Finishing Up the First Part of Poetry

Today we went over a dramatic monologue/persona poem, Elizabeth Bishop's "Crusoe in England," as well as Philip Levine's "M. Degas Teaches Art and Science..."  While Levine's poem is not a persona poem and his speaker *could* be the poet himself as a middle school student, like "Crusoe in England," it captures an interesting cultural figure and puts him into a different context.  Edgar Degas lived from 1834 to 1917, so he couldn't have been in that Detroit classroom.

Wednesday we will go over our next assignments: the paper on poetry and the presentations.  Friday we will work on the study guide for the final.  It's likely that we won't discuss any new poetry this week, but just in case I am assigning a few readings here.   I can't resist assigning Sherman Alexie's "Defending Walt Whitman": https://web.archive.org/web/20060615052432/http://home.earthlink.net/~jandsgordon/Poems/whitman.htm   Or Allen Ginsberg's "A Supermarket in California," perhaps one of his least typical poems: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47660/a-supermarket-in-california  I have to include some Whitman: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/noiseless-patient-spider  I'd like to assign "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," but it is a fairly long poem.  It will have to wait until Monday.

Here are a few more questions for you.  First, I'll focus on "Crusoe" and "M. Degas."

-- Today we listened to the poets' reading their poems.  Which style of reading do you prefer: Bishop's or Levine's?  Why?  Which poem did you prefer?  Why?

-- Consider the definition of poetry from the Encyclopedia Britannica: "Poetry evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience or a specific emotional response through language chosen and arranged for its meaning, sound, and rhythm."  How does "Crusoe" fulfill that definition?  How does "M. Degas" fulfill it?  Choose another poem such as "My Last Duchess," Shakespeare's sonnets, "Those Winter Sundays," or "the rites for Cousin Vit."  How does that poem fulfill the encylopedia's definition?  Which poem seems to fulfill it more?  Why?

-- Compare one of today's poems to one of the prose poems that we read ("Hammer and Nail," perhaps "Girl," "The Canoeing," [Of a girl, in white], or "Dim Lady").  What does each piece have in common?  How is each different from the other?

-- Compare one of today's poems to one flash fiction that we read ("Love in LA," "Hills Like White Elephants," "Girl," "The Magic Rabbit," and "A Geronimo Moon").  What does each piece have in common?  How is each different from the other?  What is poetic about the flash fiction?  What is prosy about the poems?

-- What do we learn about Robinson Crusoe from Elizabeth Bishop's poem?

-- Is her Crusoe masculine, feminine, or androgynous?  Why?

-- What do we learn about Crusoe's island from the poem?

-- Look up another of Bishop's poems: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/filling-station  or https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/moose  Compare how she evokes place in "The Filling Station" or "The Moose" and "Crusoe in England."  What does each poem have in common in this respect?  How is each poem different?  What does the other poem tell you about her voice and her concerns as a poet?

-- Look at one of Bishop's poems set in Brazil: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57361/arrival-at-santos How does this poem shed light on "Crusoe in England"?  How does "Crusoe in England" shed light on this poem?  Consider how the poet evokes place.

-- How would "M. Degas" be different if it were in the voice of the teacher? Or in another student's voice?

-- Why is this poem in this student's voice?

-- How does Levine draw on emotion in his poem?

-- How does Levine draw on language in his poem?  Which words and phrases jump out at you?  Why?

-- How did the picture by Degas that we looked at help you understand Levine's poem a little more?

I'll finish with a few questions on our next set of readings.

-- Look up Walt Whitman, Sherman Alexie, and Allen Ginsberg.  Why does Alexie depict Whitman on a basketball court?  Why does Ginsberg depict Whitman in a 1950s or 1960s supermarket?  What does this tell you about Whitman and his appeal?

-- How would you describe Alexie's Whitman?  Why?  Does Alexie seem to respect him?  Or does he make fun of him?  Why?

-- How would you describe Ginsberg's Whitman?  Why?  Does Ginsberg seem to respect him?  Or does he make fun of him?

-- Why does Whitman draw your attention to the spider in his poem? 

-- What is Whitman telling us about the soul?

-- Discuss the impact of Whitman's line length, his word choices (diction), or his use of repetition.

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