Guide to Poems PDF

Key Concepts Allusion ○ Any reference to another work of art, myth, historical person, etc. that a reader is meant to recognize. Anaphora ○ When the same word or phrase is repeated at the start of a series of lines or clauses. Apostrophe ○ When the poetic speaker calls out to a person or thing tha...

Key Concepts Allusion ○ Any reference to another work of art, myth, historical person, etc. that a reader is meant to recognize. Anaphora ○ When the same word or phrase is repeated at the start of a series of lines or clauses. Apostrophe ○ When the poetic speaker calls out to a person or thing that can’t respond back. Ars Poetica ○ A poem about the art or practice of writing poetry. Bars ○ Lines of a hip hop song’s lyrics; usually has 4 beats Black Arts Movement ○ Literary movement during 1960s and 1970s; Gwendolyn Brooks and Nikki Giovanni Blues Stanza ○ A poetic form derived from blues music, where the first line offers a statement, the second line repeats it, and the third line gives a response. Breaks ○ Parts of a song without words, but rather music, samples, and/or percussion Conceit ○Extended metaphor Couplet ○ Any two lines of poetry that are paired together in a meaningful way Direct Address & the Second Person ○ When the poetic speaker directly addresses the person or thing they are talking about. ○ Similarly, when a poem uses the pronouns “you”, “your”, or “yours”, that is called using the second person. Elegy ○ A poem written in mourning/celebration of someone or something that has passed away. Enjambment ○ When a line ends in the middle of a phrase or clause, especially without a punctuation mark at the end of the line. ○ A line is end-stopped if it ends with a punctuation mark (such as a period). Epic ○ A long poem that features a cultural hero taking on a big task Epigraph ○ A short quotation from another source at the start of a poem.  Extended metaphor ○ Sometimes called a conceit, this is when a single metaphor is developed across many lines (and sometimes an entire poem). ○ A metaphor is when one thing is said to be something else. For example, “his face is the sun”. The Great Migration ○ Following the period of Reconstruction after the Civil War, the Great Migration was a mass movement of many African Americans from the rural South to Northern Cities like New York, Detroit, and Philadelphia in the first half of the 20th-century. Harlem Renaissance ○ A watershed moment for African American art, music, and literature centered in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood in the 1920s and 1930s. High-brow, low-brow related to allusions: high-brow is more classical and professional, low-brow more casual like movies and video games Internal Rhyme ○ When words rhyme inside lines, instead of just at the end of lines. Juxtaposition ○ When two or more distinct things are put next to each other in a poem. MC or emcee ○ speaker or singer of a hip hop song Modernism ○ Literary movement from the early 1900s until after World War II Passing ○ When a person belonging to one social identity is able to ‘pass’ as someone belonging to another social identity. Personification ○ When something nonhuman (like a plant, animal, idea, or object) is said to have humanlike qualities. Progressive ○“Progressive” legislation of the early 20th-century aimed to disempower industry titans and help American workers. Refrain ○ Similar to a chorus in a song, a refrain is any section of a poem that repeats. Rhyme Scheme ○ A formula used to describe the end rhymes in a particular stanza or poem. The letter ‘A’ is used for the first rhyming sound, the letter ‘B’ for the second rhyming sound, etc. ○ For example, the rhyme scheme of a traditional Shakespearean/English sonnet is ABABCDCDEFEFGG. Simile ○ Any comparison that uses the words ‘like’, ‘as’, or ‘than’. Sonnet ○ A famous poetic form that traditionally has 14 lines, follows a set rhyme scheme, uses iambic pentameter, and often contains a volta (or ‘turn’) where the tone or focus of the sonnet shifts. ○ Two of the most used types of sonnets are English (or Shakespearean) sonnets and Italian (or Petrarchan sonnets), which have different rhyme schemes and typical locations for the volta. Jacob Lawrance: Migration Series (paintings) Shakespearean Sonnet: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG Petrarchan Sonnet: ABBAABBA, CDCDCD Poems to Review Unit 1 Walt Whitman - “Song of Myself” -Sections 1 and 2: Whitman invites the reader in and begins to describe himself and his body. Unit 2 Martin Espada: “Alabanza: In Praise of Local 100” -An elegy to those who worked at the Windows on the World restaurant who passed away due to 911 -Repetition of Alabanza Walt Whitman - “Song of Myself” -Sections 8 and 12: Observing others →Ex: looking at baby, couple, butcher-boy, negro, contralto →Everyone is the same to Whitman. William Carlos - “To a Poor Old Woman” - About a poor old woman enjoying a plum -Written during the Great Depression Unit 3 James Wright - “Hook” -Speaker is alone and has no money for bus; old man gives speaker 65 cents Claude McKay - “The Harlem