Focus on Poetry

1. Focus on Poetry By Mrs. Julious For World Literature

2. Poetry (form of communication) • To understand a poet’s message, you need to learn the elements of poetry. • We will study selected poetry that relates to the plight of Americans. • While reading “A Lesson before Dying” you saw how social injustice played a part in our socio-historical background in America. Poetry was written to convey the essence of a greater meaning during these times.

3. Focus on Poetry • Many people do not like poetry. Others think poetry is still the world’s most powerful form of communication. To understand a poet’s message and your next major assignment you need to learn the elements of poetry.

4. Character- refers to the speaker Imagery- images used to appeal to any or all senses Theme- idea or meaning of a poem Tone- an attitude that the poet conveys to you the reader. Rhyme- is repetition of the same sound Metaphor- the comparison of one thing to another Simile- the comparison of one thing to another through the use of like or as Personification- the giving of human qualities to nonhuman subjects Elements of Poetry

5. Poetry • Hyperbole- to express ideas forcefully through exaggeration • Alliteration- repetition of beginning sounds in successive syllables • Rhythm- a regular pattern of strong and weak units of sound. You can discover the rhythm of a poem by reading the poem aloud and clapping each sound as you read.

6. Elements of Poetry (cont.) • Onomatopoeia- a word, when pronounced, sounds like the sound it is describing • Irony- the unexpected happens • Assonance- poet repeats a vowel sound in a line of poetry • Symbol- an object that represents a larger idea.

7. Your group will be responsible for: Searching for a poem with group from a socio-historical time of your choice Creating a Power point presentation of this poem Write a brief summary of the poet’s biography What about the poet’s world might have inspired his or her words? What is the message the poet is trying to convey Guidelines for Major Assignment

8. Guidelines(cont.) • How did life experience impact the poet’s writing? • Every power point must include the following: • You must read and display the poem on the screen • Choose unfamiliar words, terms, or phrases to explain-at least 4 • Give at least 3 poetic devices used

9. Guidelines (cont.) • Analyze the poem/line by line • What is the message the author is trying to convey? • Make connections between the historical context, author’s personal experiences, and your group’s own interpretation of the poem’s meaning. • Due May 19, 2008

10. Steps for Reading and Analyzing a Poem • How to Read a Poem • Step 1: Read the poem through at least three times: • Step 2: Ask yourself questions about the speaker, situation, and subject: • Step 3: Look at patterns and poetic devices: • Step 4: So what does it all mean? What is the message? What is the point? • Analyzing of Poems comes next.

11. Steps for analyzing poems • Define any unfamiliar words or language. • Read through the poem at least twice. • Identify any literary terms. • Identify characters in the poem. • Decide if the poem tells a story. • If so, summarize the plot (sequence of events) of each stanza.

12. Analysis Cont. • Decide what the theme (major point, meaning or idea) of the poem is. • Establish a personal relationship with the poem. • How does this poem relate to me, my life, or my world.

13. Paul Laurence Dunbar • Dunbar was born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of former slaves. He began writing while still in high school. The only black student in his class, he became class president and class poet. He supported himself by working as an elevator operator, while he continued to write. Dunbar realized that he was not valued for the poems he considered to be his major work.

14. Paul Laurence Dunbar (cont.) His readers, who were chiefly whites preferred poems that reinforced the stereotypes of contented blacks living in harmony on Southern plantations. Dunbar wrote short stories and novels, but he is best remembered as a poet. He died from pneumonia in 1906. Paul Laurence Dunbar was the first African American poet to achieve national recognition.

15. We wear the mask that grins and lies, This debt we pay to human guile; With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, And mouth with myriad subtleties Why should the world be over-wise, In counting all our tears and sighs? Nay, let them only see us, while We wear the mask. We Wear the Maskby Paul Laurence Dunbar

16. We Wear the Mask (cont.) • We smile but, O great Christ, our cries • In thee from tortured souls arise. • We sing, but oh the clay is vile • Beneath our feet, and long the mile; • But let the world dream otherwise, • We wear the mask.

17. Guile- skillful deceit Myriad- a vast number Subtleties- so slight as to be difficult to detect Nay- No Tortured- to bring great physical or mental pain upon another. Vile- disgusting Mask- cover of some thing used to disguise the face Vocabulary

18. We wear the mask that grins and lies It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes This debt we pay to human guile; With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, And mouth with myriad subtleties We bear the faces that are always smiling but we’re not It hides the truth and keeps us from revealing the truth. This moral obligation we pay for human deceit. We hide our painful feelings by smiling. And speak with numerous statements. “Analyzing the Poem”

19. Why should the world be over-wise counting all our tears and sighs? Nay, let them only see us, while We wear the mask. We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries in thee from tortured souls arise. Why should the world be concerned with our tears and sighs? No, let them only see our false faces. We show false faces. We smile, but we are really crying from unhappiness in our hearts Analyzing the Poem (cont.)

20. In thee from tortured souls arise. We sing, but oh the clay is vile beneath our feet, and long the mile; But let the world dream otherwise, We wear the mask Souls with great physical or mental pain has arose. We sing, but have been considered low in worth, for a long, long time. But let the world pretend that’s not true, We cover our pain with smiles Analysis of Poem (cont.)

21. Poetic Devices • Rhyme- lies-eyes, guile-smile, wise-sighs • Repetition- We wear the mask • Personification- the mask that grins and lies/ of course a mask can’t grin or lie but it has be given human qualities

22. Plot of the Poem • This mask is used for the people in this poem to conceal their feelings or intentions from others. It is like they are putting on an act to protect their real feelings and thoughts. They hate hiding their feelings but they know they must. Paul Laurence Dunbar wrote this, I think, to tell about how African Americans hid their true feelings from the white people during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. They did it for many reasons and they felt the world knew the truth but wanted to hide it themselves.

23. The theme of this poem would be “every thing you see is not what it seems”. This poem is showing how people use “masks” as defenses or a false faces. It was very hard for the African Americans during that time but they didn’t show their true selves, instead they had to hide their true feelings. This was done for protection or pride. Theme and Summary