English 102: Poetry Anthology and Presentation
The Anthology:
For this assignment, you will be putting together your own anthology of poems just as the editor of has done in the poetry section of that book. Unlike the texthowever, your poems must relate to one another through theme and/or subject matter. For instance, you can choose poems exploring or depicting familial relationships, the seasons, religion, rejection, human relationships with animals (no, not like that), ecstatic experiences, politics, or even hair.
You will quickly discover that this assignment is a bit different than the more traditional essays that you have been writing, and it will allow you more freely to explore the work of contemporary poets without having to worry about “understanding” what the poet is trying to say.
Requirements:
- For your anthology, you must choose 8 poems by 8 different poets that you like and possibly understand (or want to understand). There is one major requirement for the assignment—6 of the 8 poems that you choose must have been written after 1960. These poems will be more relevant to your own experience and the times in which we live.
- To choose the poems for your anthology, you will look through poetry collections and anthologies on reserve in the library, resources available at other libraries. You may also choose one poem by someone you know who writes poetry, but you can’t use one of your own poems. That defeats the purpose of the assignment.
- You must type these poems (no copies of a page from a book). You may write out the poem by hand if it serves some aesthetic purpose.
- With each poem, include the title, author, and either the date of composition or publication.
- You must also include a critical commentary in which you interpret/explicate each poem. There are several ways in which you can respond to the poem:
- Explain the historical or cultural context and how it is important to the poem.
- Explicate an image or symbol in the poem.
- Explain the meaning of the title.
- Explain the theme of the poem, especially if it is a theme shared with several other poems in your anthology.
- Explain how this poem “speaks to you.”
- Discuss the emotional impact of the poem and how it creates that impact.
- Please remember that your responses will be graded on content as well as grammar and sentence structure.
- Each critical commentary should be about 200 words.
- You must also organize the poems in your anthology in some thoughtful and deliberate order, something other than chronological or alphabetical order.
- You should also try to be creative and original in binding your poems. Don’t just stuff them into a manila envelope or pocket folder. Think about the type of paper you use, illustrations to accompany the poems, and even the font type used for the anthology.
Format:
Other Restrictions:
- Each poem must be by a different poet. You can use no more than one song lyric in your anthology, and they must be by different songwriters.
- You must have at least 5 different sources for your poems. You can’t just get them from a single source, such as the Bedford Introductionto Literature.
- All poems must be published in a book.
- Do not look to other sources to explain the meanings of the poems. That will cause you to fail the assignment. I want you to provide your own response to each of the poems in your anthology.
The Presentation:
You will explain to the class the theme or focus of your anthology and then read one of the poems from your anthology and explain what it means, especially as it relates to your decision to select it for your anthology. Each presentation should be about 7-10 minutes.
The due dates for the anthology and presentation are noted in the syllabus.
20% of your grade