ENG4U1-10 June 2008

Class,

Last year I wrote the following:

Thank you for participating in my pedagogical experiment. Your writings, will remain here. In the years to come, other students will contribute to what you've helped to create. Like you, they will struggle and hopefully, grow.
Others still, will eventually come across these writings, and because of your words, they'll see the world through your mind. The mind of a beginner.

Ovid said this better than I could have:

Adde parvum parvo magnus acervus erit. - Add little to little and there will be a big pile.

Gutta cavat lapidem, non vi, sed saepe cadendo. - The drop hollows out the stone by frequent dropping, not by force; constant persistence gains the end.

This year, I want to send the same message.

Godspeed,

-liconti

Discussion 9 - The Motive for Metaphor

Before you even begin this last blog, keep the theme of the course in mind as you attempt the last blog for the year.

Give a poetic example of how, "the motive for metaphor, according to Wallace Stevens, is a desire to associate, and finally to identify, the human mind with what goes on outside of it" (Frye).

For the poetic source, please use a song you enjoy.

• Include your poem/song in your response.
• Try to place your poem/song after your introduction paragraph.
• Explain your choice. (See framework below & use any analysis notes from class)
  
• Cite your poem/song, using a MLA listing.
• In your response, I would like you to use the following guide to structure your posting.
  
  
  A Framework for Responding to Poetry
  Introduction:
  
  • Briefly introduce the title of the poem and name of the poet.
  • Try to classify the type of poem it is e.g. sonnet, ballad, haiku, acrostic, shape, lyric, ode, limerick, elegy, dramatic monologue etc.
  • Briefly explain the subject of the poem.
  Point One: Explore the Themes of the Poem
  
  • Try to group the ideas in the poem is there a story that the poem tells?
  • What do you think the poem is about?
  Point Two: Imagery used to express themes
  
  • What are the pictures in the poem?
  • Are metaphors/similes used to explain ideas?
  • Are the five senses used to evoke certain reactions in the reader?
  Point Three: Form and Structure
  
  • How is the poem organised e.g. lines, verses, layout and shape.
  • Why has the poet decided to structure the ideas in this way e.g. the sequence of ideas, length of lines, patterns etc.
  Point Four: Rhyme and Rhythm
  
  • How does the poem rhyme? E.g. abab or aabb etc.
  • What is the rhythm of the poem when read aloud?
  • Why has the poet chosen this rhyme and rhythm to express these ideas?
  Point Five: Language Patterns
  
  • Think about the sound of the poem and choice of words
  • The poet uses specific words because they have a certain association in the reader's mind.
  • Look out for alliteration, onomatopoeia, assonance, personification, symbolism. How has the poet grouped words to achieve a desired effect?
  Conclusion: Poet's message
  
  • What is the poet trying to communicate to the reader?
  • How effective are the devices/language that he uses?
  • What is your response to the poem?
  (www.englishresources.co.uk)

Discussion 8 - Hollow Darkness

With our in-class poetry unit over, I would like to turn your attention to the Interweb.

The shear volume of classic / canonical poetry on the internet is awe-inspiring. I would like to use T.S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men" as a starting point for poetic analysis on the internet.

I've already done a Google search for the poem, and I would like you to read these three versions of the same poem. Note that before the URL, I've named these web pages in the same manner as their authors have. Hopefully this will allow us to begin to distinguish them.

1. The Hollow Men - http://www.blight.com/~sparkle/poems/hollow.html
2. "The Hollow Men" - http://www.columbia.edu/itc/tc/scfu4016/hollow.html
3. A Hypertext Version of T.S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men" - http://www.aduni.org/~heather/occs/honors/Poem.htm

• Read the identical poems in this order.
• Read each version before you move to the next one.
• Do not scan them, take note of their differences and similarities.
• Make notes as you read to help you understand the meaning of the poem.
• Look up, and then write down all the words you do not understand. I suggest the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, but since you are already online, go to www.m-w.com (The Merriam - Webster Online Dictionary).
  

Questions to consider:

1. Ask yourself, are the poems different from one another?
2. Is one version harder to read than another? Why (Consider colour and layout)?
3. Does the reader's understanding of the theme of the poem change from any particular version?
4. How can a reader be sure of the authenticity of a poem on the internet?
5. What are the benefits and disadvantages to having poetry on the internet?
6. Are there historical or editorial reasons for changes in these poems?
7. Why study this poem after Conrad's Heart of Darkness?