INTRODUCCIN Como parte de las asignaturas que integran el campo de formacin especfica de la Licenciatura en Educacin Secundaria, el mapa curricular

de la especialidad de lengua extranjera, Ingls, destina dos cursos al estudio de la literatura en lengua inglesa, en el cuarto y quinto semestres, respectivamente. Uno de los propsitos fundamentales en la formacin inicial de los futuros profesores de ingls es que adquieran el conocimiento y dominio necesarios de la lengua extranjera, tanto para desarrollar sus habilidades comunicativas como para poder ensearla; en este sentido, el acercamiento a la literatura cobra especial importancia como recurso para continuar familiarizndose con el ingls, para conocer distintas formas de expresin, de formas de ser y de pensar, as como para identificar variedades de habla en contextos distintos, prximos o lejanos en el tiempo y en el espacio. La literatura es un producto cultural, una forma creativa de describir hechos, contar experiencias, expresar ideas, sentimientos, formas de ser y de pensar. El lenguaje llamado literario puede ocurrir en cualquier tipo de discurso; sin embargo, los textos literarios combinan formas lingsticas de manera unificada y original, lo que da una fuerza especial al mensaje de los textos, y por ello producen un fuerte efecto en el lector u oyente. Para que los estudiantes normalistas desarrollen la capacidad de percepcin y la sensibilidad necesarias para apreciar los mensajes literarios, conocer y reconocer los gneros literarios y las figuras retricas as como para iniciar la produccin de textos sencillos, es necesario propiciar experiencias que les permitan familiarizarse con las manifestaciones de la literatura en lengua extranjera. Leer en clase y en el tiempo libre, leer ante los compaeros, escuchar la lectura del maestro comprendiendo siempre lo que se comunica, son acciones que fomentan el hbito de la lectura. La formacin de los futuros profesores como usuarios de la literatura es un propsito central de estos cursos; contrasta con la tendencia ms comn que parte de la idea de que conocer la produccin literaria de una lengua es equivalente a la revisin cronolgica de autores y obras, comenzando por los de la antigedad. Esta forma de proceder no contribuye a despertar el inters por leer de manera autnoma; con frecuencia, lo que se obtiene como resultado es una visin superficial con escaso impacto formativo para el estudiante. En el contenido de esta gua, y de acuerdo con los propsitos formativos de la especialidad, el trabajo con la literatura se concibe en un sentido amplio; es decir, se busca que los futuros maestros comprendan que la literatura tiene diversas manifestaciones, que abarcan desde textos populares (canciones, proverbios, rimas tradicionales, inclusive cine y algunos programas de televisin), hasta obras clsicas. En este curso de Literatura en Lengua Inglesa I se pretende que los estudiantes normalistas conozcan diversas formas de expresin literaria, para enriquecer su propia cultura y desarrollar su competencia lingstica en ingls; para conocer y comprender algunas manifestaciones culturales de los pases de habla inglesa, y para que sean capaces de identificar estrategias y recursos a travs de los cuales puedan propiciar que los estudiantes de secundaria usen textos literarios. Tomando en cuenta que el nivel de conocimiento del ingls y los gustos de los estudiantes normalistas pueden ser heterogneos, el maestro puede decidir qu textos especficos conviene utilizar y la manera ms efectiva para ello. Sin embargo, es necesario considerar que una de las metas propuestas como parte de la formacin especfica es que los estudiantes alcancen, en este semestre, cuando menos un nivel intermedio de ingls. Los ejemplos de textos y actividades que se presentan en el Anexo de este documento propician el trabajo literario con diferentes tipos de textos. Se espera que durante este curso y el siguiente los futuros profesores lean obras completas de distintos gneros literarios, pero el logro ms importante de ambos cursos ser despertar en ellos el inters para que se conviertan en lectores asiduos.

ORGANIZACIN DE CONTENIDOS Con la finalidad de que los profesores que impartirn la asignatura cuenten con referentes comunes que les permitan organizar el trabajo durante el semestre, a continuacin se proponen algunos temas en torno a los cuales pueden seleccionarse los textos y las actividades ms apropiadas. Temas

pocas en la vida: niez, juventud, madurez, vejez. Hechos relevantes actuales o pasados. Las relaciones humanas: la familia, la amistad, el amor, el trabajo. Costumbres y tradiciones: su conservacin, distorsin o prdida. La sociedad: convenciones sociales, justicia, injusticia, racismo, sexismo, "esnobismo".

Estos temas pueden ser tiles no slo como gua para realizar lecturas, sino para plantear y discutir problemas o hechos que sean de inters para los estudiantes, y para escribir sobre ellos. La diversidad de actividades que pueden realizarse en el curso es muy amplia, pero conviene tener siempre presente que, cualesquiera que stas sean, debern propiciar el desarrollo de las habilidades que a continuacin se enuncian:

Comprensin de lectura. Interpretacin de textos literarios y discusin sobre ellos. Reconocimiento y uso de los siguientes elementos que se encuentran frecuentemente en textos literarios: Metforas. Smiles. Rimas. Repeticin. Vocabulario potico. Mezcla de estilos/registros. Ritmo.

Prctica de la comprensin auditiva. Prctica de la escritura creativa.

En cuanto a los tipos de texto a utilizar en el curso, es importante que los estudiantes exploren la variedad de textos literarios que existen y que aprendan a distinguirlos. De acuerdo con las caractersticas del grupo, el profesor podr trabajar con:

Poemas. Cuentos cortos. Canciones. Extractos de novelas. Proverbios y dichos. Extractos de obras de teatro. Pasajes de pelculas o programas de televisin.

Se sugiere iniciar el trabajo literario con temas y autores contemporneos, ya que stos sern, muy probablemente, ms atractivos para los estudiantes y de mayor utilidad en su futuro trabajo. Sin embargo, tambin se pueden incluir obras de algunos autores clsicos, que puedan ser relevantes porque los temas que tratan tengan relacin con los intereses de los normalistas. Se debe tomar siempre en cuenta que la literatura debe de ser para ellos una materia que los motive a leer sistemticamente en el futuro. El libro de Collie y Slater, citado en la bibliografa, contiene una lista
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de obras y autores contemporneos que puede servir como referencia para la eleccin de algunos textos. Como ya se mencion, se espera que los estudiantes en este semestre logren un nivel intermedio de dominio del Ingls. Sin embargo, debe notarse que el uso de la literatura no est restringido a niveles intermedios o avanzados. Se puede usar inclusive con principiantes, todo depende del texto con el que se trabaje y las actividades que con l se realicen.

ORIENTACIONES DIDCTICAS Como ya se seal, una condicin indispensable para elegir los textos con los cuales trabajar, es que sean de inters para los estudiantes. Adems, es conveniente cuidar que no sean ni muy cortos (sin suficiente "sustancia") ni muy largos (para evitar el rechazo de los estudiantes, sobre todo de quienes tienen menor dominio del ingls); por supuesto, la extensin apropiada vara tambin en relacin con el gnero literario, si el texto es un poema (con "sustancia comprimida") un cuento (con un elemento de suspenso) o una novela corta. Tipos de actividades Se pueden utilizar casi todas las actividades que se emplean en la comprensin de lectura convencional (vase la Gua de Estrategias y Recursos I. Comprensin de Lectura), pero se recomiendan especialmente las siguientes:

Lluvia de ideas y/o discusin acerca del tema de un texto que se va a leer o escuchar. Lectura de las lneas iniciales de un texto y prediccin de lo que podra seguir. Discusin de lo que se sabe o piensa del autor, antes de trabajar con el texto. Comparacin de lo que se pensaba antes de ver el texto (por ejemplo en las actividades ya mencionadas) y despus de haberlo trabajado. Discusin del significado "escondido" (entre lneas, etctera) e interpretaciones del texto. Descubrimiento de "efectos" en un texto (metforas, smiles, repeticin de palabras, rimas, ritmo, etctera). Descubrimiento de errores en la letra de una cancin: el profesor cambia palabras o frases, los estudiantes escuchan la cancin y corrigen los errores. Comparacin de dos o ms textos distintos acerca del mismo tema. Escritura creativa basada en un texto; por ejemplo, los estudiantes pueden escribir el final de un cuento antes de leer el final verdadero. Memorizacin de un poema o cancin para recitar o cantar.

