ENGL408: Modern Poetry and Poetics « Saylor.org – Free Online Courses Built by Professors

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Readings

1.1.1 Reading: Sweet Briar College: Dr. Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe’s “The Roots of Modernism”

Link: Sweet Briar College: Dr. Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe’s "The Roots of Modernism" (HTML)

Instructions: Click on the link above, and then please read this text in its entirety. It proposes some preliminary definitions of modernism and provides an overview of transformations of Western culture that took place between the Renaissance and the late nineteenth century. As you read, please focus on the following questions: how does Dr. Witcombe define modernism? What does he identify as the most important reasons for its emergence? Take a moment to write down your answers.

Reading and answering the questions above should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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1.1.1 Reading: University of Texas at Austin: Harry Ransom Center’s Press Release: “Make it New: The Rise of Modernism” Exhibition

Link: University of Texas at Austin: Harry Ransom Center’s Press Release: “Make it New: The Rise of Modernism” Exhibition (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this text in its entirety to understand the defining features of the modernist period.

This reading should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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1.1.2 Reading: Vanderbilt University: Dr. Bill Kupinse’s “Modernism, Modernization, Modernité, Modern: Some Definitions”

Link: Vanderbilt University: Dr. Bill Kupinse’s “Modernism, Modernization, Modernité, Modern: Some Definitions" (HTML)

Instructions: Click on the link above, and then please read this page in its entirety. It proposes various definitions of modernism and modernity. As you read, please think about the following questions: how do these definitions differ from one another? Why do you think they differ? Which of the definitions do you find most useful at this point in the course?

Reading and answering the questions above should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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1.2.1 Reading: The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Norton Topics Online:“The Victorian Age: Introduction”

Link: The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Norton Topics Online: “The Victorian Age: Introduction” (HTML)

Instructions: Please read the entirety of the Norton Anthology of English Literature’s introduction to the Victorian age. What are some of the most important characteristics of the Victorian age? What does the author identify as the four most important controversies that preoccupied Victorian society?

Reading and answering the questions above should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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1.2.2 Reading: University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh: Dr. Christine Roth’s “Victorian England: An Introduction”

Link: University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh: Dr. Christine Roth's Victorian England: An Introduction” (HTML)

Instructions: Please read this brief text in its entirety. What does Dr. Roth identify as the most important social and cultural assumptions of the Victorian period?

Reading and answering the questions above should take you approximately 15-20 minutes to complete.

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1.2.3 Reading: Victorian Station’s “The British Empire”

Link: Victoria Station’s “The British Empire” (HTML)

Instructions: Please read this text in its entirety. What were the most important changes that took place throughout the British Empire during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901)?

Reading and answering the question above should take you approximately 15-20 minutes to complete.

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1.2.4 Reading: Selections from Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “In Memoriam” and Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess”

Links: Bartleby’s version of Selections from Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “In Memoriam” (HTML)

Also available in:
eText format on the Kindle ($2.99)

and Bartleby’s version of Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read both poems in their entirety. As you read, please consider the following questions: what images dominate Tennyson’s “In Memoriam?” What is the poem’s rhyme scheme and rhythm? What are the central metaphors and similes in Browning’s “My Last Duchess?” How does the structure of Browning’s poem relate to its theme? What do these poems tell you about the characteristics of Victorian poetry?

These readings and questions should take you approximately 45 minutes to complete.

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1.3.1 Reading: Poets.org: The Academy of American Poets' “A Brief Guide to the Symbolists”

Link: Poets.org: The Academy of American Poets' “A Brief Guide to the Symbolists” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this text in its entirety. Then, follow the links in the left column under “Related Authors” to read the full entries about Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud, and Stéphane Mallarmé. As you read, focus on the following questions: what were the most important characteristics of French Symbolism? How did Baudelaire, Rimbaud, and Mallarmé contribute to symbolist poetics? What connections do you see between each of their lives and their literary experiments?

These texts and questions should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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1.3.2 Reading: Poem Hunter’s version of Charles Baudelaire’s “Correspondences,” “Invitation to a Voyage,” and “Cats”

Links: Poem Hunter’s version of Charles Baudelaire’s “Correspondences,” (HTML) “Invitation to a Voyage,” (HTML) and “Cats” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read “Correspondences” and “Invitation to a Voyage,” as well as all the provided translations of “Cats.” As you read the poems ask yourself the following questions: why are the translations different from one another? Why is symbolist poetry particularly difficult to translate? What are the most important stylistic and imagery-related differences between “Correspondences” and “Invitation to a Voyage?” When you compare Baudelaire’s poems with the Victorian poems you studied in sub-subunit 1.2.4, what are the most important differences? Do you perceive any similarities? Take a moment to write down a paragraph in which you summarize your analysis.

These readings and questions should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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1.3.3 Reading: Black Cat Poems’ version of Arthur Rimbaud’s “Dawn,” “Departure,” “Eternity,” and “Sleep” as well as Angelfire’s version of Stéphane Mallarmé’s “Afternoon of a Faun”

Links: Black Cat Poems’ version of Arthur Rimbaud’s “Dawn," (HTML) "Departure," (HTML) "Eternity," (HTML) and "Sleep" (HTML) as well as Angelfire’s version of Stéphane Mallarmé’s “Afternoon of a Faun" (HTML)

Instructions: Click on the links above to access the poems, and please read all four poems in their entirety. Note that a literary “symbol” is something, such as an object, picture, written word, or sound, which represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention. As you read these poems, ask yourself the ways in which Rimbaud and Mallarmé use symbols and/or symbolic language to engage their readers.Identify the symbols used by Rimbaud and Mallarmé, and write down all associations that they elicit in your mind.

These poems and questions should take you approximately 45 minutes to complete.

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1.3.4 Reading: Briar College: Dr. Christopher L.C.E. Whitcombe’s “Art for Art’s Sake” and Project Gutenberg’s version of J.K. Huysmans’ Against the Grain: “Chapters 1 and 2”

Links: Sweet Briar College: Dr. Christopher L.C.E. Whitcombe’s "Art for Art’s Sake” (HTML) and Project Gutenberg’s version of J.K. Huysmans’ Against the Grain: “Chapters 1 and 2” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read the texts in their entirety. J.K. Huysmans’ Against Natureis a quintessential example of “decadent literature.” Making a complete break from the naturalist tradition in literature, Huysmans largely dispenses of plot and concentrates instead on the inner life and aesthetic tastes of the novel’s main character, Des Esseintes. The term “dandy” refers to a man who places particular importance on physical appearance, refined language, and leisure. He is also someone who favors artifice above nature and opposes the nineteenth-century discourse of progress with emphasis on illness, death, and decay. After reading Huysmans’ text, translated by John Howard, take a moment to write a paragraph about how it illustrates these characteristics.

These readings and questions should take you approximately 2 hours to complete.

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1.4.1 Reading: PBS’s “Edwardian Life: Introduction,” “Edwardian Life: Royalty and Empire,” “Edwardian Life: Politics,” “Edwardian Life: The Suffragettes,” and “Edwardian Life: Timeline 1905-1914”

Links: PBS’s “Edwardian Life: Introduction” (HTML), “Edwardian Life: Royalty and Empire” (HTML), “Edwardian Life: Politics” (HTML), “Edwardian Life: The Suffragettes” (HTML),
and “Edwardian Life: Timeline 1905-1914” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above to access the texts, and then please read these texts in their entirety to learn about social and political life in Edwardian England. According to these readings, what are the most important socio-historical changes that took place in England in the first two decades of the twentieth century?

These readings and the question above should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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1.4.2 Reading: BBC: Dr. Gary Sheffield’s “The Origins of World War One”

Link: BBC: Dr. Gary Sheffield’s “The Origins of World War One” (HTML)

Instructions: Click on the link above to access the article, and then please read this text in its entirety. What long-term causes of the Great War does this essay identify? How did the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand escalate the crisis that led to the outbreak of the war in early August 1914?

This reading and these questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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1.5.1 Reading: Britannia’s “George V”

Link: Britannia’s “George V” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this brief text in its entirety. How did England’s relationship with the rest of the Empire change during George V’s reign?

