Spoon River Anthology Reading Assignment
Spoon River Anthology Reading Assignment
Edgar Lee Master's Spoon River Anthology was a commercial success when published in 1915. SRA shattered the myths of small town middle-American life. A collection of epitaphs of residents of a small town, a full understanding of Spoon River requires the reader to piece together narratives from fragments contained in individual poems.
The text is available as a book (six copies in the school library and certainly available at the public library.
Spoon River Anthology is available at the following web address:
Click on the term in blue the original order and you will find all of the poems.
Read all the poems including The Hilland The Spooniad
Individual activity: Read all the poems. One Poem is selected for students. Students are to select an additional poem. Task: memorize and perform them for the class. This is first come first served. Each poem will be performed only once. Students may use hand props, and costumes if desired.
Class Annotations:George Gray, Petit the Poet, Pauline Barrett, Minerva Jones, Richard Bone, Indignation Jones, Doctor Meyers, Mrs. Meyers andBarney Hainsfeather
Individual assignment: Print and annotate ten of the following Poems of your choice Students need to read all the poems, as they are cross referenced Ironic warning: generally, longer poems are generally much easier to annotate than short poems. Consult other poems in SRA for additional information about the characters.
Lucius Atherton, A.D. Blood, Nellie Clark, Mrs. Charles Bliss, Lois Spears and Willard Fluke, The Village Atheist, Willie Metcalf, Hannah Armstrong, Lucinda Matlock and Davis Matlock, Dora Williams, Abel Melveny, Benjamin Pantier, Mrs. Benjamin Pantier Shack Dye, Harry Wilmans, Anne Rutledge, Mabel Osborne, Rebecca Wasson, Elsa Wertman and Hamilton Green, Tom Beatty, Walter Simmons, Alexander Throckmorton, Eugene Carman, W. Lloyd Garrison Standard, Mrs. Merritt, Roscoe Purkapile and Mrs. Purkapile, Daisy Fraser and Aner Clute, Ollie McGee and Fletcher McGee, Knowlt Hoheimer and Lydia Pucket, Margaret Fuller Slack, Fiddler Jones then finally Yee Bow. You may select other characters, but see Mr. Fowler in advance.
Students are to answer these questions for all characters
Simple answers
Age, sex, occupation, education, marital status – Number of children and siblings.
The following must be answered in sentences and passages.--- offer proof from the poem as evidence.
What did they think of the town of Spoon River?
Who have they hated? Specifically, why did they hate the person?
Who have they loved? Who did you love best, and why? Did they ever feel guilt about love?
What is their Temperament?
How intelligent is the character?
What were their Interests or ambitions in life?
What did they want in life?
What did they believe in while alive?