American Literature
Progress file EnglishLiterature
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Part I:A short history of American literaturePoetry
ContentsStory of American literature3The startThe PuritansRevolution and post-independenceRomantic literatureAge of realismTwentieth century The roaring twentiesTwentieth century The Depression EraTwentieth century ContinuedIn conclusionPoetry introduction8Poetry how to read a poem9Poetry texts 11Poetry questions 13
The startLiterature on the American continent started with the oral literary traditions of Native Americans. They told each other stories which were passed on and altered from generation to generation. When the Europeans arrived they were a very diverse lot and written texts were in many languages but foremost Spanish, Dutch, German and English. As is often the case, the culture of the winners survives. So when English was eventually decided on as the lingua franca for the whole of the colonies, it became the literary language of choice. The American tradition begins linked to the broader tradition of English literature.
The PuritansThe first American literature from immigrants from England consisted mostly of travel accounts and religious writings. Most of these immigrants settled in the north-eastern part of America, appropriately called New England. They were mainly Puritans, who had settled in America in order to practise their religion freely. You can imagine that they were preoccupied with the place of men in Gods world rather than the pleasures in life. YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBFD4ARtHog&list=PLt2TFyS17I1X8p1WLEfdreVFfjRhmgMkV&index=9
Revolution and post-independenceThe enormous scientific, economic and social changes of the 18th century, called the Enlightenment, caused a new kind of literature. Writing shifted from Puritanical ideas to the power of the human mind, rational thought and democratic principles. Messages from God were replaced by the idea that science could explain the universe. The increase in population helped account for the greater diversity of opinion in religious and political life as seen in the literature of this time. The growth of communities, cities and social life led people to become more interested in the progress of individuals and their shared experiences in the colonies. These new ideals explain the immense popularity of the first important American-born author, Benjamin Franklin, and his Autobiography. It is about his life as a scientist rather than as an author actually. YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SChcy3IGlg
Romantic literatureIn the 19th century an increasing desire to produce uniquely American literature and culture emerged. Romantic doesnt mean roses and love affairs here but a deep interest in nature and intuition. Three authors stand out for their Dark Romanticism.
Edgar Allan Poe was among the writers who developed a very personal style. He began writing short stories that explored previously hidden levels of human psychology and pushed the boundaries of fiction toward mystery and fantasy. His life might be as interesting as his nightmarish writing. His parents were travelling actors but he was an orphan by the age of three. He was a drinker, a gambler and married his 13-year-old niece. He was found in the gutter at the end of his short life, literally, in womens clothes after a suicide attempt. His best-loved poem is The Raven.YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofSOul1NB8QA favourite short story is The Tell-Tale Heart in which a madman retells the events leading up to a murder he commits because he cannot stand someones eye.YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJxLnoh8x0s&index=6&list=PLt2TFyS17I1Ulhr8Mu41W9yzKQcG7nYdbNathaniel Hawthorne wrote full-length romances, quasi-allegorical novels that explore such themes as guilt, pride, and emotional repression in his native New England. His masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter, is the stark drama of a woman cast out of her community for committing adultery. YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdiseyaDNMQHawthorne's fiction had a profound impact on his friend Herman Melville, who first made a name for himself by turning material from his seafaring days into exotic and sensational sea narrative novels. Inspired by Hawthorne's focus on allegories and dark psychology, Melville went on to write romances filled with philosophical speculation. In Moby-Dick, an adventurous whaling voyage becomes the vehicle for examining such themes as obsession, the nature of evil, and human struggle against the elements. YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7dSTdHziMsThere was also a very different movement. Ralph Waldo Emerson, an ex-minister, published a startling nonfiction work called Nature, in which he claimed it was possible to get rid of organized religion and reach a