Estas actividades pueden ser modificadas de acuerdo con las necesidades especficas de cada grupo: edad, gnero, intereses y nivel de ingls de los estudiantes. Es muy importante tomar en cuenta las diferencias individuales y los estilos de aprendizaje de los estudiantes. Se sugiere que, si se elige en algn momento el trabajo con canciones, adems de las actividades realizadas se cante la cancin, ya que esto motiva a los estudiantes, les produce una sensacin de realizacin, y ayuda a crear una atmsfera agradable en el saln de clase. Hay que recordar que es de fundamental importancia que en esta, como en las otras asignaturas de la especialidad, el ingls se utilice como medio de comunicacin en el aula, por lo que el profesor titular de la asignatura propiciar esta prctica de manera sistemtica, con la intencin de que los alumnos adquieran cada vez mayor confianza y fluidez en su expresin. En el Anexo se encontrarn algunos ejemplos respecto a formas de aprovechamiento de textos literarios en el aula, a travs de actividades como las que se han mencionado. Es conveniente que los maestros de las asignaturas de este semestre, particularmente los titulares de Ingls II, Observacin y Prctica Docente II y Estrategias y Recursos I. Comprensin de la Lectura, acuerden llevar a cabo actividades conjuntas que les permitan realizar un diagnstico
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respecto del dominio que los estudiantes tienen del ingls y, a partir de l, elaborar sus respectivos planes de trabajo. De esta manera se evitarn reiteraciones innecesarias y se podrn programar actividades conjuntas o complementarias que apoyen al conjunto de asignaturas del semestre. EVALUACIN Se sugiere que la evaluacin sea continua, tomando en cuenta la participacin de los estudiantes en la clase y la realizacin de las actividades con los textos. Durante el curso, es importante dar prioridad a los progresos que cada estudiante logra en cuanto a la comprensin, anlisis e interpretacin de textos, as como considerar las actitudes que manifiesta hacia el trabajo con la literatura. La lectura de uno (o ms) libros pierde su sentido formativo si se hace slo como requisito para presentar un reporte escrito de la obra solicitado por el maestro o para presentar un examen. Al respecto, pueden utilizarse procedimientos de evaluacin diversos, que favorezcan la elaboracin de opiniones personales y la reflexin sobre el tema central de la obra. Si se requiere la aplicacin de exmenes, es conveniente cuidar en su elaboracin que stos no se reduzcan a exigir datos biogrficos del autor o del contexto de la obra, o a la trascripcin de informacin. Ser mucho ms provechoso si demandan al estudiante la comprensin de lectura, el razonamiento y la expresin escrita; slo de esta manera el alumno podr identificar los avances que logra durante el curso y las necesidades de fortalecimiento. PROPSITOS GENERALES Los propsitos generales para el curso de Literatura en Lengua Inglesa I son los siguientes: 1. Propiciar el conocimiento de la cultura de los pases de habla inglesa para que el estudiante se concientice de las diferencias y similitudes interculturales. 2. Desarrollar el dominio de la lengua inglesa a travs del estudio de textos literarios contemporneos de varios tipos, empleando las cuatro habilidades. 3. Desarrollar las capacidades de comprensin e interpretacin de textos, de la crtica y la reflexin. 4. Desarrollar la creatividad a partir de la lectura de textos literarios; por ejemplo, en la escritura de textos propios. 5. Favorecer el hbito de leer por placer y disfrutar de la literatura para incrementar la motivacin de los estudiantes en el aprendizaje del ingls. 6. Iniciar a los estudiantes en el diseo y aplicacin de estrategias didcticas para usar textos literarios sencillos en la escuela secundaria. Estos propsitos se lograrn a travs de la exposicin de los estudiantes a diferentes tipos de textos y la realizacin de actividades variadas relacionadas con ellos. El maestro debe seleccionar y adaptar los textos de acuerdo con las caractersticas de sus alumnos. Se pretende que esta asignatura se imparta de una manera creativa y que las actividades se centren en el estudiante; es decir, que se le involucre activamente en ellas. De la misma manera, los estudiantes normalistas podrn seleccionar la clase de textos con que ms deseen trabajar y sugerir actividades a realizar con ellos; esto no significa que la funcin del maestro pierda importancia, por el contrario, demanda de su parte una mayor atencin al grupo y a los estudiantes en lo individual, as como la bsqueda y aplicacin de estrategias adecuadas para propiciar los avances deseados. Se pretende que los estudiantes, adems de entender, apreciar y disfrutar los diferentes textos literarios, exploren algunas tcnicas que puedan aplicar con los alumnos de educacin secundaria, como actividades que formarn parte de su trabajo en los cursos de Ingls que impartirn en su futura vida profesional. En las orientaciones didcticas se presentan ejemplos de tipos de textos y de actividades a realizar para cumplir con los propsitos establecidos. Asimismo, en el Anexo se incluyen ejemplos con textos especficos.
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BLOQUE I LA PERCEPCIN Y SENSIBILIDAD PARA APRECIAR LOS MENSAJES LITERARIOS PROPSITO Fortalecer el hbito de leer por placer para apreciar y disfrutar la literatura en lengua inglesa 1. El acercamiento de los alumnos de lengua extranjera a la literatura La familiarizacin con las manifestaciones de la literatura a travs de experiencias Sensibilizacin con recuerdos gratos de la vida Inters por los sentimientos de los dems Preocupacin por las sociedades de distintos pases de habla inglesa

BIBLIOGRAFA BSICA ELT Documents: 130 (1989), Literature and the Learner: Methodological Approaches, Hong Kong, Modern English Publications and the British Council. Pp. 1-29 Holt, Rinehart, and Winston (1989), Elements of Literature, E.U.A., Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. VI, 2-11, 12-14, 54-55, 176-177, 178-186, 1237-1250

ACTIVIDADES SUGERIDAS (Nota: Todas estas actividades y las de los siguientes bloques sern cien por ciento en ingls) 1. Formular las siguientes preguntas para ser contestadas en voz alta por los alumnos que deseen participar con su opininpersonal: Por qu leemos? Qu es la literatura? Cmo se puede relacionar un recuerdo con la literatura?

El maestro plantea las preguntas, modera las participaciones y luego aporta sus opiniones para finalizar con una conclusin para cada uno de los cuestionamientos. 2. Escribir en forma individual, en un solo enunciado, un recuerdo grato de la niez que no se haya podido olvidar. Enseguida se forman equipos y se comparten entre los integrantes lo que hayan escrito. Luego en cada equipo se selecciona el escrito que se considere mejor y se lee al grupo. Se explica el valor literario que tiene cada uno de ellos por el simple hecho de ser nico. Se hace la pregunta al grupo en general de cules escritos de todos los equipos pudieran llegar a ser un buen poema. Se expresan los puntos de vista en forma individual y en voz alta para toda la clase. El profesor supervisa el trabajo individual y de equipos para apoyarlos en lo que necesiten y controla las participaciones. 3. La actividad 2, sugerida arriba, se puede llevar a cabo en diferentes clases con temas como sueos, amor, amistad, viajes, naturaleza, injusticia, racismo, etc. 4. Escribir un prrafo en ingls en el que el estudiante explique lo que la literatura significa para l para introducirlo as a la materia. El maestro motiva a los estudiantes a que expresen su punto de vista y discutan con relacin a la literatura. Al finalizar, el maestro recolecta los prrafos de todos los estudiantes y los conserva hasta el fin del curso. Cuando ste termina, el maestro devuelve a los alumnos sus prrafos y les pide que escriban uno ms, de acuerdo a cmo
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cambi su parecer en cuanto a la literatura despus de tomar el curso. Una vez ms, el maestro fomenta la comunicacin entre los alumnos. 5. Escribir en el pizarrn las siguientes preguntas con el propsito de sensibilizar al estudiante: a) Qu es un poeta? b) Quin puede escribir poesa? c) Qu es la poesa? d) Sobre qu es la poesa? El maestro motiva a los estudiantes para analizar los puntos de vista de sus compaeros y expresar los propios.

BLOQUE II FINALIDADES DE LA LITERATURA EN LENGUA INGLESA EN LA ESPECIALIDAD DE INGLS PROPSITO Conocer distintas formas de ser y de pensar a travs de la literatura para enriquecer la cultura personal y profesional 1. El conocimiento de las manifestaciones culturales plasmadas en la literatura Los diferentes gneros literarios Versos Poemas Proverbios Ensayos Historias Cuentos Canciones Dichos Obras de teatro Novelas Pelculas

BIBLIOGRAFA BSICA Curry Dean (1981), A feather on the Wind, Washington, English teaching Division, Educational and Cultural Affairs, International Communication Agency, pp. 7, 11, 17, 21, 33, 35, 37. Dixson Robert J. (1971), Modern Short Stories in English, Nueva York, Regents Publishing Company, pp. 71-87. English Teaching Division (1980), Edgar Allan Poe: storyteller, Washington, Educational and Cultural Affairs, International Communication Agency, pp. 7, 8, 11, 12, 15-17, 47-49. Scott, Foresman (1997), Literature and Integrated Studies, E.U.A., Scott, Foresman and Company, pp. 254, 325, 413, 463, 735.

ACTIVIDADES SUGERIDAS 1. Leer individualmente una lista de proverbios, reflexionarlosy comentar en equipo sobre el significado de cada uno de ellos. Exponer al grupo una opinin por equipo de lo que nos ensea cada proverbio. Se recomienda consultar en Internet la direccin www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/8424/quotes.html El maestro explica los proverbios si es necesario.
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2. Leer un poema diferente cada equipo para analizarlo, interpretarlo e identificar en l los elementos literarios (rima, repeticin, paralelismo, metfora, smiles, alusin, personificacin, paradoja, hiprbole, entre otros, p. 66 del material de apoyo) que posea para explicarlos al grupo. (Poemas del material de apoyo) El maestro organiza la participacin de los equipos, supervisa su anlisis y les propone detalles (si se requieren) al final de su explicacin del poema al grupo. 3. Leer, en grupo, una historia llevando a cabo los siguientes pasos: a) Lluvia de ideas sobre el contenido con slo leer el ttulo b) Prediccin del contenido al leer las primeras lneas c) Descubrimiento de elementos literarios d) Prediccin de lo que suceder en los siguientes prrafos e) Prediccin del final f) Discusin sobre la historia en general

4. Identificar y definir los elementos literarios ms relevantes (metfora, smile, hiprbole, onomatopeya, aliteracin, etc.) para ponerlos en prctica posteriormente al analizar los diferentes gneros literarios. Con este propsito, el maestro elabora tarjetasconteniendo elementos literarios y las coloca en una bolsa de plstico. Cada estudiante elige una tarjeta al azar y define el trmino que obtuvo. El resto de la clase puede colaborar y, a su vez, el maestro complementa y proporciona ejemplos. 5. Leer, analizar y discutir una historia (The black cat, de Edgar Allan Poe p.p. 98-100 del material de apoyo) para poner en prctica las cuatro habilidades del lenguaje. Para esto, el maestro divide al grupo en cuatro equipos. Cada uno de estos elabora diez preguntas relacionadas con la historia (la cual leyeron previamente). Al terminar, los equipos intercambian preguntas y las contestan. El equipo que obtenga un mayor nmero de respuestas correctas es el ganador. BLOQUE III DESARROLLO DE LA COMPETENCIA LINGSTICA POR MEDIO DE LA LITERATURA EN LENGUA INGLESA PROPSITO Avanzar en el desarrollo integral de las cuatro habilidades del lenguaje utilizando la literatura como instrumento didctico 1. La lectura como primer paso del proceso de desarrollo de competencia lingstica tomando como base a la literatura Desarrollo de la comprensin de lectura

2. La interpretacin de textos Crtica y reflexin de textos

3. La discusin de textos Desarrollo de la expresin oral

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Desarrollo de la comprensin auditiva

4. La produccin de textos literarios Desarrollo de la expresin escrita

BIBLIOGRAFA BSICA Dixson Robert J. (1971), Modern Short Stories in English, Nueva York, Regents Publishing Company. ELT Documents: 130 (1989), Literature and the Learner: Methodological Approaches, Hong Kong, Modern English Publications and the British Council. English Teaching Division (1980), Edgar Allan Poe: storyteller, Washington, Educational and Cultural Affairs, International Communication Agency. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston (1989), Elements of Literature, E.U.A., Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. Scott, Foresman (1997), Literature and Integrated Studies, E.U.A., Scott, Foresman and Company.