Dancer” -Depicts a female dancer in a club Unit 4 Carl Sandburg - “Skyscraper” -About skyscrapers -People who built, work in, and maintain it gives the building “a soul” -Claude McKay - “Subway Wind” -The underground city air dreams of floating free in nature. Karl Shapiro - “Buick” -About the beauty and grace of a car type named Buick Walt Whitman - “To a Locomotive in Winter” -Celebrates the power and dynamism of a locomotive, viewing it as a symbol of modern technology Unit 5 Claude McKay - “The Tropics in New York” -Claude is reminded of home and is emotionally overwhelmed as he sees tropical fruits for sale in a shop window. Eavan Boland - “The Emigrant Irish” -Compares Irish immigrants to oil lamps Emma Lazarus - “The New Colossus” -About the Statue of Liberty -Alludes to the Colossus of Rhodes (ancient Greek statue) Julia de Burgos - “Ay, Ay, Ay, de la Grifa Negra” -About black heritage; self affirmation and hope Marilyn Chin - “Urban Love Poem” -About Asian immigrants (Chinese) and Gold Rush Unit 6 Countee Cullen - “To Certain Critics” -Expresses a defiant stance against narrow-minded critics who demand racial conformity in artistic expression Kevin Young - “Thataway” -Response to Jacob Lawrence’s painting One Way Ticket from Migration Series exhibit. Langston Hughes - “Harlem” -Asks if a deferred dream is a raisin dried up by the sun or stinks like rotten meat Langston Hughes - “The Weary Blues” -About a man playing blues Nikki Giovanni - “Mothers” -Thinks back to a time when she lived with her mother in a small apartment Tyehimba Jess - “Negro Migration” -Responding to Museum of Modern Art’s exhibit of Jacob Lawrence’s “Migration Series.” Unit 7 Carl Sandburg - “Chicago” -Describes a bustling city C.K. Williams - “Tar” -A speaker watches the labors of people outside of his household Edgar Lee Masters - “The Hill” -Describes Chicago as a claustrophobic small town Rhina Espaillat - “Find Work” -Widowed grandma who had to work to provide for her children -Epigraph quote from Emily Dickinson Robert Hayden - “Those Winter Sundays” -About dad who gets early -Son “speaking indifferently,” does not understand Robert Pinksy - “Shirt” -About the textile industry and possible cultural fabrications from the Industrial Revolution. -Narrative poetry Unit 8 Allen Ginsberg - “Howl” -Very long -A lot of repetition/anaphora →ex: “I’m with you in Rockland/where you” Eileen Myles - “The American Poem” -Speaker belongs to and runs away from the Kennedys -Makes readers think about what famous political families owe to the rest of the country. →Especially during Myles’s time as many people are suffering from HIV/AIDS without much government assistance. Joshua Bennett - “America Will Be” -About his father and his experience being the only or one of the few blacks in a white school. Gwendolyn Brooks - “To Prisoners” -Calling those who have wrongly been arrested -Repetition of “Where it is dry.” Margaret Walker - “Street Demonstration” -Protest poem -The name “Lucille” -Hoping to be arrested Robert Lowell - “July in Washington” -Refers to circles as a source of structure. Sylvia Path - “The Applicant” -About societal roles of women -Highly critical of society’s expectations for a wife in the 1950s and 1960s -About a woman being sold to man who needs a wife Yusuf Komunyakaa - “Facing It” -Vietnam war Unit 9 Ed Roberson - “Nine Chicago Poems” -Uses the language of sports to illustrate the socio-economic reality of Chicago Edward Hirsch - “Fast Break” -Elegy, basketball, speed Frank O’ Hara - “Steps” -Allusions to pop culture; made a poem using a few lines of the poem during class -About New York Jacqueline Woodson - “Football Dreams” -Story of Woodson’s father’s athletic achievement and his “football dreams” Paul Blackburn - “7th Game: 1960 Series” -Describes men in New York obsessively tuning in to a ballgame happening in Pittsburgh William Carlos Williams - “The Crowd at the Ball Game” -About people enjoying intense moment of baseball game Unit 10 Edna St. Vincent Millay - “First Fig” -Has four lines -Mentions candle burning both ends, probably related to youth/living in the moment (carpe diem) Edna St. Vincent Millay - “Sonnet IV” -Trying to move on from a past love Frank O’Hara - “Ave Maria” -Describes young people going to the movies as a gateway to potential sexual encounters Gwendolyn Brooks, “a song in the front yard” -controlled front yard vs free back yard Gwendolyn Brooks, “We Real Cool” - “We” at the end of almost all lines Mark Doty - “This Your Home Now” -About the death of a partner -Mentions barbers Rita Dove - “Dusting” - Beulah, an older woman, revisits memories of someone she knew when she was young Nas - “N.Y. State of Mind” - About what it was like to grow up in a housing project -Nas’ childhood -Internal rhyme -Ares poetica: “with the pen I’m extreme” Unit 11 Kendrick Lamar - “How Much a Dollar Costs” - About Kendrick doubting the sincerity of a “homeless man” but comes to regret it Nas - “It Ain’t Hard to Tell” -Bragging/showing his talent as an MC The Fugees - “Zealots” -About the importance of originality and creativity in art