Poem Title

Terms/Etc

Know and define all relevant terms

ongoing

Athlete Dying Young

Read poem (p. 192) complete questions/Dacum

12/14/00

Motive for Metaphor

Read poem (p. 173) complete questions/Dacum

12/13/00

The Titanic

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12/15/00

Hot Night Water St

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12/18/00

When I Have Fears

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12/19/00

After Apple Picking

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12/20/00

Notes/Handout

In-Class composition\contrast 3 poems: explain differences in tone

12/21/00

Death No Dominion

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1/9/01

Dulce et Decorum

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1/10/01

Man,Son Thief

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1/11/01

Take HOME Essay

With reference to three poems from unit, explain how poems can actually be seen as a definition for poetry.

1/12/01

Dover Beach

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1/12/01

Do Not Go Gentle

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1/15/01

Ars Poetica

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1/16/01

EXAM

Study Hard\This One's a Killer!

1/17/01

Athlete Dying Young

1. State the main paradox in the poem. 2. How does Houseman turn tragedy into victory? 3. Explain the extended metaphor of the race motif? 4. Using quotes, show how the premature death of the young man puts him ahead of his fellow runners. 5. Using examples from the poem, show the attitude toward life expressed by Houseman. 6. How does the early death of the young athlete enable him to triumph over death itself?

Motive for Metaphor

1. Explain the meaning of the title. 2. Show how autumn and spring are for the poet a "Motive for Metaphor." 3. What vital ideas are conveyed by "vital", "fatal", and "X"? 4. Show how the use of a blacksmith metaphor illustrates the creative process. 5. Why is this metaphor highly appropriate? 6. What does "SHARP FLASH" mean? Justify your answer.

The Titanic

1. How does Pratt make the events on the lifeboat and onboard the Titanic dramatic? 2. Show how the narrative pattern is one of tension and release. 3. Explain Pratt's presentation of the Titanic as a symbol of man's destructive pride. 4. Using examples, show how Pratt turns the catastrophe into a larger than life struggle of epic proportion. 5. Show how images of light and dark are used in the passage\purpose? 6. In a paragraph, explain who triumphs at the end -- man or nature.

Hot Night Water St

1. Why is the traveller's response to the news at the end of the poem ironical? How does it reinforce the main theme? 2. Explain how the addition of the Shakespearean references have been used to add dimension to the poem. 3. To what extent does the description of the scene appear typical of American society today? 4. Describe the character of the traveller, using examples from the poem---in what ways does he represent many modern people? 5. Discuss, with reference to the poem how it is about death both physical and spiritual.

When I Have Fears

1. Give brief illustrations from the poem of the three things Keats fears may soon be lost to him through death. 2. For each of the three things he holds dear, Keats uses a meataphor--identify each and explain how it contributes to thought and feeling in the poem. 3. An additional theme in this sonnet is the transience of all things in life---show how the concluding couplet refers to this theme of mutability. Show how in at least two of the quatrains this theme is also suggested.

After Apple Picking

1. Show how Frost has succeeded in making the experience of apple-picking concrete and sensually involving. 2. What evidence is there in the poem that the drowsiness felt by the speaker is different from ordinary sleepiness? Wht does it represent? 3. What does the experience of apple picking represent? 4. What important idea is subtly implied by the apple picker's feeling of contentment? 5. Explain the significance of: the ladder, the sheet of ice, the woodchuck, the dream. 6. What purpose is served by the reference to the apples that fell to the ground? Justify your answer.

Death No Dominion

1. State the main theme of the poem. 2. Show how Christian imagery reinforces this poem. 3. Give specific examples and show to what extent does the poem go beyond the Christian view of resurrection? 4. Show how the musical language contributes to the effectiveness of Thomas' poem. 5. Thomas sees death as a part of the rhythm of life, and life as a sacrament. Discuss either one or both parts of this statement with reference to the poem. (Paragraph response 191words)

Dulce et Decorum Est

1. At the end of his poem Owen speaks of "the Old Lie." What is the lie? Give examples to show why he considers it a lie. 2. What is it about the "lie" that makes him so angry? 3. What conflicting attitudes and facts at the beginning of WWI does the poem illustrate? 4. Show how the poem is a condemnation of ALL war. 5. Identify and illustrate three methods used by Owen to convey the strong emotions of an "angry young man." 6. Explain why/why not you think Owen is a sensationalist.

Man, Son Thief

1. From whose point of view is the event in the poem presented? How does the use of this POV contribure to the effectiveness of the poem? 2. Is the father's reaction to the news normal? Explain. 3. What picture, if any, do we get of the boy? What kind of person is he? 4. How has legal language been used effectively? 5. What evidence is there that indicates that the father might be partially to blame? 6. Explain the impact of the last two lines of the poem.

Dover Beach

1. State the main thought of the poem. 2. What makes the first stanza memorable? 3. What is the difference between the appearance and the reality of the sea in stanza one? 4. What is the significance iof the word "darkling" in the last stanza. 5. In what ways does the "Sea of Faith" mentioned in the third stanza correspond to the description of the real sea in the first stanza? 6. Show how the poem has relevance to modern society.

Do Not Go Gentle

1. What advice does Thomas offer his father and the reader? Give illustrations. 2. Provide specific reference to explain what reason lies behind this advice. 3. Thomas lists four types of men in the poem---identify each group in a short sentence and explain why each is included in the poem. 4. Explain the significance of the images "blinding sight" and "meteors." 5. Show how images of light and dark contribute to the effectiveness of the poem. 6. Show how the images of the "green bay" and of the "sun in flight" relate to the poet's view of life.

Ars Poetica

1. What main idea in MacLeish's poem doe the title refer to? 2. Briefly illustrate this idea with an additional reference from the poem. 3. Show how the poet's own language and poetic style are in fact an illustration of what poetry ought to be like. 4. How can a poem be "mute", "dumb", "silent", and even "wordless"? 5. MacLeish thinks of poetry as a" caged form" that entraps heaven and earth. Show how this applies in "Ars Poetica." 6. In "Ars Poetuica," MacLeish makes no reference to the reader, yet he plays an important part. Where do you think he fits into MacLeish's theories regarding poetry?