Poet Study - Stuyvesant High School
E1FC – Mr. Weil Poet Study
In the next few weeks, as we read and discuss a variety of poems in class and try our hand at writing some of our own, each of you will choose a poet to study in greater depth.
Your poet must be:
• Someone with a significant body of work (at least two published books), aimed primarily at adults.
• Someone you haven’t studied in depth before.
• Someone whose work you love.
Other than this, there are no limits. Your poet may be alive or dead, male or female, writing originally in English or in translation.
Places to find good poets:
• The school library
• Your local library
• Your local bookstore
• Poets House (10 River Terrace) – an amazing browsing library! They recently opened a new location just down the street from Stuy! We’ll visit together as a class, and I encourage you to check it out on your own. ()
• Ask your friends and family for recommendations
• Websites like , , , or
Your assignment:
1) Read a significant body of work by your poet (at least thirty poems).
2) Create an anthology of your poet’s work, including:
• 8-10 of your favorite poems by your poet.
• A foreword that introduces and analyzes the work of your poet, including a strong claim
(a thesis) about your poet and his/her work. Include:
a) an explanation of why you chose these poems
b) what themes do you notice in this poet’s work?
c) what techniques (poetic devices, style, language, etc.) does this poet use most often, and how do they affect the poems?
• At least two poems you have written in the style of your poet.
• A table of contents.
3) Present your anthology to the class. Read us some of your poet’s work and some of your own, and tell us something we should know about the poet. Show off your anthology!
This anthology must be bound in a way that would make sense to your poet – be creative!
Due Dates
Tues, 1/10-Thurs, 1/12 Choice of poet due
Thurs, 1/19 A book of your poet’s work (preferably, a physical copy to show me), along with a brief letter explaining what you’re noticing in his/her work so far.
Mon, 1/23 Foreword due for workshopping
Thurs, February 2 Poems in the style of your poet due for workshopping
Monday, February 6 Poet Studies due/Presentations begin
Academic Honesty: I am interested in your thoughts about the poet you chose, and your insights into poetry. Your sources for this work should be the poetry of your chosen writer, and you should use your knowledge and understanding of poetry to aid you in your discussion of your poet’s work. If you must include outside information, make sure it is clearly cited, whether you quote someone’s words directly or merely paraphrase ideas. Academic dishonesty of any sort will not be tolerated and will have severe consequences.
Tips for Success (with gratitude to Ms. Thoms):
1) Read a lot of your poet’s poetry. Read the book you’ve found. See what else you can find in other books and online. Get really into your poet. Read his or her work out loud. Have fun with it.
2) As you read, mark poems you really like. Stick post-its in your book, or copy the poems you love out of your book. Start gathering the 10 poems by your poet that you’ll be including in your Poet Study.
3) Start trying to write like your poet. Some tips:
a) Identify aspects of your poet’s style. Does your poet write mostly in free verse, or form? What poetic devices does your poet use most often?
b) Identify your poet’s major themes. What does your poet write about most often? Does he or she write about lots of subjects, or just one or two? Which poems are your favorites?
c) Choose two or three specific poems to use as models. These should be poems which show off your poet’s most common themes and stylistic moves. Read these poems really closely.
d) Choose the aspects of style and the themes you want to write about. Draw from your own life and experience. For example, if your poet writes a lot about nature, think about experiences you’ve had with nature, and list them. Choose one of them to write about. If your poet uses a lot of repetition, choose a line of your own to repeat as you write, and keep coming back to that line.
e) Freewrite. Write nonstop for 8-10 minutes in the style of your poet – just play around and get it out onto the page. Play with line breaks.
4) Start thinking about your main opinion, or thesis, about your poet’s work. Some good questions to ask yourself as you read:
a) What themes do you notice in your poet’s work?
Where and how do these themes appear?
Which poems you’ve read most clearly show these themes?
b) What poetic devices do you notice in your poet’s work?
What effect do they have? In other words, how do they shape and change your reading of the poems?
c) What tone, or mood do you get from these poems? How do they make you feel?
Take some notes on your answers to these questions, and start coming up with an opinion about your poet’s work.
