Disregarding the format of the text into lines, what makes this a poem and not a short short story?

Be sure to review the information in the Moodle Book on Poetry which begins this unit.
Read and answer the following questions for each poem. Then upload the answers to this assignment.
John Donne, “Death, Be Not Proud,” p. 22
This is one of John Donne’s Holy Sonnets, # 6. As a sonnet, it has a specific form of fourteen lines. The meter is iambic pentameter. It also has a particular rhyme scheme.
1. What is the rhyme scheme?
2. The final couplet of the poem summarizes the main meaning of the poem. What is it?
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3. According to the professor in the film clip, what is the significance of there being only a comma (instead of a semi-colon and an exclamation mark) in the final line?
Jane Kenyon, “Otherwise” p. 344
Jane Kenyon was an American poet who died of leukemia in 1995. She was known for her spare, simply worded poems that dealt with the struggle that she and others had with depression. Most of her poems are written in what is called free verse. But the term free verse does not mean formless. Let’s consider that as we read this poem. She wrote the poem “Otherwise” when she was ill with leukemia.
4. How are her stanzas arranged? (Think about time of day.) What does stanza 1 cover? Stanza 2? Stanza 3?
5. Notice the refrain through the poem. What is that refrain, and what does it imply? (Choose one sentence from stanza 1 and one from stanza 2 and discuss the meaning of the refrain.) How many times does it appear in stanza 1 and 2?
6. What does the refrain mean by the time we get to the end of the poem? How might that connect to the poet’s experience as discussed above? What message might it have for others?
Heather McHugh, “What Hell Is (March 1985)” p. 347
I want to first explain the significance of March 1985 with respect to this poem. In March 1985, the FDA approved a blood test to test for antibodies for AIDS, although they still did not know what caused the virus nor how to treat it. Ryan White, a 14 year old hemophiliac, became a household name when he was banned from his school because he had contracted AIDS via a blood transfusion (he died at age 18 in 1990). A court battle ensured that he was able to go to school, though he and his family were threatened and he was bullied by both schoolmates and their parents throughout his high school experience. Through his life, however, he was able to banish many myths about AIDS, though he underwent a great deal of hardship and pain from people who did not understand much about AIDS and how it is contracted. You can read about Ryan White here: https://hab.hrsa.gov/about-ryan-white-hivaids-program/who-was-ryan-white
The poem is not about Ryan White, but it is about a family who has a son with AIDS and whose family and friends do not know any more about AIDS than White’s family and friends did.
As is common with modern poems, “What Hell Is” is a free verse poem with no set rhythm or rhyme. It is organized in sections marked by asterisks.
7. Disregarding the format of the text into lines, what makes this a poem and not a short short story?
8. How does the young man’s father feel about his son’s illness? What is his complaint?
9. What is the reaction of the parents’ friends to the young man’s illness?
10. In the second stanza, why do you think the young man says “Ain’t it a bitch… / this growing old?” Why does the mother question whether she should laugh? Why does she just hold him?
11. What do we learn from stanza 3 about the treatment of people with AIDS at this time?
12. In the fourth section, there are many images that suggest a young man who is isolated. What images imply this isolation?
13. “Increasingly he’s spoken of // not with…” (stanza 3 in section 4). Discuss the meaning of these lines and those that follow.
14. How do you understand the last stanza? (There is no right or wrong answer–just consider what it may mean.)
Raymond Carver, “My Death,” p. 303
Carver presents us with a stark contrast to the more commonly expressed desire for how death should be. Most say they want to die in their sleep peacefully or quickly without pain. Unlike the other poems here, this one feels the most personal. Carver is using the “I” again, and he wrote this when he was terminally ill. Again, these facts do not mean that these were truly his thoughts on death. The voice could be that of a character he created for the poem.
15. What lines or phrases would you say give it an air of honesty? What phrases hint that the speaker doesn’t believe he will get the preferred ending or that he is worth it? What does he want his friends to know?
Answer each question with a sentence or two unless it asks you to explain your answer. Be sure to indicate the number that corresponds to each question.
Finally, upload a document (in .pdf) with the answers to this assignment.

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