Reading and considering this question should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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1.5.2 Reading: FirstWorldWar.com: Edward George Lengel’s “Prose and Poetry: German and British Memoirs of the First World War”

Link: FirstWorldWar.com: Edward George Lengel’s “Prose and Poetry: German and British Memoirs of the First World War” (HTML)

Instructions: Please read this essay in its entirety. What does it say about the German and British writers’ wartime experiences? How does it make connections between writing and the war?

Reading and answering these questions should take you approximately 45 minutes complete.

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1.5.3 Reading: The British Library’s Essay on the “Lost Generation”

Link: The British Library’s Essay on the "Lost Generation" (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this brief text in its entirety. How does the information provided here add to what you learned about the cultural effects of World War I in sub-subunit 1.5.2?

This reading and question should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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1.5.4 Reading: Modern American Poetry’s “About the Great Depression”

Link: Modern American Poetry’s “About the Great Depression” (HTML)

Instructions: Please read this webpage in its entirety. What caused the Great Depression? How did it change American and international politics? This essay focuses on the economic and political aspects of the Great Depression. How would you expect the Depression to affect culture?

Reading and answering these questions above should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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1.5.5.1 Reading: Bruce Robinson’s “World War Two: Summary Outline of Key Events”

Link: BBC: Bruce Robinson’s "World War Two: Summary Outline of Key Events " (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this webpage in its entirety to familiarize yourself with the most important turning points of World War II.

This reading should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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1.5.5.2 Reading: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s “Introduction to the Holocaust”

Link: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s "Introduction to the Holocaust” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this article in its entirety. Click on any embedded links of interest to read more about associated content.

This reading should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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1.6.1 Reading: Poets.org’s “A Brief Guide to Modernism”

Link: Poets.org’s “A Brief Guide to Modernism” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read the entirety of Poets.org’s brief introduction to modernism.

This reading should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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1.6.2 Reading: Blouin Artinfo’s "Holy Inspiration: Religion and Spirituality in Modern Art"

Link: Blouin Artinfo’s "Holy Inspiration: Religion and Spirituality in Modern Art" (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this article about an exhibition at the Stedejik Museum in Amsterdam in its entirety. It is a case study of the connections between religious ideas and modernist art. Review your notes about Baudelaire’s, Rimbaud’s, and Mallarme’s poems and note any spiritual or religious echoes in symbolist poetry.

This reading and questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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1.6.3 Reading: Vernon Pratt’s “The Modern Concept of the Mind and the Punctual Self”

Link: Vernon Pratt’s The Modern Concept of the Mind and the Punctual Self” (HTML)

Instructions: Please read this essay in its entirety. How does the author distinguish between traditional and modern concepts of the self?

This reading should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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1.6.4 Reading: University of Virginia, The Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture: John Steadman Rice’s “Romantic Modernism and the Self”

Link: University of Virginia, The Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture: John Steadman Rice’s “Romantic Modernism and the Self” (HTML)

Instructions: Please read this essay in its entirety. As you read, please consider the following questions: how does Rice define Romantic Modernism? Based on what you have learned in this unit, how is Romantic Modernism different from other modernist trends in literature? How does Romantic Modernism configure the relationship between the individual and society?

This reading and questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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2.1.1.1 Reading: The Poetry Foundation: William Butler Yeats’ Biography and “Modern Classic: William Butler Yeats”

Link: The Poetry Foundation: William Butler Yeats’ Biography (HTML) and “Modern Classic: William Butler Yeats” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read both biographical essays in their entirety. Follow the links embedded in the second essay to read Yeats’ a few of Yeats’ best known poems. Take notes as you read, so that you will be able to refer to this context as you study Yeats’ poetry in subsequent subunits.

This reading should take you approximately 1.5 hours to complete.

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2.1.1.2 Reading: W.B. Yeats’ “The Song of Wandering Aengus” and “A Coat”

Link: Bartleby’s version of W.B. Yeats’ “The Song of Wandering Aengus” (HTML) and “A Coat” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read both poems in their entirety. For each poem write a paragraph in which you analyze the poem’s formal and sound qualities, as well as its dominant imagery.

Reading these poems and writing about them should take you approximately 30 minutes.

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2.1.1.2 Reading: Poetry Archive’s version of William Butler Yeats’ “To the Rose upon the Rood of Time,” William Butler Yeats’ “The Wild Swans at Coole,” and a version of W.B. Yeats’ “The Symbolism of Poetry”

Links: Poetry Archive’s version of William Butler Yeats’ "To the Rose upon the Rood of Time" (HTML), Bartleby's version of William Butler Yeats’ "The Wild Swans at Coole" (HTML), and a version of W.B. Yeats’ “The Symbolism of Poetry” (HTML)

“The Symbolism of Poetry” also available in:
Microsoft Word
PDF

“To the Rose upon the Rood of Time” also available in:
ePub format on Google Books
MP3 ($0.99)

“The Wild Swans at Coole” also available in:
ePub format on Google Books
eText format on the Kindle ($0.00)

Instructions: Please read both of Yeats’ poems before you read his essay “The Symbolism of Poetry.” As you read the poems, identify their formal features, their themes, and their use of symbolism and imagery. Once you have done this, read Yeats’ essay and take careful notes on his understanding of symbolism. How is his approach to symbolism different from that of Baudelaire, Rimbaud, and Mallarme?

These readings and questions should take you approximately 1 hour.

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2.1.2 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of Ezra Pound

Link: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of Ezra Pound (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this biographical essay in its entirety. Take notes on the text as you read.

This reading should take you approximately 45 minutes to complete.

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2.1.2 Reading: Internet Archive’s Selected Poems from Ezra Pound’s Ripostes

Link: Internet Archive’s Selected Poems from Ezra Pound’s Ripostes (HTML)

Also available in:
PDF
ePub format
eText format on the Kindle (Free)

Instructions: Please read the first 30 pages of Pound’s Ripostes. You will find navigation buttons on the right both at the top and at the bottom of the page. How would you describe Pound’s style in your own words? How would you compare it to Yeats’ style?

This reading and these questions above should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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2.1.3 Reading: Poem Hunter’s version of Wallace Stevens’ “Sunday Morning” and “The Man on the Dump”

Links: Poem Hunter’s version of Wallace Stevens’ “Sunday Morning” (HTML) and “The Man on the Dump” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read both poems in their entirety. What symbolist elements to you notice? Write a brief paragraph to summarize your thoughts.

These readings and writing assignment should take you approximately 45 minutes to complete.

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2.1.3 Reading: University of Pennsylvania: Dr. Al Filreis’ version of Wallace Stevens’ “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”

Link: University of Pennsylvania: Dr. Al Filreis’ version of Wallace Stevens’ “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” (HTML)

Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books

Instructions: Please read this poem in its entirety. What is the subject of the poem? What symbols does Stevens use? What is the effect of this symbolism on you, the reader?

Reading and analyzing this poem, as well as answering the questions above, should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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2.2.1 Reading: University of Pennsylvania: Dr. Al Filreis’ “Imagism”

Link: University of Pennsylvania: Dr. Al Filreis’ “Imagism” (HTML)

Instructions: Click on the link above, and please read this text in its entirety. Write a paragraph that defines the imagist movement in your own words. The work of the Imagists opposed which movements?

This reading and assignment should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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2.2.2 Reading: University of Pennsylvania: Dr. Al Filreis’ version of H.D.’s “Sea Rose” and H.D.’s “Oread”

Links: University of Pennsylvania: Dr. Al Filreis’ version of H.D.’s “Sea Rose" (HTML) and Bartleby’s version of H.D.’s "Oread" (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above to access these texts, and read both poems in their entirety. As you read, please consider the following questions: what is the dominant imagery in each poem? Does it allow you to form unambiguous images in your mind? How are these poems different from Yeats’ poem which you read in sub-subunit 2.1.1? How do these poems help you to understand the definition of imagism provided in sub-subunit 1.2.3? Write a brief analysis of each poem which answers these questions; your analysis should be approximately 1 to 2 paragraphs.

This reading and questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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2.2.3 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s version of Ezra Pound’s “A Few Don’ts by an Imagiste”

Link: The Poetry Foundation’s version of Ezra Pound’s “A Few Don’ts by an Imagiste” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this essay in its entirety. How does Pound define Imagism? How does he discuss the process of translating poetry? Write a brief paragraph to summarize your thoughts.

