International Poems

Group Collaboration and Presentations!

A global perspective day - the poems are from Austria, Korea, Mexico and Chile.

The Pablo Neruda poem is here.

For those of you who are away, see the handout and pick one poem to make notes on (annotate) and find a written way to present your understandings...

Passion Translations

It is time to find the PASSION in our journey into the wilds of poetry.

We'll look at two classics of poetry today. I'll discuss the first one, "The Windhover," working through all the questions to ask of a poem... and then present to you a plain language "translation."

You'll be in charge of discussing and understanding and translating "To His Coy Mistress." (For those of you who are away - there is an assignment in the linked document.)

So, basically, we are talking about a passion for a bird... and a passion for a "chick."

Due - Good copy of your Freedom Writers Poem.

Overdue - Make sure you are in the right book group in the elevens social network. Assign yourself a role.

Homework - Translation assignment. See above.

Wild Brainstorm

Is this what poetry really is?

lawless
wilderness
rebellion
OMG!
anger
scary
adventurous
frustration
rush
AC/DC
turmoil
sugar
insanity
extreme
crazy
motivation
imagination
despair
competitive
drunk
frank

Our Free Verse Poetry Photos

Poetry
was
in
the
sky!

I
swear
I
saw
words
fly!


I love the variety and the wit and wisdom of your words.
Check them out on our Picasa Web Albums. Bravo!
B Block
C Block

Monday, May 3rd

Poetry Review and Wrap-Up

• Message from Matt Rader
• Share some of your Modern Love poems.
• The Fish - review of terms - see the Unit Handout for list.
• Seeing the Extraordinary in the ordinary...

Parody Poem

Parody - a humourous imitation of another text that is usually serious.
Dover Beach vs. Dover Bitch http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AW_H3hKK6a0zZG5xemQza18yN2NwZ2RobWd0&hl=en

Parody Poem - due on Wednesday.

Tuesday, April 13th

Quote of the Day: "Take away love and the Earth is a tomb." ~ Robert Browning

1) Silent Reading

2) Test Marks and Homework from Friday...

3) Victorian Generation

• This includes all literature produced during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837 - 1901).
  
• The link between the high antics of Romanticism and the more bleak poetry of the modernists.


• It was really the novel that was getting all the attention at the time - Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, the Bronte Sisters were producing some of the first mass printed and mass consumed novels ever.
  
• The Victorians liked the finer things - ornate decorations, ornate clothing, a life of imagination... party games like charades and group story-telling were invented in this time period.

One of the most famous love stories between two poets comes out of this era. The Brownings - Elizabeth Barret Browning and Robert Browning.

Elizabeth's most remembered poems are her love sonnets. Anyone ever written a love poem? (She wrote 44 for her husband and kept them in secret for years).
Let's take a look at one:
Before we do - Speed Dating Lines Activity.

How do I Love Thee? Use the Questions to ask a Poem handout. Class Discussion.

4) Sonnet types (on board). Look at your nonsense poem from yesterday... can you turn your 14 lines into a structured sonnet?

5) Sonnet Worksheet - I hate worksheets. Blah. But, the poem is good...

Tomorrow - Lit. Circles in Library
Thursday - Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" and dramatic monologues, in general.

Wednesday, April 7th

Word of the Day - Crux

Silent Reading - meetings with students with I reports.

Finish up, "As I Walked Out One Evening." Declare winners!
Discuss poem... how is it modernist?

Questions to Ask of a Poem Handout

The Waste Land - a big poem, a challenging poem...
Group Work - answer the questions to figure out the theme. Use the white board to record and present your findings.

Reflective Question - Why is it important to be pushed out of our comfort zone, sometimes? What is to be gained by being challenged?
Writing Activity - Write an imagist poem... see handout from yesterday.

Tuesday, April 5th

1) Silent Reading
How much reading did you get done over the holiday?

2) Announcements

• Blog assessment will close on Wednesday - 40 marks !!!
• Did not get tests marked - could not get the alarm system to work at school yesterday and could not get in to pick them up.
• I reports delayed going to AG teachers tomorrow.
• This class is not just about reading, it's about thinking and being critical and aware and open... yes, a teacher lecture.
• Poetry Month at Highland

3) Modernist Poetry - the early 20th century
We're going backwards... time travelling!

Modernist poetry is characterized by two main features: extensive use of free verse and a move away from the Romantic's use of an unproblematic speaker speaking to an equally unproblematic audience. Modernists loved to question and doubt the self and to do so in a typically short, narrative poem.

Imagist poets, like William Carlos Williams, were the first ones to abandon the flowery and excessive style of the Romantics. The Red Wheelbarrow. As their name suggests, they heavily used imagery.

Then the Poet's Club entered the scene, TS Eliot (The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock) and Ezra Pound, in particular. Eliot's The Wasteland (a collaboration between the two) is the poem of the modern generation. We'll look at it tomorrow. Get ready for the most brilliant despair and doubt. We'll also talk about the questions to ask of a poem.

4)Today in Class

As I Walked Out One Evening - identifying the figurative language. Six Groups. Couple of stanzas at a time. Contest!! Greatest number found wins treats! Review terms on board: metaphor, simile, personification, repitition, allusion, imagery, etc...

5) Homework

Reflection Question: Why do younger generations react against or throw out notions from the older generations? What do you reject from older generations today?
Creative Writing Assignment: Write an Imagist Poem (handout)

Wednesday, March 31st

Silent Reading

First 10 to 15 minutes of every class...

Poetry Unit Handout Where are we going? What are we doing? Get a copy here.

Review

C block - Howl in context and an apology....

All - So, what does it take to be a rebel in your generation anyway?

Thinking and Discussion
When you see a photo...

When you see a poem...

What is a Poem? Draw it.

Poem of the Day

We Real Cool, by Gwendolyn Brooks

1959 - Not officially a beatnik but of that generation.
Influenced by Jazz and by the spoken word.

The importance of the rise of non-white, non-male voices.

Check it out on Favourite Poem Project Website .

Reflection Questions:

Why should a poem be heard and not read?

Homework

I Saw the Best Minds of My Generation Destroyed by ______________ Poem.

Influenced by the wild ranting of the Beat Generation, create a 10 line poem against the constraints of contemporary society or about the concerns of your generation.

Free Verse. Lively vocabulary. ____/10

Tuesday, March 29th

1) Silent Reading - Read your Lit. Circle Novel...

2) Introduction to Poetic Generations - Discussion

What is a generation? What makes each generation distinct?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation

What the heck does your generation want?!
https://elevens.ning.com/ Watch a couple videos inside our social network to get the conversation started. (Oh, and what's a palindrome?)

3) We're going to study poetic "generations." http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/timeline/

The Rennaisance
The Romantics
The Victorians
The Modernists
The Beat Generation
The Movement
The Post Modernists
The Now

4) Let's start with the Beat Poets. Also known as Beatniks.

What's up with the turtleneck and beret?

1950's - Holden's era
Non-conformity
Drugs
Sexuality

Led to infamous obsenity trials.

Ginsberg's Howl http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVGoY9gom50&feature=related
Here's the text. Some explicit content - we will only look at a small portion.
Here's a quick bio and photo.

Questions for Reflection Journal:
What dominant cultural values, assumptions and beliefs is he questioning?
What made this poem revolutionary?

TOMORROW: Poetry Unit and Lit. Circle Overview
THURSDAY: Library Day - Lit. Circle Activities begin