SEM 2, W3, #3: PICKING THE POEM/POET

I’m curious what poem you’ve decided to analyze for your “Poetry Interview” assignment.

Challenge:

1. Identify the poem and poet you’ve selected (or at least think you’re going to do).
2. Tell all of us why it has caught your attention — in general — with regards to writing a great conversation.
3. Point out 5 ‘interesting’ things about the poem that might lead to great questions (and analysis).

Length: 7+ sentences

SEM 2, W3, #2: FOREVER IN DRAFT

All of you have turned in a significant piece of original poetry (along with 3+ rough drafts) this past week.

With that in mind, I’d like for you to share part of this poem with the rest of us…plus offer all of us a few elements that you’d still like to improve if you could continue with the drafting process.

Challenge:

1. Copy/paste ONE stanza from your final poem into your comment here.  It is up to you which stanza you share.  If, however, you are not sure which stanza to share, pick the 1st one (that focused specifically on the scene in nature).
2. Identify (5) things you’d like to improve or continue revising about this specific stanza.  Be specific in how you explain what you mean.

SEM, W1, #6: IF YOU COULD STEAL ONE LINE/PHRASE

Back story: In a poem as long and constantly evolving/changing as Wordsworth’s piece (“Tintern Abbey”, for short) that we’ve been reading, there are countless lines/phrases that seem to have a life of their own, that almost seem as if they could be a title for a new poem or story.

This is similar to when we listen to a song and find a lyric that seems to speak to something far deeper in our lives.  We write it down so that it never is forgotten.  It becomes an anthem for our lives — a shortcut expression that says how we’re feeling and how we see the world around us.

Challenge:

• Find one line from this poem that grabs your attention for any reason whatsoever (and not even because of what Wordsworth is trying to say in his own poem).  Ideally the line/phrase has the potential to inspire a piece of writing, be the title of a poem/story, or just be a life anthem/quote for you personally.
• React to the line in one of two ways:  1) Explain why it has such an impact on you or 2) write a short paragraph/poem that is inspired by (or uses) the line/phrase.

Length: 7+ sentences/lines

SEM2, W1, #5: A PLACE IN NATURE OF YOUR OWN

Back story: Every student will be writing a 4-stanza poem in the style of William Wordsworth’s “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey:  On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye During a Tour.  July 13, 1798″.  The heart and soul of his poem speaks to the “sublime” and “blessed mood, / In which the burden of the mystery” of nature continues to impact him many years later (in spite of the way he may feel “‘mid the din / Of towns and cities” at times).

Challenge: Your poem — like Wordsworth’s – will focus on a single moment you spent time alone in some form of ‘nature’ at least 2 years ago.

• Describe a natural setting that you visited years ago that continues to inspire you and may even be a place you occasionally still daydream about returning to, especially during the stressful times of your life.
• Focus on visually striking descriptions. Really try to ‘paint’ a picture in the minds of your readers.
• Don’t worry as much about ‘why’ you were there.  Instead, focus on the way the natural setting affected you and your senses.

Length: 7+ sentences.

SEM2, W1, #3: TRICKS IN THE DESERT

Back story: All of you are being challenged to memorize — and perfectly reproduce — the poem, “Ozymandias”, by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Challenge: Because everyone has a slightly different style of memorization, I’m curious:

• what tricks you’re using to pull off this challenge
• what part(s) of the poem is/are the most difficult for you to memorize– and why?

Length: 5+ sentences

“Ozymandias” — The Correct Memorization Version

Here is the correct version of the poem — “Ozymandias”, by Percy Bysshe Shelley — that we will use together.

The rules:

• Students must memorize/reproduce the poem (on paper) on Friday, Jan. 16 for a quiz grade.
• Each student must also submit a perfect reproduction  for a ‘major’ grade before the 3rd quarter ends.
• Students may attempt this as many times as needed.  This can be done anytime Mr. Long is free.  A single mistake (spelling, missed word, capitalization, punctuation, etc) will require the student to start over.
• In lieu of a student successfully completing this challenge, the student will receive either a zero (for a ‘major’ grade) or the quarter grade will remain ‘incomplete’ until the student eventually completes this assignment.

Note:

This is the same version that is found on page 731 in the ‘purple’ literature text.  For this memorization challenge, do not use the ‘green’ literature text version (due to alternative punctuation, etc.).

“Ozymandias”

(1)   I met a traveler from an antique land

Who said:  Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

(5)  And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:

And on the pedestal these words appear:

(10) “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

Nothing beside remains.  Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Consider all of the following strategies to help you successfully memorize this poem:

1. Focus on the visual nature of this poem. Become the “I” (speaker) and imagine that its taking place with you in it.  Stand in the desert.  Picture the horizon line (and “[t]he lone and level sands” as they “stretch far away” from you.  Picture the pieces of the great statue (“two legs” and the body/face of the King) in the sand.  Picture the 2-line phrase that the King says (which is actually etched into the stone itself for others to read, admire, fear).
2. Divide the poem into sections.  For instance, consider: a) the moment you meet the “traveler”, b) what the traveler describes (first the legs and second the body/face of the statue), c) the sculptor who tried to create a statue that would last forever (including the phrase that he etched into the stone), d) what Ozymandias said (in quotes), e) the irony of the fact that nothing of the king’s power really remains (in the 3-word sentence of line 12), and f) the way the sand stretches out forever around the “decay / Of that colossal wreck”.
3. Think about the punctuation:  this includes where the various punctuation points exist and why they are being used.  For instance, notice in line 2 that no quotation marks exist following the full colon.
4. Note that the first word of every line is capitalized.
5. Consider writing down the last word of all 14 lines on your paper immediately when you come to class on Friday (so that you have 14 ‘targets’ if you suddenly draw a blank). You might also do this with the first word of each line.
6. Figure out the 2-3 phrases that are going to be a challenge.  Most students make mistakes with line 4 (“a shattered visage”), lines 6 & 7 (“Tell that its sculptor well those passions read / Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things”), and line 12 (“Nothing beside remains.”).
7. Consider the short/strong pattern of phrases from lines 3-5 that describe what the statue looks like.
8. Think about how line 2 and line 14 give the impression of something stretching out forever (“vast”, “sands stretch far away”).
9. Consider pairs of words (“boundless and bare”, “lone and level”) that use alliteration to help your recall.
10. Be aware of the rhyme scheme at the end of each line.  Also notice that they are not always ‘rhymes’ to the ear; they do, however, work as ‘visual’ rhymes.