spiritual state by studying and responding to nature. His work influenced not only the writers who gathered around him, forming a movement known as Transcendentalism. It also influenced the public who heard him lecture. Emerson's fellow-thinker was Henry David Thoreau, a convinced nonconformist. After living mostly by himself for two years in a cabin by a wooded pond, Thoreau wrote Walden, a memoir that urges resistance to organized society. His radical writings express a deep-rooted tendency toward individualism in the American character.America's two greatest 19th-century poets could hardly have been more different in temperament and style. Walt Whitman was a working man, a traveler, a self-appointed nurse during the American Civil War (18611865) and a poetic innovator. He used a free-flowing verse and lines of irregular length to depict the lives of average Americans. He was the pioneer of so-called free verse. Taking that motif one step further, the poet linked the vast range of American experience with himself without being egotistical. In one long poem he writes: These are really the thoughts of all men in all ages and lands, they are not original with me .... YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyUTDJ72q9kEmily Dickinson, on the other hand, lived the sheltered life of a genteel unmarried woman in a small-town in Massachusetts. Although her poems have a formal structure, her poetry is original, witty, exquisitely put together and psychologically penetrating. Her work was unconventional for its day and little of it was published during her lifetime. Many of her poems dwell on death, often with a mischievous twist. YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM0EerWyHGI
Age of realismThe Fin-de-Sicle (1880-1914) was the beginning of American realism. It was a period of prosperity. The North recovered from the Civil War and industrialism transformed the country at a tremendous rate. Authors began consciously to think of themselves as Americans and sought for an American style and technique. Sometimes they even became occupied with the differences between American and European Authors.
Mark Twain was the first major American writer to be born away from the East Coast in the border state of Missouri. His best-known regional masterpieces are the novels Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain's style was influenced by journalism and close to everyday-language. It was direct but highly suggestive at the same time and certainly humorous. It changed the way Americans write their language. His characters speak like real people and sound distinctively American, using local dialects, regional accents and newly invented words. YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7KrYrz7ACcHenry James is the outstanding prose writer of this period. He confronted the Old World-New World dilemma by writing directly about it. Although born in New York City, he spent most of his adult years in England. Many of his novels centre on Americans who live in or travel to Europe. With its intricate, highly qualified sentences and study of emotional and psychological nuance, James's fiction can be daunting. Many of his novels have been adapted to film, for example The Portrait of a Lady with Nicole Kidman. YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9brMfU0OGU
Twentieth century: The Roaring Twenties (1918-1929)The optimism and innocence of the period before World War I was replaced by disillusionment and cynicism. American writers expressed the disappointment following upon the war with a tremendous amount of literature and arts. Lots of authors rejected American culture one way or another and left for Europe. Many found a new way to vent their ideas. They abandoned traditional forms, experimented and used free verse.
The stories and novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald capture the restless, pleasure-hungry, defiant mood of the 1920s. Fitzgerald's characteristic theme, expressed famously in The Great Gatsby, is the tendency of youth's golden dreams to dissolve in failure and disappointment. This novel has become synonymous with the gay twenties and life celebrated with parties, jazz, riches and champagne. It is still one of the best loved American novels. YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaBVLhcHcc0The poet Ezra Pound was born in Idaho but spent much of his adult life in Europe. His work is complex, sometimes obscure, with multiple references to other art forms and to a vast range of literature, both Western and Eastern. YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQjwsZK0DnIPound influenced many other poets, notably T. S. Eliot, another expatriate. Eliot wrote bare poems, carried by a dense structure of symbols. In The Waste Land, he embodied a jaundiced vision of postWorld War I society in fragmented, haunted images. Like Pound's, Eliot's poetry could be very difficult, and some publications come with footnotes supplied by the poet himself. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpRSmMnx1MU
