Englsih 11A (The Radical Americans)

In the poem beginning "It sifts from leaden sieves," what aspect of nature does Dickinson describe in a peaceful rather than harsh manner?

Snow

Why does this author call Reconstruction "the second phase of the Civil War"?

Soldiers and politicians from the North had to force many Southerners to grant African Americans the rights of citizenship.

What kind of poet were Americans looking for after the Civil War?

Someone who could unify or at least help heal the country

Which two methods of performing poetry are most likely to involve musical accompaniment?

Songs and spoken word

Which phrase best describes the historical origins of poetry?

Spoken celebrations of a group's history and culture

Which method of performing poetry does NOT include repetition of key phrases or lines?

Spoken word

What can you do to make the writer of a poem more willing to hear and accept your suggestions for improving the poem?

Start the discussion by saying what works or what you like about the poem.

Which statement best describes how you might use word play to create an entire poem?

Start with a line that interests you, and build a poem around it.

Many poets today draw on what innovation in Emily Dickinson's poetry?

Striking images created by unusual word pairings

What is the effect of listing the detailed actions of the plants and animals in spring?

The specific naming of plants and animals celebrates the ordinary in nature.

Which of the following is usually a part of a writing workshop?

The writer of the poem reads it aloud

Why did American readers need a poet like Walt Whitman?

They needed someone who could celebrate America even after the horrors of the Civil War.

What did Walt Whitman believe American writers should accomplish in their work?

They should create original poetry that celebrates the diversity of the nation.

What was the immediate response of Northern politicians to the secession of eleven Southern states?

They softened their approach, promising to a very gradual end to slavery.

How did Whitman's and Dickinson's poetry differ from the works of the Romantic era?

They used new, unconventional forms that closely connected to a poem's meaning.

In "This Compost," what epiphany does the speaker have about nature?

Through "chemistry" nature can change something foul into something clean.

Which is a major characteristic of contemporary poetry today?

experimentation and the adaptation of poetic rules

What did the American Civil War reveal to many Americans, causing them to abandon the idealistic work of the Romantics?

the grim or less glorious realities involved in human existence

Which characteristic of Realism is still evident in most poetry written today?

the use of simple diction instead of lofty language

What is your goal when revising word choice in a poem?

to replace more general words with specific, precise words that create images

What did Walt Whitman's poetry offer Americans after the Civil War had torn the country apart?

A chance to celebrate America again, its good and bad aspects

What motivated most Abolitionists of this era?

A moral objection to slavery

What should be discussed during a poetry workshop?

A poem's strengths, weaknesses, and ideas for improvement

Recall the process you used at the start of this lesson to create a poem using word play. Once you have combined several words that seemed unrelated, what should you do next?

Choose a line that interests you, and add lines to it.

How did the American Civil War convince many Americans to turn away from the themes and forms of the Romantics?

It revealed the harsh realities of human existence.

What aspect of the Civil War forced Americans to lose interest in Romantic ideals?

Its reminder that humans can and often do turn against each other in horrible ways

What did Realism change about the way American poets chose words for their poems?

Language became more natural and conversational.

Why is "free verse" a misleading name for the form most contemporary poetry takes?

People assume it is "free" of poe

Which of the following should a writer expect from a writing workshop?

Other students will offer suggestions for improving the poem.

Walt Whitman's "I Sing the Body Electric"

Glorifies the human body of all races and sexes as equal

Walt Whitman

-Wrote with energy and optimism about the new American, westward expansion, and physical desire -directly influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson's ideas about forging a completely American form of literature -influenced by personal connections with soldiers and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln -published the collection Leaves of Grass in 1855, but continued to add to it until his/her death

Emily Dickinson

-suffered from a serious illness early in life, which took him/her away from family and close friends -received an excellent education because of the high value placed on scholarship by his/her parents -wrote most of his/her poems as gifts for friends and relatives

Consider this key line in the poem: "It grows such sweet things out of such corruptions." Although Whitman's poem is about nature, what major idea in Whitman's work does this line reflect?

All parts of the nation, even the flaws, should be celebrated.

Which poetic device did Whitman use most often to create rhythmic lists in his poems?

Anaphora

What is one benefit of participating in a writing workshop, besides helping out other writers?

