Poetry Cycle Assignment Rita Dove
Reader Response to a Poem:
Select one of the poems in "Thomas and Beulah". How does the poem make you feel? In what ways can you relate to the poem? What has Rita Dove done with imagery, form, theme, rhythm, language, etc. to make this poem work? Any lines that particularly strike you as interesting or powerful? Think about poetic technique: enjambment, caesura, metaphor, simile, alliteration, assonance, consonance, linebreaking, stanzaic form, apostrophe, onomatopeaia, etc.
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Begin working on Poetry Cycle assignment:
Similar to Thomas and Beulah, consider some characters in your own life, imagined characters, or actual historical characters. Imagine the significant chronological dates in their lives--high points and low points. consider how to construct a series of 8-10 (preferably more) poems that tell a story (narrative poetry) and explore these key moments and occasions.
- a. Your poetry cycle should consist of 8-10 poems
- b. Your poetry cycle should be accompanied by a chronology to support the key dates and occasions you chose to write about.
- c. At least two of the poems should explore the same event from two different perspectives or viewpoints (like "Courtship" in Thomas and Beulah). These poems can have the same title.
- d. Place one poem per page, single-spaced, 12 point type in a clean font and be sure to title each poem. you may want to title the entire cycle as well. Use italics for dialogue, songs, memories, etc as you observe in Rita Dove's work. Experiment with different stanzaic forms and poetic styles.
- e. Poems can, of course, be narrative or lyric, but remember that the overall cycle is a narrative and must tell a story of a life or lives although we only see "fragments" or moments/snapsho
I found the poem "The Zeppelin Factory" to be especially profound, considering the subject matter. It was from Thomas' perspective, and depicted the tragedy that was the Akron Goodyear Blimp. Structurally, the poem consists of four octet stanzas, ending in italicized thought or dialogue. What really made the poem powerful was the evolution of tone within it. At the beginning of the poem, there is a sense of resigned excitement, as everyone is really eager to witness the blimp, even though most of the town blows it off as something that isn't that big of a deal. As the poem progresses and we learn what is truly happening the tone morphs into one of horror and shock, and even happiness; Thomas expressing his stunned joy that he is alive and well on the ground, unlike the unfortunate people falling to the ground. The very first stanza really sets up the poem because it provides a type of foreshadowing to what is depicted later on. "the zeppelin factory needed worker, all right- but, standing in the cage of the whale's belly, sparks flying off the joints and noise thundering. Thomas wanted to sit right down and cry." Immediately, the poem grabs your interest, because you don't know what the author is really trying to say, so you want to read more to find out what that is. That first stanza doesn't really make sense until the very end, and it's the kind of poem you have to read again to truly grasp it.
ReplyDeleteCourtship, the first part, is very enjoyable. This poem makes me think about how guys view things. Their perspective is completely different that the female mind. I can relate to this poem because there was this student who thought he was making his move on me; meanwhile, I was just completely horrified by his presents. It started out as me just being nice to him and making conversation. On the other hand, he was taking it WAY out of hand. Rita Dove dose have a sense of rhythm within her poems. Her theme is impeccable; all of her poems tell one huge story. They're all intertwined. The line that really stands out to me is, "But she won't set a foot in my Turtledove Nash", which basically means she won't set foot in his ar until their official. I liked that because back then rules were more strict. Ladies were more patient about going out with a boy. They were literal about "going steady". The way Rita Dove uses metaphors really complements her poetry cycle, story telling, and plot development.
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ReplyDeleteThe Charm"
ReplyDeleteThis poem starts with the flashback, "They called us the tater bug twins." This tells us two things. The first thing it tells us is that Thomas is thinking of his youth, and the second is that there is a second person being referenced, most likely Lem. The poem continues to say how they could "take a tune and chew it up, fling it to the moon for the crows to eat." This passage shows their talent and their youthfulness, most of which seems to have disappeared by the next stanza. In the next stanza, Thomas sees Lem "naked and swollen beneath the backyard tree." If they used to be the "tater bug twins," full of charm and song, and now one of them lies "naked and swollen," to a certain extent you wonder what happened to the other twin. Well, we know what happens to the other twin; "what I need is a drink." The last stanza is has a few strong family related images. "Sunday mornings fried fish and hominy...the canary sang more furious than ever." Thomas' home life is unhappy. Even as she's making him breakfast, Beulah is furious at him, further noting Thomas' fall from his previous state of being. The poem wraps up with a line of dialogue "I ain't dead. I just gave you my life." This is Lem talking to Thomas in his mind, telling him how he has now become a part of Thomas; he "gave him his life." The charm of his youth has faded, and now Thomas is left older, with an unhappy home life, memories of Lem, and the need to drink it away. That's the essence of this poem.