This reading and questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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2.2.3 Reading: Ezra Pound’s “In a Station of the Metro” and “The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter”

Links: Bartleby’s version of Ezra Pound’s "In a Station of the Metro" (HTML)

Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books (pg. 82)

and "The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter" (HTML)

Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books (pg. 39)

Instructions: Click on the links above to access these texts, and then please read both poems in their entirety. What do these poems express about the modern condition? In what ways does the form of both poems depart from traditional poetic norms? What is the effect of introducing references to Chinese culture in the second poem?

These readings and questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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2.2.4 Reading: Modern American Poetry: Amy Lowell’s Essay “On Imagism” as well as American Poems’ version of Lowell’s “The Green Bowl” and “Patterns”

Links: Modern American Poetry: Amy Lowell’s Essay "On Imagism" (HTML) as well as American Poems’ version of Lowell’s "The Green Bowl" (HTML) and "Patterns" (HTML)

Instructions: Click on the links above to access these texts, and then please read Lowell’s essay and poems in their entirety. How is “Amygism” both similar to yet different from Imagism? Does the essay help you understand Lowell’s poems? If so, how? What are the most important differences between these poems and the poems by Browning and Tennyson, which you read in sub-subunit 1.2.4?

These readings and questions should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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2.2.5 Reading: The Poetry Foundation: William Carlos Williams’ Biography

Link: The Poetry Foundation: William Carlos Williams’ Biography (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this biographical essay in its entirety. As you read, take notes about the most important turning points in Williams’ life and writing.

This reading should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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2.2.5 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s version of William Carlos Williams’ “The Poem as a Field of Action” (1948)

Link: The Poetry Foundation’s version of William Carlos Williams’ “The Poem as a Field of Action” (1948) (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read the introductory note and this essay in their entirety. How are ideas presented in this essay related to Imagist theories you studied earlier in this subunit? What elements are new here? Write a paragraph or two to summarize your thoughts.

This reading and these questions should take you approximately 45 minutes to complete.

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2.2.5 Reading: University of Pennsylvania: Dr. Al Filreis’ version of William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow” and Poets.org’s version of “This Is Just to Say”

Links: University of Pennsylvania: Dr. Al Filreis’ version of “The Red Wheelbarrow” (HTML) and Poets.org’s version of “This Is Just to Say” (HTML)

Instructions: Click on the links above, and then please read both poems in their entirety. In “The Red Wheelbarrow,” the first stanza is very different from the ones that follow – what is the difference? What is the effect of this juxtaposition on the reader? How does “This Is Just to Say” illustrate the principles of Imagism?

These readings should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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2.3.1 Reading: wendtroot.com: “Italian Futurism”

Link: wendtroot.com: “Italian Futurism” (HTML)

Instructions: Please read the entire webpage.

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2.3.1 Reading: UPENN: Dr. Jim English’s version of Filippo Marinetti’s “The Joy of Mechanical Force” and “Futuristic Manifesto”

Link: UPENN: Dr. Jim English’s version of Filippo Marinetti’s “The Joy of Mechanical Force” and “Futuristic Manifesto” (HTML)

Instructions: These texts are the two parts of Filippo Marinetti’s hugely influential 1909 “Futurist Manifesto.” Please click on the link above, and read this page in its entirety. Why, do you think, was there such an emphasis on the future during this era? As you read, please consider the following questions: what are the dominant images in this manifesto? How does it represent modernity? Is the individual person important? Are there any anti-humanist or violent elements in this text? What should a futurist poet strive for in his or her art?

Reading and answering these questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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2.3.1 Reading: Princeton University Press: Christine Poggi’s Inventing Futurism: The Art and Politics of Artificial Optimism: “Chapter 1: Futurist Velocities”

Link: Princeton University Press: Christine Poggi’s Inventing Futurism: The Art and Politics of Artificial Optimism: “Chapter 1: Futurist Velocities” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this chapter in its entirety. Take careful notes on the futurist movement as you read. How did Futurism differ from Imagism on the one hand and nineteenth-century Symbolism on the other? What did these movements have in common? Write a paragraph to summarize your thoughts.

Reading and answering these questions should take you approximately 2 hours to complete.

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2.3.1 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s version of Mina Loy’s “Aphorisms on Futurism,” “Lunar Baedeker,” and “Giovanni Franchi”

Link: The Poetry Foundation’s version of Mina Loy’s “Aphorisms on Futurism” (HTML), “Lunar Baedeker” (HTML), and “Giovanni Franchi” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read Loy’s “Aphorisms on Futurism” first (2 pages, navigation buttons to the second page are at the bottom of the first page), and then read her poems. How do Loy’s “Aphorisms on Futurism” compare to Marinetti’s “Futuristic Manifesto? What are the most important differences between the two texts? What are Loy’s two poems about? How does gender figure in these poems? Write a paragraph to summarize your thoughts.

Reading and answering these questions should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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2.3.2 Reading: Poets.org’s “A Brief Guide to Futurism”

Link: Poets.org’s “A Brief Guide to Futurism” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this text in its entirety. Then, read the essay on Vladimir Mayakovsky (by following the link in the left-hand column). What were the most important differences between Russian and Italian Futurism?

These readings and the question above should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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2.3.2 Reading: History Today: Richard Jensen’s “Futurism and Fascism”

Link: History Today: Richard Jensen’s “Futurism and Fascism” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this essay in its entirety. What is its main argument? Do you find it convincing? Why, or why not? Please write a brief paragraph to summarize your thoughts.

Reading and answering these questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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2.3.3 Reading: Vorticism’s “Introduction [to Vorticism]” and “Modern Vorticists,” and The Poetry Foundation’s version of Wyndham Lewis’ “Long Live the Vortex!” and Our Vortex”

Links: Vorticism’s “Introduction [to Vorticism]” (HTML) and “Modern Vorticists” (HTML), and The Poetry Foundation’s version of Wyndham Lewis’ “Long Live the Vortex!” and “Our Vortex” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link to “Introduction [to Vorticism]” above, and read this webpage. Then, click on the link to “Modern Vorticists” above, select “New Vorticists” from the left side of the webpage, and read this entire text. Finally, read the Poetry Foundation’s “Long Live the Vortex!” and “Our Vortex” in its entirety. Pay particular attention to the early stages of the evolution of the Vorticist movement and its relationship to World War I.

These readings should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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2.3.4 Reading: Brown University & the University of Tulsa: The Modernist Journals Project’s version of BLAST (No. 1, Ed. Wyndham Lewis)

Link: Brown University & the University of Tulsa: The Modernist Journals Project’s version of BLAST (No. 1, Ed. Wyndham Lewis) (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above. Then, using the scrolling tool on the left-hand side of the webpage, go to page 9 (“Long Live the Vortex!”), and read the manifesto in its entirety (pp. 9-45). What are the most important claims this manifesto makes about art? How are these different from the creed of the Symbolists and the Imagists? Once you have read the manifesto, explore the magazine’s other pages, paying attention to both the language of the poems and the visual aesthetic of this publication. What do you think was revolutionary about BLAST?

This reading and these questions should take you approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete.

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2.3.5 Reading: Poets.org’s version of selections from Ezra Pound’s Canto I from The Cantos and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Modern American Poetry’s “On Canto I”

Links: Poets.org’s version of selections from Ezra Pound’s Canto I from The Cantos (HTML)

Also available:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Modern American Poetry’s “On Canto I” (HTML)

Instructions: Please read Pound’s Canto Iin its entirety before you read Modern American Poetry’s analysis of the poem. As you read Pound’s poem, pay attention to its formal qualities and rhythm, and write down the dominant images and themes. Do you notice any words that are particularly important in conveying the poem’s message? Once you have done this, please study the above interpretations of Canto I and compare them with your own. Write a brief analysis of the most important similarities and differences among these interpretations. Do you find any of them particularly compelling? If so, why?

This reading should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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3.1.1 Reading: Victorian Web’s “The British Empire”

Link: Victorian Web’s "The British Empire" (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this text in its entirety. In addition, please review the history of the British Empire and World War I, which you studied in sub-subunits 1.2.3 and 1.4.2.

