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Narrative Poetry

Narrative Poetry

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Focus on the Action:
    - They have plots in which conflicts arise between characters.
    - The action rises to its climax, and the conflict is resolved.

Keep an Eye on the Characters:

•         Characters determine action.

Consider generalizations and conclusions that may be drawn from your reading.

•         The truth of this idea transcends the narrative.

•         The generalization in the poem tells us what the narrative has dramatized concretely.

•         Think of fables or stories that have a moral.


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"The Skater of Ghost Lake," by William Rose Benét

William Rose Benét

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William Rose Benét (February 2, 1886 – May 4, 1950) was an American poet, writer, and editor.

He was the older brother of Stephen Vincent Benét and the husband of the American poet Elinor Wylie.

He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and educated at Yale University.

•         He founded the The Saturday Review of Literature in 1924 and was an editor and columnist for the magazine until his death.

•         His works include Merchants from Cathay (1913), Moons of Grandeur (1920), With Wings as Eagles (1940), and The Dust Which Is God (1941), which received the 1942 Pulitzer Prize for poetry. 

•         It was for his ability to incorporate music, fantasy, an d vigor into his work that William Rose Benet was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.

About the poem:

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Benet’s attitude, his serious and mysterious tone, is clear.
•         The Sounds
•         The Choice of Details
•         His Solemn words
–        They all say:
•         “Listen, there’s a mystery here.”


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Elinor Wylie
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William Rose Benet
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"Casey at Bat," by

"The Death of the Hired Man," by Robert Frost

Robert Frost

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http://harleyinspiration.blogspot.com/2011_11_16_archive.html

Analysis:

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•         This poem contains many of the stereotypical characteristics of Frost’s poetry, particularly:
–         the rural environment
–        the everyday struggle of the farm couple over their relationship to the farmhand
–        and the colloquial dialogue.
•         From: http://www.gradesaver.com/the-poetry-of-robert-frost/study-guide/section4/

Poetic Form:

•         The blank verse form makes the text extremely clear, and Frost even breaks up the stanzas by employing dialogue.
–        Blank Verse Definition:
•         noun unrhymed verse, especially the unrhymed iambic pentameter most frequently used in English dramatic, epic, and reflective verse.


Continued

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In the poem, Frost outlines the traditions of duty and hard work that he explores in many of his other poems.
•         Silas returns to the farm so that he can fulfill his broken contract to Warren and die honorably,
–        having fulfilled his duty to the family and to the community.
Silas’ return to the farm also signals the importance of the work that he performed on the farm as a way to give his life meaning and satisfaction.
•         Silas does not have any children or close family to provide a sense of fulfillment in his last hours
•         Only the sense of duty and the satisfaction of hard work can provide him with comfort.
Ironically, even after Silas’ attempt to die in the companionship of Mary and Warren, the people whom he views as family more than any others, he ultimately dies alone.
Moreover, he dies without ever fulfilling his contract to ditch the meadow and clear the upper pasture.
•         For all his attempts to fulfill his duty, achieve satisfaction through hard work, and find a sense of family, Silas’ efforts are unsuccessful.
–        Even the way in which his death is introduced expresses its bleak isolation: Warren merely declares, “Dead.”
The poem also creates a clear dichotomy between Mary and Warren, between Mary’s compassionate willingness to help Silas and Warren’s feelings of resentment over the broken contract.
•         Mary follows the model of Christian forgiveness that expects her to help Silas because he needs it, not because he deserves it.
•         Warren, on the other hand, does not believe that they owe anything to Silas and feels that they are not bound to help him.

Terms to Know

Narrative Poetry
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