Twentieth century: The Depression Era (1929-1941)Americas post-war prosperity was wiped out overnight by the collapse of the stock market in 1929. The gay cynicism of the Twenties became a bitter pessimism and the national political temper began to swing to the left. Literature was pervaded by a new social consciousness and political responsibility. Many authors wrote social protest literature, came to reject materialism and discovered a new interest in the inner life of the mind.The three best-known writers of this period all won the Nobel Prize in Literature.William Faulkner was from rural Mississippi. He managed to encompass an enormous range of humanity in Yoknapatawpha County, a Mississippi-like region of his own invention. He filled this community with characters that may be taken to represent the wider world. He recorded his characters' seemingly unedited ramblings in order to represent their inner states. This technique called stream of consciousness. He also jumbled time sequences to show how the past especially the slave-holding era of the Deep South endures in the present. A Rose for Emily is one of his best known short stories. YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWUMNQStieQJohn Steinbeck was the best of the social protest writers of the Thirties. Born in Salinas, California, he was blunt and direct in his social criticism. His style was simple and evocative, winning him the favour of the readers but not of the critics. Steinbeck often wrote about poor, working-class people and their struggle to lead a decent and honest life. The Grapes of Wrath, considered his masterpiece, is a strong, socially-oriented novel. It tells the story of a poor family from Oklahoma and their journey to California in search of a better life. Of Mice and Men is another popular novel, as is East of Eden (film adaptation with the late James Dean). YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdMjKq8xk-EErnest Hemingway, one of the so-called lost generation, was so disappointed in America that he spent many years in Europe where he saw violence and death first-hand as an ambulance driver in World War I. He wrote in a strikingly simple, journalistic style as he found abstract language mostly empty and misleading. He cut out unnecessary words from his writing, simplified the sentence structure and concentrated on concrete objects and actions. His subjects demanded stamina and courage such as World War I in A Farewell to Arms and the Spanish Civil War in For whom the Bell Tolls. His famously thin novel The Old Men and the Sea is about a fisherman trying to pull in a big fish. He still inspires look-alike contests for old men with rough, white beards. YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XupuGhMdwUY
Twentieth century: ContinuedThe period in time until, roughly, the early 1970s we now call post-World War II literature and from that time onwards we talk about contemporary literature. Literature became much more diverse as well, as diverse as the many different cultures and identities that make up the country. One of the key developments was the rise to prominence of literature written by and about ethnic minorities. African Americans and Jewish Americans had already established their literary inheritances. In the past decades we have been able to speak of Latino literature, Asian-American literature and even Arab-American literature just to give some examples. The influence of the earlier writers can often be traced. Keep in mind that most authors are avid readers and are influenced by the literature that came before them. They respond to earlier works, they add to it, they rebel against it. Every single author and his or her work is connected to and part of a much wider work; the story of American literature. When you read John Greens Looking for Alaska, you will definitely recognize familiar themes.
In conclusion
The absence of literary tradition caused lots of American authors to try out new things. They broke away from old European characteristics and produced new literature, not only new in subject matter, but also new in style and new in technique.Some of the characteristics that are typical of American literature: Individualism. The American became both self-confident and eccentric, because individual peculiarities were permitted. There is rebellion against social, moral or literary conventions. Democracy. The American is independent of European social hierarchies, he judges people on their merits and their behaviour rather than on their backgrounds. Provincialism. There is pride in provincial matters, manners and language use rather than those of older, wiser and formal Europe. Optimism. The wide open spaces, economic freedom and prosperity combine to give the American a positive attitude towards life.
