The Last Set of Questions for ENGL 190

Good evening :)

Tonight we covered more poems (and fiction) than I imagined that we would have.

From The Song Is..., we looked at Regina A. Walker's "Hiraeth":  http://thesongis.blogspot.com/2014/10/hiraeth.html

Martin Willets, Jr.'s "The Elephant on the Keyboards": http://thesongis.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-elephant-on-keyboards.html

Feel free to look at other poems at the blog, but these are the ones that may be on the exam.

We also reviewed fiction, looking at some flash fiction (under 1000 words).  Michael Oppenheim's "The Paring Knife" is on p. 319.  Catfish McDarish's "Hippopotamus Summer" was published by The Blue Hour Literary Magazine: http://thebluehourmagazine.com/2013/05/25/hippopotamus-summer-by-catfish-mcdaris/comment-page-1/#comment-12272 

Finally, we turned to prose poetry with Naomi Shihab Nye's "Hammer and Nail":  http://webdelsol.com/tpp/tpp5/tpp5_nye.html

I really like how we used the terms we already knew to examine the poems and distinguish poetry from fiction.

I am attaching the fiction take home.  Please send me your answers by Friday (12/5).  I will send the answers on Saturday.

Here are a few questions as you finish up your journal for the semester.

-- Take a look at the October, November, and December poems at The Song Is... http://thesongis.blogspot.com/  Which poem would you vote for for Best in Blog?  Why?  Support your answer with reference to what you've learned in ENGL 190.

-- Compare the flash fiction we looked at tonight to the other fiction we looked at this semester.  How was it different?  How was it similar?  Which do you prefer: flash fiction or longer fiction?  Why?

-- What do we know about the couple in "The Paring Knife"?  What don't we know?  Why?  (Compare this to "Love in LA," which we read in the first half of the semester.)

-- Discuss the shifts in time in "Hippopotamus Summer."  What purpose do they serve?

-- Do you find plot and conflict in "Hippopotamus Summer"?  Why?  Why not?

--How is poetry different from fiction, including flash fiction?

-- Should "Hippopotamus Summer" be considered a prose poem?  Why?  Why not?  Consider Russell Edson's prose poems here:  http://webdelsol.com/tpp/tpp5/tpp5_edson.html  or http://webdelsol.com/tpp/tpp5/tpp5_edsonb.html as well as Naomi Shihab Nye's "Hammer and Nail."

-- How would you divide poetry?  Why?

-- What are the characteristics of poetry?  Why?

-- Argue for or against one of the following:  free verse, rhymed poetry, formal verse, prose poetry.

FYI, here is Yiddish and English poet Menke Katz' "A Word or Two Against Rhyme":  http://www.dovidkatz.net/menke/Essays/18sample.htm

How would you respond to him?

Let me know if you have questions as you prepare for the final!