This reading and review should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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3.1.2 Reading: Suffolk Community College: Professor West’s History 102: “European Imperialism in the 19th Century” and The Financial Times: Pankag Mishra’s “Guilt and Glory”

Links: Suffolk Community College: Professor West’s History 102: “European Imperialism in the 19^thCentury” (HTML) and The Financial Times: Pankaj Mishra’s “Guilt and Glory” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on both links above, and read both texts in their entirety. How did the Europeans justify imperial conquests in the 1890s and in the early 20^thcentury? How did they treat the indigenous populations? How would you expect writers and poets to react to this situation? Please write a paragraph to summarize your thoughts.

These readings and questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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3.1.3 Reading: Fordham University’s Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Paul Halsall’s version of Rudyard Kipling’s “The White Man’s Burden”; and Rudyard Kipling’s “The Recessional” and “Danny Deever”

Links: Fordham University’s Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Paul Halsall’s version of Rudyard Kipling’s “The White Man’s Burden” (HTML) and Bartleby’s version of Rudyard Kipling’s “The Recessional” (HTML) and “Danny Deever” (HTML)

Also available in:
MP3

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read all three poems in their entirety. Pay close attention to the rhyme scheme and rhythm. How would you describe the style of these poems? What is the message of “The White Man’s Burden”? What is the effect of repeated rhymes in “Danny Deever?”

These readings and questions should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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3.1.4 Reading: Siegfried Sassoon’s “The Dragon and the Undying” and Rupert Brooke’s “The Soldier”

Links: Bartleby’s version of Siegfried Sassoon’s “The Dragon and the Undying” (HTML) and Bartleby’s version of Rupert Brooke’s “The Soldier” (HTML)

Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books (pg. 15)

Also available in:
eText format on the Kindle ($0.99)
PDF
ePub format on Google Books (pg. 115)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read both poems in their entirety. Do these poems attempt to provide a realistic depiction of modern war? What words and phrases point to a romanticized vision of battle? What emotional effects do these poems produce in the reader? How do you think they were received by English audiences in 1914?

These readings and questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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3.2.1 Reading: BBC: Dr. Stephen Badsey’s “The Western Front and the Birth of Total War,” Dr. Joanna Bourke’s “Shell Shock during World War One,” and Dr. Ruth Henig’s “Versailles and Peacemaking”

Links: BBC: Dr. Stephen Badsey’s “The Western Front and the Birth of Total War,” (HTML) Dr. Joanna Bourke’s “Shell Shock during World War One,” (HTML) and Dr. Ruth Henig’s “Versailles and Peacemaking” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read these texts in their entirety to understand the realities of the Great War. How do these readings help you understand the poems analyzed by Professor Hammer in his lecture assigned below sub-subunit 3.1.4?

Reading and answering the question above should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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3.2.2 Reading: The Long, Long Trail: Chris Baker’s “In the Trenches”

Link: The Long, Long Trail: Chris Baker’s “In the Trenches” (HTML)

Instructions: Please read the entirety of this explanation of trench warfare during the Great War.

Reading and note-taking should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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3.3.1 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s Biographies of Wilfred Owen, Thomas Hardy, Siegfried Sassoon, and Isaac Rosenberg

Links: The Poetry Foundation’s Biographies of Wilfred Owen (HTML), Thomas Hardy (HTML), Siegfried Sassoon (HTML), and Isaac Rosenberg (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read these biographical essays in their entirety. Together, they provide a narrative of various experiences of the Great War and the end of the Victorian Era. After you finish reading write a paragraph or two to summarize what you consider to be the most important historical and cultural characteristics of this time.

These readings and summary should take you approximately 2 hours to complete.

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3.3.2.1 Reading: Siegfried Sassoon’s “Repression of War Experience” and “The Rear-Guard;” AftermathWWI.com’s version of Siegfried Sassoon’s “On Passing the New Menin Gate;” and Project Gutenberg’s version of Wilfred Owen’s “Arms and the Boy,” “Anthem for Doomed Youth,” and “Dulce et Decorum Est”

Links: Bartleby’s version of Siegfried Sassoon’s “Repression of War Experience" (HTML)

Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books (pg. 58)

Bartleby’s version of Siegfried Sassoon’s “The Rear-Guard” (HTML)

AftermathWWI.com’s version of Siegfried Sassoon’s “On Passing the New Menin Gate” (HTML); and Project Gutenberg’s versions of Wilfred Owen’s “Arms and the Boy” (HTML)

Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books (pg. 43)
PDF (pg. 12)

“Anthem for Doomed Youth” (HTML)

Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books (pg. 44)
PDF (pg. 13)

and “Dulce et Decorum Est” (HTML)

Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books (pg. 55)
PDF (pg. 15)

Instructions: Please click on the links to the title of each poem above, and read the full text of each poem. For each poem answer the following questions: what does this poem say about the Great War? Who is the intended audience? How would you characterize the writer’s relationship to that audience? How would you explain the sources of these various writer-audience relationships? Collectively, what do these poems say about European culture? Write two or three paragraphs to summarize your insights and conclusions.

These readings and questions should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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3.3.2.2 Reading: John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields”

Link: Bartleby’s version of John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields” (HTML)

Also available in:
eText format on the Kindle ($0.99)
ePub format on Google Books (pg. 3)
PDF

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read the entirety of McCrae’s poem. In what ways do you see McCrae challenging the concept of “war” in this text?

This reading and question should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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3.3.2.3 Reading: Web-Books.com’s version Rudyard Kipling’s “Epitaphs of the War”

Link: Web-Books.com’s version Rudyard Kipling’s “Epitaphs of the War” (HTML)

Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books (pg. 399)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this poem in its entirety. How does it differ from Kipling’s poems you read in sub-subunit 3.1.2? How does it differ from other Great War poems you studied in sub-subunits 3.1.4 and 3.2.3? Write a brief paragraph to summarize your insights.

This reading and these questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.
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3.4.1 Reading: Literature Study Online: Stephen Colbourn’s “The Georgian Poets and the War Poets”

Link: Literature Study Online: Stephen Colbourn’s “The Georgian Poets and the War Poets” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read the entirety of the essay on the Georgian and War poets.

This reading should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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3.4.2 Reading: Poetry X’s version of Walter de la Mare’s “The Truants” and Grand Valley State University: Dr. Michael Webster’s “Poetic Modes in the Late 19th and Early 20th Century”

Links: Poetry X’s version of Walter de la Mare’s “The Truants” (HTML) and Grand Valley State University: Dr. Michael Webster’s “Poetic Modes in the Late 19th and Early 20th Century” (HTML)

Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books (pg. 156)

Instructions: Please read Walter de la Mare’s poem (written in 1920) first, and then read the brief characterization of the Georgian poets found in the essay above. What are the most important differences between this poem and the war-time poems you studied in this subunit?

Reading and answering the question above should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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3.5 Reading: The Literature Network’s version of W.B. Yeats’ “Easter, 1916” and “The Second Coming”

Links: The Literature Network’s of W.B. Yeats’ “Easter, 1916” (HTML) and “The Second Coming” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read both poems carefully in their entirety. How would you relate “The Second Coming” to the events and aftermath of the Great War? How does Yeats use biblical imagery in this poem? How does the poem’s form work to support or subvert its message? Write a paragraph or two to summarize your ideas.

These readings and questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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4.1.1 Reading: The Science Encyclopedia: Net Industries’ “Modernism, High Modernism, and the Avant-Garde, 1914-1930”

Link: The Science Encyclopedia: Net Industries’ “Modernism, High Modernism, and the Avant-Garde, 1914-1930” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this page in its entirety. Review the definitions of modernism you studied in Unit 1, and write a paragraph in which you explain how “High Modernism” was different from earlier forms of literary modernism.

This reading and questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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4.1.2 Reading: Poets.org’s version of selections from Ezra Pound’s Canto XIV from The Cantos

Link: Poets.org’s version of selections from Ezra Pound’s Canto XIV from The Cantos (HTML)

Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books (pg. 23)

Instructions: Before doing the readings for this sub-subunit, please review your notes on Dr. Langdon Hammer’s lecture on Ezra Pound to which you listened in sub-subunit 2.3.5.Please click on the link above, and read Canto XIV in its entirety. Write a brief analysis of the rhetorical goals of this poem, as well as its imagery, form, and tone.