Poetry - general introductionIt is difficult to give a good and clear definition of poetry because there are exceptions to most definitions. One attempt: poetry is a means of conveying complicated emotions, of portraying images that conjure up other images and of painting pictures in the mind of scenes, sounds, scents and smells. A poem can also be reflective, a meditation on an idea for example. Poetic language is always deliberate, a poet has thought long and hard about his choice of words. Using the right terminology it is possible to pick apart a poem and to see which words the poet wanted to stress and why he chose the particular words he did. By doing this you might discover the meaning of the words and the beauty of the poem. You can find a lot of information about poetry and the poems we discuss on the internet (www.shmoop.com). You must be able to use the following literary terms.Rhyme scheme: a specific pattern that is used to determine which lines rhyme, usually marked by letters to symbolize correspondences.Rhyming couplet: a pair of two rhyming lines that follow each other, it is the simplest and most common rhyme scheme.Rhythm and stresses: rhythm refers to the pattern of stresses in a line of poetry. An established rhythmic pattern is called a meter, and there are several different ones. For example, an iamb which has an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one (duh-DUM) as in collapse. For example, a dactyl (DUM-duh-duh) as in honestly.Free verse: a poetic style that lacks a regular meter or rhyme scheme. This does not mean that it does not have a style at all, because there is usually some recognizable consistency to the writers use of rhythm.Blank Verse: verse that has no rhyme scheme but has a regular, usually iambic, meter. It is so common in English because we speak it in our everyday conversations. For example, and WOULD you LIKE a CUP of TEA?Iambic pentameter: a kind of rhythmic pattern that consist of five iambs per line (penta means five). Its the most common rhythm in English poetry and sounds like five heartbeats: duh-DUM, duh-DUM, duh-DUM, duh-DUM, duh-DUM. For example, the first line of Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet: In fair Verona, where we lay our scene. Every second syllable is accented, so this is classic iambic pentameter. Advertisement:
Stanza: a division within a poem where a group of lines are formed into a unit. The word stanza comes from the Italian word for room. Just like a room, a poetic stanza is set apart on a page by four walls of blank, white space.Run-on line: when the length of a sentence does not match the length of a line, the sentence runs on into the next line.Quatrain: stanza with four lines, the most common stanza form.Alliteration: when words that begin with the same sound are placed close to one another. For example, the silly snake silently slinked by.Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyme. For example, the early bird catches the worm.Speaker: the voice behind the poem, the person we imagine to be speaking. This is not the poet. Even if the poem is biographical, the speaker is a fictional creation, because the writer is choosing what to say about himself. Theme: a fundamental and universal idea explored in a poem. For example, death or loneliness.Symbol: an object, character, figure or colour that is used to represent an abstract idea or concept.Imagery: intense and descriptive language that helps to trigger our sense-impressions, representing things that can be seen, smelled, heard, tasted or touched.Personification: this involves giving human traits (qualities, feelings, action, or characteristics) to non-living objects (things, colors, qualities, or ideas). For example, the sun smiled at me.Metaphor: when one thing is described as being another thing. Youre a toad! is a metaphor. It is different from a simile because it leaves out the words like or as. For example, a simile would be Youre like a toad.Simile: when one thing is directly compared to another. For example, My love is like a burning flame is a simile. You can quickly identify a simile when you see the words like or as. They are different from metaphors. For example, a metaphor would be the burning flame of my love.
Poetry how to read a poemThere is really only one reason that poetry has gotten a reputation for being difficult: it demands your full attention. Unlike a novel, where you can drift in and out and still follow the plot, poems are generally shorter and more intense, with less of a conventional story to follow. If you do not make room for the experience, you probably will not have one.
But the rewards can be high. Compared to rock n roll, it is the difference between a two and a half minute pop song with a hook that you get sick of after you have listened to it for the third time, and a slow-building tour de force that sounds fresh and different every time you hear it. Once you got a taste of the really rich stuff, you just want to listen to it again and again and figure out how they did things.
