Literary Focus: "America"

Students will learn how to properly read and interpret Claude McKay's poem by examining the "four pillars" of literary analysis:  diction, imagery, language, and syntax.  If time, students will also learn how poets use various poetic devices -- such as alliteration/assonance, rhyme/rhythm/meter, and parallel structure -- to establish tone and convey theme.  Finally, we will discuss how to structure an AP Poetry Analysis by using the rhetorical framework of Hegel’s dialectic.

Sample Agenda:

1.  Introduction:  

After class introductions, we will try to define what poetry is and how it is different from, and in some ways similar to, prose fiction.  Once we have discussed poetry in general terms, students will learn how to properly read a poem aloud by pausing and stopping when the punctuation dictates.   We will also discuss how poetry, as an art form, is meant to convey feeling and experience as much as thought.  With that in mind, students will then share their initial impressions of the poem as we discuss the poem's mood (i.e. the feelings inspired by the poem).

2.  Style Analysis:

We will begin our examination of the poem by defining the “four pillars” of style analysis:  diction, imagery, language, and syntax.  Once we have defined these elements, we will to identify as many examples as possible and discuss how poets use these elements to establish tone (i.e. the speaker’s attitude or feeling towards the subject) and convey theme (i.e. the poet’s meaning or message about the subject).  If we have time, we will also explore how various poetic devices -- such as alliteration/assonance, rhyme/rhythm/meter, and parallel structure -- reinforce the tone and theme.

3.  Hegel’s Dialectic:

If we have any remaining time in the class, we will discuss how students might structure an AP Poetry Analysis essay by introducing the rhetorical framework of Hegel’s dialectic, which follows a thesis/antithesis/synthesis progression.  Students will identify the central tension of the poem (i.e. thesis vs. the antithesis), and then discuss how the tension is resolved at the end of the poem (i.e. synthesis). 

4.  Conclusion:

As class concludes, we will re-emphasize that poetry is as much about emotion and experience as it is about intellectual thought.  Nonetheless, we should come away from reading a great poem with a new awareness, understanding, or appreciation of the subject being addressed.  We will reinforce how great literature -- whether it is fiction, drama, or poetry -- should be a transformative experience for readers, where we no longer see the world in quite the same way because of the writer’s impact on us.  Before students leave class, they will share how the poem has potentially changed their perspective on the subject.