The review and reading should take approximately 1 hour to complete.

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4.2.1 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of T.S. Eliot

Link: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of T.S. Eliot (HTML)

Instructions: Please read this biographical essay in its entirety. What were the most important turning points in Eliot’s life and creative work?

This reading should take you approximately 45 minutes to complete.

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4.2.1 Reading: HamletGuide: T.S. Eliot’s “Hamlet and His Problems”

Link: HamletGuide: T.S. Eliot’s “Hamlet and His Problems” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this essay in its entirety. It is Elliot’s reading of Hamlet, which was originally published in his 1922 book, The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism.What does he mean by the “objective correlative?” How is the “objective correlative” related to the expression of emotion in poetry? How does this concept inform Elliot’s analysis of Hamlet? Write down a paragraph or two to summarize your thoughts.

Reading and answering these questions should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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4.2.2 Reading: T.S. Eliot’s “Tradition and Individual Talent”

Link: Bartleby.com’s version of T.S. Eliot’s “Tradition and Individual Talent” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read Eliot’s text in its entirety. What concept of individuality emerges from this essay? What does this say and imply about the place of emotions in modern poetry? Write a brief paragraph to summarize your thoughts.

This reading and these questions should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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4.3.1 Reading: Modern American Poetry’s Excerpts from Pound’s "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley"

Link: Modern American Poetry’s Excerpts from Pound’s "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley" (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and scroll down the webpage to find selections from Pound’s Hugh Selwyn Mauberley. As you read, compare this poem to other poems by Pound that you read in earlier sub-subunits. What is unique about his word-choice here? What is the effect of the various phrases borrowed from other languages? Can one say that this poem has formal or thematic unity? If so, why? If not, why not? Write a brief paragraph to summarize your thoughts.

This reading and questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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4.3.2 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s Biographies of Gertrude Stein and H.D.

Link: The Poetry Foundation’s Biographies of Gertrude Stein (HTML) and H.D. (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read both biographies in their entirety to better understand the experiences of expatriate women poets.

This reading should take you approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete.

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4.3.2 Reading: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library’s “Literary Expatriates in Paris”

Link: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library’s “Literary Expatriates in Paris” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read the entirety of this article on literary expatriates in Paris. Why, do you think, would Americans look to leave their country during this era?

This reading and these questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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4.3.2 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s versions of Gertrude Stein’s “A Carafe, That is a Blind Glass,” “A Little Called Pauline,” and “New”

Links: The Poetry Foundation’s versions of Gertrude Stein’s “A Carafe, That is a Blind Glass” (HTML), “A Little Called Pauline” (HTML), and “New” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read all of these poems in their entirety. How do they differ from imagist and other early modernist poems you studied in Unit 2? Write a paragraph to summarize your thoughts.

These readings and questions should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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4.3.3 Reading: The Ohio State University: Keith Manecke’s Dissertation, On Location: The Poetics of Place in Modern American Poetry: “Introduction”

Link: The Ohio State University: Keith Manecke’s Dissertation, On Location: The Poetics of Place in Modern American Poetry: “Introduction” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and then select “Display Full Text” or “Download Full Text” to access the PDF of Manecke’s dissertation. Read only the “Introduction” (pages 1-19) of Manecke’s dissertation on the role of place in modern American poetry. What, do you think, are some of the important features of location and place in Modern poetry?

This reading should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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4.4.2 Reading: Public Domain, Inc.’s “The Puncture Effect: Encrypted Space, Modernism, and the Hoarse Men of the Apocalypse”

Link: Public Domain, Inc.’s “The Puncture Effect: Encrypted Space, Modernism, and the Hoarse Men of the Apocalypse” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read the entirety of this webpage concerning apocalypse in modern literature. Why, do you think, would the literature of this period become concerned with apocalypse?

Reading and answering this question should take approximately 45 minutes to complete.

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4.4.3 Reading: Purdue University: Dr. Dino Felluga’s “Modules on Jameson: II. On Pastiche”

Link: Purdue University: Dr. Dino Felluga’s “Modules on Jameson: II. On Pastiche” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this text in its entirety. Look back over the poems you have studied in this unit: where do you notice elements of pastiche?

This reading and question should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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4.4.4 Reading: Poetry X’s version of T.S. Eliot’s “The Hollow Men” and Modern American Poetry’s “On ‘The Hollow Men’” as well as Western Michigan University: Dr. Seamus Cooney’s version of Marianne Moore’s “A Grave”

Links: Poetry X’s version of T.S. Eliot’s “The Hollow Men” (HTML) and Modern American Poetry’s “On ‘The Hollow Men’” (HTML) as well as Western Michigan University: Dr. Seamus Cooney’s version of Marianne Moore’s "A Grave” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read Eliot’s poem, “The Hollow Men.” Write a paragraph analyzing its meaning, form, and imagery. Then, read Modern American poetry’s explication of the poem. How is it similar to yours? Are there any differences? Finally, read Marianne Moore’s poem in its entirety and compare it to Eliot’s “The Hollow Men.”

These readings and questions should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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4.5 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s biography of Hart Crane and The Poetry Foundation’s version of Hart Crane’s “Legend,” selections from “The Bridge,” and “Voyages”

Links: The Poetry Foundation’s biography of Hart Crane and the Poetry Foundation’s version of Hart Crane’s “Legend,” selections from “The Bridge,” and “Voyages”

Instructions: Please click on the first link above, and read the biography of Hart Crane. Then, click on the links to “Legend,” selections from “The Bridge,” and “Voyages,” and read his poems. Note the form and style of the poems, and summarize their content in your own words.

These readings should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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5.1.1 Reading: Poets.org’s “A Brief Guide to the Objectivists”

Link: Poets.org’s “A Brief Guide to the Objectivists” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read the entirety of Poets.org’s brief introduction to objectivism and the Objectivist poets. Then, define “Objectivist” art in your own words.

This reading and a paraphrase of the definition of objectivism should take approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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5.1.2 Reading: The Poetry Foundation: Peter O’Leary’s “The Energies of Words”

Link: The Poetry Foundation: Peter O’Leary’s “The Energies of Words” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this essay in its entirety. How does this essay define Objectivist poetry? How does it characterize connections between Objectivism and other modernist movements?

This reading and question should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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5.1.3 Reading: Western Michigan University: Dr. Seamus Cooney’s Versions of Charles Reznikoff’s “(1)” and “April”

Link: Western Michigan University: Dr. Seamus Cooney’s Versions of Charles Reznikoff’s “(1)” and “April” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read both poems and answer the questions at the top of the webpage. How would you characterize the difference between Objectivist and Imagist poetry (refer back to subunit 2.2)?

This reading and question should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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5.1.4 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s “Louis Zukofsky (1904 - 1978)”

Link: The Poetry Foundation’s “Louis Zukofsky (1904 - 1978)” (HTML)

Instructions: Please read this brief biography in its entirety. What are the most important arguments it makes about connections between Objectivist poetry and the social concerns of the era?

This reading and question should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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5.1.5.1 Reading: The University of Virginia: Excerpts from Louis Zukofsky’s “To My Wash-Stand” and Selections from “A”

Links: The University of Virginia: Excerpts from Louis Zukofsky’s “To My Wash-Stand” (HTML) and Selections from “A ” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read both poems in their entirety. How would you characterize Zukofsky’s style? Write a paragraph to summarize your analysis of each poem. Note any similarities and differences between these poems and other poems you studied in the course so far.

These readings and questions should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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5.1.5.2 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of Charles Reznikoff

Link: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of Charles Reznikoff (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this biography in its entirety to learn about Reznikoff’s life and literary projects.

This reading should take you approximately 45 minutes to complete.

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5.1.5.2 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s version of Charles Reznikoff’s “Slave Sale: New Orleans” and “From a Short History of Israel, Notes and Glosses”

Links: The Poetry Foundation’s version of Charles Reznikoff’s “Slave Sale: New Orleans” (HTML) and “From a Short History of Israel, Notes and Glosses” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read both poems in their entirety. How are social concerns present in these poems? How would you compare the political dimension of these poems to the political dimension of poems written during the Great War? Write a paragraph to summarize your thoughts.

