Poetry Essay Assignment: Information, Tips, and Suggested Topics by Allen Loibner-Waitkus

COMPOSITION II LOIBNER-WAITKUS

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information, tips, and suggested topics

“At the time of Lewis and Clark, setting the prairies on fire was a well-known signal that meant, ‘Come down to the water.’ It was an extravagant gesture, but we can’t do less. If the landscape reveals one certainty, it is that the extravagant gesture is the very stuff of creation. After the one extravagant gesture of creation in the first place, the universe has continued to deal exclusively in extravagances, flinging intricacies and colossi down aeons of emptiness, heaping profusions on profligacies with ever-fresh vigor. The whole show has been on fire from the word go. I come down to the water to cool my eyes. But everywhere I look I see fire; that which isn’t flint is tinder, and the whole world sparks and flames.” Dillard page 2 of—Annie 26

table of contents Assignment Requirements.........................................................................5 Suggested Topics on “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”............6 “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost......................................................9 Suggested Topics on “Harlem”................................................................10 Suggested Topics on “I Hear America Singing”.......................................13 Suggested Topics on “cream of wheat”...................................................14 Cream of Wheat, Aunt Jemima & Uncle Ben’s Logos Over Time............16 Suggested Topics on “‘Poetry Makes Nothing Happen’?”......................19 “In Memory of W. B. Yeats” by W. H. Auden............................................20 Tips...........................................................................................................22 Colophon..................................................................................................25

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“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.” —James Baldwin page 4 of 26

assignment requirements For your essay on poetry, you need to write an analytic essay on one or more of the poems we covered in class—“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost, “Harlem” by Langston Hughes, “I Hear America Singing” by Walt Whitman, “cream of wheat” by Lucille Clifton, or “‘Poetry Makes Nothing Happen’?” by Julia Alvarez. You can use one of the suggested topics in this booklet, or you can develop your own topic.

No matter which topic you use, your essay must meet the following requirements: 1.

It must be at least 750 words.

It must use three outside sources (four including the poem).

It must be in MLA style.

It must contain in-text documentation and a works-cited page.

It must not be plagiarized.

It should be turned in via Blackboard on or before the date indicated on the course calendar.

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stopping by woods on a snowy evening

ROBERT FROST

“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “The Road Not Taken”1 are not only Robert Frost’s two most famous poems; they are his two poems critics most often compare and contrast. Write an essay comparing and contrasting these two poems. Look at themes, use of figurative language, rhyme, meter, the role of the speaker, imagery, diction, etc. What are the similarities? What are the differences?

Many—and I mean MANY—critics have claimed that the speaker in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is contemplating death or even considering suicide. Do you agree? Do you disagree? What evidence from the text supports your opinion? What did Frost have to say on the matter? (Frost discusses both poems extensively in his letters.)

The rhyme scheme for “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”—AABA BBCB CCDC DDDD—is unique and draws attention to the fourth stanza, specifically the third line of the fourth stanza. Why do you think Frost does this? What is it about the third line of the fourth stanza that Frost thinks is so important for the reader to understand? See “The Road Not Taken” on page 9.

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“To live in the gap between the moment that is expiring and the one that is arising_ luminous and empty. The real city falling through your mind in glittering pieces. And when you close your eyes, what do you see? Nothing. Now open them!” -Laurie Anderson page 7 of 26

“It is often when night looks darkest, it is often before the fever breaks that one senses the gathering momentum for change, when one feels that resurrection of hope in the midst of despair and apathy.” —Hillary Clinton page 8 of 26

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood 5

And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. 1915

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harlem

LANGSTON HUGHES

The American poet and playwright Gwendolyn Brooks took the title of her play A Raisin in the Sun directly from “Harlem” by Langston Hughes. Why? Read A Raisin in the Sun and discuss the influence of “Harlem” on the play.

”Harlem” is from a Montage of a Dream Deferred, a book-length poem suite published by Langston Hughes in 1951. It appears in a section of poems entitled “Lenox Avenue Mural.” Get your hands on a copy of Montage of a Dream Deferred and write an essay comparing the poems in the entire book or in the section “Lenox Avenue Mural.” Look at themes, use of figurative language, the role of the speaker, imagery, diction, etc.

