Pre-AP English II: Poems for IWA 3.1 ("Richard Cory")

Use these two poems to address the prompt for IWA 3.1 ("Richard Cory").

Richard Cory
by Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869–1935)

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich—yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.



Richard Cory
by Paul Simon (1941- )

They say that Richard Cory owns one half of this whole town,
With political connections to spread his wealth around.
Born into society, a banker's only child,
He had everything a man could want: power, grace, and style.

[Chorus]
But I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.

The papers print his picture almost everywhere he goes:
Richard Cory at the opera, Richard Cory at a show.
And the rumor of his parties and the orgies on his yacht!
Oh, he surely must be happy with everything he's got.

[Chorus]

He freely gave to charity, he had the common touch,
And they were grateful for his patronage and thanked him very much,
So my mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read:
"Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head."

[Chorus]

Pre-AP English II: IWA #3.1 ("Richard Cory")

The images and word choices an author chooses have a direct impact on their readers’ moods. In a well-developed essay analyze and explore how Edwin Arlington Robinson and Paul Simon use diction and imagery to build narrative tone and consequently evoke different responses from the reader.

Tips to success:

Focus on both of the poems. Focusing on only Robinson’s or Simon’s poem will immediately result in a REDO grade (no points). Your conclusion should reveal how the speakers’ different choices of words and images result in different reader responses.

Do not simply recount the plot or attributes of the characters (speaker, Richard Cory, etc.). You must specify what tone(s) the speakers reveal through their selections of images and words and what reaction(s)—mood(s)—they produce in a hypothetical, typical reader. Extensive lack of focus on diction and imagery will result in a REDO grade (no points), not a REWRITE (70 points).

The earlier you turn in a draft that you expect to earn an 70 (only revision is needed) the more likely you are to eventually receive an 70 (your idea of what is revision-only and my idea of what is revision-only may differ) or higher (because you’ve refined your essay on your own before you turned it in).

This will be the last time a70-point grade will be given on an IWA. Last year many students who had never bothered to rewrite an essay during the first semester had a very difficult time during the second semester when an 85 was required to avoid P.A. and/or IWA n.1.

This is also the last time IWAs may be turned in handwritten. Please see the note on the bonus in the next paragraph.

Paper should be about two-pages long, handwritten, or one-page long, typed, double spaced, 12-point Times New Roman or Garamond. Five bonus points will be awarded to properly typed essays.



Daily P.A. for all students writing IWA 3.1 begins Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Drop-Dead Deadline: Tuesday, January 24, 2012.

P.A. will be assigned every day (including ACP test days) until a grade of 70 is achieved.

Pre-AP English II: Timed Writing Preview for 12/9

Tomorrow in class you will receive a copy of the poem "Digging" by Seamus Heaney. You will be asked to use the text of the poem to address the following prompt:

Texts often reveal how subjects like traditions may change on the surface but still keep a link to the past. Using the text of the poem “Digging,” discuss how the poet Seamus Heaney uses imagery and diction to provide a link between his life and those of his father and grandfather.

You will have all class period and be allowed to use dictionaries and any dialectical journal entries you care to write about the poem this evening.

English I (Pre-AP): Poem/Alchemist Paragraph

When you have finished analyzing (TPCASTTing) your poem, write a 5-7 sentence paragraph addressing the following prompt.

How does your song lyric relate to a major theme of The Alchemist (either the Principle of Favorability, The World’s Greatest Lie, or one or more of the Obstacles to achieving your Personal Legend)? Quote both the song and the novel.

English I (Pre-AP): "Personal Legend" Song

In class today we looked at Randy Stonehill's "The Dying Breed" and discussed how it shared some thematic ideas with The Alchemist. Prior to performing some poetry analysis next week, you need to find your own song lyric that deals with Coelho's idea of a Personal Legend (or the Man-vs-Society conflicts that emerge when an individual pursues his or her destiny).

Remember: you should not "follow the crowd" when finding your lyrics. Your grade drops 10 percent for every other person who submits the same song (i.e., if you and another person turn in the same song, both get 90%; if five people turn in the same song, each gets a 60%).

Also, black out all but the first letter of curse words. If your song has more than five black scratch-outs, you need to find another song. Your Personal Legend does not involve being a potty mouth.

If possible, I'll share/play the songs (or parts of them) in class so we all get an idea of the songs you've picked.

Here's the Randy Stonehill song again: "The Dying Breed."

Due date: Tuesday, October 18.

Pre-AP English II: Timed Writing on "Poetry"

Take about 10 minutes to annotate your copy of the poem we looked at earlier this week. Then, in half an hour, write an analytical essay based on the following prompt.

In Pablo Neruda's "Poetry," how does the poet use literary devices -- such as, but not limited to, alliteration, hyperbole, metaphor, paradox, or personification -- to convey poetry’s power/ability to transform one’s life?

English I (Pre-AP): Literary Devices in "Poetry"

In class we will be examining Pablo Neruda's "Poetry" to find the literary devices he used.

If you don't have your copy from class, print out another copy from this earlier blog post, then annotate it by underlining such things as:

• simile (a comparison using like or as),


• metaphor (a comparison NOT using like or as),


• alliteration (words close to each other beginning with the same sound),


• onomatopoeia (sound effects/sound imagery),


• personification (giving human attributes to non-human things),


• diction (words chosen because their meaning hold special significance),


• oxymoron (a two-word phrase like "jumbo shrimp" or "pretty ugly" that appears to contradict itself, but is true)


• paradox (a self-contradictory statement that nevertheless holds truth: "Socrates: The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." "Chang-Tzu: Happiness is the absence of striving for happiness.")


• hyperbole (extreme exaggeration)


• allusion (reference to a literary/historical character or event, for the purpose of drawing a comparison)


• etc.

"Poetry" by Pablo Neruda

After reading the poem, below, find a word or phrase that describes how you feel now, at the beginning of this school year. Copy down that word or phrase and then write why it applies to your life.

Poetry
by Pablo Neruda

And it was at that age… Poetry arrived
in search of me. I don't know, I don't know where
it came from, from winter or a river.
I don't know how or when,
no they were not voices, they were not
words, nor silence,
but from a street I was summoned,
from the branches of night,
abruptly from the others,
among violent fires
or returning alone,
there I was without a face
and it touched me.

I did not know what to say, my mouth
had no way
with names,
my eyes were blind,
and something started in my soul,
fever or forgotten wings,
and I made my own way,
deciphering
that fire,
and I wrote the first faint line,
faint, without substance, pure
nonsense,
pure wisdom
of someone who knows nothing,
and suddenly I saw
the heavens
unfastened
and open,
planets,
palpitating plantations,
shadow perforated,
riddled
with arrows, fire and flowers,
the winding night, the universe.

And I, infinitesimal being,
drunk with the great starry
void,
likeness, image of
mystery,
felt myself a pure part
of the abyss,
I wheeled with the stars,
my heart broke loose on the wind.

(From: 'Memorial de Isla Negra')

We will ALL be sharing our responses out loud, in front of the class.