Tenth Set of Questions for EN 211

Good evening :)

Today we focused on Anne Bradstreet's poetry and various definitions of poetry, which we applied to her poems.  On Friday, we will look at some of her contemporaries (time permitting) and move on to the poetry of Edward Taylor -- and excerpts from Michael Wigglesworth's "The Day of Doom."

The Poetry Foundation has useful biographies of Mrs. Bradstreet and Rev. Taylor:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/anne-bradstreet#about

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/edward-taylor

It also has some good critical essays.  The first is on reading Puritan poetry:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/article/178361

The second on Edward Taylor's work is by contemporary poet Robert Hass:
http://mchoudini.montgomerycollege.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=6280601&scope=site

How do these biographies and essays help you understand Mrs. Bradstreet and Rev. Taylor's poems more fully?

How do they help you understand their world view more fully?

What could they have added to our conversation today?

What would you add to our conversation today?

-- Here are some examples of later poems by poetesses,  How do they compare to Mrs. Bradstreet's?

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173822

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/hemans/works/hf-mother.html

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/hemans/records/homes.html

-- Here are some examples of Metaphysical poems.  How do they compare to Mrs. Bradstreet's?

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173387

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/guide/177309#poem

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/herbert/temple/Altar.html

Katherine Philips was a near-contemporary of Anne Bradstreet's, but she lived and worked in England.  Here are links to her poems.  What do they add to your understanding of Mrs. Bradstreet's poems?  of women's poetry?

Yes, even in England, female writers were rarely published.  Here is a link to poems by one contemporary of Mrs. Bradstreet's, Katherine Philips (aka Orinda):

http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/philips/antenorparting.htm

http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/philips/lucasia1.htm

Interestingly, unlike Mrs. Bradstreet, Philips was a Royalist.

-- What do you like best about Rev. Taylor's poetry?

-- What is most challenging about it?

-- Which definition of poetry does Rev. Taylor's work fit?  What does it not fit?

-- Compare/contrast Mrs. Bradstreet's poetry and Rev. Taylor's poetry.

-- Discuss how they depict marriage.

-- Discuss how they depict parenthood.

-- What jumps out at you as you read the excerpts from "The Day of Doom"?

-- In its day, it was an exceedingly popular poem.  What might people have liked about this poem?

-- Compare/contrast this poem with other depictions of the Last Judgment and/or Apocalypse.

I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing what you have to say!

Dr. Szlyk