These readings and questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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5.1.5.3 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of George Oppen

Link: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of George Oppen (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this biographical essay in its entirety. Why did Oppen stop writing poetry? What connections did he postulate between poetry and political activism?

This reading should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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5.1.5.3 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s version of George Oppen’s “The Mind’s Own Place” (1963)

Link: The Poetry Foundation’s version of George Oppen’s “The Mind’s Own Place” (1963) (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this essay in its entirety (use the navigation buttons at the bottom of the page to open pages 2, 3, and 4). This is Oppen’s statement about poetry and poetics after his long hiatus. How does the vision of poetry presented here differ from the Objectivist program you studied earlier in this unit? What are the similarities?

Reading this essay and answering these questions should take you approximately 45 minutes to complete.

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5.2.1 Reading: Marxists.org: George Novak’s “Radical Intellectuals in the 1930s”

Link: Marxists.org: George Novak’s “Radical Intellectuals in the 1930s” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read the entirety of Novak’s essay on modernist intellectuals and communism.

This reading should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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5.2.2 Reading: The Poetry Archive’s version of Williams’ “The Yachts”

Link: The Poetry Archive’s version of Williams’ “The Yachts" (HTML)

Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books (pg 36)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this poem in its entirety. What social and political concerns does the poem address? What difference does it make that these concerns are addresses in the form of a poem rather than a prose piece? More generally, what do you think is the relationship between poetry and the social world? Can poetry describe the social world? Critique it, reflect it, or shape it? What are its strengths and weaknesses as a vehicle of social critique? Write a paragraph to summarize your thoughts.

This reading, questions, and writing assignment should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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6.1.1 Reading: Knesset: The State of Israel’s “The Holocaust – Historical Overview”

Link: Knesset: The State of Israel’s “The Holocaust – Historical Overview” (HTML)

Instructions: Please review the materials you studied in sub-subunits 1.5.5.1 and 1.5.5.2 before proceeding to the readings and lectures in subunit 6.1. Please click on the link above, and read this introduction to the Holocaust by the State of Israel.

This reading should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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6.1.2 Reading: Michigan Quarterly Review: Jay Ladin’s “‘After the End of the World’: Poetry and the Holocaust”

Link: Michigan Quarterly Review: Jay Ladin’s “‘After the End of the World’: Poetry and the Holocaust” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this essay in its entirety. What arguments does the author make about the possibility of writing poetry after the Holocaust? What do you think is the role of poetry in the face of genocide? Write a paragraph to summarize your thoughts.

This reading and questions should take you approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete.

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6.1.2 Reading: Student Pulse: Kristina S. Ten’s “Primo Levi's Use of Poetic Language to Promote Cross-Cultural Understanding in "Survival in Auschwitz"”

Link: Student Pulse: Kristina S. Ten’s “Primo Levi's Use of Poetic Language to Promote Cross-Cultural Understanding in "Survival in Auschwitz" (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this essay in its entirety. What is its main argument? Do you find it compelling? Why, or why not?

This reading should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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6.1.3 Reading: The Christian Science Monitor: Jim Regan’s “The Atomic Bomb in American Culture”

Link: The Christian Science Monitor: Jim Regan’s “The Atomic Bomb in American Culture” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read the entirety of The Christian Science Monitor’s article on the atom bomb and its impact on culture. How would you describe the impact that the atomic bomb had on American culture?

This reading should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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6.1.3 Reading: University of Pennsylvania: Dr. Al Filreis’ “Cultural Aspects of Atomic Anxiety”

Link: University of Pennsylvania: Dr. Al Filreis’ “Cultural Aspects of Atomic Anxiety” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this essay in its entirety and write a paragraph to summarize the most important ways in which the invention and use of the atomic bomb influenced European and American culture.

This reading should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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6.2.1.1 Reading: Western Michigan University: Dr. Seamus Cooney’s version of Randall Jarrell’s “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner”

Link: Western Michigan University: Dr. Seamus Cooney’s version of Randall Jarrell’s “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" (HTML)

Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books (pg. 265)
PDF

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read the entirety of Dr. Cooney’s version of Jarrell’s poem. What is the poem about? What does it say about the value of human life during war?

Listening to this poem and answering the questions above should take you approximately 15 minutes.

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6.2.1.2 Reading: Voices [Education Project]: The Poets of World War II: Keith Douglas

Link: Voices [Education Project]: The Poets of World War II: Keith Douglas (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and study all the poems reproduced on this page. How do these poems represent the war experience? What is the effect of their form? How are they different from early modernist and high modernist poems you studied in earlier subunits?

These readings and questions should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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6.2.1.3 Reading: Voices [Education Project]: The Poets of World War II: Karl Shapiro

Link: Voices [Education Project]: The Poets of World War II: Karl Shapiro (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this page in its entirety. Note both the differences and the similarities between Shapiro’s poems and the poems of both Randall Jarrell and Keith Douglas, which you read above.

These readings and questions should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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6.2.2 Reading: Modern American Poetry’s version of Randall Jarrell’s “The Refugees”

Link: Modern American Poetry’s version of Randall Jarrell’s “The Refugees” (HTML)

Also available in:
PDF (pg. 28)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read the entirety of Modern American Poetry’s version of Jarrell’s text. Describe this poem’s key themes and ideas in your own words.

This reading should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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6.3.1 Reading: Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies: “Letters from the Japanese American Internment” and George Mason University: History Matters’ “Executive Order 9066: The President Authorizes Japanese Relocation”

Links: Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies: “Letters from the Japanese American Internment” (HTML) and George Mason University: History Matters’ “Executive Order 9066: The President Authorizes Japanese Relocation” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read the “Executive Order 9066” first. Then, read the Smithsonian’s learning module on Japanese-American internment camps in its entirety (5 webpages of text and associated links). Follow the embedded links to read the internee’s letters, and write a paragraph to summarize what you learned from this learning module.

These readings and summary should take you approximately 45 minutes to complete.

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6.3.2 Reading: Modern American Poetry’s version of Violet Kazue de Cristoforo's “Pre-War Japanese American Haiku”

Link: Modern American Poetry’s version of Violet Kazue de Cristoforo's “Pre-War Japanese American Haiku” (HTML)

Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Modern American poetry’s document on the pre-war Japanese American Kaikos, or free-style Haikus. What are the major concerns of pre-war Japanese American Haikus? Write a paragraph or two summarizing the themes and imagery of these poems.

This reading and summary should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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6.3.3 Reading: Lantern Review Blog: “Poetry in History: Japanese American Internment”

Link: Lantern Review Blog: “Poetry in History: Japanese American Internment” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this essay in its entirety to learn about the experiences of Japanese American poets in internment camps during World War II.

This reading should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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6.3.3 Reading: Voices [Education Project]: World War II Poets: Violet Kazue de Cristoforo

Link: Voices [Education Project]: World War II Poets: Violet Kazue de Cristoforo (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this text in its entirety. How would you describe the relationship of these haikus to the experience of internment?

This reading should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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7.1.1 Reading: The University of Virginia: W.E.B. Du Bois’ “The Strivings of Negro People” (1897)

Link: The University of Virginia: W.E.B. Du Bois’ “The Strivings of Negro People” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this text in its entirety. This is an influential essay published by W.E.B. Du Bois in the Atlantic Monthlyin 1897. Why do you think this essay became important? How does Du Bois characterize the cultural predicament of African Americans? Write a paragraph to summarize your thoughts.

Reading and answering these questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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7.1.2 Reading: James Weldon Johnson’s “The Book of American Negro Poetry” (1922) and his “Preface”

Link: Bartleby’s version of James Weldon Johnson’s “The Book of American Negro Poetry” (1922) (HTML) and his “Preface” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read the brief description of how “The Book of American Negro Poetry” influenced twentieth-century African American writers, and then read Johnson’s “Preface” in its entirety. As you read, take notes on the text, focusing on how Johnson’s "Preface" characterizes the achievements and contributions of African Americans.

This reading and note-taking should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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7.1.3 Reading: Poetry-Archive’s version of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask” and Afropoets.net’s version of “The Colored Soldiers”

Links: Poetry-Archive’s version of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask” (HTML) and Afropoets.net’s version of “The Colored Soldiers” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read both poems in their entirety. Who is the intended audience for each poem? How would you characterize the tone and structure of these poems? How do they address the question of identity?