Aside from its demands on your attention, there is nothing too tricky about reading a poem. Like anything, it is a matter of practice. But in case you have not read much (or any) poetry before, here is a short list of tips that will make it a whole lot more enjoyable.Follow Your Ears. It is okay to ask, What does it mean? when reading a poem but it is even better to ask, How does it sound? If all else fails, treat it like a song. Even if you cannot understand a single thing about a poems subject or theme, you can always say something about the sound of the words. Does the poem move fast or slow? Does it sound awkward in sections or does it have an even flow? Do certain words stick out more than others?Read It Aloud. You do not have to shout it from the rooftops. If you are embarrassed and want to lock yourself in the attic and read the poem in a soft whisper, go ahead. Do whatever it takes, because reading even part of a poem aloud can totally change your perspective on how it works.Become an Archaeologist. When you have consumed the poem enough times, experiencing the sound and images found there, it is sometimes fun to switch gears and to become an archaeologist. Treat the poem like a room you have just entered. Perhaps it is a strange room that you have never seen before, filled with objects or people that you do not really recognize. Maybe you feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland. Assume your role as an archaeologist and take some measurements. What is the weather like? Are there people there? What kind of objects do you find? Are there more verbs than adjectives? Do you detect a rhythm? Can you hear music? Is there furniture? Are there portraits of past poets on the walls? Are there traces of other poems or historical references to be found?Dont Skim. Unlike the newspaper or a textbook, the point of poetry is not to cram information into your brain. We cannot repeat it enough: poetry is an experience. If you do not have the patience to get through a long poem, just start with a really short poem. Understanding poetry is like getting a suntan: you have to let it sink in.Memorize. At any rate, do not tax yourself. If you memorize one or two lines of a poem, or even just a single cool-sounding phrase, it will start to work on you in ways you did not know possible. You will be walking in the street one day and, all of a sudden, you will shout, I get it!Be Patient. You cannot really understand a poem that you have only read once. So if you do not get it, set the poem aside and come back to it later. And later means days, months, or even years. Do not rush it. It is a much bigger accomplishment to actually enjoy a poem than it is to be able to explain every line of it. Treat the first reading as an investment; your effort might not pay off until well into the future, but when it does, it will be worth it.Read in Crazy Places. Just like music, the experience of poetry changes depending on your mood and the environment. Read in as many different places as possible: on a bus, at the beach, on a mountain. Sometimes all it takes is a change of scenery for a poem to really come alive.Think Like a Poet. Go through the poem one line at a time, covering up the next line with your hand so you cannot see it. Put yourself in the poets shoes: If I had to write a line to come after this line, what would I put? If you start to think like this, youll be able to appreciate all the different choices that go into making a poem. It can also be pretty humbling at least we think so. Look Whos Talking. Ask the most basic questions possible of the poem. Two of the most important are: Who is talking? and Who are they talking to? Never Be Intimidated. Regardless of what your experience with poetry in the classroom has been, no poet wants to make his or her audience feel stupid. There might be tricky parts, but it is not like you are trying to unlock the secrets of the universe. Heck, if you want to ignore the meaning entirely, then go ahead. Why not?Poetry is about freedom and exposing yourself to new things. In fact, if you find yourself stuck in a poem, just remember that the poet, nine times out of ten, was a bit of a rebel and was trying to make his friends look at life in a completely different way. Find your inner rebel too. There is not a single poem out there that is too difficult to try out. So hop to it!Advertisement:
Poetry textsPoem I (fragment)O me! O life!O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring: Of the endless trains of faithlessof cities filld with the foolish; Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?) [] The question, O me! so sad, recurring - WThe question, O me! so sad, recurringWhat good amid these, O me, O life?hat good amid these, O me, O life?Answer.
That you are here--that life exists, and identity;That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse. Walt Whitman
Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities filld with the foolish,Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renewd,Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,The question, O me! so sad, recurringWhat good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.That you are herethat life exists and identity,That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities filld with the foolish,Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renewd,Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,The question, O me! so sad, recurringWhat good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.That you are herethat life exists and identity,That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities filld with the foolish,Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renewd,Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,The question, O me! so sad, recurringWhat good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.That you are herethat life exists and identity,That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities filld with the foolish,Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renewd,Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,The question, O me! so sad, recurringWhat good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.That you are herethat life exists and identity,That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.Poem IIBecause I could not stop for deathBecause I could not stop for Death He kindly stopped for me The Carriage held but just Ourselves And Immortality.We slowly drove He knew no haste And I had put away My labor and my leisure too, For His Civility We passed the School, where Children strove At Recess in the ring - We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain - We passed the Setting Sun Or rather He passed us The Dews drew quivering and chill - For only Gossamer, my Gown - My Tippet only Tulle We paused before a House that seemed A swelling of the Ground - The Roof was scarcely visible - The Cornice in the ground Since then - tis Centuries and yet Feels shorter than the Day I first surmised the Horses Heads Were toward Eternity -Emily DickinsonBecause I could not stop for Death (479)Because I could not stop for Death (479)Because I could not stop for Death He kindly stopped for me The Carriage held but just Ourselves And Immortality. Poem III (fragment)The Love-Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherized upon a table; Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets, The muttering retreats Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells: Streets that follow like a tedious argument Of insidious intent To lead you to an overwhelming question. . . Oh, do not ask, "What is it?" Let us go and make our visit.
