Poetry

Carefully read the following three (3) poems on the subject of “America.”
Next, choose one (1) to explore further in a pre-writing exercise. You will apply questions you select from the list of questions in the “How to Read a Poem” article section titled “Talking Back to a Poem.” Prepare for your graded writing assignment for this module.

(NOTE: You can write about the same poem you discussed in M4D2.)
• Whitman, Walt, “I Hear America Singing”
• Hughes, Langston, “I, Too,” at https:
• Hughes, Langston, “Let America Be America Again”
***Writing Assignment :

For this activity, you will select three (3) poetic terms or elements of a poem and apply them to your one (1) selected poem to support and illustrate a theme you see emerging in the poem you selected to write about.
You will use terms you select from the “Glossary of Poetic Terms” and/or “The Elements of Poetry” to illustrate a specific “theme” that your close reading of your selected poem reveals. In writing your essay, you will illustrate your ability to synthesize poetic terms in your analysis of a poem.

• Begin by re-reading your poem of choice.
• Re-read “How to Read a Poem” and the example analysis of “Digging” along with the “Glossary of Poetic Terms” and “The Elements of Poetry.”
  • Next, decide which poetic terms to apply.
• Then compose no fewer than 500 words analyzing your selected poem to illustrate the theme you see emerging from the poem.

o You should make sure to highlight the theme you are illustrating (this is your thesis) in your first paragraph and show how that theme is developed in the poem.
o Do not summarize the poem, but, rather, focus on how the theme you see is revealed in the language of the poem.

o Describe at least three (3) poetic elements that contribute to the poem’s development of its theme.

o Provide no fewer than three (3) quotes from the poem to support and illustrate your main points.

EXAMPLE: Explain how your selected poem reflects/illustrates the theme you see:
Patriotism or Racism or Historical Roots or Hope for the Future (or another theme)
how the poem reveals a speaker’s state of mind, and to what end/meaning
how the poem (A) [implies a reader] or (B) engages in a transaction with YOU as reader, discussing what experiences you bring to your illustration of what you feel the poem reveals to you and analyzing how the language of the poem produces a response in you as a reader, i.e. makes meaning.

Talking Back to a Poem: It would be convenient if there were a short list of universal questions, ones that could be used anytime with any poem. In the absence of such a list, here are a few general questions that you might ask when approaching a poem for the first time:

• Who is the speaker?
  • What circumstances gave rise to the poem?
  • What situation is presented?
  • Who or what is the audience?
  • What is the tone?
  • What form, if any, does the poem take?
  • How is form related to content?
  • Is sound an important, active element of the poem?
  • Does the poem spring from an identifiable historical moment?
  • Does the poem speak from a specific culture?
  • Does the poem have its own vernacular?
  • Does the poem use imagery to achieve a particular effect?
  • What kind of figurative language, if any, does the poem use?
  • If the poem is a question, what is the answer?
  • If the poem is an answer, what is the question?
  • What does the title suggest?
  • Does the poem use unusual words or use words in an unusual way?
  You can fall back on these questions as needed, but experience suggests that since each poem is unique, such questions will not go the necessary distance. In many instances, knowing who the speaker is may not yield any useful information. There may be no identifiable occasion that inspired the poem. But poems do offer clues about where to start. Asking questions about the observable features of a poem will help you find a way in.