Choose one other poem from this packet and, referring to the notes you made following our lesson above, share a detail, image, or figure of speech that stuck out to you, along with your interpretation. This might be a few words, a line, or a recurring feature. How does the portion you’ve chosen to analyze contribute to the overall effect, mood, or theme of the poem? Don’t be afraid to use your own words and intuition here. How are you reading this part in relation to the whole?

Respond to the following prompts about the “Later Romantics”:
Now that you’ve scanned (marked the rhyme and rhythm) Shelley’s “Ozymandias,” what kind of poem do you think it is? Share your interpretation of the rhyme scheme. Was it difficult to figure out? Does something odd seem to be happening? Can you associate that strangeness with the content (the situation, story, or meaning) of the poem?
Choose one other poem from this packet and, referring to the notes you made following our lesson above, share a detail, image, or figure of speech that stuck out to you, along with your interpretation. This might be a few words, a line, or a recurring feature. How does the portion you’ve chosen to analyze contribute to the overall effect, mood, or theme of the poem? Don’t be afraid to use your own words and intuition here. How are you reading this part in relation to the whole?
Now respond to the following prompts about our Poe readings:
According to Poe, how do most people think poets compose? Why do you think writers are content to have the public believe this about the origins of their work?
I remarked in the lesson above that Poe claims to compose by logical, stepwise process, almost as if he’s following an algorithm. I then highlighted the first few stages in this set of instructions. Finish off the algorithm for us, extracting each of the steps from Poe’s essay and writing them down in sequence. You should use whatever notation makes sense to you.
What sort of poetry would your algorithm produce? Describe it for us. Are there points where your process disagrees with Poe’s, or where your algorithm goes off the rails? Where and how? BONUS: Try your hand at actually following the algorithm you’ve extracted and producing a poem. You needn’t write the hundred or so lines Poe specifies, but give us a short taste that you think reflects the process.
Is Poe in earnest here, or do you get the sense that he could be playing a trick on us? How and why?

Last Completed Projects