final on the laptop and email it to me, I’ll be happy to check to make sure I received it.

Frost’s poems we’ve read or that were assigned:

“Out, Out—“

“Old Man’s Winter Night”

“After Apple Picking”

“Stopping by the Woods”

“One Acquainted With the Night”

“Neither Far Out nor In Deep”

“Birches”

“Death of a Hired Man”
"Nothing Gold Can Stay"
"Mending Wall"

Two More Poems by Frost

Acquainted with the Night

By Robert Frost

I have been one acquainted with the night.

I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.

I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.

I have passed by the watchman on his beat

And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet

When far away an interrupted cry

Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;

And further still at an unearthly height,

One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. 

I have been one acquainted with the night.

 

A suggestion in understanding poetry:

 SOMETIMES, not always, but SOMETIMES, a poem can be more easily understood if you write the sentences down and approach the poem as you would prose. Look at the above poem written as prose:

I have been one acquainted with the night. I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain. I have outwalked the furthest city light. I have looked down the saddest city lane. I have passed by the watchman on his beat And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain. I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet When far away an interrupted cry Came over houses from another street, But not to call me back or say good-bye; And further still at an unearthly height, O luminary clock against the sky Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. I have been one acquainted with the night.

Try to think of the following as a story you might read:

The Death of the Hired Man
by Robert Frost
Mary sat musing on the lamp-flame at the table Waiting for Warren. When she heard his step, She ran on tip-toe down the darkened passage To meet him in the doorway with the news And put him on his guard. "Silas is back." She pushed him outward with her through the door And shut it after her. "Be kind," she said. She took the market things from Warren’s arms And set them on the porch, then drew him down To sit beside her on the wooden steps. "When was I ever anything but kind to him? But I’ll not have the fellow back," he said. "I told him so last haying, didn’t I? ‘If he left then,’ I said, ‘that ended it.’ What good is he? Who else will harbor him At his age for the little he can do? What help he is there’s no depending on. Off he goes always when I need him most. ‘He thinks he ought to earn a little pay, Enough at least to buy tobacco with, So he won’t have to beg and be beholden.’ ‘All right,’ I say, ‘I can’t afford to pay Any fixed wages, though I wish I could.’ ‘Someone else can.’ ‘Then someone else will have to.’ I shouldn’t mind his bettering himself If that was what it was. You can be certain, When he begins like that, there’s someone at him Trying to coax him off with pocket-money,— In haying time, when any help is scarce. In winter he comes back to us. I’m done." "Sh! not so loud: he’ll hear you," Mary said. "I want him to: he’ll have to soon or late." "He’s worn out. He’s asleep beside the stove. When I came up from Rowe’s I found him here, Huddled against the barn-door fast asleep, A miserable sight, and frightening, too— You needn’t smile—I didn’t recognise him— I wasn’t looking for him—and he’s changed. Wait till you see." "Where did you say he’d been?" "He didn’t say. I dragged him to the house, And gave him tea and tried to make him smoke. I tried to make him talk about his travels. Nothing would do: he just kept nodding off." "What did he say? Did he say anything?" "But little." "Anything? Mary, confess He said he’d come to ditch the meadow for me." "Warren!" "But did he? I just want to know." "Of course he did. What would you have him say? Surely you wouldn’t grudge the poor old man Some humble way to save his self-respect. He added, if you really care to know, He meant to clear the upper pasture, too. That sounds like something you have heard before? Warren, I wish you could have heard the way He jumbled everything. I stopped to look Two or three times—he made me feel so queer— To see if he was talking in his sleep. He ran on Harold Wilson—you remember— The boy you had in haying four years since. He’s finished school, and teaching in his college. Silas declares you’ll have to get him back. He says they two will make a team for work: Between them they will lay this farm as smooth! The way he mixed that in with other things. He thinks young Wilson a likely lad, though daft On education—you know how they fought All through July under the blazing sun, Silas up on the cart to build the load, Harold along beside to pitch it on." "Yes, I took care to keep well out of earshot." "Well, those days trouble Silas