Robert Frost (1874-1963)Poetry Analysis and Panel Presentations
Our study of Robert Frost will consist of two main parts:
1)Analysis and response to 20 poems
2)A group panel presentation of 2 poems in which you are the expert
Poetry Analysis and Responses:
400 points (20 pts x 20 poems)
Submission logistics: Please compile all of your one pagers into a single document and submit to turnitin.com by: Sunday, May 8, 2016 at 11:59pm
Please also bring a hard copy of your poem annotations and responses to class on the presentation days, so you can contribute to the discussion and add to your notes.
What do I write about in my poetry responses?
GOAL:
Show me that you are reading poems more than once and thinking about them. ADMIT what you don’t understand. Don’t just focus on the easy parts and ignore the lines that are confusing. This is part of grappling with poetry. Say which parts you don’t exactly get, and then try to figure it out. It’s okay to be wrong, as long as you try.
Here are some suggestions for what you might write about. You are writing a response to EACH poem. Responses should be one full page minimum and, typed, double spaced.
- You can thoughtfully answer some of the 26 Poetry Analysis Questions in your Bedford text pgs 821-822. It is required that you do these analysis questions for at least 4 poems in our study. If you have a hard time writing about poetry or knowing what to say, then this will definitely show me that you’re trying to figure out how the parts come together to meet the whole.
- Discuss your emotional response or connection to the poem. Which lines resonated with you? Why do you like it? How does it relate to your life or your experiences?
- You can write an explication. Tell me what you think the poem means, then discuss how its parts fit together to create that whole meaning. (Here you would discuss figurative language, form, sound devices, etc.)
- You can write a response to the poet. If something inside you is stirred by what the poem says or is about, then you can write back to them. This might take the form of your own poem/song, a free-write, or a piece of artwork (you may only do an artistic response a maximum of 3 times)
You can also mix and match any of the above, if needed to get yourself to the page length requirement.
Rubric for each poetry response:
20 points – Response meets length requirement and demonstrates meaningful and thoughtful engagement with the poem. Any interpretive claims are accurate and well-supported by evidence, and the response includes multiple direct quotes.
15 points - Response meets length requirement and demonstrates engagement with the poem, but interpretive claims are less convincing or not well-supported by evidence.
10 points – Response does not meet length requirement and/or does not demonstrate any real engagement with the poem.
5 points – Response is really pathetic.
*Part 2 directions and poem assignments to follow
Robert Frost IOC Part 2: Panel Presentations:
You will complete the following process two times for two different poems you are assigned.
Overview:
Each student must complete a one page typed handout. It requires you to make your individual choices on what is worth memorizing that critics have already said about the poem as well as you coming up with an independent critical analysis of the poem addressing the sort of things you would analyze/say in your actual Individual Oral Commentary. You are essentially creating your unique review sheet and critical talking points for the IOC with this assignment.
Before doing the assignment, you must read each poem numerous times and read the critical reviews on Frost and the individual poem (a simple google search should provide you with plenty of sources).
After you have a strong understanding of that poem, read the entire packet of poems CLOSELY to make relevant connections to AT LEAST two other poems in terms of issues relevant to your panel poem (similarities or differences in theme, literary devices, structural features, how these poems speak to Frost’s poetic philosophy/identity, the attitudes towards nature or mankind or alienation or authentic responsibility, etc.
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NOTE: IB ORAL “CONTEXT” definition: Candidates should offer, albeit briefly, some placing of the “part” (poem or extracts) within the “whole” (body of work from the poet, etc). …When an extract from a poem is used, context must cover the poem as a whole. The issue of context is meant to be addressed primarily in the Interactive Oral, where matters as the time and place referred to in the text,the biography and canon of the writer, the writer's place in literary history are all ways of helping students place the work in some larger frame. Also, they are expected to talk about the artfulness of any poem, like it or not.
Procedures:
Your group of 3 will be the “experts” who start, lead and direct discussion on the IOC poem you are assigned. After receiving your assignments, you will have one group meeting in which each of you will get a sense of what your fellow experts feel about the two poems and how you might want to sequence discussion of significant issues/aspects in the poem or at least figure out the sequence order of each of you reading at least 200 words of your independent critical analysis on the poem from the completed assignment.
