In-class work for Tuesday, January 9

Hello Poetry students. I'm so sorry that I can't be in class today. I'm very sad to miss our second day of class, and I was really looking forward to discussing today's poems with you. But, not only am I still sick, I've lost my voice. (That may not come as a surprise after yesterday, particularly my croaky performance in 5th period, when my voice began to go.) 

Please create your in-class writing googledoc, name it "PoetryJournal[YourLastName]", share it with me at the "grading" (gmail) email listed at the top of the course description handout, and answer the following questions about each of our poems for today:

1. Reread "The Printed Page" by Jack Anderson and "Because You Asked About the Line Between Poetry and Prose" by Howard Nemerov and write two or three sentences for each, describing what you think each says about poetry (or, in the case of "The Printed Page," possibly about writing in general). 

2. After you're done with that, read "Because You Asked About the Line..." again and consider what you would have thought of this poem if it had been called, say, "Poem." What would you say this poem was "about" without the actual title? Write a couple of sentences on that. 

"Because You Asked About the Line..." is almost entirely made up of IMAGES. It's fair to say that the image is one of the main building blocks of poetry, and though typically we think of an image as visual, in poetry an image can appeal to any of the senses. So, one definition of image is "a concrete sensory detail in a poem that conjures up a sight, smell, taste, feeling, or sensation, or a combination of two or more of those sensory experiences." But of course, images in poems can and often do also call up emotions, thoughts, and ideas, as well.

Billy Collins's poem "Litany" is full of images. Reread "Litany" and answer the following questions: 3. Do you like this poem? In two or three sentences, why and/or why not?  4. What do you think is this poem's attitude toward images? Write a paragraph of at least four sentences or more, and quote specific details of the poem to illustrate your ideas about "Litany" and it's attitude toward images.

Once you're done with this writing, get into groups of three or four and discuss the following questions for ten minutes (or as much time as you have left):

1. Which makes the more interesting point, in your view, "The Printed Page" by Jack Anderson and "Because You Asked About the Line Between Poetry and Prose" by Howard Nemerov?
2. Is "Litany" making fun of poetic imagery, celebrating it, or both? How can we tell?