like a dream. You wouldn’t think they would. How some things linger! Harold’s young college boy’s assurance piqued him. After so many years he still keeps finding Good arguments he sees he might have used. I sympathise. I know just how it feels To think of the right thing to say too late. Harold’s associated in his mind with Latin. He asked me what I thought of Harold’s saying He studied Latin like the violin Because he liked it—that an argument! He said he couldn’t make the boy believe He could find water with a hazel prong— Which showed how much good school had ever done him. He wanted to go over that. But most of all He thinks if he could have another chance To teach him how to build a load of hay——" "I know, that’s Silas’ one accomplishment. He bundles every forkful in its place, And tags and numbers it for future reference, So he can find and easily dislodge it In the unloading. Silas does that well. He takes it out in bunches like big birds’ nests. You never see him standing on the hay He’s trying to lift, straining to lift himself." "He thinks if he could teach him that, he’d be Some good perhaps to someone in the world. He hates to see a boy the fool of books. Poor Silas, so concerned for other folk, And nothing to look backward to with pride, And nothing to look forward to with hope, So now and never any different." Part of a moon was falling down the west, Dragging the whole sky with it to the hills. Its light poured softly in her lap. She saw And spread her apron to it. She put out her hand Among the harp-like morning-glory strings, Taut with the dew from garden bed to eaves, As if she played unheard the tenderness That wrought on him beside her in the night. "Warren," she said, "he has come home to die: You needn’t be afraid he’ll leave you this time." "Home," he mocked gently. "Yes, what else but home? It all depends on what you mean by home. Of course he’s nothing to us, any more Than was the hound that came a stranger to us Out of the woods, worn out upon the trail." "Home is the place where, when you have to go there, They have to take you in." "I should have called it Something you somehow haven’t to deserve." Warren leaned out and took a step or two, Picked up a little stick, and brought it back And broke it in his hand and tossed it by. "Silas has better claim on us you think Than on his brother? Thirteen little miles As the road winds would bring him to his door. Silas has walked that far no doubt to-day. Why didn’t he go there? His brother’s rich, A somebody—director in the bank." "He never told us that." "We know it though." "I think his brother ought to help, of course. I’ll see to that if there is need. He ought of right To take him in, and might be willing to— He may be better than appearances. But have some pity on Silas. Do you think If he’d had any pride in claiming kin Or anything he looked for from his brother, He’d keep so still about him all this time?" "I wonder what’s between them." "I can tell you. Silas is what he is—we wouldn’t mind him— But just the kind that kinsfolk can’t abide. He never did a thing so very bad. He don’t know why he isn’t quite as good As anyone. He won’t be made ashamed To please his brother, worthless though he is." "I can’t think Si ever hurt anyone." "No, but he hurt my heart the way he lay And rolled his old head on that sharp-edged chair-back. He wouldn’t let me put him on the lounge. You must go in and see what you can do. I made the bed up for him there to-night. You’ll be surprised at him—how much he’s broken. His working days are done; I’m sure of it." "I’d not be in a hurry to say that." "I haven’t been. Go, look, see for yourself. But, Warren, please remember how it is: He’s come to help you ditch the meadow. He has a plan. You mustn’t laugh at him. He may not speak of it, and then he may. I’ll sit and see if that small sailing cloud Will hit or miss the moon." It hit the moon. Then there were three there, making a dim row, The moon, the little silver cloud, and she. Warren returned—too soon, it seemed to her, Slipped to her side, caught up her hand and waited. "Warren," she questioned. "Dead," was all he answered.

 

Poetry

1. Someone reminded me on Monday that we have not scheduled a poetry quiz over terms, techniques, etc. In lieu of that, hand in the work I assigned before Thanksgiving over the poems, "Out, Out--" (885) "A Man Said to the Universe" and "How We Didn't Tell Her" (1002).
Poem Questions can be handed in on Monday or the day of the final (I'll grade while you write):
#1 - page 1003
#1, and 2 at the top, under "Considerations For Critical Thinking and Writing" and #3, at the bottom, under "Connections to Other Selections" - page 886
Each question will be worth 25 pts.
Don't confuse this with the final!!! 

2. Be SURE to check the Fall 2013 Exam Schedule for the date and time of our final. And yes, you will hand write your final essay; it needs to be in blue or black ink, so bring paper and pen.