These readings and questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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7.2.1 Reading: Poets.org’s “A Brief Guide to the Harlem Renaissance”

Link: Poets.org’s “A Brief Guide to the Harlem Renaissance" (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this text in its entirety. What were the most important characteristics of the Harlem Renaissance?

This reading and question should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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7.2.1 Reading: Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: Caroline Jackson’s “Harlem Renaissance: Pivotal Period in the Development of Afro-American Culture”

Link: Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: Caroline Jackson’s “Harlem Renaissance: Pivotal Period in the Development of Afro-American Culture” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this page in its entirety. Take notes on the most influential figures of the Harlem Renaissance and the most important events of this period.

This reading should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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7.2.1 Reading: John Carroll University’s The Harlem Renaissance Multimedia Resource

Link: John Carroll University’s The Harlem Renaissance Multimedia Resource (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and scroll down the page to read this brief introduction. After reading the introduction, read about the various aspect of the Harlem Renaissance by clicking on the tabs above the text (Education, Performers, French Connection, Literature, Political Issues, Religion, Philosophy). After exploring all these topics write a paragraph in which you describe the most important features of the Harlem Renaissance in your own words.

This reading should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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7.2.2.1.1 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of Langston Hughes

Link: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of Langston Hughes (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this biographical essay in its entirety to learn about Hughes’ life and the role he played in the Harlem Renaissance.

This reading should take you approximately 45 minutes to complete.

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7.2.2.1.2 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s version of Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” (1926) and Elizabeth Alexander’s “The Black Poet as Canon-Maker”

Links: The Poetry Foundation’s version of Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” (1926) (HTML) and Elizabeth Alexander’s “The Black Poet as Canon-Maker” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read both essays in their entirety (use navigation buttons at the bottom of the text to display pages 2 and 3 of Hughes’ essay). How does Hughes analyze the relationship between race and poetry? What does Alexander’s essay add to your understanding of the Harlem Renaissance? Write a paragraph to summarize your thoughts.

These readings and questions should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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7.2.2.1.3 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s version of Langston Hughes’ “Theme for English B;” Poets.org’s version of Hughes’ “The Weary Blues;” and Poem Hunter’s version of Hughes’ “Life is Fine”

Link: The Poetry Foundation’s version of Langston Hughes’ “Theme for English B” (HTML), Poets.org’s version of Hughes’ “The Weary Blues” (HTML), and Poem Hunter’s version of Hughes’ “Life is Fine” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read all poems in their entirety. What themes appear in these poems? How does Hughes approach rhythm?

This reading and these questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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7.2.2.1.4 Reading: Modern American Poetry’s “Langston Hughes in the 1930s”

Link: Modern American Poetry’s “Langston Hughes in the 1930s” (HTML)

Instructions: Please read the entirety of Modern American Poetry’s essay on Langston Hughes.

This reading should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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7.2.2.2 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of Claude McKay

Link: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of Claude McKay (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this biographical essay in its entirety to learn about McKay’s life and his poetry.

This reading should take you approximately 45 minutes to complete.

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7.2.2.2 Reading: Claude McKay’s “If We Must Die” and “The Harlem Dancer”

Links: Bartleby’s version of Claude McKay’s “If We Must Die” (HTML) and “The Harlem Dancer” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read both poems in their entirety. How do these poems engage social issues? How does their form affect their message?

These readings and questions should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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7.2.2.3 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of Countee Cullen

Link: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of Countee Cullen (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this biographical essay in its entirety.

This reading should take you approximately 45 minutes to complete.

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7.2.2.3 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s versions of Countee Cullen’s “A Brown Girl Dead,” “Heritage,” and “For Amy Lowell”

Links: The Poetry Foundation’s versions of Countee Cullen’s “A Brown Girl Dead,” (HTML) “Heritage,” (HTML) and “For Amy Lowell” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read these poems in their entirety and compare their formal qualities and their message. What are the universal aspects of these poems? What are their political aspects? How would you characterize their attitude toward life? Based on what you learned about Amy Lowell’s poetry in Unit 2, how do you think she might have responded to Cullen’s poem? Write a paragraph to summarize your thoughts.

Reading and answering these questions should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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7.2.2.4.1 Reading: Poets.org: Anthony Walton’s “Double-Bind: Three Women of the Harlem Renaissance”

Link: Poets.org: Anthony Walton’s “Double-Bind: Three Women of the Harlem Renaissance” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this essay in its entirety. How does this essay characterize the dilemmas and challenges faced by African American women poets during the Harlem Renaissance? Write a paragraph to summarize your thoughts.

This reading and question should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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7.2.2.4.2 Reading: Poets.org’s version of Jesse Redmon Fauset’s “Dead Fires” and “La Vie C'est La Vie”

Links: Poets.org’s version of Jesse Redmon Fauset’s “Dead Fires” (HTML) and “La Vie C'est La Vie” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read both poems in their entirety. What are your interpretations of these poems? What is their formal structure? How would you compare these to other Harlem Renaissance poems you have read so far?

This reading and these questions should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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7.2.2.4.3 Reading: Poet.org’s version of Georgia Douglas Johnson’s “Black Woman” and “The Heart of a Woman,” and The Poetry Foundation’s version of Johnson’s “Common Dust” and “Smothered Fires”

Links: Poet.org’s version of Georgia Douglas Johnson’s “Black Woman” (HTML) and “The Heart of a Woman” (HTML), and The Poetry Foundation’s version of Johnson’s “Common Dust” (HTML) and “Smothered Fires” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read these poems in their entirety. Note their formal qualities, their dominant tone, and their imagery. How would you compare them to Jesse Redmon Fauset’s poems you studied in the previous sub-subunit?

This reading and question should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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7.2.2.4.4 Reading: Poets.org’s version of Gwendolyn Bennett’s “Quatrains,” “Fantasy,” “Sonnet 1” and “Sonnet 2”

Link: Poets.org’s version of Gwendolyn Bennett’s “Quatrains” (HTML), “Fantasy” (HTML), “Sonnet 1” (HTML), and “Sonnet 2” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read these poems in their entirety. Note their formal qualities, their dominant tone, and their imagery. How would you compare them with other Harlem Renaissance poems? Write a paragraph to summarize your analysis of the poems of Gwendolyn Bennet, Georgia Douglas Johnson, and Jesse Redmon Fauset.

This reading and these questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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7.2.3.1 Reading: Piero Scaruffi’s History of Popular Music: “A Brief History of Blues Music”

Link: Piero Scaruffi’s History of Popular Music: “A Brief History of Blues Music” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this chapter in its entirety. Take notes on the ways in which Blues figured in the history of African Americans.

This reading should take you approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete.

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7.2.3.2 Reading: Poets.org: Poetic Form: “Blues Poem;” Poets.org’s version of Sterling A. Brown’s “Riverbank Blues” and Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” and “The Weary Blues;” Old Poetry: Sterling Brown’s “Memphis Blues;” and Poets.org’s version of Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool”

Link: Poets.org: "Poetic Form: Blues Poem” (HTML); Poets.org’s version of Sterling A. Brown’s “Riverbank Blues” (HTML), and Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” (HTML) and “The Weary Blues” (HTML); Old Poetry: Sterling Brown’s “Memphis Blues” (HTML); and Poets.org’s version of Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read these poems in their entirety. What makes a poem a “Blues poem?” How are these poems different from other poems you have studied in this unit? What are their universal elements? Write a paragraph to summarize your thoughts.

Reading and answering these questions should take you approximately 45 minutes to complete.

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7.2.3.3 Reading: History Matters: The Harlem Renaissance: George Schuyler Argues against “Black Art”

Link: George Mason University: History Matters: The Harlem Renaissance: George Schuyler Argues against “Black Art” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this essay in its entirety. This is an essay from 1926, a time when debates about the nature of African American art and poetry were gaining momentum. What argument does this text make? How is the argument supported?