In the room the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo. []
T.S. Eliot
Poem IVIn a Station of the MetroThe apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough.Ezra Pound
Poem VStrange FruitSouthern trees bear a strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black body swinging in the Southern breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.Pastoral scene of the gallant South, The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth, Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh, And the sudden smell of burning flesh!Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck, For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop, Here is a strange and bitter crop.Lewis AllanPoetry - questions
Poem I (fragment): O me! O life!1. Whitman uses figurative language to express his thoughts. Which words does he use for-himself:
-existence in general:
-what is the meaning of life?:
2. A. What does he mean with the powerful play?
B. What is the effect of the alliteration in powerful play?
C. Find another example of alliteration. What effect does this alliteration have? Why do you think the poet chose to repeat these sounds?
3. How does the poem express that everyone is important?
Poem II: Because I could not stop for death1. Determine the rhyme scheme by writing letters behind the lines.2. A. Determine the meter, is there a pattern, which one?
B. Which lines do not follow the pattern? Why these lines?
C. What effect does this change in meter have on the reader?
3. What imagery connects with the sound of the poem?
4. Explain how personification is introduced in the first stanza and present in the entire poem.
5. How many times is passed (or paused) used in the poem? Why is this significant?
6. Explain these symbols-the setting sun:
-the gossamer gown and Tulle Tippet:
7. What does the House, a swelling of the ground, in the fifth stanza stand for?
8. You might have to go back to the start once youve read the final stanza. What do you learn about the speaker here?
9. How does the speaker feel towards Death? Does she fight or accept it?
Because I could not stop for Death (479)Because I could not stop for Death (479)Because I could not stop for Death He kindly stopped for me The Carriage held but just Ourselves And Immortality. Poem III (fragment): The Love-Song of J. Alfred Prufrock1. Determine the rhyme scheme by writing letters behind the lines.2. Where can you find:-a rhyming couplet:-a simile:-a line in iambic pentameter:3. What do you learn about the setting, where are we?
4. Does any action actually take place? Explain.
Poem IV: In a Station of the Metro1. Just like a Japanese Haiku, this short poem features a contrast between two images, the second being a nature image. Which two images emerge from the poem?
2. How can you tell what season it is?
3. Why do you think the poet choose a station instead of the station or La Concorde metro station in Paris?
4. Do you think the speaker is already used to modern life and using the underground?
Poem V: Strange FruitStrange Fruit started as a poem by Abel Meerpol, a Jewish high-school teacher from the Bronx, New York who published under the pen name Lewis Allan. He wrote the poem to express his horror at the lynchings of black men in the American South. This appalling practice was still very common in the South were people metered out their own justice to keep white supremacy. Billie Holiday first performed this haunting song at the Caf Society in 1939. It was an early cry for civil rights and had a tremendous effect on people. Is has inspired numerous people since and the poem and its influence can be found in novels, plays, films and so on. You can find numerous renditions of the song on the internet. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98CxkS0vzB81. Determine the rhyme scheme.
2. What imagery is used in the poem, what do you usually associate with this imagery?
3. Why do you think the poet used this imagery to describe a terrible scene.
4. A tree in a poem often symbolizes life and here there might also be an allusion to a family tree. Explain line 2, what does it say about the situation of black people that there is blood on the leaves and blood at the root?
3. The setting is firmly in the South of the United States where tons of poplar trees were planted and the big white magnolia is the state flower of both Virginia and Mississippi. Is it significant that the poem is set in the South?
4. Describe the contrast between lines 4 and 5, the pastoral scene of the gallant South is the bulging eyes and the twisted mouth.
5. A. Explain lines 9-11.
B. What is the effect of the repetition?
6. The poem is descriptive, no action takes place, a picture is painted and the reader is left with a strange and bitter crop. How does the poets choice to do it like this and the last line particularly contribute to the effectiveness of the poem/song? 1
