AP LITERATURE POETRY STUDY:

UNIT OVERVIEW

Hilliard

WHAT IS POETRY?

Overview:

“Poetry is the music of the soul,” is an often-quoted sentiment. Every time I see that quote I think to myself it’s something like that. That thought is quotedall over the place – Pinterest, decorative pillows, tattoos, diary covers, classroom walls, and so on.I’m not sure how I would describe poetry myself, and I’ve spent more time than the average person thinking about it. About as close as I’ve gotten to talking about poetry goes like this –it can hit you and hurt you, it can speak for and about you, and you can feel it and live it. (“But I must also feel it as a man.” That’s Macduff from Macbeh, and it’s also poetry. Case in point!)

Some of the most interesting people I know have favorite poems, and almost everybody else has a favorite song. I think there’s a reason for that. I’m really interested in your reasons for that. Anyway, that famous quote that you may have heard before is only half of what Voltaire said. It actually goes, “Poetry is the music of the soul, and, above all, great and feeling souls.” Now that’s poetry, and you are great and feeling souls.

GOALS:

-Determine why we read, write, and study poetry

-Consider why poetry endures

-Increase cultural literacy by studyingcanonized poetry

-Explain why poetry is a part of history and culture

-Learn and apply more strategies for text annotation

-Have reliable strategies for reading and interpreting a problematic text

-Read poetry deeply for nuance and meaning

-Understand and analyze poetry techniques

-Evaluate a poet’s choices and how those choices make meaning

-Interpret poetry using universal domain specific vocabulary

-Gain independence and confidence in reading and interpreting poetry

-Use poetry as a means of deepening text analysis

-Prepare for the AP Literature and Composition exam

Texts:

100 Best Loved Poems, Dover Thrift, edited by Phillip Smith

Handouts and ancillary materials provided in class

Daily Journals & Journal Explodes:

Daily Journals:

Daily journals are now an essential part of class. It is very important that you are exploring poetry through writing. Please follow procedure by coming in, taking out your journal, and responding to the prompt on the board.

Journal Explode Essays:

Please refer to your notes, but in short, Journal Explode essays are:

A one-page essay due every other Friday on a rotating basis

An “explosion” or expansion of one journal prompt of your choosing

A means of writing to understand

Routine and self-directed

End Unit & Formal Assessments:

  • AP timed writing
  • Poetry explication (essay or project)
  • Poetry Capstone Project

Final Thoughts:

This is a class for poetry study, but that does not mean – will never mean that what I hope for my students is, to quote Billy Collins, to“torture a confession out of [poetry]…to find out what it really means.” Whitman would haunt my dreams if that were so.

I encourage you to discover poetry on your own. What we do in class should only open doors. I encourage you to crack a book, visit a web site, or ask a friend or teacher. I encourage you to take advantage of digital media’s apps and podcasts andsubscriptions. I encourage you to be your own barometer, to measure the depth and feeling of poetry by your experiences and observations, and to recognize when you might not appreciate a poem because of your of experiences and observations. Again I encourage you to find the small beautiful thing.

I hope many things for you students, but I do truly hope that you will one day walk around with lines of poetry in your head “that you can commit to memory…so [you can] give [yourself] the shivers at will.” I hope that you one day claim a favorite poet, and I hope that one day later that favorite poet changes again and again and again. I hope you find in poetry a warm embrace or a hot cup of tea or a good meal.

All this and much more, because…

Poetry is important.