ACTIVIDADES SUGERIDAS 1. Leer, todo el grupo al mismo tiempo, resmenes de obras clsicas (Romeo y Julieta, Macbeth, Hamlet, etc., tomadas de Internet) para localizar los siguientes aspectos: a) Palabras clave b) Elementos literarios c) Lugar del desarrollo d) Atmsfera e) Conflicto f) Resolucin Cada alumno que identifique algn aspecto lo hace saber al grupo y al maestro para compartir opiniones y sugerencias entre todos. El maestro revisa lo expresado por los alumnos y proporciona la informacin que se necesite. 2. Leer una historia en forma individualpara identificar el tema, el desarrollo, el conflicto y la resolucin, escribindolos y comentndolos en equipo para compararlos; ver si hay puntos de acuerdo en lo que cada quin escribi y por equipo definir lo ms acertado y comentarlo al grupo.Se recomienda leer The Mask ofthe Red Death (p. 95 del material de apoyo). Al final el maestro proporciona las respuestas exactas de cada aspecto identificado. 3. Escuchar, todo el grupo, poemas breves en los que se identifiquen los elementos literarios. Analizar su contenido y significado an cuando se deba repetir dos o tres ocasiones su emisin. (Anexo del material de apoyo y audio en el Dpto. de Programas y Materiales). 4. Escribir individualmente un poema, con un mnimo de 12 lneas y con tema libre, para ser analizado y revisado por el profesor de grupo.Se deben utilizar algunos de los elementos literarios vistos.

5. Escribir cuentos, poemas y ensayos interpretativos en ingls para producir material propio en cuanto alos diferentes gneros literarios estudiados durante el curso. Los alumnos comparten su trabajo con el resto de la clase al presentar cada uno de los gneros literarios indicados por el maestro, y ste, a su vez, motiva la discusin entre los estudiantes. 6. Presentar, en equipos,obras de teatro o extractos de stas frente a la clase para practicar la habilidad de lectura, comprensin, interpretacin y expresin oral en ingls. Sugerir las siguientes obras: Romeo y Julieta, Macbeth, Hamlet, Robin Hood, Nuestro Pueblo (Our town), Dr. Fausto, etc. COMENTARIOS FINALES Como se ha mencionado, en el curso de Literatura en Lengua Inglesa I se pretende desarrollar diversas habilidades en los estudiantes normalistas. Estas habilidades son tanto lingsticas como de reconocimiento, interpretacin, apreciacin y creatividad. Se busca acercar a los estudiantes a la literatura de una manera atractiva, para que poco a poco ellos mismos encuentren el gusto por la lectura y el uso que le pueden dar en el aula como futuros profesores. Se hace hincapi en que esta materia se presta a la flexibilidad, pues existe una extensa gama de textos y actividades con los que se puede trabajar. Asimismo, se requiere que los futuros profesores encuentren en el curso el sentido formativo del trabajo con la literatura tanto por su contribucin al conocimiento personal, como por su potencial educativo con los estudiantes de secundaria. Finalmente, es preciso destacar dos ideas: primero, que el maestro, al seleccionar su material, debe tener en cuenta no slo sus gustos en materia de literatura, sino principalmente el de sus estudiantes; segundo, que el estudiante, al realizar las actividades y al encontrar el placer por la literatura, experimenta un sentido de logro e incrementa su motivacin para seguir aprendiendo con autonoma. BIBLIOGRAFA QUE SE SUGIERE REVISAR SEGN LOS TEMAS PROPUESTOS Brumfit, C. J. and R. A. Carter (1991), Literature and Language Teaching, Oxford University Press. Carter, R. A. and J. McRae (1996), Language, Literature and the Learner, Longman. Collie, J. and S. Slater (1996), Literature in the Language Classroom, Cambridge University Press. Grellet, F. (1996), Writing for Advanced Learners of English, Cambridge University Press. Kloss, L. (ed.), (1996), Stories Without Endings, Globe Fearon Educational Publisher. Lazar, G. (1993), Literature and Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press. Meyer, M. (1998), Poetry: An Introduction, Bedford Books. Murphy, T. (s/f), Music & Song, Oxford University Press. Tomalin, B. and S. Stempleski (1993), Cultural Awareness, Oxford University Press. ANEXO Ejemplos de actividades que se pueden realizar con distintos tipos de textos SAMPLE 1: SHORT STORY A. Warm up students by writing "friendship" on the board and having them discuss what the word means to them, their own important experiences of friendship, etc. B. The students read the story individually.
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A friend in Need The little girl dropped the candy bar on the counter. "How much?" she asked Lilly, as she held out her hand and showed Lilly her change. Lilly took some coins. It was a slow night, so slow that Lilly was able to study. She tried to do her homework, but she couldn't think because she was too upset. Mr. Kirk had hollered at her again, and she was still shaking. "Late again?" he had shouted. "How am I supposed to run a store when you wander in here late three times a week?" "I had to help my mother because the baby's sick again", Lilly had explained. "Is that my problem?" Mr. Kirk had screamed. "No! It is not my problem, and you only have one more chance, young lady, so watch your step!" Lilly couldn't stop thinking about what he had said. She needed the job. Her family couldn't survive without her salary. Lilly stared at her book and tried to concentrate. She had a quiz the next day, and maybe if she did well in school, she wouldn't have to work in a store forever. The words in the book spun around in her head. She needed sleep badly, but maybe she could sleep late this weekend. Suddenly, the door crashed open, and her best friend Amy rushed in and threw herself on the counter. "I am so glad you're here!" she whispered. "What's up?" Lilly asked. Amy couldn't speak because her breath was coming in quick jerks. "I need your help," she gasped after a moment. Lilly closed her book and waited for her friend to finish. "It's my grandmother, Lilly", Amy said. "She's sick with a high fever. I called the doctor, and he said she needs medicine right away. But I don't have any money." Lilly knew that Amy was telling the truth because Amy's family had less money than her own. Amy's eyes filled with tears. "I have to do something fast, Lilly, or I'm afraid she'll die". Lilly hurried into the back room and fumbled through her coat pockets, but she could only find 50 cents. Fifty cents wouldn't buy much medicine. "What about your mother?" she asked Amy. Amy shook her head furiously. "She's away for the weekend, and I can't get in touch with her. I don't know who else to ask, Lil". Lilly sat and watched the tears roll down Amy's face. She turned to the cash register, pushed a button, and moved back as the drawer opened. Amy stared at the money and whispered, "I didn't mean for you to steal it". "I know you didn't." "You can't Lilly!" Amy whispered. "You'll get in big trouble". Lilly slammed the drawer and stared at her fingers. She realized that Amy was right. If she took any money, Mr. Kirk would know, and she would
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probably be fired. "Maybe he won't know", Lilly said. "Maybe we can replace it before he finds out". "But if we can't, you'll lose your job". Lilly looked at her friend and sighed. Then she .... C. In pairs, the students list three possible reasons why Amy came to Lilly with her problem. D. In groups, the students discuss what they think would happen to Amy and Lilly's friendship if Lilly refused to give Amy the money. E. The students write an ending to the story, individually or in pairs as appropriate. (Adapted from Kloss, 1996).

SAMPLE 2: PROVERBS A. In pairs, the students write beside each proverb the value that they think it recommends. The first one has been done. Proverbs Values

1. A penny saved is a penny Be economical: don't waste any money earned ___________________________________ 2. A stitch in time saves ___________________________________ nine ___________________________________ 3. Good fences make good neighbors ___________________________________ 4. There's no time like the present ___________________________________ ___________________________________ 5. It's better to give than to ___________________________________ receive ____________________________________ 6. An apple a day keeps the doctor away ____________________________________ 7. When in Rome, do as the ____________________________________ Romans do ____________________________________ 8. Every cloud has silver ___________________________________ lining ___________________________________ 9. Rome wasn't built in a day 10. Make hay while the sun shines 11. You're never too old to learn 12. Look before you leap B. The students compare and discuss their answers
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(Adapted from Tomalin & Stempleski, 1993).

with other pairs. C. The students try to find corresponding proverbs in Spanish.

SAMPLE 3: CONTEMPORARY POP SONG A. Ask the students if they know anything about Van Morrison or Rod Stewart. B. Ask the students if they have told their boyfriend, girlfriend, mother or father lately that they love them. Is it important to do so? C. Hand out the lyrics of the song and play it. Play it again and encourage the students to sing. HAVE I TOLD YOU LATELY (Van Morrison, Rod Stewart) Have I told you lately that I love you? Have I told you there's no one else above you? Fill my heart with gladness, take away all my sadness, ease my troubles, that's what you do For the morning sun in all it's glory greets the day with hope and comfort too. You fill my life with laughter and somehow you make it better, ease my troubles, that's what you do. There's a love that's divine and it's yours and it's mine like the sun, And at the end of the day we should give thanks and pray to the one, to the one. Have I told you lately ... There's a love that's divine ... And have I told you lately that I love you? Have I told you there's no one else above you? You fill my heart with gladness, take away my sadness, ease my troubles, that's what you do, Take away all my sadness, fill my life with gladness, ease my troubles, that's what you do, Take away all my sadness, fill my life with gladness, ease my troubles, that's what you do. D. Ask the students (in pairs) to substitute the underlined parts with their own words. These don't necessarily have to rhyme. Invite pairs to read out (or sing) their versions. These versions may be poetic, ironic, humorous, etc.

SAMPLE 4: EXTRACT FROM A CLASSIC PLAY

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A. Ask the students if they know anything at all about the play 'Macbeth' what is it about, who wrote it, when, etc.? B. Ask the students in groups to discuss whether they think that, in general, 'good' people are happy, and 'bad' people are unhappy. C. Tell the students that the extract they are going to read is from the end of the play, after Macbeth has murdered many people to become king. Ask them to read the passage and decide what Macbeth's feelings are and his attitude to life is at this point. What phrases are particularly significant in revealing his attitude? Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. From 'Macbeth', William Shakespeare (1564-1616). D. Ask the students to find examples of metaphors for 'life', and discuss their effect. Also, repeated words and their effect. (Adapted from Meyer, 1998).

SAMPLE 5: EXTRACT FROM A MODERN NOVEL A. Ask the students what they think the life of a poor fisherman in the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean is like. B. Ask them to read the beginning of Ernest Hemingway's 'The Old Man and the Sea' and discuss the questions. He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish the boy's parents had told him that the old man was now definitely and finally salao, which is the worst form of unlucky, and the boy had gone at their orders in another boat which caught three good fish the first week. It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his skiff empty and he always went down to help him carry either the coiled lines or the gaff and harpoon and the sail that was furled around the mast. The sail was patched with flour sacks and, furled, it looked like the flag of permanent defeat. 1. Why do you think Hemingway uses a boy as well as an old man in this opening passage? 2. What atmosphere does Hemingway create here? How? 3. How could this opening possibly develop into a successful story?