Many people who read “Harlem” by Langston Hughes believe the poem is a poem only about the African American experience. Others think Hughes wrote it for a more general audience. For whom do you think the poem was written? Who do you think can benefit from the poem? Is it a poem about race or not, or is the answer somewhere in the middle? You will probably want to consider the title, no matter what your opinion is.

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“I am being so silly because I pity you so much. I pity all of us so much. Life is going to be very tough again, just as soon as this is over. And the most useful thought we can hold when all hell cuts loose again is that we are not members of different generations, as unlike, as some people would have us believe, as Eskimos and Australian Aborigines. We are all so close to each other in time that we should think of ourselves as brothers and sisters.” page—Kurt 12 of 26 Vonnegut

i hear america singing

WALT WHITMAN

It may not seem so to today’s readers, but Walt Whitman broke a lot of “rules” and did some pretty groundbreaking things when writing his poems. How does “I Hear America Singing” break many of the poetic conventions of the time? What effect does it have on the poem? Why did Whitman break the “rules”?

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”I Hear America Singing” mentions everyday people who are not normally mentioned in poems: mechanics, carpenters, masons, boatmen, deckhands, shoemakers, wood-cutters, housewives, etc. Why does Whitman use these people in his poem and to what end? A minor amount of research reveals Whitman had a love of music that surpasses most poets. Is there any connection between “I Hear America Singing” and music? What about Whitman’s other works? Music definitely influenced Whitman’s poetry, but did Whitman’s poetry influence music in any way?

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cream of wheat

LUCILLE CLIFTON

There are more similarities between “Harlem” by Langston Hughes and “cream of wheat” by Lucille Clifton than being the only two poems covered in this class by African American authors. Write an essay comparing the two poems or comparing and contrasting the two poems and their themes.

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Names and identity form a theme in “cream of wheat.” What do you notice about the completeness and the punctuation of names? What is the effect? What is the relationship between brands and names? Another theme Lucille Clifton explores in “cream of wheat” is entrapment and freedom. How does she establish these themes in the poem? What effect do they have on the reader? How are these themes connected to race? Pages 16-17 include images of the logos of Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben’s, and Cream of Wheat over time. Why did Lucille Clifton choose these three products to include in “cream of wheat”? How does the history of these three products help her accomplish her goal? Research the history of these three products and their logos, and use that to help make your point.

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“Navigating a white male world was not threatening. It wasn’t even interesting. I was more interesting than they were. I knew more than they did. And I wasn’t afraid to show it.” —Toni Morrison page 15 of 26

CREAM OF WHEAT, AUNT JEMIMA

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& UNCLE BEN LOGOS OVER TIME

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“But this is the great danger America faces. That we will cease to be one nation and become instead a collection of interest groups: city against suburb, region against region, individual against individual. Each seeking to satisfy private wants.” —Barbara Jordan page 18 of 26

“poetry makes nothing happen”?

JULIA ALVAREZ

Pages 20-21 contain W. H. Auden’s poem “In Memory of W. B. Yeats,” from which Alvarez borrowed the title of “‘Poetry Makes Nothing Happen’?” Why did Alvarez choose this line? How are the poems similar? Write an essay comparing and contrasting “In Memory of W. B. Yeats” and “‘Poetry Makes Nothing Happen’?”

Most of the poems we’ve read for the semester use general information in their figurative language, not using names are giving the reader examples as specific as “‘Poetry Makes Nothing Happen’?” Why does Alvarez mention these people by name—Mike Holmquist, May Quinn, Jenny Klein, Naomi Gordon, Faith Chaney, Lulú Pérez, and Sunghee Chen—and what effect does it have on the poem? She also mentions the poets they read. Why?