3. You WILL be able to use your text during your final; however, I strongly urge you to familiarize yourself with the following topics and with Frost's poems, specifically:

885 - "Out, Out--"
884 - "An Old Man's Winter Night"
881 - "After Apple Picking"
887 - "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening"
         "Nothing Gold Can Stay"
         "Neither Far Out nor In Deep"
         "Birches"
         "Mending Wall"
***   "One Acquainted With the Night"
***   "Death of a Hired Man"

4. The next thing you need to do is examine each poem, looking for evidence to support the following topics:

• the "terrifying universe" in Frost's poems
• not a pleasant, picturesque New England, but one that is somber, even frightening, full of death and despair
• the fragility of life
• what does it mean that life is fragile? how does sudden death come and what does it suggest about life, in general?
• loneliness and isolation
• which poems reveal an individual who is isolated, cut off in one way or another from the rest of human, and consequently lonely?
• place and tradition
• which poems rely on setting and tradition or custom that occurs over and over?
• the inevitability of change
• obviously, everything evolves/changes--how does Frost represent this in his poetry?

5. Hopefully, you can look over this and ask me questions

The Topics for DOUBT -- oops!

Essay Topics for DOUBT - Final Draft DUE WEDNESDAY - Nov. 20, 2013

Choose one of the following essay topics to develop into a thoughtful, two- three page essay in MLA format.  Be certain to support your essay with specific examples from the play; be sure to cite quotations.

1. Symbolism:  When symbolism is carefully drawn and used deliberately and with discretion in literature, the author proposes to the audience (or reader) concepts that underlie or reinforce the theme or develop and reveal character. Identify the major symbols in John Patrick Shanley's Doubt; discuss the context of each symbol as it is presented and explain its significance and contribution to the play as a whole.

2. Changes: The "Preface" ends with the following quote: "The beginning of change is the moment of Doubt. It is the crucial moment when I renew my humanity or become a lie. Doubt requires more courage than conviction does." The play ends with Sister Aloysius in a crisis of conscience, in a crisis of doubt, not only doubt concerning the reason beyond Father Flynn's promotion, but for her own beliefs. Explain Sister Aloysius's initial worldview (when the play opens) and how the events and the other characters force her to confront and re-examine her own iron clad convictions.

3.  Mind Games:  Think like a playwright. John Patrick Shanley develops the characters of Sister Aloysius and Father Flynn with the reaction of the audience in mind. Which character is drawn more likeable?  What makes this character more sympathetic?  More importantly, why is this character made to be sympathetic by Shanley?  In contrast, how is the other character seen?  Again--how and why?  In the events that unfold in the play, how does the way the reader feels about a character influence his or her objectivity and create doubt? Explain

DOUBT: A Parable

A parable is a short, simple story designed to communicate a lesson, religious principle, or moral lesson; a figure of speech in which truth is illustrated by a story or example drawn from everyday experiences.
A parable is often no more than an extended metaphor or simile, using figurative language in the form of a story to illustrate a particular truth. The Greek word for "parable" literally means "a laying by the side of" or "a casting alongside," thus "a comparison or likeness." In a parable something is placed alongside something else, in order that one may throw light on the other. A familiar custom or incident is used to illustrate some truth less familiar.

Here are several parables:

The Blind Men and the Elephant:

A number of disciples went to the Buddha and said, "Sir, there are living here in Savatthi many wandering hermits and scholars who indulge in constant dispute, some saying that the world is infinite and eternal and others that it is finite and not eternal, some saying that the soul dies with the body and others that it lives on forever, and so forth. What, Sir, would you say concerning them?"

The Buddha answered, "Once upon a time there was a certain raja who called to his servant and said, 'Come, good fellow, go and gather together in one place all the men of Savatthi who were born blind... and show them an elephant.' 'Very good, sire,' replied the servant, and he did as he was told. He said to the blind men assembled there, 'Here is an elephant,' and to one man he presented the head of the elephant, to another its ears, to another a tusk, to another the trunk, the foot, back, tail, and tuft of the tail, saying to each one that that was the elephant.

"When the blind men had felt the elephant, the raja went to each of them and said to each, 'Well, blind man, have you seen the elephant? Tell me, what sort of thing is an elephant?'

"Thereupon the men who were presented with the head answered, 'Sire, an elephant is like a pot.' And the men who had observed the ear replied, 'An elephant is like a winnowing basket.' Those who had been presented with a tusk said it was a ploughshare. Those who knew only the trunk said it was a plough; others said the body was a grainery; the foot, a pillar; the back, a mortar; the tail, a pestle, the tuft of the tail, a brush.

