Modern Poetry

1. Modern Poetry

2. Key into Understanding Modern Verse

3. Consider: Stock responses, Clichés, and sentimentality • Stock responses are: • predictable, conventional reactions to: • a) language • b) characters • c) symbols • d) or situations • Clichés are: • ideas or expressions that have become tired and trite from overuse; they tend to: • a) anesthetize readers b) instead of alerting to the possibility of fresh • perspective • Sentimentality : • cons the reader response because it tends to: • a) exceed what the situation warrants • b) it’s likecotton candy - momentarily sweet but • wholly insubstantial

4. More defining • Sentimentality is considered a pejorative term - or a worsening • irony, not sentiment, which would be synonymous with • emotion or feeling • Clichés, Stock Responses, and Sentimentality are considered hallmarks of weak writing • Modern Poetry - or maybe all poetry - achieves freshness, vitality, and genuine emotion that sharpen our perceptions • of life

5. Modern Poetry • Consider the first stanza of the following Modern Poem. • Do you recognize any clichés, stock responses, or • sentimentality? • 3. If so, why? If not, why?

6. Stanza One • I was bruised and battered and I couldn't tell • What I felt • I was unrecognizable to myself • I saw my reflection in a window I didn't know • My own face • Oh brother are you gonna leave me • Wastin' away • On the streets of Philadelphia. Notice references to the human spirit?

7. Stanza two • I walked the avenue till my legs felt like stone • I heard the voices of friends vanished and gone • At night I could hear the blood in my veins • Black and whispering as the rain • On the streets of Philadelphia Find any clichés?

8. Stanza three • Ain't no angel gonna greet me • It's just you and I my friend • My clothes don't fit me no more • I walked a thousand miles • Just to slip this skin Find any stock responses?

9. Stanza four • The night has fallen, I'm lying awake • I can feel myself fading away • So receive me my brother with your faithless kiss • Or will we leave each other alone like this • On the streets of Philadelphia Notice speaker's view of time?

10. Please—at this point Get a copy of the lyrics from Mrs. Baran

11. Characterize Philadelphia - what sort of life is described by the speaker? Which images seem especially evocative to you? Why do you feel the author limited punctuation in this verse? How do you make sense of the lines in the absence of conventional punctuation? What kind of mood is evoked by the language of these verses? Explain whether you think this poem can be accurately termed a narrative. Is this poem a true modern classic, or is this poem a mere play on your emotions to evoke a stock response? Directions: Answer each question with thought provoking words

12. Did you recognize any aspects of this poem?Did any lines sound familiar? • Did you hear of or view the movie Philadelphia starring Tom Hanks and Denziel Washington? This biographical movie chronicled the life of a Philadelphia lawyer who contracted AIDS and was subsequentiallyfired from his job. He was a very competent and valuable member of the firm until his illness became known. The young lawyer decided to sue his firm for discrimination. Not one lawyer in the 'city of brotherly love' was willing to take the case. • Maybe these issues provoked Bruce Springsteen's telling lyrics.

13. assignment • Part One • Knowing the circumstances for the poem, explain whether or not your life perceptions have changed. • Part Two • Now, consider the character of Miss Emily. What is the quality of life she faced nearly every day of her life? • How did you make sense of the storyline with the element of flashback? • What kind of mood is evoked by the language of this story? Part Three Now compare Miss Emily to the speaker of the poem: consider time references, the human spirit, and the fear of being utterly alone.

14. Bruce springsteen • Hyperlink to watch the video: • http://10.1.1.13/SafeVideos/Video.aspx?id=4z2DtNW79sQ&redirect=true