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IN MEMORY OF W.B. YEATS

by W.H. Auden

He disappeared in the dead of winter: The brooks were frozen, the airports almost deserted, And snow disfigured the public statues; The mercury sank in the mouth of the dying day. What instruments we have agree The day of his death was a dark cold day. Far from his illness The wolves ran on through the evergreen forests, The peasant river was untempted by the fashionable quays; By mourning tongues The death of the poet was kept from his poems. But for him it was his last afternoon as himself, An afternoon of nurses and rumours; The provinces of his body revolted, The squares of his mind were empty, Silence invaded the suburbs, The current of his feeling failed; he became his admirers. Now he is scattered among a hundred cities And wholly given over to unfamiliar affections, To find his happiness in another kind of wood And be punished under a foreign code of conscience. The words of a dead man Are modified in the guts of the living. But in the importance and noise of to-morrow When the brokers are roaring like beasts on the floor of the bourse, And the poor have the sufferings to which they are fairly accustomed And each in the cell of himself is almost convinced of his freedom A few thousand will think of this day As one thinks of a day when one did something slightly unusual. What instruments we have agree The day of his death was a dark cold day.

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You were silly like us; your gift survived it all: The parish of rich women, physical decay, Yourself. Mad Ireland hurt you into poetry. Now Ireland has her madness and her weather still, For poetry makes nothing happen: it survives In the valley of its making where executives Would never want to tamper, flows on south From ranches of isolation and the busy griefs, Raw towns that we believe and die in; it survives, A way of happening, a mouth.

III

Earth, receive an honoured guest: William Yeats is laid to rest. Let the Irish vessel lie Emptied of its poetry. In the nightmare of the dark All the dogs of Europe bark, And the living nations wait, Each sequestered in its hate;

Intellectual disgrace Stares from every human face, And the seas of pity lie Locked and frozen in each eye. Follow, poet, follow right To the bottom of the night, With your unconstraining voice Still persuade us to rejoice; With the farming of a verse Make a vineyard of the curse, Sing of human unsuccess In a rapture of distress; In the deserts of the heart Let the healing fountain start, In the prison of his days Teach the free man how to praise.

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1939

tips 1. Under no circumstance should you use “I” in your essay. It’s time to step away from the first person in essays. 2. Your three outside sources don’t have to be literary critics. Anything you use to support your argument can be used as a source. 3. Make sure you type your essay and include a works-cited page. Not having a works-cited page and/or in-text documentation will negatively affect your grade significantly. 4. Make a specific argument. Don’t just retell what happens in the poem. 5. If you have ANY questions, text Professor Loibner-Waitkus, who will be more than happy to answer them.

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“I am not one of those weakspirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it. My affections, being concentrated over a few people, are not spread all over Hell in a vile attempt to placate sulky, worthless shits.” —William S. Burroughs page 23 of 26

“Being in love is something like poetry. Certainly, you can analyze and expound its various senses and intentions, but there is always something left over, mysteriously hovering between music and meaning.” —Muriel Spark page 24 of 26

colophon EDITOR & DESIGNER Allen Loibner-Waitkus SOFTWARE Adobe InDesign 2023 FONTS Source Sans Pro

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HOW TO CITE POEMS IN THIS HANDOUT: Auden, W. H. “In Memory of W. B. Yeats.” W. H. Auden Collected Poems, edited by Edward Mendelson, Vintage International, 1991, pp. 247-49. Poetry Essay Assignment: Information, Tips, and Suggested Topics, edited by Allen Loibner-Waitkus, 2 Nov. 2023, https://issuu.com/ allenloibner-waitkus/docs/essay2assignmentcompositionii?fr= xKAE9_zU1NQ. Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” Robert Frost’s Poems, introduction and commentary by Louis Untermeyer, St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 2002, p. 219. Poetry Essay Assignment: Information, Tips, and Suggested Topics, edited by Allen Loibner-Waitkus, 2 Nov. 2023, https://issuu .com/allenloibner-waitkus/docs/essay2assignmentcompositionii? fr=xKAE9_zU1NQ.

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“The joke of the world is less like a banana peel than a rake, the old rake in the grass, the one you step on, foot to forehead. It all comes together. In a twinkling. You have to admire the gag for its symmetry, accomplishing all with one right angle, the same right angle which accomplishes all philosophy. One step on the rake and it’s mind under matter once again. You wake up with a piece of tree in your skull. You wake up with fruit on your hands. You wake up in a clearing and see yourself, ashamed. You see your own face and it’s seven years old and there’s no knowing why, or where you’ve been since. We’re tossed broadcast into time like so much grass, some ravening god’s sweet hay. You wake up and a plane falls out of the sky.” Dillard page 26 of—Annie 26