Who should I study? Some suggestions:
If you like Shel Silverstein, try:
Ogden Nash Dorothy Parker
Edward Lear Hal Sirowitz
Carol Anne Duffy Philip Larkin
Frank O’Hara Jennifer Michael Hecht
If you like Edgar Allan Poe, try:
Samuel Menashe (rhyme) Franz Wright (dark sensibility)
Sylvia Plath (dark sensibility) Lucie Brock-Broido (dark sensibility)
Robert Pinsky (rhyme) Sara Teasdale (rhyme)
If you like Langston Hughes, try:
Gwendolyn Brooks Paul Laurence Dunbar
Jean Toomer Claude McKay
Countee Cullen Lucille Clifton
Robert Hayden Kevin Young
If you like Robert Frost, try:
Edna St. Vincent Millay Gjertrud Schnackenberg
Elizabeth Bishop William Logan
Emily Dickinson Marilyn Hacker
If you like poems about nature, try:
Mary Oliver Walt Whitman
W.S. Merwin Wendell Berry
Louise Glück A.R. Ammons
If you like slam poems/ poems with strong opinions, try:
Taylor Mali Nikki Giovanni
Yusef Komunyakaa Allen Ginsberg
Sapphire Anna Ahkmatova
Ishle Yi Park () Saul Williams (hip-hop culture)
If you like poems that sound like someone’s talking to you, try:
Billy Collins Stephen Dobyns
Sharon Olds Frances Chung
Frank O’Hara Kimiko Hahn
Naomi Shihab Nye Cornelius Eady
If you like poems that do cool things with shapes and forms, try:
e.e.cummings Denise Duhamel
William Carlos Williams Paul Muldoon
Mong Lan
If you like romantic poems, try:
Pablo Neruda Li-Young Lee
Nikki Giovanni Edna St. Vincent Millay
John Yau William Shakespeare
If you like a strong female perspective, try:
Adrienne Su Tina Chang
Alison Park June Jordan
And, for good measure, here are a few more (mostly contemporary/young) poets you might love:
Roger Sedarat (an Iranian-American poet whose modern-day ghazals (a traditional form) “rock the house,” to quote Ms. Moore)
Lawrence Joseph (an Arab-American poet from Detroit)
Aimee Nezhukumatathil (formal structure, contemporary feel)
Amitawa Kumar (a little racy) Meena Alexander
Vandana Khanna Arthur Sze
Khaled Mattawa Timothy Liu (formal)
Diane Mehta (formal) Betty Kao
Sung Rno (formal, lyrical) Lena Sze
Walter K. Lew (very street)
And of course there’s Jason Koo, who recently read at Stuyvesant:
A Natural History of My Name (excerpt)
Today I read that only 2.2%
out of a million first and last names
have a higher vowel than consonant
ratio, and, since 50% of the letters
in my name are vowels, this means
I am “extremely well-envoweled.”
I go outside strutting the bulge
in my name: the trees are wowed
by my vowels, they only have two e’s,
which is why they have no leaves
at this time of year: the snow must submit
to the scrunch of my boots,
snow only has one o and I have three,
even my boots, so tough and rugged,
clearly dominating the one-o’d
snow, must bow down to the deity
of me, with three, never raising
themselves higher than my feet:
I cross the bridge and it is the same,
the river cannot keep up
with me, look at it writhing in the ice,
so fearsome with its 66.6%
vowel-to-consonant ratio but not
intimidating to me, because ice,
if you’ll notice, slides on its c,
eventually skidding to a stop
like a hockey player before the puck
of the e: which in a flick
disappears: whereas I keep floating out
on my opening of o’s, the song
of my name is repeated through nature,
cuckoos and owls take pleasure
in perpetuating it, just one koo
is never enough for them, koo
must always come coupling
................
................
In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.
To fulfill the demand for quickly locating and searching documents.
It is intelligent file search solution for home and business.
Related searches
- high school study skills course
- high school study skills program
- study skills for high school students
- high school biology study guide
- high school study skills worksheets
- study skills for high school students pdf
- study skills worksheets high school pdf
- high school study skills activity
- high school study skills curriculum
- high school study skills pdf
- study tips for high school students
- study abroad high school summer