SAMPLE 6: POEM A. Write the first line (the title) on the board and tell the students it is the
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beginning of a note left in a kitchen. Ask them how it could continue. Write the next line one the board and again ask the students how it could continue. Carry on this way until you think it is time for the students to read the whole poem. This Is Just to Say I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold (William Carlos William: 1883-1963) B. After the students have read the whole poem, ask them whether they think it should be considered poetry or not, and why or why not. C. Ask the students to discuss these questions in pairs: 1. Who are the writer and the reader? 2. What is there in the poem that makes it sensual? 3. What is there in the poem that suggests an ambiguous or teasing relationship between two people? D. Ask the students to write a note-poem to a loved one. It could be left anywhere in the house.

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MATERIAL

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APOYO

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Literatura and the Learner: Methodologica Approaches

Ronald Carter and Richard Walker ACKNOWLEGEMENTS The Autors and publishers wish to thank the following who have kindly givel permission for the use of copyright materials: Eduard Arnold for the play `Over the Wall by James Saunders from Double Act by mark Shackleton on pp. 62-67; Cambridge University Press for the extract from poem into Poem by Alan Maley and Sandra Moulding on P 17, for `One Cigareteby Edwin Morgan on P. 12 and for `Exileby Alan Duff on P. 20 Jonathan Cape Ltd on behalf of the Estate of Alan Paton for an extract from `The Wasteland from Debbie Go Home on P. 40; Ad. Donker (Pty) Ltd on behalf of Francisco Campbell Custodio for the extract `Zulu Girl by Roy Campbell from The Select Poems of Roy Cambpell on P. 51; Faber and Faber Ltd for the extract `Refugees by Louis MacNeice from the Collected Poems of Louis MacNeice on P. 48; Heinemann Educational for an extract from pianoand Drums by Gabriel Okara on P.50; Modern English Publications British Council 1989 and the

tp concentrate on the theory and practice of learner-centred literature teaching. Alan Maley in his contibution to this volume, makes a valuable distinction between the study of litarature and the use of litaratureas a resource involves starting from the factthat litarature is language in use and can therefore be explited for language learning. The study of literature involves an approach to texts as cultural artefacts; using literature is language in use and can therefore be exploited for language learning purposes. The study of litarature also involves, Maley points out, a considerable baggage of metalanguage, critical concepts, knowledge of conventios and the like, which for secondlanguage learners presupposes a prior engagment with the study of literature in a first language. It does not automatically lead to a consideration of the role of language in literature. In this introduction we shall try to keep this distinction in mind. Needless to say, the tow different approaches stem from different traditions and imply different methodologies. These differen traditions are Approaches to the study of literature in a second or foreign language have recently sought to fraw on work in the discipline of stylistics and the Teaching of literature (Winddowson, 1975), stylistics has many obvious benefits to language learners, not of which is its concer with the importance of language in literature. We shall begin by trying to put work in stylistics into some perspective before examining more closely the more general ropre of litarature in the language classroom. In keeping with the orientation throughout, the main emphasis will be on implications for methodology andon classroom practice. However it should not be forgotten theh stylistic methods are directed towards the study of literature as an institutionalized aesthetic artefact. Pedagogical Stylistics Stylistics or literary stylistiscs and the dominant pedagogies which underlie its practice derive from New Criticism orwhat in Grat Britain is generally referred to as practical criticism. There are of course differences in enphasis and in descriptive procedure between stylistics and Practical Criticism (see Carter, ed., 1982: 4-8).
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Methuen London Ltd for and extract from Golden Girls by Louise Page on P. 71; Oxford University Press for de poem `The Keepsake From The Incident Book by Fleur Adcock (1986) on P. 36; Penguin Books Ltd for extracts from The View in Winter by Ronald Blythe (1979)on P. 16; Stad Brugge, Greoningemuseum for `Lifes Sunset by Edmond Van Hove on P. 15 (Our thanks also to Cambrindge University press for their cooperation). Every effort has been made to trace all the copyright holders but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers will by pleased to make the necessary arrangement at the first opportunity. LITERATURE AND THE LEARNER: Introduction These papers all originate in work donde for the British Council in Literature Teaching. Most papers result from seminars held in 1986 and 1987, and the collection represent an attempt

For example, stylistic analyses of literary texts attend texts atted more systematically to language organization andaim to offer frameworks for analysis wich are explicit and relicable enough to be used on other texts. There is a corresponding tendency to avoid impressionism when describing literarylinguistic effects. But the general underlying assuptions are shared. There are that the more closely students attend to the language of a text the more confidently they will be able to account for its meanings. Description of the language lays a clear basis for interpretation and subsequently for evaluation. Supporters of stylistics argue that the approach is valuable for native-speaking students who are often only unconsiciously aware of the organization of their own language and can be especially beneficial to non-native speaking students. Non-native speacking students already possess in many cases an analytical knowledge of the target language and may therefore be more alertto the ways in which patterns of language are exploited in a literary text. For such students stylistic analysis can be an appropriate `way in To the study of literary texts. A further strong advantage is that new Criticism and Practical Criticism are established modes of closed reading developed in numerous different cultural and political educational contexts. In many senses, stylistics aim to build on what is already there. Other frequently cited benefits of a stylistic approach draw attentionto the way in which it supplies students with a method, a starting point which enables them to begin to overcome the silences which engulf even those with training in close reading whn faced with the need for`comment on a text. It can help to learn to account for their intuitions about a text and can provide a disciplined way for talking about those intuitions. Readers wishing to learn more about the aims and methods of stylistics can do so by consulting the notes and bibliographies supplied throughout this book. This book also contains some illustrarions and examples of stylistics in action. There eassays by Janet Holst and Bill Louw are illustrative of the mane possibilities inherent in stylisticapporoaches to the study of literature. It is fair to point out, however, that there also recently been strong and lucid expressions of reservation about the aims
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methods of stylistics, both from experienced EFL practitioners and from literary theorists. Gower (1986) opposes stylistics on the grounds that it is invariably mechanistic and cerebral in operation, often reduces a literary artefact to no more than a linguistic object and really only helps students with analytical proclivities. For Gower, all too often the artistic and aesthetic qualities of a text are diminished and its emotional contours flattened by narrow scientific procedurer Literary theorist, too, have become increasingly critical of practical Criticism, and by implication stylistics, on account of what is see to be a failure to theorize the procedures adequetely. Practical critics and stylisticians, it is charged, too often assume that, because their approaches have wide currency, there is no need to examine their operational assumptions. Their crtics say that there is altogether too strong a tendency to feel that this is the automatic and natural way of reading and interpreting. From a theoretical point of view some of the limitations of stylistics may be expressed as follows: 1. The aims of literary stylistic analysis have been to try to account objectively for the meaning of a text. Stylistic analysis tries to account for meanings rigorously and systematically by attending to language. This presuppose that meanings are only contained by language and are only to be found in the words on the page. These way many stylisticians suppose and often ignore reference to other text 2. No analysis can be objetive since any reader is ineluctably positionedin relation to his/her access to power and knowledge. Invevitably therefore, interpretation of meanings is grounder in the beliefs of the reader as much as it in the language of the text. The readeris also ideologically situated, the site of socio-historical, political andcultural forces wich make up the interpretative community within wich readers gorw up and are educated. (Christopher Brumfits paper devolps some of there points). 3. Literary works exist in history as well as in and through language. The a-historicesm of stylistic denies that interpretation of literary text also needs to take proper account of historical determinants on meaning. In fact, in Maleys terms, stylistics can lead to the study of literature

only as a linguistic artefact and not as a cultural artefact. 4. Stylisticians tend to operate with unquestioned assumptions about the nature of literary language. Often this is seen simply as the language of canonical literary texts of the kind which occupy regular positions in university and college curricula. Stylistic analysis is not equipped to question or to help students question the institutionalization of literature and literary language. We do not see it as our aim in this introduction to explore the implications of all these points; but it would be dishonest to pretend that a stylistic approach solves the many problems arising from the study of literature or that the seminars which gave rise to the papers in this volume did not engage with such issues. In his contribution to this volume Geoff Hall demonstrates the vitality of some of the issues and in his opening paragraph summarizes with clarity some key points for a fuller inclusion of literary theory in literature teaching: (There is) . . . . .a real tension inherent in much literature teaching today the world over. Thekey to resolving this tension lies in addressing a theorecal gap. The problem is that the EFL profession which has so conscientiously examined its own practices in so many fields , is now quite uncharacteristically turning to be use of literature in classrooms without having sufficiently carefully theorized what literature might offer and how this potential can best be exploited . . . . . . . Our practical every day teaching will inevitably suffer without such reflection however; that is if `literature and literary study are taken as given, rather than as a new pield of problems. Product-based Teaching In spite of numerous advantages, tha analytical techniques associated with stylistic approaches to litearture are product-centred. The best work has tended to focus on the text as holistic, as something which is intact an even sacrosanct. The related pedagogies have been concerned with the devolpemnt of skillis for reading the text as an object of study. Consequently, techniques are modelled for the student to acquire with the underlying assumption that they are learned by practice

