Eighth Set of Questions for EN 190/190HM

Good afternoon :)  

Today we began our unit on poetry, emphasizing Walt Whitman and William Carlos Williams. Those of you who know Spanish might be interested in Ruben Dario's poem to Whitman:

http://www.poesi.as/rd189002.htm

O for an English translation!

For Thursday, please read chapter 13 on words and images in poetry.  Here are links to the poems we discussed today:

First, we'll start with Williams' "The Red Wheelbarrow":  http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15537

Next is Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!":   http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15754

Here is Ginsberg's "A Supermarket in California":  http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15306

Hughes' "I, Too, Sing America" is here:  http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15615

These poems carry over from today:

This is John Bradley's "On Trying to Teach the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks":
http://thebluehourmagazine.com/2013/10/17/on-trying-to-teach-the-immortal-life-of-henrietta-lacks-by-john-bradley/

Here is Coleman Barks' translation of Rumi's "What Was Said to the Rose"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa07vKCwWPA

The last is Gwendolyn Brooks' "The Rites for Cousin Vit":
http://apoppiti.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu/2013/03/11/the-rites-for-cousin-vit/

Let's look at a few other poems, too:

Emily Dickinson's "I heard a Fly buzz":  http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15393

and "My Life had stood -- a Loaded Gun":
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/237186

Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art" (villanelle)
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15212

and "Sestina"
http://faculty.washington.edu/rmcnamar/383/bishop.html

We'll end with poems by Jane Hirschfield and Gary Snyder:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/186177

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/237308

http://www.wenaus.com/poetry/gs-riprap.html

http://www.wenaus.com/poetry/gs-bear.html

And here are a few questions for you:

-- What do these poems add to your understanding of poetry?

-- Gwendolyn Brooks' "The Rites for Cousin Vit" is a sonnet.  Why do you think that she chose to use this form?  How does her sonnet compare to others that you know?  It would be interesting to compare Brooks' Cousin Vit to Shakespeare's Dark Lady:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15557

-- Some of these poems are free verse.  Other follow specific forms.  How does form help poet and reader?  How does it hinder them?  How does lack of form help poet and reader?  How does it hinder them?

-- Choose two of this week's poems.  Discuss the poet's diction (or choice of words) in each.  Which do you prefer?  Why?

-- Do you prefer "poetic" language or more everyday language?  Why?  Why not?

-- Do any images appear in more than one poem?  Discuss.  How does each poet depict his/her image?  How is it different from the way that the image is depicted in the other poem(s)?

-- Is poetry inclusive or exclusive?  Why?

-- If you read Spanish, what does Ruben Dario's "To Walt Whitman" add to the other poems about him?  How is Dario's Whitman different from the American poets' image of him?  How is it similar?  Consider that Dario and Whitman's life spans overlapped.

-- What does connotation add to poetry?

-- What does denotation add to poetry?

-- Hirschfeld and Snyder are very much influenced by Asian poetry.  Both, in fact, have translated poems from Japanese and Chinese, respectively.  What do their poems add to the American mix?

-- How do our poems so far represent America?  What seems to be missing?  Why?

See you in class!  I'm looking forward to reading your papers :)