OR you will decide with your other panelists the day before the Panel how to assign the below suggestions for panel responsibilities
- Connections from poem to Frost’s life or vice versa
- Connections from poem to the specific poem analyses
- Connections from this poem to the other poems in the poem packet
- Lists of vital themes/issues/arguments/ideas/philosophical concerns in the poem
- List of significant poetic devices/techniques/methods in the poem (and their effect)
- Background historical or biographical data needed about the poem’s subject matter
Make sure you fit the assignment expectations into one page for each poem.
1)In class, the day will begin with each of you reading at least 200 words of your independent critical analysis or leading discussion on a focused area (#1-6 above are suggestions).
2)Next, the “experts” will ask each other questions and engage in critical discussion. I will not be very involved, but, as needed, will focus discussion, allow the discussion to progress in a logical and purposeful way, help to extract meaning from the poems through the “experts” written responses and questions.
3)Finally, the rest of the class will join in with questions and comments in order to earn their participation points.
Expectations for the audience:
1)You should have read the poem again the night before, have brought your poem annotations and response, have comments/questions/critic quotes ready for the experts for that day.
2)Participation counts! If you do not ask questions, help explore the expert’s positions or seem unprepared to discuss the poem you will not receive the participation points. Everyone should be involved in every panel. YOU must bring up at least one of the 56 IOC Poetry Prompts for the panel to consider when in audience.
Your grade will come from:
1 page web-based IOC assignment100pts
Participation in Discussion when an “expert” on your poem100 points
Participation when in the audience (the other poems)10 X 10pts per poem (100 points total)
Areas of focus:
Examine the presentation and role of: characters/relationships, themes, use of language, effects of structure, style, technique, tone/voice, poetic situation, plot, setting, image patterns, significance of key words or lines, imagery, diction, syntax
Questions to consider for all poems:
What devices are seen in this poem and how do they contribute to meaning (any similarities to other poems on this issue?)?
What was the most powerful image/line/word of the poem?
What does the title mean to you (and its relation to the larger poem)?
How does the form/structure of the poem relate to the poem’s substance/content/argument?
How does stanza structure help the poem?
Describe your emotions in reading the last stanza.
How does your first reading of the poem contrast with later readings of the poem?
Describe/label the tone of the speaker of the poem.
Where are shifts in the poem (and how would you label the sections of the poem)?
What are your own words for the poem’s exact line of argument or point?
What criticisms might you have about specific decisions the author made?
How are other senses beyond sight engaged in the poem?
What is the movement of thought and feeling in the poem?
In what ways does the final line/stanza change your understanding of the poem as a whole?
How does the figurative language used by the poem aim to stimulate the reader’s imagination?
What might be considered ambiguous in this poem?
Is there a clear separation between the author and the speaker/narrator/persona of the poem?
How is symbolism used to convey meaning?
What is your statement of the author’s purpose or the poem’s total effect on “readers”?
What is a TOK-style KI (knowledge issue question) that could be raised by these poems?
NAME:
Frost 1 page Handout for IOC Poem Title:
Ia) Two relevant #s from the list of 56 IOC Poetry Prompts that you WILL enter into panel discussion on this poem:
Ib) Your selection of the THREE words (include line #s) most important/layered/needing to be unpacked in the poem(1line) :
Ic) Your selection of the most important line # in this poem and your reason why (2 line maximum):
Id) Favorite/IOC-memorize-worthy quotes for this poem from literary criticism (include source from the web doc and only the part of the quote that you like);; should be at least 8 well-selected entries (some poem specific section and some from overall Frost) & PUT IN BOLD OR UNDERLINE THE ONE ENTRY YOU CAN OWN.
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II) YOUR personal critical response (no critic quotes!) to the relevant prompt questions the previous page of this packet for this poem (250+ words)
III) (can be integrated into the # II response) Connections with explanations between this poem and at least 2 other Frost poems (OR Connections between this poem and aspects of Frost’s life/biography) - (must include the other poem titles; can do more than 2) (consider technique, poetic devices, content issues, argument, image style, etc)
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