It helps you see what makes good writing successful

What view does Dickinson state about books in the poem beginning "He ate and drank the precious words"?

Books can free the human spirit

There are some things that you should avoid doing while your poem is being discussed. What should you NOT do?

Defend your poem when its weaknesses are pointed out.

What should the writer of a poem avoid doing while his or her poem is being discussed?

Defending the poem when its weaknesses are pointed out

Which revision strategy is most likely to make your poem easy to absorb after hearing it just one time?

Delete or replace language that presents a complex image or very abstract idea.

Walt Whitman's "The Compost"

Depicts dying as a part of everyday life that nourishes the ground to produce the sweetest of crops

Emily Dickinson's "I saw a fly"

Describes the perspective of a dead person annoyed by a fly that comes between her and heavenly light

How did Dickinson view fame, based on her poems beginning with "Fame is a fickle food" and "I'm nobody"?

Dickinson felt fame could be temporal and harmful.

Which of these rules can help avoid bad feelings during a writing workshop?

Discuss the poem, not the poet

What was different about Whitman's and Dickinson's use of poetic form, compared to the poets of the Romantic era?

Each poem's form was more closely connected to its meaning.

By the end of the 19th century, what did most American poets strive to do?

Express an individualistic view of the world in a vivid, imaginative way

Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass

Expresses the value and importance of the individual as a theme

Why does playing with words work as a strategy for creating poems?

It opens the writer's mind to new and intriguing possibilities.

The poem "Song of Myself" includes the following line about blades, or "leaves," of grass. Or I guess the grass is itself a child, the produced babe of the vegetation. Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic,And it means, Sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow zones,Growing among black folks as among white,Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff, I give them the same, I receive them the same. What does grass represent in this poem?

Grass symbolizes the worth of each individual, regardless of race and position.

What does the speaker hope to accomplish by using his plough and spade on the earth?

He hopes to expose the foul meat of corpses buried in the ground.

What does the speaker mean when he says, "What chemistry"?

He is referring to nature's ability to physically change diseased deposits into clean air, water, and earth.

The speaker in "I Sing the Body Electric" describes the sacredness of all human bodies when he states, "Do you not see that these are exactly the same to all in all nations and times all over the earth?" What radical social message was Whitman conveying through this work?

He was suggesting that whites were not superior to African slaves.

Why did many critics find Whitman's subject matter and language obscene?

He wrote about human bodies and sex.

How did Ralph Waldo Emerson influence Walt Whitman's literary career?

He wrote an essay that inspired Whitman to focus on new forms and subject matter in his poetry.

How did Whitman's writing style differ from that of traditional poets of his era?

He wrote free verse using common language.

Which specific innovation in poetry by Emily Dickinson is most apparent in poetry written today?

Her pairing of words that seem unrelated

How was Emily Dickinson representative of the new Realism inspired by the Civil War?

Her poetry dealt with negative emotions and ideas in a very direct and honest way.

What desire does Walt Whitman express in his letter to Ralph Waldo Emerson?

His hope that America would create its own literary tradition

What specific innovation in the poetry of Walt Whitman is still relevant in poetry today?

His use of free verse

While reading the first stanza of this Dickinson poem, look for the extended metaphor. Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all, What is the extended metaphor in the stanza above?

Hope as a bird

Dickinson's reclusive nature is best reflected in the poem with which first line?

I'm Nobody!

How did the Emancipation Proclamation help turn the tide of the Civil War in the Union's favor?

It caused potential European allies, who opposed slavery, to abandon the Confederacy.

What was the overall effect of the Civil War on American identity?

It fractured the young nation's sense of unity and common cause.

In the poem that begins "I heard a fly buzz when I died," what does the fly do during the speaker's death?

It gets between the speaker and the light she hopes to see at the moment of death.

What's the best thing you can do to help audience members get your poem's meaning after hearing it just once?

Make its more complex language a little simpler, and add a chorus or repeating phrase.

What seems to be a consistent source of inspiration for poets of the Romantic era, the era of Realism, and today?

Nature

Rather than present an idealized version of nature, Whitman expresses an unusual insight about nature in his poem "This Compost." Which statement best summarizes that insight?

Nature produces clean beauty from the rotting bodies of dead humans.