rather in the manner of an apprentice in the company of the practitioner. In many respects, this tuns counter to current language teaching theory and practice which is more concerned with process and with text which, if required, can be manipulated or literally cut up in order to develop appropriate capacities in the student. It also contradicts the assertion made by recent devolpments literary theory that texts are not fixed or stable entities. Nevertheless, stylistics still retains an essential preoccupation with language and its associated pedagogies derive from a concern to look at and through the ways in which meanings are constructed and comunicated. Much more product and reacher-center are the methods of teaching literature which take the text as a body of knowledge which has to be transmitted to the student in the form of `background to be remembered and conveniently recalled when the situation, usually in the from of examinations, requires it. Such methods of presenting literature are directed towards a development of knowledge about literature rather than knowledge of literature. There is normally little concern with how to use knowledge to read literature for oneself or to learn how to make ones own meanings. Like the text itself, the meanings are as it were pre-given. They are stable and in pace. The outcome for students is that they learn to rely on authorities outside. Themselves either in the form of the teacher or in the form of histories of literature or books of literary criricism which can once again be memorized for narrowly instrumental purposes. Students with good memories do well under such a system. The really successful are possible those who would in any case develop the necessary literary competence whether they had a teacher or not. Needless to say, such methods do not bear any systematic relation to the development of linguistic skills in students and those teaching literature in this way wolud be probably opposed to any notion that literature and language study might be integrated. The above descriotion of product-centred teaching is inevitably a little caricatured. We have ti recongnize that literature is always more than language and that appreciation and enjoyment of literature transcend the development of linguistic capacities. We shall return to these issues subsequently. But is important to explain the context within wich
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more process-based methologies for literature teaching occur. We turn now to the uses of literatyre as a resource in the second or foreign language classroom. Further Issues The two seminars which were the original source and stimulus for many or the papers making up this volume were attended by participants from over twenty different countries. It is impossible to do justice to the wealth of issues and perspectives developed in thecourse of each of the one week seminars. It es also unfair to claim thtat the papers which appear in this colume are entirely representative of the seminars. They appear here because each paper adopts a particular methodological focus ando one of the main aims of the seminars was to bring to the fore examples of classroom procedure and practice in the teaching of literature in many parts of the world. Some of the topics which were examined at the seminars but which do not necessarily figure prominently in this book were: Film, video and literature teaching Drama in the language classroom Traslation and literature teaching Creative writing in EFL First and second language literatures The mother-tongue in the literature class Testing literary competence

pleaces in the seminars may be listed here. We have selected three of the main ones: Eurocentricity: This is not a new issue of course but its implications are always considerable. Several seminar participants pointed out, in particular, that nearly all the literary texts selected for discussion at the seminar were English or North American. Even a seminar `set text such as Conrads Heart of Darkness which tackles colonialism head on does so nonetheless from within a Eurocentric perspective. Less obviously, ir was pointed out thtat many of the methodological perspective were Eurocentric in that generally small classes were assumed; teacher-centredness was assumed to be unquestionably authoritarianand therefore to be replaced by small group, student-centred initiatives; the availability of resources such as taperecorders, videos, recent films, televisions tc. Was assumed to be unproblematic. For discussions of problems with large underresourced classes see the paper by Mavis Hawkey (Hawkey, 1986) in which a specific teaching context in Egypt is explored. Literature in English: Several participants felt that greater recognition should have been accorded to non-canonical texts. Discussion of texts for study tended to be confidend to those prescribed either by British Unioversity departments or British examining boards. Literature in English (e.g. Nigerian, Singaporean or Indian literature in Enlish) may require different methological treatment and may produce different motives for reading among students. (See a `stylistic contribution along such lines by a seminar participant, Arasanayagam 1978.) Literature in Developing Countries: Selection of tearm such as `developing country or, as was pointed out, in the use of the tow seminars. However, literature is a vital component in a broader educational perspective and participants here were concerned that many of the text-based methodologies examined at the seminars tended to foreclose on questions to do with the relation ship between: literature

In fact, it will be seen that the methodological practices discussed in this book are also necessarily selective in themselves and have, in turn, been selected by the editors. They have been selected because in our view they represent interesting, well-argued and wellillustrated case studies of the kind which were highly valued at the seminars and which should prove to be of value and interest to a wider audience. It is impossible, of course, to answer charges of selectivity. Neitheris is it possible for questions to do with methodology to operate in a vacuum; methodological questions are ineluctably informed by attempts to provide appropriate answers to a range of other issues and questions. Some of these other questions which have important reprecussions for methodology and which surfaced at several
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and liberal humanism; literature and ideology; marxist perspective on literature. There are questions which cannot be ignored by any countrywith a `developing history and are discussed in a paper by Mohammed Bensaou, a participant at the second of the seminars (Bensaou, 1987). Future Developments: Conclusion One might conclude from above that the question of methodology in the classroom where literature is used as a resource for the teaching of language is an area which it much easier to get to grips with than the study of literature. In this volume we have drawn the boundaries; concern with methodology in the use of literature in language teaching and have set out the stall with relative ease.

Notes 1. The introduction to the collection edited by Brumfit and Carter (1986) addresses some of these issues. 2. One exception here is the contribution by Brumfit. He was not, however, a contributor to theseminars, and his paper is based on a lecture given at the Brutish Council in Brussels, in October 1987.

The challenge for the future will be to see whether a set of papers can be produce which answer some of the charges and problems we have mentioned above under Eurocentricity, Literatures in English and Literature in Developing Countries. In particular, the focus of this collection is methodological and concerns the usea of literature as a resource for language learning rather than the study of literature. What is our purpose in teaching literature? What literature should be taught? Such questions frequently broke through at the tow seminars from which papers have resulted. It is significant, however, that there was neither a thoroughly worked through presentation (at either of seminars) nor a resulting paper which chased down there questions in any systematic fashion.2 Comments were confined to the anecdotal or off the cuff responses. It will be interesting to see whether future seminars will result in a collection of papers which address issues such as literature and nation building, the selection of non-canonical texts, the relation of literature to history and society -- issues which are current throughout the world. On the whole what are presented here are some possible classroom approaches. The next move could well be to step back and put there approaches into a wider context.

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Drown from the Pedestal: Literature as Resource

Alan Maley PURPOSES The term `literature teachinglacks precision. Every teacher will supply his own version of what it signifies. For some it will mean the detailed critical or stylistic analysis of text, for others simply the use of literary texts to hang questions on, for yet others creative writing, literature projects etc. In the context of this article, we wish to distinguish tow primary purposes for `literature teaching: 1. the study of literature 2. the use of literature as a resource for language learning. Muchof the confusion and controversy surrounging literature in foreign language programmes arises from tue failure to keep there tow purposes separate in our minds. If our purpose is the first, there is an immediate rivalry set up between `teaching languageand `teaching literature. If it is the second, we can avoid this polarization, since literature is language. Purpose One tends to emphasize the `special status of literature to put it on pedestal. Purpose two regards ir as one among many other equally valid uses of language and trats ir as a proper object for the work bench. If we spouse Purpose One, the main focus of activity is on literature as cultural artefact. Two main avenues of approach are then open tu us: (a) In the literary critical approach we focus on the `literarinessof the text we study --- on plot, characterization, motivation, value psychology, backgound etc. This is the traditional approach familiar to mosto of us from our own education. For it to be successful we have to assume that students have already attained a level of competence in the language, and familiarity with the literary conventions, which will allow them ready access to literary texts for this purpose. In fac, with very few provileged exceptions, most EFL/ESL students are nowhere near competent enough. We require students to study literature as if they already knew how to. The result all too often is a pseudo.competence in which students learn to
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manipulate a lego-vocabulary of critical terms without understanding, and to repeat for examination purposes the recording of received opinions the have had imprinted upon them (Widdowson). If we are really serious about wanting to use this approach, a good deal of preparatory work both on language ando on sensitization to literature is necessary. In the stylistic appriach we pocus on literature as `text. This approach starts quite properly from marks on paper ando goes on to make textual discoveries leading to description in terms of parallelism, deviancy, prominence etc upon which interpretations may be based. (the approach is well exemplified in style in fiction,Leeach & Short.) This is undoubtedlyan interesting and valid way of approaching literature and is centrainly more relevant to students of EFL/ESL since its priority concern is with language. Linguistic elucidation and description precedes interpretation --- Which is the opposite of what usually happens in the first approach. However, though it is concerned with language, it does not necessarily further language learning. What is more, to do it properly the learner needs, if anything, an even greater competence in the language (and the metalanguage) than for the firsh approach. If, instead, we take Purpose Tow as primaty, literature becomes one source among others for promoting language learning. We can capitalize on the motivation arising from the intrinsic interest of literary texts,and can tailor activities to the level of our students. Our primary concern will be to ensure that students with the text and with each other in ways which promote language learning. We shall not ve burdened by the necessity toi study text in exhaustive detail according to some established literary procedure. Instead, we shal be free to use them in many ways which suit our purposes: to experiment, dismember, transform and discard them when we are done. To some this desacralizing of literary text will carry the taint of heresy. Two observation are in order. As long as we remember our primary purpose is language development, anything is grist to our mill. Even if our eventual aim is to develop an understanging of literature, this approach is in the long run more likely to meet with success among EFL/ ESL students than approaches (a) and (b). In our experience students develop

an understanding of how literature functions as a by-product of their interactive engagement with the texts. The Advantages of Literature as Resource So far we have argued for what seems to us the commonsernse view that in the context of EFL/ESL literature should be used as a resource rather than an object for study.We sould perhaps set out our reasons for regarding literature as a peculiary potent resource. There are after all plenty of other resource available, wheter in terms of texttypes or activities. In our view literature enjoys special edvantages: Eniversality No know language is without literature (oral or written). The themes literature deals with are common to all coltures, though the treatment of them may be different Death, Love, Separation, Belif, Nature . . . the list is familiar. And even the genres, conventions and devices employed by literature are common across cultures (though of course thereis no one-to-one cossespondence.) Non-Triviality Many of there more familiar forms of language teaching inputs tend to trivialize text or experience. Literature dies not trivialize or talk down. It is about things wich mattered to the author when he wrote them. It offers genuine as well as merely `authenticinputs. Personal relevance Because ir deals with ideas, things, sensations and events which either form part of the readers experience or which they can enter into imaginatively, they are able yo relate it to their own lives. Variety Literature includes withing it all conceivable varieties of the language, and all possible varieties of subject matter Within literature we shall find the language of law and of mountaineering, of medicine and of bullfighting, of curch sermons and nursery talk. Students may be exposed to as much or as little of this as is desirable but they will never lack for variety.

