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Confessional Movement. Ron Miranda Erica Madeja Kevin Paragas Warda Ahmed. Confessional Movement. Emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s Themes dealt with private experiences and feelings about death, trauma, depression, and relationships.
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Confessional Movement Ron Miranda Erica Madeja Kevin Paragas Warda Ahmed
Confessional Movement • Emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s • Themes dealt with private experiences and feelings about death, trauma, depression, and relationships. • Often expressed in an autobiographical manner • The confessional poetry of the mid 20th century dealt with subject matter • Poetic techniques such as symbolism, rhyme, diction, similes, metaphors, and personification were most commonly used.
Robert Lowell • Born March 1, 1917 in Boston, Massachusetts. Died September 12, 1977 from sudden heart attack. • Attended Havard University for two years then transferred to Kenyon College. • Opposed WWII and was imprisoned as a result. • Suffered from severe episodes of maniac depression and was often hospitalized for it.
Notable Works • Life Studies (1959) • Land of Unlikeness (1944) • Lord Weary's Castle (1946) • Received a Pulitzer Prize in 1947 for these two books.
John Berryman • Born 1914, died 1972. • Obtained an undergraduate degree from Columbia College in 1936. • Attended Cambridge University on fellowship. • Taught at Wayne State University in Detroit, Harvard, and Princeton. • A professor at the University of Minnesota from 1955 - 1972.
Berryman cont. • Awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1964 from his Dream Song poems • Described himself with his irrepressible alter egos "Henry" and "Mr. Bones" in the Dream Songs • Poetry consists of sequences of sonnet-like poems with wrenched syntax, array of diction, intense language and tone, and mixing emotions • Was emotionally unstable from his father's suicide during his childhood, was a heavy drinker throughout his life, and committed suicide in 1972 by jumping off a bridge in Minneapolis. • Was elected a Fellow of The Academy of American Poets in 1966 and served as a Chancellor from 1968 until his death.
Anne Sexton • 1928 – Born in Newton, Massachusetts • 2 daughters • 1954 – Diagnosed with postpartum depression (depression suffered by a mother following childbirth) • Admitted in Westwood Lodge, a neuropsychiatric hospital; encouraged to pursue her interest in writing poetry
Anne Sexton cont. • Themes: depression, isolation, suicide, despair, women issues • Pulitzer Prize winner of Royal Society of Lit. • Modern model of a confessional poet • 1974 – Committed suicide; lost battle Notable Works • Live or Die (1966) • Love Poems (1969) • Selected Poems (1964) • The Completed Poems (1981) • The Death Notebook (1974) • To Bedlam and Part Way Back (1960) • Transformation (1971) • Words for Dr. Y: Uncontrolled Poems (1978)
Sylvia Plath • Born October 7, 1932 • Died Feb. 11, 1963 due to suicide. • American Poet, novelist, and short story writer. • Attended Newnham College where she was a newspaper writer • Won Pulitzer prize for her collection of poems.
Notable works • Kindness • The Bell Jar (Poem written before her death) • April 18 • The Babysisters • A Birthday Present • Cinderella
AP Writing Prompts • Prompt #1: In Berryman’s poem Dream Song4, he talks about his infatuation with an already married woman. Is this normal human nature for man to want a woman, or is it lustful because the woman is already married? Write a well organized essay explaining your view, be sure to use evidence from the poem. • Prompt #2: In "The Truth the Dead Know" by Anne Sexton, Sexton addresses the subject of death. Read the poem carefully. Then write a well-developed essay in which you analyze how poetic devices help to convey Sexton's complex attitude toward death.
Quiz • Define confessional poetry. • When did it emerge? • What are some of the themes incorporated in confessional poetry? • What caused Anne Sexton to evolve in poetry? • Berryman is known to incorporate comedic relief in his poems. How does he do so in Dream Song 4? • Berryman uses his technique of adding comedic relief to secretly describe a feature of the woman in Dream Song 4. What is it? • What are some possible themes in “Skunk Hour”? Use evidence from the poem to support your claim. • In “Skunk Hour”, why do you think Lowell alludes to Queen Victoria’s Century in the second stanza?
Sources • http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5650.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/6 • http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/10 • http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/robert-lowell#about
