Theodore Roethke

(1908-1963)

DoyleElegy for Jane

Jeff AnitaThe Far Field

I Knew A Woman

How to read literatureAnd Why it is important.

Illustrating the impact of the literature on culture, society, and the individual.

Step by step instructions to getting the best results out of literature.

Elegy for JaneO http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vHYygm1wBg&feature=related

(1953)

I Knew a Woman

O http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcjk6jrPZnA

(1954)

The Far FieldO http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioMyMOV-dKM&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL1DBB7280878C6B1D

(1964)

1. How to read literature

Figurative Language - Whenever you describe something by comparing it with something else, you are using figurative language.

• Simile• Metaphor• Personification• Alliteration• Onomatopoeia• Hyperbole• Idioms• Clichés 

Structure

O What kind of figurative language is the poem using—for example,

O simile, metonymy, hyperbole, apostrophe, or conceit? What about symbolism or literary

O allusions?

O Other aural and visual details: What about punctuation? When read aloud, do the

O sounds of the words contribute to the poem’s meaning?

O Literary devices:

Who is the speaker?O What is the structure of

the poem? Two of the most important features to note here are

O stanza and meter form.O What, primarily, is the

poem about, and how do you know that?

O Does the poem fall into an identifiable subgenre—for example, is it a sonnet, ballad,

O haiku, or dramatic monologue?

Diction:The accent, inflection, intonation, and speech-sound quality manifested by an individual speaker, usually judged in terms of prevailing standards acceptability; enunciation.

Imagery:• The formation of mental images,

figures, or likenesses of things, or of such images collectively:

• The dim imagery of a dream.

Other aural and visual details:

O What about punctuation?O When read aloud, do theO sounds of the words contribute to

the poem’s meaning?

Archetypes. (also called prototype)

O The original model or pattern from which copies are made or from which something develops.

O It is also a symbol, theme, setting, or character that is thought to have some universal meaning and recurs in different times and places in myth, literature, folklore, dreams, and rituals.

Symbolism: O 1. The practice of representing things by means of

symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships.

O 2. A system of symbols or representations.

O 3. A symbolic meaning or representation.

O 4. Revelation or suggestion of intangible conditions or truths by artistic invention.

O 5. Symbolism The movement, theory, or practice of the late 19th-century Symbolists.

Metaphor: O A figure of speech in which an

implicit comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something in common.

O "The [first thing] is a [second thing].“example: Her home was a prison.

Influence: O A power affecting a person, thing, or

course of events, especially one that operates without any direct or apparent effort:

O Most poems or poets derive from influence, even their own.

PersonificationO A figure of speech in which an

inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities.

O Examples: The radio sprang to life at the touch of a button.

The wind whispered softly in the night.

Why Should we read?

O · The United States ranks fifth on adult literacy skills when compared to other industrialized nations.

O Adult low literacy can be connected to almost every socio-economic issue in the United States:

O More than 65 percent of all state and federal corrections inmates can be classified as low literate.

O Low health literacy costs between $106 billion and $236 billion each year in the U.S.

O Seventy-seven million Americans have only a 2-in-3 chance of correctly reading an over-the-counter drug label or understanding their child's vaccination chart.

O Low literacy’s effects cost the U.S. $225 billion or more each year in non-productivity in the workforce, crime, and loss of tax revenue due to unemployment.

Demonstrating an understanding and appreciation for one major writer, work,

genre, literary theory, or literary movementIs not hard when you follow these steps.

The End

ReferencesO http://voices.yahoo.com/analyzing-theodore-roethkes-knew-woman-1295869.html?cat=38O http://www.helium.com/items/1708051-analysis-of-theodore-roethkes-poem-i-knew-a-womanO http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/172104O http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/theodore-roethkeO http://www.dobhran.com/Roethke.htmO http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/m_r/roethke/bio.htmO http://www.proliteracy.org/page.aspx?pid=345O https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:LsSyDPn4q9gJ:uwp.duke.edu/uploads/

assets/poetry.pdf+whats+structure+poem&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESghGmeaKXz4gogKAtfj-u7EHVWGldPMyzU4LzSJ-jNZaHA0YPlTrHT8S0SE4ARHaEouWgYQjlWo94YqFlAYmju2A0pRG44GI2DLA910oCheRulHGTOmhtiFME_N8Pc3xXFoq3Qe&sig=AHIEtbRHs5Y2RYZP_4rbnKDqZbMYXlHv5A