What connection does Dickinson make between nature and humans in the poem beginning "The sky is low, the clouds are mean"?

Nature, like humans, can be irritable and depressed.

Which kind of line works best as the chorus if you plan to perform a poem as a song?

One that is catchy and expresses a main message of the poem

Which statement best represents theme that interested both Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson?

Ordinary life should be honored and celebrated.

Which statement represents a recurring theme in both Whitman's and Dickinson's work?

Ordinary life should be honored and celebrated.

Identify the figurative language used in the following stanzas from an Emily Dickinson poem. A precious, mouldering pleasure 't is To meet an antique book, In just the dress his century wore; A privilege, I think, His venerable hand to take, And warming in our own, A passage back, or two, to make To times when he was young. What figure of speech did you find in the passage?

Personification

Emily Dickinson's "Because I Could Not Stop for Death"

Personifies death as a polite gentleman

Which approach to prewriting is most likely to help you start a poem that intrigues or inspires readers?

Playing with words

What purpose did poetry serve in human societies, before poems were mostly written down?

Poems were used to preserve history and to celebrate elements of culture.

To continue in the tradition of American poetry, what types of language should your poem include?

Precise nouns and verbs

Which Romantic writer influenced Walt Whitman by writing an essay titled "The Poet"?

Ralph Waldo Emerson

What is the best way to prepare for a poetry writing workshop?

Read the poems that will be discussed and make notes about what you like.

Which of these tasks should you be ready to do when you participate in a writing workshop?

Read your own poem aloud, and then listen quietly to the other writers' feedback.

Slam poetry, poetry reading, and songwriting uses __________

Repetition

What characteristic of Romantic poetry still influences poetry today?

Romantics often wrote about nature in their poetry.

What was the plot line of the Lost Cause narrative?

Secession was a reasonable reaction to the federal government's trampling of states rights.

What tone does Whitman create with word choices like "meet my lover the sea" and "touch my flesh to the earth"?

Sensual

Why did Emily Dickinson, now considered one the greatest American poets, not experience fame until after her death?

She kept her writing private rather than seeking publication while alive.

What was the main reason that Southern politicians gave for refusing to allow an end to slavery?

The entire region's agricultural economy depended on slave labor.

Why should you consider word choice carefully when revising a poem?

The first words you chose may not be precise enough to create images and convey meaning.

What is a significant message of the poem "I Sing the Body Electric"?

The human body is sacred and just as important as the soul.

Which line should be repeated or used as the chorus if you plan to perform a poem as a song?

The line that best "captures" or expresses the main message of the poem

As you read the following passage from "I Hear America Singing" consider the effect of the poem's use of anaphora. The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam, The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work, The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck, The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands, . . . How does anaphora add to the musical quality of this passage?x

The repetition makes the poem seem song-like, musical.

In the poem beginning "I could not stop for Death," what idea does Dickinson express about the afterlife?

The soul continues on for eternity.

Dickinson wrote many poems in which the speaker is already dead, such as the one beginning "Because I could not stop for Death." Based on this poem, what did Dickinson believe happens after death?

The soul goes on for eternity

As you read this section of the poem "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman, look for examples of anaphora. You shall possess the good of the earth and sun, (there are millions of suns left,) You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on thespectres in books, You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me, You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self. What is the main purpose of anaphora in this section of the poem?

To emphasize the speaker's directions and create an authoritative tone

Why might a poet who is performing at a poetry reading want to provide a short introduction to each poem, or at least introduce some of the poems?

To help readers make sense of complex images or complicated language, the first time they hear it

Why would a teacher ask students to participate in a writing workshop?

To help students learn new skills

What was one reason Whitman's collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass, was so controversial for its time?

What was one reason Whitman's collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass, was so controversial for its time?

Where should you break the lines in your poem?

Where you want readers to pause slightly and reflect on the line

What question can help you decide where to break the lines in your poem?

Which words should be read as a unified group?

Which contribution of Walt Whitman's style has the greatest impact on the poetry of today?

Whitman wrote in free verse

What feedback should you offer a writer during a poetry workshop?

Your thoughts about the poem's strengths and how to make the poem's message more clear

When did Emily Dickinson gain fame for her collection of nearly 1,800 poems?

after her death, when her sister insisted on publishing the work