Interest Literature deals with thems andtopics which are intrinsically interesting, because part of the human experience, and treats them in ways designed to engage the readersattention. Economy and Suggestive power One of the great strengths of literature is its suggestive power. Even in its simplest forms it invites us to go beyond what is said to what is implied. Because ir suggests many ideas with few words. Literature is ideal forgenerating language discussion. Maximum output can often be derived form minimum input. Ambiguity Because it is highly suggestive and associative, literature speaks subtly different meanings to different people. It is rare for two readers to react identically to any given text. In teaching this has two advantage. It means that, within limits, each learnersinterpretation has validity also that, because each persons perception is different, an almosto infinite fund of interactive discussion is guaranteed. The very fac that no tow readers will have a totally convergent interpretation sets up the tention necessary for a genuine exchange of ideas. A Framework Clearly the kind of activities we shall find in the approach we are advocating will ve different in several respects from those we have come to associate with `literature teaching. Because our primary concern is with teaching language, not literature, we feel it is necessary to break free from the dominance of Comments and Explanation, and to explore alternative ways of using literary texts. This means running counter to traditional practice in four important respects: 1. By allowing the text itself to suggest the nature of the activity, rather than imposing the activity ready-made upon the text, i.e. not working from the prefabricated question-forms., Not all approaches are suitable for all texts. 2. By readefining the function of text. Instead of regarding ir as the sole focus of activity, we look on ir as element in a set of linked activities. The text, therefore, is
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not the beginning discussion.

and

end

of

all

used as a springboard to catapult the students elsewhere. EXAMPLES A. FRAMING 1. This a sensitizing activity which abloges students both to pay close attention to brief extracts from text ando to reexamine their beliefs about what poetry and prose are. (from Maley & Duff, OUP). What to do (a) Select at random the opening lines of five works of non-fiction andfive poems. Write these up on the board or OHP. (i) At last the gasping nercomer floats free to take up his inheritance of India. Water is H2O, hydrogen two parts, oxygen one; but there is also a third thing that makes it water. The English language with irs elaborate generosity, distinguishes between the naked and the nude. Have you ever spend two ando a half of your three hours allotted shopping time hunting for place to park? Im the bloke thats trained to sit behind the public stamp machines. Is there any knowledge in the world which is so certain thatno reasonable man could doubt it?

3. By presenting the text In a variety of ways, and not merely as static. Immovable block of words. For instance, by withholding the text until the end of the activity, by presenting only fragments of the text, and by placing the text in an unaccustomed setting. 4. By devising activities which are not only shaped by questions, but are also given in the form of instructions, suggestions or prompts. Overall the two criteria we apply to the activities will be: That they require constants reference back to and interaction with the text. That they involve the students in interaction with his fellow-students and the teacher about the text.

This reflects our belif that the pay-offs in language learning terms come in part from the text themselves, and partly interaction between and among learners. The importance we attach to interaction as a key factor in learning derives in part from the work in general education carried out by workers such as Barnes (1986) and in TEFL/TESL by Wilga Rivers (1987). Theframework we propose is based on the four points ser out above and on our two criteria. It is in no sense definitive. It is simply a working model we have found effective in our own practice. The unit of material is conceived of in three stages: Framing: Getting ready Focussing: Engaging Diverging: Movingo on.

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

(v)

(vi)

(vii) `Come to sunny Prestatyn, laughed the firl on the poster (viii) A bicycle shed is a building; Lincoln Cathedral is a piece of architecture. (ix) Let a strainght line drawn in a given plane. Choose a fixed point, O, in the line. The name of the product I tested is Life. I have completed the form you sent me.

Framing Can onver thematic preparation, that is turning the students attention to the content of what is to come. It can also cover more general sensitization such as looking at what it is that distinguishes prose from poetry. In Focussing, the activities are designed to engage the students with the text it self leading to understand it and to interpret it for the purposes in hand. In Diverging we lead the students into parallelactivities of various kinds. This may involve role.play, transfer to other text-types, creative writing etc. In all cases the text is
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(x)

(b) Working in pairs, the students mark each line `NF or `P depending on wheter they thing it is the opening of a work of non-fiction orof a poem. (Ar

this stage they should not be told how many of each there are.) Each pair compares results with at least three other pairs. (c) Reveal the origin of each opening line. 2. This is an example taken from a unit of material entitled `Still Together. It introduces the specific theme of married life in old age as preparation for two poems on this same theme. STILL TOGETHER `We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person. (W. Somerset Maugham) Warming up 1. Look at this picture. Write down all the words which come to mind as you look ar it. Then compare your list in groups of four. Try to add items to your list. 2. Read these extracts from interviews with old people talking about their marriages. The valley Weve had our ups and downs | she says |. We often look back on the old times and think, how did we do it! We dont ask for a lot now. We like our home, we like our holidays and we dons ask for much more. He cant walk much now so there other day he says ` to death for one thing. But thats the kind of man he is. I could go out all day long and hed see to himself || I have done the worrying for my husband. Always have done, always will. Hed say, `Cant you leave that till tomorrow? and id say, `Tomorrow will bring its own work But weve always pulled together. He was rally looking forward to stopping work, really looking forward to it. Some men dontwant to retire, do they?. Were better off now than weve ever been in our lives. I sometimes think of my parents who had to work so that they couldns get old. My mother was forty-one when she died and my father fifty-five. We areadvancing all the time, lets face ir, we are advancing ||

Weve had it all ways yet with all the trouble weve had weve been so happy. || It draws you more together when youve been through the troubles. The other day he said, f I had my time over again Id still marry you. (Ronald Blythe, The view in Winter) My Blindness has been astonishing. I remember everything about it. I remember vividly ir was the 10th May and I was at holiday home, where there were foty of us, to say morning prayers. I read the passage for the day and my sight was as clear as it had ever been. Two days later I met my wife. Three says after thatI proposed to her and she accepted me. A week later, and I could not have read that same passage. I was frightened when it completely happen. It was one Saturday -- we were engaged now but living apart and alone. That day I had typed six foolscap pages to friends in Canada. My fiance rang that evening and asked how I was and I said, m fine. Ive brought my correspondence right up to date --- single spacing! And we are so happy, both of us. And in that nighit went, my sight. I was asleep. I noticed it whent I woke. I rang my fiance, who came immediately || And from that time I have neither typed nor written nor read. I said yo her m blind. It is not the same. Im blind. You may withdraw, you could withdraw.But she knew then that my blindness was within Gods pan for her and she said `Wirhdraw? From the dayof my blindness I havent felt the urge for nearly everythig that absorbed me before the blindness. I go down memory Lane and its often better now than whn it was taking place. More pleasurable. Recollections of years and years spent in Gods service. It was ordered. We both felt that it was ordered. Our marriage was ordered. I thin that old, widowed people should try and marry againg. I think so. If they share shomething some background such as que do, then they should share each other. We are not justo an old couple, We are deeply in love. It would be nice if we could go out on the crest of the wave and not via the geriatric ward! To go out good. (Ronald Blythe, The view in Winter)

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3. Think of some old married couples you know. Are their attitudes to each other similar yo or different from those expressed in the two extracts above? Make notes on the similarities or differences. Try to note down one triking incident which you have observed which illustrates their relationship especially clearly. Then compare your notes with a partner. (from maley & Moulding, CUP) B FOCCUSSING 1. In this example students engage with the poem not throught questions but thought personal decisions about the effect of chosen lines in it. (From Maley & Duff, OUP) What to do (i) the students work in groups of three. Each group is given copies of the same poem or poems (ii) Allow about five reading. While reading, weite up selection of words minutes for silent the students are on the board/OHP a such as:

3. The stimulus words can, of course, be changed. For more ideas, see the introduction to this chapter. 4. Last, but certainly not least: criticism is not only negative, it also includesappreciation (and of course `understanding). Example One Cigarrette No smoke without yo, my fire After you left, Your cigarrette glowed on in my ashtray And sent up a long thread of such quiet grey I smiled to wonder who would belive its signal of so much love. One cigarrette In the non-smokers tray. As the last spiral Trembles up, a sudder draught Blows it winding into my face. Is it smell, is it taste? You are here againg, and I am frunk on you tocabbo lips. Out with the light. Let the smoke lie back in the dark Till I hear the very ash Sigh down among the flowers of brass Ill breathe and long past mignight, you last kis. (Edwin Morgan) Here the engagement is through the well tired technique of comparison (from Maley & Duff, CUP). What to do (i) Ask the class as a whole to think of specific animals in city zoos (Eg. Elephant, polar bear, giraffe, monkey, cobra, mountain goat). Gor each animal they should note: (a) what it would most miss or want; (b) What it would most dislike about life in the zoo. (Vague words such as freedom should be qualified. E.g. `The gazzelle would miss being able to run across the savannah). (ii) After silent reading, they make a note of any striking similarities or differences between the tow poems. While they are

Striking AwkwardUnexpected PowerfulWeak Odd StiffClever Impersonal CruelHonestSentimental Ambiguos Uniclear UnfinishedTrue

(iii) The groups now look for lines orphrases in the poem(s) to wich any these words might apply. They need not use all the words. (iv) After discussion, they compare notes with others groups. Comments 1. Particulary suitable for afvanced students. 2. The exercise requires grearprecisionin the use of language. The students should be able to given reasons for matching a word against a particular phrase. In the discussion it will emergethat many different matchings are possible. And also that the stimulus words can refer to different aspects of the poem, e.g. odd might refer to rhythm, choice ofwords, comparison, image, statemant, or idea.
26

doing this, wirte up on the board a few Guidelines for Discussion, e.g. Is there anything in your Notes (from I) which is echoed in the poems? In the poem Exile, what animal is speaking? What words help you to dedice? If you were to photograp the animal in each poem, what would the photograp show? Choose a line (or gragment) from each poem which you could usea as a caption for you photograph. Note any words or phrases from either poem which you do not fully understand. Compare the endings of the two poems: only at dusk I dareto dream . . . plotting my return and Only from time to time . . . a picture enters . . . and ceases to be. In what ways are they similar, in what different?

Der Panther Im Jardin des Plantes, Paris His gaze has become so tired from the passing of the bars that it no longer holds anything. For him it Is as if there were a thousand bars, and behind a thousand bars no world. The soft movement of supple strong steps, which turn in the smallest of circles, is like a dancer of power about a centre in which a great will stands anaesthetized. Only from time to time the curtain of the pupils rises silently. Then a picture enters, passes through the taut silence of the limbs reaches the heart and ceases to be. (Rilke, a literal translation from the German by Michael Swan) Exile My shade is striped My air is bared (As it was before; only here the bars Drown from the Pedestal: Literatue as Resource Do not bend with the wind) My breath is short My claws are blunt With long pacing on stono groung. All day smell Zebra . . . Gazelle . . . But I am full of easy meat I haveno appetite. Only at dusk When the monkeys mock from stone trees And the buck (Soft noses sniffing the air for the scent they no longer fear) Come down to the mudless pool to drink . . . Only at dusk I dare to dram Eyes half-closed, bending the bars Against the sun And plotting my return. (Alan Duff)
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(iii) Each pair now exchanges notes with at least tow other pairs. Points of divergence or disagreement should be recorde. Comments 1. In theIntroductions, wu have said that one of the strongest reasons for using poetry in forein language learning is that it provides material which is open to interpretation, and hence discussion. But it is not always easy to `discussa poem when one is faced with a text and a set of question on it. The discussion tends to be limited to answering the questions. The great value of contrast is that it provides a second point of reference --- a sounding-board, if you like --- andthat it encourages the students to look for connections rather than merely answer questions. 2. The constrast, however,should not be forced. This is why it is advisable to set a time-limit to the discussion. This is also why we have suggested using this exercise as a preparation for activities which require close study of a text. 3. It is important for the students to think around the theme, (of captivity) before coming to the poems. Their notes provide a valuable starting-point for discussion.

