SP 24 1022.70 & 73 Week 12 Assignment Sheet (Apr.

1-3)No Classes APR 4

Readings: ***Chapter 15, pp.529-551 Literature and the Writing Process

“Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden pp. 677-678 Literature and the Writing Process

*Please Note: The poem noted above was assigned last week*

Written Assignments: There is no formal written assignment due this week.

***** I have EXTENDED the DUE DATE for your next written assignment on Critical Analysis of the
Poem, Those Winter Sundays, to Week 14: MONDAY, APRIL 15nd, 5 p.m.
For now, you do have some reading and quite a bit of thinking to do regarding this week’s reading
assignment Chapt. 15 and working with last week’s assigned poem as listed above. I believe that if
you concentrate on this week’s reading assignments you will be nearly prepared for your next writing
assignment, so “Read Carefully” and “Think Hard.”

Important Things I Need to Discuss With You

This course is not a literature course even though you are reading short story and poetry. This course
is a composition course, Comp 2, a course in which you are learning how to analyze, think critically,
and then write about what you have read in short story and poetry. How is this connected to the goal
of the course? Even though in short story, the “narrator” may be fictitious, they still are privy to a
situation, a conflict, and are searching for a way to resolve an issue. In poetry, the “speaker” is
analogous to the “narrator” in short story, and is looking to relate an experience or event and find a
deeper meaning and/or a solution to a situation that is relevant to the lives of the reader. This is not
so different from what we encounter in real life situations, whether personal or professional, when
someone is relating information, exposing an issue or a problem, and asking for us to believe that the
issue is real and/or relevant, or to convince us that something needs to be done in order to effect a
change. Think about a manager, a politician, a parent, a partner, or even a friend as they present
their issues and challenge us to find answers or look for a solution, or, at the very least, understand
their point. Understanding an issue, knowing what has happened, and knowing why we agree or
disagree are the most important concepts any of us can learn from critically reading and writing about
literature.

You are being asked to consider many things in your assigned readings:
Narrator (in Short Story) and Speaker (in Poetry), These are simply different names for the same
concept.

Setting (in Short Story) and Occasion (in poetry): Again, different names for the same concept.

*Other terms often remain the same for both short story and poetry: tone, symbol, imagery, irony,
etc.,

Although Format is different for both short story and poetry, the most important thing to remember is
that Format is simply the writer’s way of expressing their ideas, ideas and issues which essentially are
the same no matter how they are presented. In real life situations, the “Format” will take on many
shapes, be it a conversation, a formal speech, a written communication, but the purpose will remain
the same. Your friend, your partner, your colleague at work, or your manager, and even a politician
will present information to you in order to explain, convince, or argue a point. And that is why it is
important that we understand all the nuances of what we read or hear. We need to be able to
critically analyze and understand all the information that we are being given as well as understand
what is influencing us to think the way we do, act the way we do, and agree or disagree based on a
clear understanding of what we have heard or read whether it comes to us as we read fiction or as
information we receive in real life settings such as we encounter in our personal, social, academic or
professional lives.

*****Chapter 15 gives you a lot of information which is very specific to the intricacies of poetry. For
now, I would like you to not worry so much about the difference between all those terms (such as
alliteration and assonance for example, two very specifically poetic terms), but to sharpen your skill
at Recognizing the Following:

“WHO” is speaking in the poem? Some students think the speaker is always the poet him or herself,
but that is NOT the case. Sometimes poets write through the voice and experience of a character
very different from him or herself.

“What” is the occasion? It is important to remember that a poem focuses very closely on a singular
event, a much smaller concept of setting, whereas a short story can span a much longer time period
and multiple events.

Is the poet speaking “Figuratively” or “Literally”? These are terms we talked about in the short story
section, and they become even more meaningful when we analyze poetry. This is why it is SO
important to Explicate the poem, line by line, very carefully so we are confident that we understand
what is really happening.

Watch carefully for such things as words or images that create “Tone” as well as situations where the
poet may be creating a sense of irony or paradox in order to make their point.

As in short story, poetry has a Theme as well. Often, in poetry, the theme can be found in the last line
or lines of the poem. It may be clearly stated, or the poet may choose to state their theme hidden in
an ironic statement that seems to make no sense in relation to what happens in the poem. Do not let
this fool you. Even in real life, we sometimes offer a sarcastic statement in order to emphasize strong
feelings. For example, when someone who has just spent 24 hours studying for an exam without
sleeping, he or she may be asked if they are tired and respond, “No. Not at all,” when in reality they
are exhausted but can find no better way to express it other than through expressing the opposite of
what they mean, or sarcasm.

Please apply these principles as you read the assigned poem, “Those Winter Sundays.” For now,
“Don’t worry about the highly detailed, poetic terms from Chapter 15”; rather, think about the points
I made above as you look for theme and meaning in that poem: (Scroll Down for important points to
consider)
Who is speaking? What is the occasion? What is the tone and what images/words in the poem create
that tone? Are we to read this poem literally or figuratively? Or both? And finally, what is the theme
and where do we find it?

I really hope you enjoy the assignment. “Those Winter Sundays” is a beautiful
poem and well worth reading. Next week I will provide more information,
prompts, and format requirements for you in the Week 13 D2L post.

For Now, Happy Reading! And focus mostly on “explicating” the poem as you
begin your Critical Analysis of a Poem, Essay 2.