Shelley & Keats

As we continue through our poetry work, you may have noted that class began with a review of all the feet, meter, stanzas, and rhymes. For those of you "passing" at this point, this is non-negotiable material that you have to know. As we continued through the poetry packet, more poetry terms popped up: apostrophe (hello, old friend from our previous Donne poems), enjambment, and caesura. All three of these elements are of consequence to poetry and necessary to know the definition, be able to pick out in a poem, and analyze the significance of this addressee. The poetry packet sets up all of this knowledge in a helpful manner by giving definitions and pointing out passages (quite obviously at times) where to find these elements. With such an aid in your hands, you have the companion to teach you the poetic terms and styles and keep utilizing these devices throughout all of our poetry work - including Shakespare and MC, both to begin this week at some point! Jeez, I have a lot of copies to make!

2: We made it through the Odes and are partially through our Elegies, which will continue with "Adonais" next time. I know you are all just biding your time until the dramatic monologue, but we have to do the lugubrious poems first! Make sure you are completing your poetry packet and actively engaging with the poems and the given questions and suggestions for interpretations.

4: We are currently finished with the Lyrics and are almost so with our Ode, which we will finish up next time before going into the Elegies and the Dramatic Monologue. We had a great class today, so keep up with the packet and be prepared to answer all questions relating to the poems. I was actually on fairly good behavior regarding Shelley in your class, so we shall see if that continues into "Adonais."

7: Hmm...I'm going to try for a little clairvoyancy prior to class starting or ending, so I will use my earlier experiences today to predict our class agenda and our plans for next time around. I have a strong feeling that we will work with Lyrics today - from the poetry packet and the textbook samples - and will start working with Odes (even if it is Shelley and not Keats in this circumstance). For next class, continue with the Elegy and Dramatic Monologue in the packet.