25 Jan In this thread, we’re going to be discussing how formal elements are significant to the meaning or effects of poems
In preparation for this discussion, please read “Responding to Poetry” (746-753) and the following poems:
“Richard Cory,” “Those Winter Sundays,” “The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica,” “Poem,” “We Real Cool,” and “Exchanging Hats.”
In this thread, we’re going to be discussing how formal elements are significant to the meaning or effects of poems. To participate in this discussion, first work through one of the poems listed above using the “Responding to Poetry” steps in the textbook (746-753) and incorporate at least one of your observations from this activity into the class discussion. For instance, what do you notice about the sentence structure, sentence length, word order, line length, stanza breaks and organization, or title of the poem as it relates to the larger effect or meaning of the poem? If you’re having difficulty coming up with an observation or claim about a poem, try rewriting the poem as a paragraph, changing its title, and lengthening or shortening lines or sentences to see if it helps to reveal the effects of different aspects of a poem. If other students have already commented on the aspect of a poem you studied, reply to their posts to build upon them or explain how a detail might be interpreted differently.