"Then they began to quarrel, shouting, 'Yes it is!' 'No, it is not!' 'An elephant is not that!' 'Yes, it's like that!' and so on, till they came to blows over the matter.

"Brethren, the raja was delighted with the scene.

"Just so are these preachers and scholars holding various views blind and unseeing.... In their ignorance they are by nature quarrelsome, wrangling, and disputatious, each maintaining reality is thus and thus."

Then the Exalted One rendered this meaning by uttering this verse of uplift,

O how they cling and wrangle, some who claim

For preacher and monk the honored name!

For, quarreling, each to his view they cling.

Such folk see only one side of a thing.

Who knows what’s good or bad?  ~ a Buddhist Parable

The situation we always live in is like that of the wise Chinese farmer whose horse ran off. When his neighbor came to console him the farmer said “Who knows what’s good or bad?” When his horse returned the next day with a herd of horses following her, the foolish neighbor came to congratulate him on his good fortune. “Who knows what’s good or bad?” said the farmer. Then, when the farmer’s son broke his leg trying to ride one of the new horses, the foolish neighbor came to console him again. “Who knows what’s good or bad?” said the wise farmer. When the army passed through, conscripting men for war, they passed over the farmer’s son because of his broken leg. When the foolish man came to congratulate the farmer that his son would be spared, again the wise farmer said “Who knows what’s good or bad?”

Parable of the Good Samaritan - Luke 10:25-37
[25] On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
[26] "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
[27] He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
[28] "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
[29] But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
[30] In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. [31] A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. [32] So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. [33] But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. [34] He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. [35] The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
[36] "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
[37] The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."

Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

Topics for the Essay over Oedipus

Choose ONE of the following to develop into a thoughtful essay on OEDIPUS.

Due Wednesday,  Nov. 6, 2013

1.     It is sometimes suggested that Oedipus is a mere plaything of the gods with no free will and no ability to choose his own fate. How would you argue against this view?

2.     The Greeks believed in moderation—“Nothing in excess”.  Edith Hamilton expands this, “Nothing that is vast enters into the life of mortals without a curse.”  What occurs in excess in Oedipus Rex?  What happens as a result?  What implications does Hamilton’s statement have for the twentieth century?  Can you think of any of the twentieth century’s vast discoveries that came with a curse?  Defend with historical examples.  Make sure you devote at least two body paragraphs to discussing the excess in Oedipus Rex.

3.     PRIOR APPROVAL FROM ME REQUIRED:  Compare and contrast a modern character or movie or television series with the character of Oedipus or the play, Oedipus.

Middle Georgia State Theatre Presents 'Doubt'

Posted: October 24, 2013 into Liberal Arts

Middle Georgia State College Theatre presents Doubt:A Parable from Oct. 30 through Nov. 3 in the Arts Complex Theatre on the Macon Campus.

Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30, through Saturday, Nov. 2, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 3. General admission is $8; $5 for senior citizens and students enrolled at any college other than Middle Georgia State. Admission is free to Middle Georgia State students, faculty and staff with ID. Reserved seat tickets go on sale beginning Monday, Oct. 14. Call (478) 757-7387 for more information or to make reservations.

In Doubt, a nun in a Bronx Catholic school in 1964 suspects a popular priest of inappropriate behavior with a student. Armed with nothing more than a resolute belief in her suspicion and a few circumstantial details, she instigates a relentless campaign to remove the priest, enlisting the help of a subordinate nun and the child's tormented mother. The simple, yet ever-shifting plot leaves all four characters and the audience wondering whether they were justified in their thoughts, motives and actions. (Source: www.playbill.com/news/article/92095-John-Patrick-Shanleys-Doubt-Wins-2005-Pulitzer-Prize-for-Drama.)

The Middle Georgia State production of Doubt is directed by Scott McElheney, assistant professor of theatre. McElheney earned his MFA in Theatrical Design and Technology from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1997. Since then he has worked up and down the Eastern Seaboard from Georgia to Massachusetts as a theatrical designer, director and technician. Before coming to Middle Georgia State, McElheney taught at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Middle Tennessee State University.