C. DIVERGING 1. The first example using Acrostics is the final section of a unit of material on conflict (between parents and children). It offers students the opportunity of exploring this theme (and others) within the constraints of a framework. (from Maley & Duff, CUP). What to do Write a single word vertically on the blackboard, e.g. C O N F L I C T W H I S P E R

2. In this example using dramatization/role play the students move away from the poem throug role-play, while continuing to explore the them of loneliness which the poem introduced. (from maley & Duff, CUP) What to do (i) Try out the exercise `Inmediate Reactions in Preparing for the poem (Chapter I, 3). AS the stimulus word write up either LONELINESS or NEIGHBOURS. (ii) After the discussion, ask the students to form groups of four. Each group is given the text os a Sad Song About Greenwich Village. In the group, one person takes the role of the writer (1, in the poem), one the part of the old lady (she), and the other two the roles of two investigative journalist who have come to find out about how old people live in the city. Each group prepares a shor sketch In which the old lady and the younger woman are interviewed together by the two journalist. (In the preparation, the two pais work separetely.) Here are some suggestions to help the students get started, but they should be encouraged to add more ideas of their own. The Two Women Should discuss: Their names (do they know each other by name?), how old they are, often they see each other (once a day? Once a week?), whotheir nearest neighbours are; Visits (has either ever been inside the others flat?), everyday problems (noise, climbing the stairs, smells, etc.) Why the old lady has not been seen since a longo time ago Things they have in their flats that are precious to them (does the old lady have a cat?) and so on.

Each letter marks the beginning of a line. Working alone, or in pairs, the students now produce a short poem based on the stimulum word. For instance: (see below) When finished, the students compare their results. Comments 1. The framework serves both as a constraint and as a stimulus. This exercise will work bes if a fairly strict time-limit (5-7mins.) is set, as this will encourage the students to put down the lines whitout too mucho reflection, 2. Other enjoyable variants include: the use of proper mouns and names, e.g.AMASON, SIGMUND FREUD, VIVALDI, HONOLULU . . . Familiar, everyday words, such as: POST OFFICE, HEADACHE, BREAKFAST, TIMETABLE. Constantly quarrelling Over small things of No importance Fraying the edges of our Lives with nagging. Impotent rage poisons us, Critical and cantankerous, Till death takes us away Why do people in public places Have to lower their voices? Is it because they fear Someone might overhear? Perhaps . . . But why do they bother? Every word they try to conceal Reaches us loud and clear. 28

The two Journalists Prepare questions to find out: How long the old lady has been living in the garret; how much money she lives on; what she eats; whether she has a telephone, radio, TV, stove, etc; how often she has visitors; how good her healt is;

what she thinks of her neighbours, and hou much help she gets from them; Whether the younger woman ever visits the old lady; what work the younger woman does; what she thinks of the neighbours and what contact she has with them; how long she has lived in the district, etc.

Theres nobody to care. She cooks so small a dinner. She dines on the smell, And even if shes hungry, Theres nobody to tell. She sweeps her musty lodging, as the dawn steals near. And even when shes crying theres nobody to hear. I havent see my neighbour, since a long time ago. And even if shes dead theres nobody to know. Conclution In this paper our contention has been that students of EFL/ESL are, with rare exceptions, better employed when engaging with literary texts through a series of activities, than they are when studying the elaborate and internally self-defining code of literary cristicism. The example we have given go only some way to supporting this contention. Those teachers who are willing to take a step in this direction will, we trust, find the argumen is vindicated.

Allow at least ten minutes fot preparation. The two pairs then join up, and the journalist ask their questions. Comments 1. This exercise is an extension of the them of the poem rather than a dramatization of the text. Considerable freedom can therefore be allowed in building uo the details of the old womans life. For instance, is she really as unhappy as here young neighbour thinks? The poem gives us only one side of the story. 2. It is important to do interviws twice, with different pairs, because the students will become more familiar with their roles and therefore more fluent and better able to improvise. 3. A useful variant if this exercise is to suggesti different characters who might speak to the old lady. What questions fopr instance would the following ask? A Policeman A Doctor A Shop-keeper A Young relative (nephew or niece) A Tax inspector A Historian or research worker A Timid Bulgar

4. This idea can also be used in most of the exercises below. In countries where this situation would be unfamiliar or unimaginable, the students can be asked to trslate the situation into local terms by previously discussing what would be the local equivalents of, e.g. `GreenwichVillage,`garret,`Lodging. A sad Song About Green Village She lives in a garret, ups a haunted stair, And eve when shes frightend
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A LITERARY CURRICULUM IN WORLD EDUCATION

Christopher Brumfit The purpose of this paper es to examine some of the problems in defining a literature curriculum. It is clear that people who write about literature in education come from a numer of different traditions and consequently reflact different expectations. In mosto conferences concerned with literature for foreign learns there are people defending a post-Leavis literary position, people who wish to use literature to enlive language teaching, and people who wish to take a stylistic approach, using linguistic knowledge to clarify readings of literaty texts. It is rarer to find a subtantial body of opinion concerned with literatyre in educational terms; yet any justification for the uses of literature in the classroom must ultimately relate to educational objetives. In this paperwish to explore the role od literature, developing further ideas already put forward in Brumfit (1985) and the introduction to Brumfit and Carter (1986). I propose to aoutline a view of literature and its role in society, and from that, to examine what we do when we read a literary text effectively for any use of literature in any kind of teaching must presuppose some elements of literary response on the part of reader. The Nature Of literature As we are discussing general education, it is sufficient to reflect aconsensus on the nature of literature and its role in society. The discussion which follows will therefore ignore uestions that are interesting inaesthetic theory and in the sociology of literature, andconcern itself with kind of common-sense view that could command acceptance among a with pleasure than all eight of the criticspreferred authors put together. One solution to this major problem for critical theory is to refuse to accept anythig other than a sociological view of literary text, to deny a distinction between `literature and `reading. In terms of this argument,the key wuestion is `What groups read whatthe answer lead to a great deal of fascinating discussion of ideology. This undoubtedly illuminates our understanding of social structures, the role of education and the interest educational institutions can serve, as well as the varying purpose that writers and
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critics have at different times defined for preferred reading texts. But there is a risk that all knowledge is seen to be sociological, and this is reductive. It is not there case that there have simply been `preferred text in particular traditions; readers have tended to concentrate on particular texts or groups of texts. TO ask whether Donne, or Gaskell, or Constant, or Horrman should rate higher (or lower) than previously perceived is not a trivial question, because shared reading is a serious,selfdefining means of establishing our agreed values and of re-orientating them when we feel adjustments to be necessary. Then role of tradition, and which is there relevant tradition at a particular time, the appropriate discourse for a particular period and place, the key beliefs to concentrateon, righ and wrong sensibilities, even right and wrong political strategies, will all be measured, in part, by the nature of literary criricism at a given time. Criricism will not simply reflect such debate, it will be a contribution to it Consequently, argument about which texts from the past (and all literary texts are from the past once they have been performed or published) are to be highly valued, is argument about what we are and why we behave as we do. It is part of what defines us as human rather that animal. In this sense, any `canonis constantly being redefined (and is capable of misuse), but there always will be a canon of some kind. Thiswill consist of no more (and no less) than the tokens of our shared experience that we need to establish contact with eache other through discussion and debate and with our human roots. Within this view of literature, contemporatu works live alongside works of the past, interms of their value to us now. For it is not only the past that is another country, but also each poem, each story, however contemporary everyone is an island. What differentiates classics from popular works, in this view, is not their status. That can always be renogotiated as is happening for may early women writers in contemporary criticism. Rather it is their capacity for sustained, complex and sophisticated contribution to our undersanding of the human condition, that causes these classics to stand out. Clearly, what has been aoutlined above does not apply uniquely to literature all other oart froms could be subjected to the same discussion. What is beiging defended is seriousness and a kind of truth not `truthin an absolute sense, but the kind of truth to be

found in a sefusal to be found in a refusal to oversimplify. To put it at its crudest, someone who belives that people are really more or less as Jeffrey Archer portrays them is wrong in an important way compared with someone who blives Dostoevskysportrayals to be more or less accurate. We may disagree with Dostoevskysvision, but it does not trivialise; rather, itexpands, and makes us think of possibilities that are both important to us and hitherto unimagined. (And part of the legitimate discussion of other novelists, e.g. C.P.) Snow, may consist of a concerne about which end of this spectrum they are nearest). Clearly it would be an error to suggest that literary criticism can be reduced to singleissue discussions of this kind, but the accumulation of such issues defines worldviews and critical positions. Similar considerations influence discussion of other art-forms, and of real-world events. Literature can be considered as a means of induction into such a serious view of our world, and it is a means which is peculiary suited to the classroom. Components of Literary Competence IT is not necessary for our purposes here to define the notion of literary competence (culler, 1975) in formal terms. Instead, it is adequate to use the term `competencemetaprhorically, referring simply to the knowledge which underlies our ability to perform adequately in response to `literature. `Perform adequately is of course capable of many interpretations, but there cannot be an educational system without a definition of what people ought to do at some level of generality. Under this heading, I would see literature as a means of enabling learners to participate in the serrious debate referred to above. Literary text are seriously valued text. They show their valued by the seriousness of the understanding and discussion that emerges from them. At the same time, the fact that they are literary texts, rather than paintings, requires response to one set of conventions rather than another, and literary competence implies an awareness of centrain ground rules that have been established over the years. Literary competence, then, demands a centrain degree of linguistic sophistication: one cannot respond to a work of literature

