Assignment following "The Raven" [575] and "Poet with His Face in His Hands" [578]

Questions:

1. How do the word sounds in "The Raven" create a particular mood?  Which words seem especially evocative to you?

2. Characterize the speaker of the poem. What sort of personality does he reveal to you?

3.  Explain how Poe's language produces suspense throughout the poem.

Connection to Another Selection:

Compare Poe's treatment [or attitude] of pain and suffering with Mary Oliver's in "The Poet with His Face in His Hands" [572] 

Apropos to Halloween and our study of poetry . . . "The Raven" and "The Haunted Palace"

"The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe--things that might make this poem more understandable:

 Poe was fascinated by SOUND in poetry and in "The Raven" he set about to write a poem in which the reader becomes as "lost" as the speaker. The speaker of the poem is mourning the loss of a woman named Lenore, whom he has loved, but who has apparently died. [Poe, by the way, felt that the best subject for a poem was the death of a beautiful woman.] As the speaker recounts this particular evening and his experience with "the raven" his hold on sanity slips away. His imagination begins to play tricks on him; he has hallucinations; he imagines the bird from "night's Plutonian shore" has come to him with a dreaded message: he will never be re-united with his love, Lenore. That is enough to send him into a deep depression by the poem's end.  If  the reader approaches this poem and begins reading, he can easily get lost in the sound of the poem and have no idea what was said, what the story was, or what sense there was in the poem.  Sound surpasses sense.

Video Published on Jan 27, 2013

Writer/director Peter Bradley brings Edgar Allan Poe's classic horror poem,THE RAVEN, to chilling life in a faithful, word-for-word adaption. Seen in numerous festivals in seven countries, and used as a teaching aid in Drama and English programs in the U.S., Canada, and the UK, THE RAVEN is greatly inspired by German expressionist cinema of the 1920's. Based not completely in reality, but not completely in fantasy, one man's self-induced torture over the loss of his lover manifests itself and pushes him over the edge of sanity. This stylized piece captures the twisted, tortured world of Poe in a simple, yet highly detailed way that has to be seen and heard to be believed.

A more traditional rendition of "The Raven:"

Poetic Devices in Poe's "Raven:"

repetition -- WHY is it important?  What does repetition do?
alliteration-- Repetition of consonant sounds--usually the initial consonant sounds; e.g., "grim, gaunt, ghastly"
consonance--repetition of the sounds in the middle or ends of words--beguiling, smiling
assonance--repetition of the same vowel sound -- Lenore, nevermore
symbolism--literal and figurative meaning--e.g., the raven
rhyme--internal rhyme and end rhyme - exactly what it sounds like (pun intended)
rhythm--the stressed and unstressed syllables of carefully chosen words selected by the poet
formal diction--choice of words and the arrangement that suggests a proper person/situation, etc.
allusion--reference to the past, usually historical, religious or literary--e.g., Pallas (or with alliteration AND consonance, the "pallid bust of Pallas")
speaker--Poe's narrators are often emotionally unstable, which is the case in the speaker of "The Raven"

Terms, Poems and Suggestions for Understanding Poetry

PLEASE read the "Suggestions for Approaching Poetry" on pages 562 and 563

In order to write well about poetry, consider the questions on pages 581 and 582; be sure you understand the terms below in relation to the poems we read. WE WILL HAVE A QUIZ OVER THESE TERMS AND THE POEMS WE STUDY, AS WELL AS AN IN-CLASS ESSAY EXPLICATING A POEM.

QUIZ:  The week of November 10
                                             Both quiz and essay will be on the FIRST day of class that week.
ESSAY:  The week of November 17th

Terms--these are most likely NOT all--expect more to be added to this list:
These terms were taken from the questions posed on pages 581 & 582; definitions can be found in the back of your text. LOOK THEM UP.  We will be using the terms in class, and I will be explaining them as we read the poems, but often, people seem unaware that the explanation is not for my benefit, but theirs.  
Terms with an asterisk will DEFINITELY be on the quiz next week. 

*speaker
*setting
*situation
*diction
*connotation
*denotation
*allusion
*imagery
*figurative language
*symbolism
*situational irony
*tone/mood
*onomatopoeia
*assonance
*alliteration
*metaphor
*rhyme
*repetition
*rythym

POEMS -- list may change:
NOTE:  the quiz over poetry WILL include all poems and terms with an asterisk; these are the works we will cover in class. Note that the list of poems has changed since it was originally posted. 

These poems will be on the quiz next week:

*p. 669- Edwin Arlington Robinson - "Richard Cory"
*Billy Collins  -  "Aristotle" 
Handout:  Robert Frost - "Out, out"

p. 575 - Edgar Allan Poe -- "The Raven"
p. 572 - Mary Oliver -- "The Poet with His Face in His Hands"

p. 1022 - Percy B. Shelley -- "Ozymandias"
p. 1026 - Walt Whitman --"When I heard the learn'd astronomer"

We will do a short study of Robert Frost; from the study of his poems your essay will be taken.

Poetry -- YAY!! (not)

Most people think that this is what poets do:

In reality, this is what poets do:

Not all poetry is as entertaining as Robin Williams makes it in DEAD POETS SOCIETY, but if you will put TIME and PATIENCE into the poems we read, make a conscious effort to understand them, then (at least) the study will be less noxious than you expect.

Perspective is Everything

RUBRIC IN PROGRESS -- the final rubric will be here SOON

 This will be in a more formal presentation next week. :-/

10 pts. = rough draft due the first day of class next week--all 3 pages, typed--and NO--you MAY NOT send this via email. - - - It will count as a portion of your FINAL grade for this paper

15 pts. = the works cited page will be available the second day of class next week--this needs to be in MLA format and handed in - - - It will count as a portion of your FINAL grade for this paper

? pts. = the final paper is presented on time, in complete MLA format, including the WCP and internal citations

? pts. = the introduction clearly and completely explains the topic

? pts. = the body provides accurate details and examples from the stories and research and explain how the information illustrates the point made in the thesis statement

? pts. = information is smoothly and skillfully incorporated into the body of the paper, maintaining fluency and organization

REMEMBER:  If a reference in listed on the WCP, then it must also be found in the body of the paper!!

The skill and difficulty comes in writing and incorporating information.

REMEMBER!!

NO internal citations = ZERO

NO Works Cited Page = ZERO