Slam Poetry

1. k done

2. I chose "Pretty" by Katie Makkai. This poem has the theme of girls wanting to have a "perfect" appearance. It tells of mothers doing all they can to make this happen - to make their daughters hideously beautiful. The poem shows the lengths some females will go to in order to be "pretty". The thinking is that being being beautiful and wearing the right clothes will enhance their future and make them more appealing to potential partners. For some, it is an endless quest.


3. I hope I'm doing this right. I have decided to name it "Human":

It is a rather sad fact
That the human species
Comes to despise even the smallest differences
Within its brothers and sisters
Why must one be hated
For such trivial things
As gender, skin color, or even
Subjectively unusual interests
I find it to be rather mind-boggling
Even when it can be explained
By the simple fact of our evolution
Millenia ago, in fields and caves
Discrimination may have kept us safe
From once unknown dangers; but now
All it does is tear us apart
And reject those who would be friends
It has no home in modern times
And yet it stubbornly carries on
Not only in the hearts of the ignorant
But in the best of us, even against our will
Diversity among our peers
Does not exist to be shunned
But to be embraced
Not as impurities
But that which makes us wholly human

Legends And Stories

• The Forsaken - Duncan Campbell Scott (Theme & Image Book 1. Page 24)
• The Ice-Floes - E. J. Pratt (Theme & Image Book 1. Page 27)
• David - Earle Birney (Theme & Image Book 1. Page 32)

1. Write a paragraph that discusses the themes of survival and sacrifice in The Forsaken.
In the poem, the young woman shows great courage and initiative as she travels to a fort for help and shelter. Although she is very cold and there is a raging snowstorm, she stops on a frozen lake and tries to catch fish for herself. Survival for herself and her sick baby, whom she keeps warmly wrapped, is all she cares about. She is reduced to using a piece of her own flesh as bait; this sacrifice enables her to obtain food. Walking through the terrible storm with the danger of wolves close by shows her determination to survive her ordeal. Even when she becomes very old and her family no longer wants her, she shows a great inner strength, and there are no complaints when they walk away from her. She accepts her fate - a chilly death in the snow - with the same calmness that helped her to survive many years prior.

2. Write a paragraph that explains the harsh irony of The Ice-Floes.
In the poem, the sailors felt good about slaughtering the seals. "The day was ours, and our pulses stirred" (stanza 2, line 10). They were so engrossed with their bloody killing that they failed to see signs of a storm. "And not one of us saw, as we gaffed, and skinned, / And took them in tow, that the north-east wind / Had veered off-shore; that the air was colder;" (stanza 7, lines 15 to 17). The sailors tried to reach their ship, but the ice started to crack, and some of the men were carried away and lost. In the end, they lost sixty men. The harsh irony is that the sailors could not escape the storm as easily as the seals, which could go under the ice using bobbing holes. Additionally, the seals were quite used to such conditions. On the surface, they were vulnerable, but the sea was their home. With the coming of a storm, the roles reversed, and it was the sailors who then became vulnerable to the elements.

3. Write a paragraph that describes Birney's technique of foreshadowing in the poem David.
Birney's technique of foreshadowing in this poem is evident in two places. First, there is a dead goat's skeleton (section 3, stanza 4). This hints at the danger of climbing there, as mountain goats are very good at traversing mountainous terrain. Second, David's slaughter of an injured bird (section 5, stanza 3) shows his attitude toward such situations. His thinking appears to be that life is not worth living when one's body has been injured too much to live normally. This theme is repeated at the end when David says "Bob, I want to go over!" (section 8, stanza 6). Due to his fall, his ability to walk (and climb) is likely crippled or gone altogether.

4. Embed a video that features information about one of these poets or poems.

People And Places

Warren Pryor – A. Nowlan (Theme & Image Book 1. Page 13)

1. What work is done by Warren’s family?
Warren's family runs a small farm.

2. How did Warren represent their hopes and dreams?
Warren represented their hopes and dreams because they did not want him to have to toil on the land as they had. They were proud of the fact that he graduated and would be able to better himself.

3. Explain the allusion used in the third stanza (see p. 215). What is the poem’s setting?
This allusion comes from line 3 of section 5 in the Hebrew bible's 23rd psalm. It was used in the poem to show how happy and content Warren's parents were when he went to work at the bank. They could not have asked for a better son.

Although the setting is not specified in the poem, I think it might be New Brunswick due to Mr. Nolan's moving there in 1952. I have heard that it has red soil, which is mentioned in the poem (stanza 3, line 4).

4. Identify the metaphor in the second stanza and the simile in the fourth stanza.
The metaphor in stanza 2 is in the third line. It refers to Warren's graduation scroll as "his passport from the years of brutal toil". The scroll is being compared to a passport that would take him away from the school and the back-breaking work of the farm.

The simile in the fourth stanza is line 2: "like a young bear inside his teller's cage,". This simile is saying that Warren was as a caged bear - restless and perhaps not very friendly.

5. Explain the situational irony of "Warren Pryor".
The situational irony of Warren Pryor is that his parents, wanting only the best for their sun, unwittingly forced him into a situation where he was not comfortable or happy. He did everything that they wanted him to do, but in the end, he was not content with his lifestyle.

6. Create hyperlinks to online definitions for the terms allusion, metaphor, simile, and situational irony in the questions above.
 - allusion
 - metaphor
 - simile
 - situational irony

National Identity

The Lonely Land – by A. J. M. Smith (Theme & Image Book 1. Page 3)

1. What types of imagery can you identify in this poem?
The types of imagery that I can identify in this poem are:
 - visual - the description of the sky (stanza 1, lines 3 and 4)
 - auditory - the wild duck's calling (stanza 2, lines 1 to 7)
 - kinaesthetic - the lapping of the water (stanza 2, line 10) and the whirling sky (stanza 1, line 9)

2. What forms of life inhabit the lonely land?
The forms of life mentioned are:
 - cedar/fir tree (stanza 1, line 1)
 - pine tree (stanza 1, line 10)
 - wild duck (stanza 2, line 1)
 - wild duck's mate (stanza 2, line 2)

3. Which three adjectives used by Smith do you think best portray the strength and beauty of the land he describes? Give your reasons for selecting each one.
The first adjective that I have chosen is gray (stanza 1, line 3). I think it is important because the sky color helps to set the mood/tone of the landscape that is being visualized.

The second adjective that I have chosen is ragged (stanza 2, line 3). I think it says that the duck has been calling for quite a while with no response. This adds to the loneliness of the land.

My third choice is wind-battered (stanza 3, line 8). It adds to the visual image of a desolate and wind-swept landscape.

4. Embed two images on your blog that illustrate lines of the poem. Caption each image with the lines represented from the poem.

in the lapping of water / on smooth, flat stones

against the gray / and cloud-piled sky