Poetry: You will analyze five poems and write one

AP Literature and Composition

Summer Reading Project 2008

I. The Diary

The first one or two pages (typed, double-spaced) will consist of answers to the following questions:

What are the elements of tragedy and a tragic hero according to Aristotle in his Poetics?
What is a tragic flaw/hamartia? (371)
What is hubris? (371)
What is catharsis? (371)
What is an archetype?
What is the archetypal hero according to Carl Jung?
What is the archetypal hero according to Joseph Campbell?
Compare and contrast the elements of a common hero according to 20^th century thought and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller to Aristotle’s tragic hero.
Define the following terms: orchestra, trilogy, Dionysus, The Sphinx, Greek Chorus, dialogue, dramatic irony, verbal irony, situational irony, prologue, parodos, choral odes, exodos, reversal of fortune, strophe, antistrophe, the Furies, personification, tone, diction, extended metaphor, flashback, suspense, paradox, foreshadowing, Bacchus,
What is an Oedipus Complex? What psychoanalyst coined the phrase?

The third page will consist of critical review of Oedipus Rex. Look up literary criticism of the written (not performed) play. Make sure you site the source.

Read Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. You may purchase the play or check it out from me. I will also place some copies in the ANS library. It’s also online.
You will write five diary entries (one-half page typed, double-spaced in length each—five pages total) from the character’s point of view for:

Oedipus (mandatory)
Chorus or Jocasta (choose one).

Entry 1=Exposition
Entry 2=Crisis/Conflict/Inciting Incident
Entry 3=Structural climax (or turning point). It occurs roughly halfway through the work.
Entry 4=Dramatic climax (or decisive point for the fortunes of the protagonist). It occurs near the end.
Entry 5=Denouement (tying up of loose ends)/Resolution
You must write using the grammar and language of the character.
You must include symbols, themes (see p. 305), motifs, metaphors, imagery, irony, and similes in your entries.
It is a good idea to include dialogue. Make sure you know how to punctuate dialogue correctly.
The diary must have a cover that includes the title, author, a “blurb” about the play, creative & artistic & symbolic illustrations. I should “experience” the essence of the play just from looking at the cover. In order to be creative, one must have a complete understanding of the text. Remember, I want you to reach….

II. The Screenplay

1. Read 1984 by George Orwell. Check out the novel from me.

2. One of the most enjoyable aspects of 1984 is its vivid portrayal of character, theme, and action. Select one of the scenes (chapters) from the novel and write a screenplay for a film version of the scene.

3. Your script should include not only dialogue but also notes on costumes, casting choices, and special effects that you think would contribute to an effective film version of the scene.

4. Because the themes of 1984 are relevant to today’s world, you will set your film in 2006.

5. Scripts must by 4-5 pages in length, typed, font size 12.

6. Make sure your scene reflects Orwell’s themes, symbols, and characters.

7. Site for How to Write a Screenplay: http://www.dvshop.ca/dvcafe/writing/beginners.html

III. Poetry

Literary Term Sites:

http://web.cocc.edu/lisal/literaryterms/index.html

http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/

http://www.tarleton.edu/~jweatherby/glossary.html

You will analyze three poems and write one.

? See attachment for analysis questions to be completed on EACH

poem.

? Writing—you must write one poem based on the style of one of the poets

you chose. See—you are already “reaching beyond your grasp.”J

? Site for poems: http://www.vulgarian.net/ipa/20th/index.htm

? 1 = Shakespearean sonnet of your choice

? Choose one poet from the following list and choose a poem

from that poet:

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Marianne Moore

Maya Angelou

T.S. Eliot

Maxine Kumin

Vachel Lindsey

Amy Lowell

T. S. Eliot

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Allan Ginsberg

Nikki Giovanni

Archibald MacLeish

Louis MacNeice

Rudyard Kipling

Gwendolyn Brooks

Ogden Nash

Conrad Aiken

W. H. Auden

Dorothy Parker

Boris Pasternak

Sara Teasdale

Howard Nemerov

Imamu Amiri Baraka

Robert Lowell

Langston Hughes

Sylivia Plath

Anne Sexton

Adrienne Rich

William Carlos Williams

Elizabeth Bishop

Robert Frost

Poetry Analysis

You should have a working knowledge of the literary terms found in the questions below. If you do not, you must have before you begin class. These are just the beginning and you must be able to write about these on the AP exam.

1. Give a brief biography of the poet. What in the poet’s background influenced him or her to write this poem?

2. Who is the speaker? What kind of person is the speaker?

3. Is there an identifiable audience for the speaker? What can we know about it (her, him, or them)?

4. What is the occasion?

5. What is the setting in time (hour, season, century, and so on)?

6. What is the setting in place (indoors or out, city or country, land or sea, region, nation, hemisphere)?

7. What is the central purpose of the poem? To…

8. State the central idea or theme of the poem in a sentence.

9. Paraphrase the poem.

10. Discuss the imagery of the poem. What kinds of imagery are used? Is there a structure of imagery?

11. Point out examples of metaphor, simile, personification, and explain their appropriateness.

12. Point out and explain any symbols. If the poem is allegorical, explain the allegory.

13. Point out and explain examples of paradox, overstatement, understatement, and irony. What is their function?

14. Point out and explain any allusions? What is their function?

15. What is the tone of the poem? How is it achieved?