#mpcdiscussion

[lav-della]

Wallace Stevens

      I selected stanza number five for my assignment this week from Wallace Stevens’ “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.” For stanza number five the music style would be a ballad. It tells the mindset of the speaker. While the tone of the overall poem is inquisitive, stanza five is more thoughtful and personal. During the fifth stanza the reader gets a more in death look at the speaker. We see that he or she compares black birds to inflections and innuendoes in a positive light. After looking up the definition to make sure, I had the right definition of the words I realized that the speaker likes what could be considered the darker side of life. This stanza made me question the credibility of the speaker, and where or not I should trust them. But at the same time it made the speaker seem ‘real’. What I mean is that the speaker likes things that are against what society would approve of and is not afraid to admit it. For me this made the speaker real. 

[shareathega]

Let's Talk William Carlos Wiliams! Annotated Poem

In lieu of a discussion question you'll be turning in an annotated poem from your Williams' packet. Check the Poetic Terms page on the blog (which you are also reviewing for homework) to identify these devices in your poem. Your annotations should also include some of the points we discussed during our in-class conversation on annotations. Most importantly, include some points where Williams' career and poems intersect. 

Bring these points with you to class and enjoy what the MPC has to offer on the wonderful world of William Carlos Williams! 

Enjoy. 

[modernpoetrycompanion]

Let's Talk: Gertrude Stein Response Assignment

We're doing something a little different this week, which will prepare you for the difference of Gertrude Stein. In lieu of a discussion question you should write a response to a Gertrude Stein poem from your packet and post the response on your student tumblr. Here are more detailed instructions:

Read the work from your Gertrude Stein Packet. You will notice how very different these poems are from any we have read. They don't make "sense."  Stein was not interested in making sense. She was not interested in writing poems that explored human situations and emotions. She was interesting in language stripped of its conventional meaning. She wanted to use language the way the painters of her time (Picasso, Braque) were experimenting with new ways to paint. Look at the cubist paintings on the MPC.  She used words to create sound not image.

Read them aloud. Listen to her reading. 

Find your way in to a poem or poems. Read a poem and watch how it gets under your skin. Post your response to reading Gertrude Stein on your student tumblr. Say something particular, rather than "I didn't get it. or I didn't like it...." Find something from another part of your brain. Maybe you like reading a certain line out loud, and the more you read it the more you come to understand something about it. 

 After the interviewer asks Stein to explain her “Van or Twenty Years After. A Second Portrait of Carl Van Vechten” (1923), she proceeds to chide him for trying to “understand” the verse with the same kind of brilliant indignation with which Flannery O’Connor once scolded an English teacher for letting interpretation rob reading of joy.

"Look here. Being intelligible is not what it seems. You mean by understanding that you can talk about it in the way that you have a habit of talking, putting it in other words. But I mean by understanding enjoyment. If you enjoy it, you understand it. And lots of people have enjoyed it so lots of people have understood it. . . . But after all you must enjoy my writing, and if you enjoy it you understand it. If you do not enjoy it, why do you make a fuss about it? There is the real answer."

[modernpoetrycompanion]

Let's Talk: Emily Dickinson [Discussion Question]

First of all, I want to extend my apology to you all. I had a few tech issues on my side that kept me from being able to post this discussion question on our agreed upon time. In the meantime it's my hope that you've enjoyed taking in all the content Dickinson has to offer here on the MPC.  As the week continues, I'll be adding more to help you further grasp what her world was like. I think the Voices and Visions documentary lays a great foundation. So let's dig a bit into the content there: 

What kind of America did Emily Dickinson inhabit? What kind of town and community was she a part of?  What was her role a woman, what was expected of her, as opposed to what she did. In contract, what was expected of men at the time? 

Note: Reblog this post to your blog and answer it there. Make sure you're following the MPC so that I can find your response and give you credit. You do not have to add hashtags. 

[shareathega]

Dickinson Discussion Question: Notice

Hey Everyone! 

So sorry for the delay with the discussion question. I'm having a few technical difficulties and have been trying to get them fixed. Hoping to have it up and within the hour! Thank so much to everyone who's checked in, and thanks for your patience! 

[modernpoetrycompanion]

Discussion Questions Closed

Hey Everyone.

So glad that so many of you have already gotten the hang of Tumblr and are responding to the discussion questions with relative ease. Please be prepared to share a bit about your posting experience in class on Tuesday. The discussion for Whitman is now closed.

See you guys Tuesday.

[modernpoetrycompanion]

Let's Talk: Whitman [Discussion Question 3]

You've done a great job answering the questions so far. You've all brought some very interesting points together about the type of America Whitman believed in and the way in which this changing environment, shaped his voice and his work. Metamorphosis, identity, and individuality were themes you all mentioned and attributed to Whitman's work. The last question is in two parts: 

First, how did these themes manifest themselves not only in the subject matter of Whitman's work but also in the form itself, where did they come from ? 

Secondly, how was this work received by the America of his time, as opposed to now? Where in time do you think this shift took place? 

Note:

Our conversation will end tonight (Sunday, Feb.2.2014) at midnight; as a reminder, anyone who has not participated in this discussion on Whitman will not be given credit for this assignment after tonight at midnight. 

Those of you who have answered discussion question one, and discussion question two do not have to answer the questions above. These questions are for the remaining class members who have not answered any discussion questions. However, if you're burning with Whitman fire and want to answer feel free. 

Also, great job so far everyone! I love reading your responses. Check the Discussion Questions page for updates on tags and posting! 

[modernpoetrycompanion]

Let's Talk: Whitman [Discussion Question 2]

Greetings Everyone! Great job to those who’ve already answered question one! Stick around and see if you have any input as the discussion blossoms. For those who haven’t answered the question yet, never fret! The conversation is just getting started and you can answer the following question:

As stated, we have a new nation experiencing rapid change. Also, a constant barrage of battle after battle, war after war. We are not just fighting together for expansion and land against it’s native peoples (to one day be Americans themselves), but also against each other. The issue if slavery, and economy lead us into the civil war. As an American durning this time period, I imagine change was thick in the air. How did this constant metamorphosis of the America Whitman lived in contribute to his voice? And how did this impact the intention his first work, Leaves of Grass ?

Don’t forget to check out the Discussion Questions page for how to respond.