Gertrude Stein's poetry appears very experimental and abstract. She focuses particularly on the themes of color and change. Do you think she is trying to recreate the objects she is describing using only her words? How does this change your idea of the "image" of these objects? What does Stein believe glazed glitter looks like? A piece of coffee? Stacy Schipellite
T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock seems to be one man's tired and melancholy examination of his life. Running throughout the poem there is a sense of loneliness and a sense of regret. The line “That is not what I meant at all. That is not it, at all,” is repeated multiple times. Since the title informs us that this is a love poem, it makes sense to assume the character of Prufrock has regrets about his love life, about his relationships with women in general, or about a certain woman his may have lost. What are some of the images, romantic or sexual, dispersed throughout the poem that clue us in to this? Do the images provide an explanation of what has happened in this man’s life, or are they merely expressions of a combined lifetime’s worth of despair?
Pound's "The Rest" tells of the helpless few in his country, the remnants enslaved, artists broken against her. What is Pound saying about his country regarding artists? How does he describe these artists (see stanzas 2-5).
Two of Ezra Pound’s poems – “Michigan Boulevard” and “Chicago River” – present snapshot views of the city of Chicago. While both are short, Pound is definitely trying to convey a certain picture about the city through his language and use of imagery. What is the picture that we get from these two poems? What kind of language and imagery does Pound use to express his view to the reader? Can we see similar images in some of his other poems, and if so, which ones?
Th Jan. 15 Washington Irving, “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (Norton)
Tu Jan. 20 Abraham Lincoln, “A House Divided” and “Second Inaugural Address” (Norton) Assignment: watch Obama’s inaugural address (today at noon, or watch it online later) and compare to Lincoln’s inaugural addresses
Th Jan. 22 William Apess, An Indian’s Looking-Glass for the White Man (Norton) Catharine Maria Sedgwick, Hope Leslie, Vol. I, Chapter 4 (Norton)
Tu Jan. 27 Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Nature” (Norton)
Th Jan. 29 Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown,” “The Birth-Mark” (Norton)
Tu Feb. 3 Hawthorne, “Rappaccini’s Daughter” Edgar Allan Poe, “Ligeia” (Norton)
Th Feb. 5 Poe, “The Raven,” “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “William Wilson” (Norton)
Tu Feb. 10 Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Norton)
Th Feb 12 Douglass, Narrative First paper due Friday, Feb. 13, 4 p.m.
Tu Feb 17 Herman Melville, “Bartleby the Scrivener” and “The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids” (Norton)
Th Feb 19 Rebecca Harding Davis, “Life in the Iron-Mills” (Norton)
Tu Feb 24 Walt Whitman, “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry,” “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d,” and “Song of Myself” parts 1-7 (Norton)
Gertrude Stein's poetry appears very experimental and abstract. She focuses particularly on the themes of color and change. Do you think she is trying to recreate the objects she is describing using only her words? How does this change your idea of the "image" of these objects? What does Stein believe glazed glitter looks like? A piece of coffee?
ReplyDeleteStacy Schipellite
T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock seems to be one man's tired and melancholy examination of his life. Running throughout the poem there is a sense of loneliness and a sense of regret. The line “That is not what I meant at all. That is not it, at all,” is repeated multiple times. Since the title informs us that this is a love poem, it makes sense to assume the character of Prufrock has regrets about his love life, about his relationships with women in general, or about a certain woman his may have lost. What are some of the images, romantic or sexual, dispersed throughout the poem that clue us in to this? Do the images provide an explanation of what has happened in this man’s life, or are they merely expressions of a combined lifetime’s worth of despair?
ReplyDeletePeter Hoye
ReplyDeletePound's "The Rest" tells of the helpless few in his country, the remnants enslaved, artists broken against her. What is Pound saying about his country regarding artists? How does he describe these artists (see stanzas 2-5).
What hope does he offer to these helpless few?
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ReplyDeleteJennifer DeYoung:
ReplyDeleteTwo of Ezra Pound’s poems – “Michigan Boulevard” and “Chicago River” – present snapshot views of the city of Chicago. While both are short, Pound is definitely trying to convey a certain picture about the city through his language and use of imagery. What is the picture that we get from these two poems? What kind of language and imagery does Pound use to express his view to the reader? Can we see similar images in some of his other poems, and if so, which ones?