The poem "Variation of Pain" by Rita Dove makes me feel a bit sad. The mandolin that Thomas is holding reminds him of Lem, and therefore Lem is almost brought back from the dead through this instrument. I want to comfort Thomas as he is grieving for his friend. The only way I may be able to relate to this poem is it reminds me of hearing my dad play saxophone for the first time and thinking about the sound coming out of the instrument and how it worked. Rita Dove expresses the features of the Mandolin and how this is a variation of pain for Thomas. The mandolin is a simile for Thomas's pain; "Sounds quivered like a rope stretched clear to land, tensed and brimming, a man gurgling air." This is a strong quote because it becomes apparent how vivid Lem's death is in Thomas's head.
ReplyDeleteThe poem "Compendium" makes me feel somewhat sad for the speaker, because it seems like the he is giving something up. I can relate to the poem because I have given things up as well. Rita Dove mainly uses rhythm and language to make this poem work. The line, "He became a sweet tenor" is interesting to me because that could mean many things, but in the next line, "in the gospel choir" it reveals what the previous line is related to. In this way, Rita Dove uses enjambment to keep the poem interesting and flowing. Her stanza form, couplets in this poem, also develops the poem because if it was in a quatrain the feel of the poem would be extremely different.
ReplyDeleteThe poem "refrain" illustrates a small piece of a love story. It seems that in the poem Tom is serious about the love he is forming for Beula. His actions are directed towards her happiness and gaining her affection. By playing the same song at her window every night, Tom demonstrates the affection he has for Beula. Dove uses images of the drunken guilt Tom feels for his lost friend Lem. She also used images of sweet exchanges between Tom and Beula in order to demonstrate the love coming between them. The refrain of the poem isn't really a refrain but a song that Tom is supposed to be singing to Beula at her window. Dove writes this poem in quartets and strays from any modern punctuation. The voices of the characters are apparent in their actions. Perhaps Tom is finding love inorder to feel compensation for the loss of his friend.
ReplyDeleteThe poem "Aurora Borealis" is short and sweet. The poem describes Thomas exiting a movie theater. The feeling of the poem is quite melancholy. The poem is quite lyrical, with beautiful imagery such as "He is drowning and the darkness above him spits and churns." These vivid descriptions really get the despair that Thomas is feeling across to the reader. I can relate to the poem, because I always feel sad after leaving the movies too. Thomas realizes that he must go back to his real life, which is not as glamorous or as exciting as the lives of movie characters. The poem is structured in an interesting way. The first stanza is six lines, the second is five lines, the third is four, and the last is two. This makes the reader reflect on the feelings of Thomas.
ReplyDeleteThe poem "Thomas at The Wheel," is very strong. The first line "Tis, then, the river he had to swim," reminds us of the beginning of this book. This poem takes us back to when she tell us about the death of his best friend. She uses onomatopoeia in the end when she says "He heard sirens rise as the keys swung, ticking." In this poem he is suffering from a stroke. He was on his way to to the drug sore to have his prescription refilled. He believes that he will die. She says, "Thomas imagined his wife as she awoke missing him."
ReplyDeleteThe poem: Motherhood makes me feel as if I am present witnessing the event that is taking place, that Rita Dove has described taking place. I can relate to this poem to when my younger brother was a baby and how much I feared danger happening to him. The author used strong sensory elements also tons of imagery. An example of her use writing techniques are in the first lines which the author expresses: "She dreams the baby's so small she keeps misplacing it - it rolls from the hutch and the mouse carries it home, it disappears with his shirt in the wash. Then she drops it and it explodes like a watermelon, eyes spitting.
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ReplyDeleteThe poem Lightnin' Blues in the chapter Mandolin stuck out the most to me because of Rita Dove's use of imagery. For example, "... the wife gasped whenever lightening struck where it damn well pleased. Friday night, and he never sang better. The fish would be flashing like beautiful sequined cigars." This line in the poem made me feel as if I were there alongside watching the fish and listening to the "trickster" on the radio as well. Other than her creativity with imagery I found the poem very bland and simple.
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