This last section should begin with a repetition of “Apartment House” as thematic evidence that the city created a world where people are isolated and ultimately alienated. The following songs and poems will demand students’ careful attention to shades of meaning, as well as to the poets’ use of language. To demonstrate the basic format, material previously used in the unit will be supplemented with two new pieces. All four initial selections center around urban women’s self-images. Specific questions relating discussed techniques to this variation on the original theme are included. It is hoped that students will see parallels to their own urban experiences and find inspiration for their own creative efforts.
The first poem, Waring Cuney’s “No Images,” is an affecting portrayal of a girl’s self-analysis. After examining it, students should reread Claude McKay’s “Harlem Dancer” and compare the two. The second pairing—the popular song “Native New Yorker” and Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem “Lament” provide further provocative connections.
Questions for “No Images”:
1.
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Contrast looking into a river with looking into dishwater. What happens to the image?
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2.
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What is the writer’s attitude toward the girl he is describing? List specific words and phrases.
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3.
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What are the girl’s opinions of herself? Give details.
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4.
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Why did the poet name this piece “No Images”?
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Extension Questions:
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How is the girl’s image of herself in “Harlem Dancer” different from that of the girl in “No Images”? How is it similar?
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2.
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What word defines the dancer’s image?
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3.
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How is her world bounded (what kind of people create her environment)?
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4.
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How does the end of the poem startle the reader? Does it become more or less like “No Images” because of these lines?
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Extension Questions:
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How is the dancing portrayed in the second verse of “Native New Yorker” similar to the picture in “Harlem Dancer”?
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2.
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What does the line “love is just a passing word” suggest about the girl’s relationships?
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3.
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What is the image of this “New York City girl”? What language supports your opinion?
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4.
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What is the metaphor in the last stanza? To what is it comparing New York City life?
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Extension Questions:
Note
When students read Millay’s poem, stress the personal tone that a first person narrator produces (especially in relation to the other works here).
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How is the mother showing her grief? Give examples.
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2.
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What is the purpose of the refrain, “Life must go on”? What does the repeated line suggest about the woman’s surface composure?
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3.
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What is this woman’s self-image? How is it like or unlike the other women’s opinions of themselves and their worlds?
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4.
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How does the mother attempt to keep her husband alive? What is the real effect of her actions?
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5.
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Look at the last lines again: “Life must go on;/I forget just why.” What is her final message to the reader? Why is this a song-like “Lament”?
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Conclusion
Exercise 1
: Reread all four poems. Write a paragraph that expresses your feelings about these women in general.
Exercisc 2
: Write your own poem about a woman that you think has a hard or lonely life. Use the cinquain or haiku form.
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Other interesting works which can be easily analyzed in relation to the theme of alienation are:
“Too Blue” by Langston Hughes—This is a lovely sad poem which is undercut by the last stanza. It is in the first person, and as the narrator wonders if he should put a bullet to his head, he realizes, “But I ain’t got/Neither bullet nor gun—/And I’m too blue/ To look for one.”
“The Sound of Silence” by Paul Simon—This classic Simon and Garfunkel tune is beautifully written using personification, rhyme, and metaphor to pursue the idea of haunting loneliness within the noise of the city. Hence, the sound of silence.
“Pieces of a Man” by Gil Scott-Heron—This is the title song on the first album of a young black poet/lyricist/singer/musician. Using metaphor, the song is a beautiful narrative about a man going to “pieces” after losing a job. The song is from a son’s point of view.
“The Stranger” by Billy Joel—Like Scott-Heron, Billy Joel is a young lyricist/singer. The central image in this song “faces of a stranger,” emphasizes that we all live in shells. The song raises the question of why we all have faces that “we hide away forever.”
One final work of interest is, interestingly, a short story by Toni Cade Bambara entitled “Geraldine Moore, the Poet.” The story typifies the breakthrough for a student who believes she cannot “get into” poetry from either the appreciation or creative end. Here, Geraldine watches her life in a ghetto crumble into ruin. She returns to class and, having absorbed her observations, spontaneously translates them into the rich language of poetry. The teacher weeps at the blackboard. The piece demonstrates the sensitivity every educator should strive for.
As should be evident, the only limits in a unit of this kind are each teacher’s energy and imagination.
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How To Eat A Poem
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Don’t be polite
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Bite in.
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Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that may run down your chin.
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It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are.
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You do not need a knife or fork or spoon
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or plate or napkin or tablecloth
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For there is no core
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or stem
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or rind
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or pit
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or seed
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or skin
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to throw away.
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Eve Merriam
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