What to do for week 9:
Tuesday, March 9th:
- Essay
#2: Bring copies of your typed draft. The number of copies depends on the
size of your group.
- This
essay is similar to Essay #1:
- Observe
a poem through a very, very close reading of the language, the
punctuation, the images, etc. The question remains: What is going on in
this poem, and what are all the techniques and word choices used by the
poet to make this poem come alive.
- Go
from top to bottom, dividing the poem into its units. Start with the
title—if the title is something that matters to your poem.
- And
this essay is different than Essay #1:
- Look
for the sound devices at work in your poem. The sound devices are the
sound of letters and the rhythms of syllables, and both of these
correspond to emotions. Through the manipulation of rhythm and sound, the
poet can emphasize certain things. Remember the principle: sound and sense
must go together—which means that whatever you observe about the sound
must go hand-in-hand with the content (e.g., the content of war will have
war-like sounds and rhythms).
- You
learned some things from essay #1 (hopefully), and the expectation is that
you will apply those lessons to the writing of essay #2. I encourage you
to listen to your tape again and to study your first essay.
Thursday, March 11th:
- On
this day I will need these things:
- Essay
#2;
- Essay
#1;
- The
transcript of my comments for essay #1;
- Your
cassette tape—all cued up to fresh tape (so I don’t have to talk over
my golden words);
- A
“Dear Jimbo” letter in which you tell me or ask me anything you want.
- Recite
your poem to me. I will be in my office until 5:30 on this day—but, of
course, you can come to me at any time before this deadline.
Final note: I recognize that it takes a lot of time to
write these essays and memorize a poem. For that reason, I think it’s only
fair to pause our reading of Anil’s Ghost and the poetry book for a
week. I know it breaks the flow of things, but we just can’t do it all at
once.