Paired Poem Homework

4/27/2012

Directions for Paired Poem Response Homework:

1. Please read through the sample responses to the 2005 Poetry prompt, available here: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/05_ap_englishlit_46922.pd

2. Please type up the introduction and thesis that you came up with in class on Friday, for the same prompt and post it in the comments. (Only one paragraph per pair/trio is necessary).

3. As an individual, please post a response to the AP sample responses AND your own. You can
write about whatever you notice--for example, were your ideas similar to the samples? If not,
do you think they are just as strong? What, if anything, would you revise about your original
argument after seeing the sample essays? Etc.

Due: by midnight on Sunday. This assignment is worth 20 points.

21 Comments

Laura

4/29/2012 05:10:45 am

Between his two poems both entitled The Chimney Sweeper, William Blake evokes two contrasting views on hope, duty and obedience in the physical world in relation to the metaphysical world. While both poems share common literary devices such as symbolism and light/dark imagery, one poem highlights the importance of working hard under God's watch while the other condemns the hypocrisy of mankind.

Laura again

4/29/2012 05:18:43 am

Between all of the sample essays everything was pretty much covered from Blake's purpose(s) to all the stylistic choices/literary devices he used. The first essay focused mostly on the contrasting tones while the poems shared similar structure/rhyme schemes, which I could have paid more attention to. I think that that kid made a strong point about using similar structure with two different tones and its significance and different roles it played in each poem. I would add this in if I could. The second essay touched more on the religious aspect of the poems, which David and I focused on in our thesis. Tone, images and other figurative language was pretty much agreed upon by all. I would work to possibly broaden my thesis so it would leave room for discussion about structure and tone.

Ms. Draper

4/29/2012 08:29:06 am

Good points! It's interesting to see how different approaches can be equally effective.

Jenny and Destiny

4/29/2012 08:00:17 am

Blake used techniques such as rhyme scheme and point of view to present similar cases against child labor from opposing perspectives: in the first through childish naïveté and innocence and in the second with a direct condemnation from the victim of those practices.

Jenny

4/29/2012 09:27:52 am

Aw, nuts, I totally forgot to use the word “dichotomy.” Well-played, AP student who did. Well-played. The sample essays seem to be making the same point that we are, although, to be fair, I really can’t tell what the first one is saying. Is that “thersitical” supposed to be “theoretical”? If so...what? Did they combine something with “critical” and get confused? (I would like to take a moment to apologize for the weirdly casual tone my blog responses always take.) Whatever they meant, their point about the second poem is the same as ours: it makes a direct attack, and it’s a more obvious criticism than the first. The second sample also has a similar argument, but they manage to state clearly what we struggled to figure out how to phrase with words: “opposing ideas about God and religion.” YES. That’s what we meant! Well-played again, AP students! I would rephrase that part of our thesis and address more specific poetic techniques, since rhyme scheme and POV seem so broad. I’d also want to mention somewhere in a full introduction paragraph (which we didn’t figure out in class) the role of irony in the first poem, because that irony is really what makes Blake’s condemnation visible (as opposed to its very visible role in the second poem).

Ms. Draper

4/29/2012 08:39:26 pm

"Thersitical" gave me pause, too! I assume they mean "theoretical." I suppose we will never know.

Good points about irony--something that fine-tuned would probably be the difference between an 8 (which the sample received) and a 9 (which all my brilliant students will receive).

Destiny Desroche

4/29/2012 08:31:31 am

Jenny

4/29/2012 08:46:03 am

Um...

Jenny

4/29/2012 08:47:19 am

You totally didn't check what you had in copy-paste, did you?

Destiny

4/29/2012 08:49:20 am

OH MY GOD! SO SORRY LAURA! I'LL POST MINE IN A SECOND! I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED!

4/29/2012 08:49:57 am

I AM LAUGHING AT YOUR MISERY

Destiny Desroche

4/29/2012 08:50:43 am

Our thesis had a few of the same ideas as those in “sample essay 1” (the first poem being innocent and the second poem as more cynical). We didn’t really pinpoint the similarities so much as briefly mention that there is a rhyme scheme and a similar message. “Sample essay 1” goes into extreme detail and gives a better idea of what their essay will feature. We could have mentioned more poetic devices beyond the POV and idea of a similar message. When we were trying to develop a thesis, we didn’t really consider any religious imagery, but I can see it. Personally, I wouldn’t write an essay about it, but it could work. I like our thesis, but I can see where we were too broad. We should have focused more on the structure or the poetic devices or rephrased it a bit to include more specific compare/contrast elements.

Destiny Desroche

4/29/2012 08:52:05 am

Well, that was the most embarassing thing ever. Jenny, you saved my life and my English grade.

Megan MacGillivray

4/29/2012 10:36:39 am

Okay so I'm posting my response first because I still need to finalize my thesis with my partners...hopefully this is legal.

The topic was very open so there were tons of options to choose from, however our intro (soon to come) does have some similarities to the other sample essays. The intro and thesis we planned out is completely developed off of the loss of innocence throughout the poem. And from this main theme we found the different poetic techniques both poems used. The sample essays use similar tactics we choose such as syntax, diction, and rhyme scheme. But like Destiny said, we didn't take in the religious impact the poems have. Having already planned out an essay with a large amount of evidence to back up our assurance I wouldn't add in religion, but if I had a different thesis it would be interesting to use. Like I said the prompt is left wide open so it's fascinating to see the many effective methods everyone has!

Nate

4/29/2012 11:14:11 am

Blake makes use of poetic techniques such as low diction and rhyme scheme, as well as light vs. dark imagery to reveal the corrupted innocence of young chimney sweepers during the 18th century.

Ms. Draper I think since I turned 18 ten minutes ago we should all get a sticker for doing this assignment...just saying.

Megan

4/29/2012 11:17:53 am

Or we could have a party and eat lots of cake :)

Nate - The guy with a party hat

4/29/2012 11:39:58 am

Yes. Yes can we please do this? that would be awesome.

Yeah this is Nate again

4/29/2012 11:38:58 am

After reading through all of the sample essays I would say all of them covered the basic techniques and themes Blake used in his poems. I feel as through the third one mentioned the different tones but didn't go in very much detail, but the tone is definitely something worth mentioning. Jenny and Destiny brought up point of view which is another technique which greatly empathized Blake's themes. The second essay focused on the religious imagery of the poems which is an interesting topic and the evidence in both poems is strong to support this topic.While our thesis was kind of basic it would allow us to touch base with many of the themes and techniques found in both poems.
Rubbish.

Ms. Draper

4/29/2012 08:42:41 pm

Happy Birthday, Nate! I have stickers (I always have stickers, for some reason, despite teaching high school). I do not have cake. :(

Kristie & Devin

4/29/2012 08:35:01 pm

William Blake's first poem glorified the death through lyrical symbolism articulated through his hopeful tone whereas the second poem ironically illustrated the children's imminent potential of death through very cynical and realistic tone that was enhanced by his use of imagery.

Kristie (response)

4/29/2012 08:45:28 pm

After reading through the sample essays, I noticed that all lot of my ideas, and notes aligned with these essays. Espiceally in terms of the tone, the third essay (even though it was not very eloquent or well written) explicitly stated that the first poem was more "hopeful" whereas the second was "hopeless." The first passage also mentioned some of the technical aspects of Blake's aesthetic, such as the AABB rhyme scheme. Another aspect that I noticed about the essays was the distinction within the role of God. I think that it is important to mention the role of God in juxtaposition with death because it is clearly a prevailing theme within both of the two poems.

Paired Poem Homework

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