Poetry Unit Research Project/Paper
Due: Wednesday February 16
Presentations: Thursday-Friday February 10-11
Determine the poet you wish to research and sign up with the instructor. No poet will be researched by more than one person. A permission slip, acknowledged and signed by a parent, will be issued to those who wish to research the more modern poets due to language and subjects addressed. An oral presentation of the poetry must be scheduled with the instructor. (Presentation slots are displayed on the cabinet doors.)
This submission will consist of a research paper and an oral presentation. Your project will consist of a five paragraph essay over your research of the poet, the poetry, and the period in which he/she wrote.
Paragraph One will introduce the poet researched and address the poet’s biography. Influences of family life are often reflected in poetry. Include in your research any friends, professors or literary people, influencing the artist’s product.
Paragraph Two will examine closely the historical period of the poet’s life. Because poets are influenced by the times and attitudes by which they are surrounded, this paragraph should address the period in which the poet produced his/her poetry, examining closely the political, economic, and the societal influences of that period.
From these influences, transition to Paragraph Three, to describe the five poems you have read to represent the body of work. Mention common themes, literary techniques, verse construction or motifs used. A very brief description of each of these five poems should occur here and should dwell primarily on the commonalities.
Paragraph Four will be the TPCASST of the best poem representative of this poet’s body of work. This specific aspect of your project will comprise your oral presentation.
Paragraph Five will be your concluding paragraph concerning all that you have learned. You may draw conclusions as to the impact of this writer on the writing community and the literary criticism encountered.
Other specific paper requirements will entail:
· One integrated quote, one embedded quote, and one other quote with the structure of your choice. Highlight these prior to submission.
· You will need a minimum of three reliable sources (excluding Wikipedia, .com’s (without permission), personal websites, etc.)
· A properly formatted works cited page is, of course, required.
· All will be submitted in the proper MLA format, following the stringent requirements you have been made well aware.
· Also, please keep in mind all of the “problems in writing” we covered in class. Your extensive proofreading should help eliminate those.
Oral Presentation Requirements:
· As previously described, you will TP-CASST/TP-FASTT a poem of your choice by the poet. You will share this poem and describe your analysis with the class
· In addition, you will be completing a thematic intertextuality aspect. You will pick a song and illustration (comic, art, or your own) to present in connection with your chosen poem and poet.
**Research and Work days will be reserved in the computer lab and media center Monday 2/1 -Thursday 2/4. **
Suggested List of Poets
Determine the poet you wish to research from the list below and sign up with the instructor. No poet will be researched by more than one person. Make sure you do get some preliminary information about the poet, because once you choose, you must to keep that poet for the entire project. If you wish to choose a more modern poet or lyricist that does not appear on the list, you must get teacher approval and a signed permission slip from your parents before we begin research in the library.
T.S. Elliot
Ezra Pound
John Keats
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Ralph Waldo Emerson
William Wordsworth
William Blake
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Dorothy Parker
Henry David Thoreau
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
William Bryant
William Cullen Bryant
Francis E.W. Harper
Marianne Moore
Countee Cullen
Lewis Carroll
Robert Louis Stevenson
Wallace Stevens
Pat Mora
Simon J. Ortiz
Gwendolyn Brooks
Donald Justice
Rita Dove
Wendell Berry
Denise Levertov
W.H. Auden
Li-Young Lee
Billy Collins
Maya Angelou
Stephen Crane
Edgar Allen Poe
Walt Whitman
Robert Frost
Langston Hughes
Emily Dickinson
E.E. Cummings
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Margaret Atwood
Al Young
Nikki Giovanni
Carl Sandburg
William Carlos Williams
H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)
John Milton
Herman Melville
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Vachel Lindsay
Sara Teasdale
Claude McKay
Jean Toomer
Archibald MacLeish
Robert Hayden
Randall Jarrell
John Berryman
Lorine Niedecker
Robert Penn Warren
George Oppen
Charles Olson
Robert Duncan
Denise Levertov
Amy Lowell
Genevieve Taggard
Anne Sexton
Michael S. Harper
Robert Pinsky
Cathy Song
A.R. Ammons
Richard Wilbur
Theodore Roethke
Elizabeth Bishop