This reading and questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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7.2.3.3 Reading: Webdubois.org’s version of W.E.B. Dubois’ “Criteria of Negro Art” (1926)

Link: Webdubois.org’s version of W.E.B. Dubois’ “Criteria of Negro Art” (1926) (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this essay in its entirety. What argument does it make about African American art? How does this argument compare with that made by George Schuyler above? Write a paragraph to compare and contrast the two arguments in terms of both content and structure.

This reading and these questions should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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7.2.3.3 Reading: Afropoets.net’s versions of Countee Cullen’s “Incident” and “Yet Do I Marvel”

Links: Afropoets.net’s versions of Countee Cullen’s “Incident” (HTML) and “Yet Do I Marvel” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read both poems in their entirety. How would you characterize each poem in terms of form? In each case, how does the form work with the poem’s message? Do you think conveying the same message in prose would be as effective? If so, why? If not, why not? Write a paragraph to summarize your analysis.

Reading and answering these questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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7.2.3.3 Reading: Modern American Poetry: Onwucheka Jemie, Bartholomew Brinkman, and John Moore’s “On ‘Ku Klux’”

Link: Modern American Poetry: Onwucheka Jemie, Bartholomew Brinkman, and John Moore’s “On ‘Ku Klux’” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read the collection of analyses compiled by the Modern American Poetry project. What are the similarities and differences between these analyses and your own interpretation of Hughes’ “Ku Klux?”

Reading and answering this question should take approximately 45 minutes to complete.

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7.2.3.3 Reading: Afropoets.net’s versions of Jean Toomer’s “Portrait in Georgia,” “Her Lips Are Copper Wire,” and “Reapers,” as well as Claude McKay’s “America” and “The Tropics in New York”

Links: Afropoets.net’s versions of Jean Toomer’s “Portrait in Georgia" (HTML), “Her Lips Are Copper Wire” (HTML), and “Reapers” (HTML), as well as Claude McKay’s “America” (HTML) and “The Tropics in New York” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read all these poems in their entirety. What aspects of African American experience does modern poetry capture particularly well? Write a brief analysis focusing on the theme, form, and rhetorical aim of each poem.

These readings and questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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7.3.1 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of Gwendolyn Brooks

Link: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of Gwendolyn Brooks (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this biographical essay in its entirety. Note the most important turning points in Brooks’ life and her understanding of poetry.

This reading should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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7.3.1 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s version of Gwendolyn Brooks’ “Still Do I Keep My Look, My Identity…,” “A Light and Diplomatic Bird,” and “A Sunset of the City”

Link: The Poetry Foundation’s version of Gwendolyn Brooks’ “Still Do I Keep My Look, My Identity…” (HTML), “A Light and Diplomatic Bird” (HTML), and “A Sunset of the City” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read these poems in their entirety. How are they similar to the Harlem Renaissance Poems you have read? How are they different?

These readings should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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7.3.2 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of Robert Hayden

Link: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of Robert Hayden (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this biographical essay in its entirety. Note the most important turning points in Brooks’ life and her understanding of poetry.

This reading should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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7.3.2 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s version of Robert Hayden’s “Fredrick Douglass,” “Middle Passage,” and “Mourning Poem for the Queen of Sunday”

Link: The Poetry Foundation’s version of Robert Hayden’s “Fredrick Douglass” (HTML), “Middle Passage” (HTML), and “Mourning Poem for the Queen of Sunday” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read these poems in their entirety.

These readings should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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8.1.1 Reading: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.: Ruth Fine’s “Expanding the Mainstream: Romare Bearden Revisited”

Link: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.: Ruth Fine’s “Expanding the Mainstream: Romare Bearden Revisited” (PDF)

Instructions: Please click on the link above to download the PDF file, and read the entirety of Fine’s essay on the concept of the “mainstream” through a reading of Romare Bearden as a case study (16 pages). Then, define “mainstream” in your own words. How does Bearden serve as a useful case study within (and against) this tradition?

This reading and question should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

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8.1.2 Reading: U.S. Department of State’s Country Studies: “The Culture of the 1950s” and Lone Star College – Kingwood: Becky Bradley’s “American Cultural History: 1950-59”

Links: U.S. Department of State’s Country Studies: “The Culture of the 1950s” (HTML) and Lone Star College – Kingwood: Becky Bradley’s “American Cultural History: 1950-59” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read both pages in their entirety. Then, write a paragraph to describe American culture in the 1950s in your own words.

This reading and writing assignment should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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8.1.3 Reading: Poem Hunter: Elizabeth Bishop’s “The Fish,” “Filling Station,” and “One Art”

Links: Poem Hunter: Elizabeth Bishop’s “The Fish” (HTML), “Filling Station” (HTML), and “One Art” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on each link above, and read the entirety of each poem, as made available online by PoemHunter.com. What themes and ideas seem most central to Bishop’s work? Write a brief paragraph to summarize your analysis.

These readings and writing assignment should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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8.1.4 Reading: Poem Hunter: Robert Lowell’s “Man and Wife” and “The Quaker Graveyard in Nantucket”

Links: Poem Hunter: Robert Lowell’s “Man and Wife” (HTML)

Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books (pg. 168)

and “The Quaker Graveyard in Nantucket” (HTML)

Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books (pg. 91)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read both poems in their entirety. Write down key words and images, and analyze each poem’s formal structure. In what ways did the Modern poem serve as a mode of confession?

These readings and questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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8.2.1 Reading: Grant L. Allen and Chuck T. Allen’s “Beats & Beatniks: The Digestion of an American Myth”

Link: Grant L. Allen and Chuck T. Allen’s “Beats & Beatniks: The Digestion of an American Myth” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read the entirety of Allen’s essay on counter culture in 1950’s America. Who were the Beats and Beatniks? What were some of their social, political, and cultural goals?

This reading should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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8.2.3 Reading: Poem Hunter: Robert Creeley’s “A Token” and The Poetry Foundation’s versions of Robert Creeley’s “For Love” and “The Language”

Links: Poem Hunter: Robert Creeley’s “A Token” (HTML)

Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books (pg. 221)
MP3

and The Poetry Foundation’s versions of Robert Creeley’s “For Love” (HTML)

Also available in:
MP3

and “The Language” (HTML)

Also available in:
MP3

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read these poems in their entirety. How to these texts compare to Ginsberg’s work? How would you compare them to Imagist and Objectivist poems you studied earlier in this course?

These readings and questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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8.2.4 Reading: American Poems: Sylvia Plath’s “The Colossus” and Poets.org’s version of Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy”

Links: American Poems: Sylvia Plath’s “The Colossus” (HTML)

Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books (pg. 107)

and Poets.org’s version of Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” (HTML)

Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books (pg. 164)
PDF

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read both poems in their entirety. How would you compare them to other poems you read in this subunit? Focus on both form and content in your comparison. How is gender significant in these poems?

These readings and questions should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

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8.2.5 Reading: Poets.org’s version of John Ashbery’s “Daffy Duck in Hollywood” as well as Frank O’Hara’s “Personism”

Links: Poets.org’s version of John Ashbery’s “Daffy Duck in Hollywood” (HTML) as well as Frank O’Hara’s “Personism” (HTML)

Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Poets.org’s versions of Ashbery’s poem and O’Hara’s essay. Describe O’Hara’s project in your own words, based on his essay. In addition, ask yourself: what is the role of popular culture in the Modern poem? Use Ashbery’s poem as a case study here to craft your response.

These readings and questions should take you approximately 45 minutes to complete.

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8.2.6 Reading: University of Pennsylvania: George Hartley’s “Textual Politics and the Language Poets” and Electronic Poetry Center: Marjorie Perloff’s “Language Poetry and the Lyric Subject: Ron Silliman’s Albany, Susan Howe’s Buffalo”

Link: University of Pennsylvania: George Hartley’s “Textual Politics and the Language Poets” (HTML) and Electronic Poetry Center: Marjorie Perloff’s “Language Poetry and the Lyric Subject: Ron Silliman’s Albany, Susan Howe’s Buffalo” (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the links above, and read these essays in their entirety for an overview of the poetics and theory of L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E poets.

These readings should take approximately 2 hours to complete.

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8.2.6 Reading: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of Bernadette Mayer

Link: The Poetry Foundation’s Biography of Bernadette Mayer (HTML)

Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read this brief biography of avant-garde poet, Bernadette Mayer.

This reading should take approximately 15 minutes to complete.

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyrights and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.

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