unless one has some animal undersanding of it. The extend to which a particular work is accessible to particular audiences is something that trial and error and the accumulated professional experience of teachers can determine. However, any serious literary education needs to provide administrative machinery to enable such accesibility to be discussed and monitored. Tradition alone is inidequate, as the testimony of many jaundiced learners reveals. The fundamental convention of westernderived literature is that it is untrue. Unless a reader recognises that is telling a story, is metaphotical and fictive even when it appears not to be, and yet is still important, the whole of literature will be hidden. Consequently, literary imagination is best developed out of a familiarity with stories for young children. Young children are also regularly exposed to the other major convention of literature that itresponds with joy to language, that it `plays. Without a recognition that the means of imaginative comments on ourselves and our world is in fact a kind of deliberate linguistic irresponsibility, the means by which literature is achieved will be hidden. These two characteristics underlie all the rest. More trivially, of course, literary competence also implies a degree of familiarity with particular cultural conventions. Increased contact with more and more examples will usually enable literary conventions to be recognised. However, a literature curriculum should allow for contact with any genre felt to ve important, rather than limiting the experience it offers to conventional forms such as the sonnet, and varying modes of formal presentation stanza forms, free versus rhymed verse, etc. Eventually, a literary curriculm should introduce examples of allegory, parody, and other modes, the details are not important for this argument,but the principle is. Whitout a tange of literary experience within a tradition that is now world-wide, the ways in which individual writers use the traditions they inherit will remain opaque to the reader. Literary competence, then involves a recognition that language can be used in a deliverately irresponsible way to create metaphorical meanings that illuminate our self-awareness. It involves a reasonsably sophisticated knowledge of the particular kind of language employed in a given text, and an awareness of particular literary styles and conventions.
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Literature in Education Educationally, these trade off against each other. We are all familiar with the learner whose lack of English is compensated for by a greater imaginative response, or with the sophisticated reader from another language who moves directly to advanced reading matter in English. As fas as the use of literature in the classroom is concerned, though, all the above elements are necessary, whatever the role of literary text, since the text cannot ve understood as literary without containing something of all of them. Thus, whether we are using the literary text for language work, cultural studies of as literature (as discussed in the introduction to Brumift and Carter, 1986), the response to the text as literature will presuppose some ability in the totality of what has been outlined in this paper. If that cannot be guaranteed, then the texts will not in fact be literary to the learners. They may have value as source of cultural information (though that is very difficult to interpret), or as useful linguistic resources for the teacher. However, the situation will not be on of using `literaturebecause learners will be unable to use the texts in a literary way. And this raises the vexed question of grading. If the argument is acceptable so far, then implication is that criteria must be found, for particular groups of learners, to establish roughly what texts are most useful for what purposes at early and late stages. This argument applies jus as much to purely literary courses as it does to other kinds but it must be insisted thatinsofar as literature is taught, the grading issue cannot be avoided. In fact, of courses, it is not avoided, but is tacit in many sitiuations. The problem is that tacit grading risks being unexamined,is perhaps self-indulgent to the interests of teachers rather than students, and is cerainly not subject to critical scrutiny. Cultural Relativity One final objetion to this line of afgument is worth mentioning. The position I have outlined clearly reflects, and assumes, a European tradition of literature, and a European/Anglo-American tradition of criticism. Other cultures and other times have placed different values on the literary exercise, and continue to do so in various parts of the world. Recognisisng this certainly has implications for any discussion of literature teaching in
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particular institutions. But the issue is not unique to literature. Any statement of education principle or social values is subject to the same criticism, both within or outside and country. Traditions are not fixed, they are contantly movile and permeable. To advocate a role for literature of this kind is simply to make a public statement of certain set of values. Whether teachers, learners or critics find them agreeable is a function of what use they want to make of this argument. Whatever use may be made will be tempered by local tradition, just as no literary genre can escape modigication in response to oral or local influence when a non-metropolitan writer of talent makes use of it. All cultures can and will affect all traditions that come in contact with them. The major issues are not the argument, but the institutions that promote it. Cultural safeguards are necessary, but they relate to social structures, not to substantive arguments. The defence of literature in this paper relies primarily on an assertion that literary competence is reflected in an arritude to serious text, not is an institution that enumerates them.

ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE
Literature of Britain Sixth Course Thomas Monsell of Greenport. New York, assisted in the anotation of Marcheth. Mr Monsell has taught English 12 as Lindenhurst senion High School for twenty years. HE has directed many school productions and has acted and directed in stock and community theaters. Acknowledgments Grateful acknowledgement is made to the teachers who review materials in this book, in manuscrip or inclassroom test. Eva-Lynn Powell DadeCountry Schools Dade Country, Florida Rosa Smith-Williams Houston Independent School District Nancy E. Wiseman Sminoff has severed as Consultant in reading and Questioning Strategies for the program. Dr. Seminoff is severed as reading consultant at the secondary level and as a classroom teacher. Dean of the School of Education and Professional Studies at Central Connecticut State University. New Britain. She has She has published widely in national and state educational periodicals Carol Foster, Lucia-Anne Hay Arvada Wast High School Pinellas Country Weatridge, Colorado Pinellas Country Richard D. ParrishJune Gaede Michigan State University North High School East Lasing, Michigan Bakersfield, California The Emergent Period: The Anglo-Saxons There can be no tragedy in literature without a sense of glory or happyness or fulfilled ambition potentially within human grasp . . . - Alvin A. Lee -

England is only part of relatively small island that also includes Scotlan and Wales. This small island has been invadad and sttled many times: by an ancient people we call the lberians, by the Celts, by the Romans, by the Angles and Saxons, and by the Normans. Whatever we think of as English today must owe something to each of these invaders. Isolated from the European continent, raindrenched, and often fogged in, but also green and dotted with teached cottages, quaint stone churches, and mysterious megalithic ceremonial ruins, England seems made for elves, legends, and poets. Yet if this land of mystery, beauty, and melancholy weather has produced Stonehenge, Robin Hood, and Shakespeare, it has also produced the theory of gravity, the Industrial Revolution, radar, and penicillin. We tend to associate the English with their monarchy and their former Empire. But we should also remember that while most of the worls suffered under various forms of tyranny, the English from the time of the magna Carta (1215) were gradually creating a political system by and for the people that remains today a source of envy and inspiration for many nations. Although it was against English rule that Americans revelled in 1776, we in America would not be what we are today without English common lawwhith its emphasis on personal rights and freedomEnglish parliamentary government, English literature, and the English language. The achievements of England have helped to define and shape our American experience since tha birth of our republic. The statesman winston Churchill once jokingly referred to the unique kinship of America and England when he spoke of tow peoples on either side of the Atlantic Ocean separated by a common language. The United States has, in its more than tow centuries of existence as an independent nation, devolped a great literature of its own and has fostered a distinctive culture, even a distinctive speech now recognized as American English. But our American system of government, our language and literature, our whole culture, retain profound links to England. It is, of course, possible to disapprove of English ways and English policies both past and present, bur to ignore England and its history and culture would be to ignore our own heritage.

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The Celts and Their Religion When Greek travelers visited what is now Great Britain in the fourth century B.C., they found an island settled by people closely related to the tall, blond Celtic warriors who had sacked Rome earlier, in 387 B.C. Among these island Celts was a group called Brythons or Britons, who left their permanent stamp in one of the names eventually adopted by the land they settled. The religion of the Celts was evidently a form of animisism, from the latin world for spirit. The Celts saw spirits everywhere in rivers, trees, stones, ponds, fire, and thunder. These spirits of gods controlled all aspects of existence and they had to be constantly placated. It was the Druids who acted as priestly intermediaries between the gods and the people. Sometimes ritual dances were called for, sometimes human sacrifiece. It is thought by some that Stonehenge that enormos pile of megalithc stones on Salisbury plain in Wiltshire was used by the Druids for religious rites having to do with the lunar and solar cyrcles. Of great importance to the old Celtic religion was the Mother Goddess, a fertily figure who appears in many forms in the Celtic sculpture. Nearly everything in life could be explained by the relationship of this goddes with ger male counterpart in many forms, including the forms of warrior and craftsman. The Grat Mother was primarily associated with nature; the male god was associated with the tribe and its partiucular culture. For life to be good, nature and society needed to ve in proper balance. The ancient Celts, then hopen thet marriage of the Great Mother and the Great Father could produce a world in perfect harmony. The Romans: The Great Administrators Beginning with a compaign led by Julius Caesar in 55 B.C. and culminating in one organized by the Emperor Claudius in the first century A.D., the Britons were conquered by the legions of Rome. Using the administrative genius that enabled therm to hold dominion over much of the known world, the Romans provided the organization that prevented further serious invasions of Britain for several hundrer years. During Roman rule, Chiristianty which would later become a unifying force, gradually took hold under the leadership of missionaries from Europe, and the old Celtic religion began to vanish.
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By 410 A.D., however, the Romans, with troubles at home, had essentially evacuated their troops from britain. When the roman legions withdres, they did not leave a viable nation behind them. They left roads, walls, villas, and great public baths, but no central government. Never eager to overextend themselves, the Romans had been content to push warlike tribes that they could not assimilate to the west and north. Thus, Britain without Roman control was a country of separete clans who were now free to purse their own interest without regard for the general welfare. The result was weakness and series of successful invations by non-Christian peoples from the Germanic regions of continental Europe in themid-fifth century. The Anglo-Saxons: From King Arthur to king Alfred The invaders, Angles and Saxons from the Baltic shores of Germany and jutes from the peninsula of jutland in denmark, drove the old Britions before them and eventually settled the greater part of Britain. The language of the Anglo-Saxons became the dominant language in a land which was to take another name from the Angles (Englalond, or England). This is not to say that the latest newcomers had an easy time of it. The Celts put up a strong, resistance before they retreated into Wales in the far West of the country. There, traces of their culture, especially their language, can still be found. One of the most heroic Celtic leaders was a man called Arthur, who developed in legend as the once and future king. At first, Anglo-Saxon England was no more politically unified than Celtic Britain had been. The country was divided into several independent principatities, each with its own king. Occasionally, certain monarch, such as Ethelbert I of Kent (560-616), achieved extraordinary power. But it was not until King Alfred of wessex (871-899), also known as Alfred the Great, led the Anglo-Saxons against the invading Danes that England became in any true sense a nation. The Danes were one of the Viking peoples who crossed the North Sea in the eighth and ninth centuries and eventually took over parts of notheast and central England, where Danish law (Danelaw) replaced that of the AngloSaxons. In 878, Alfred Forced the Danes out of Wessex. His reign was the befinninf of the shaky dominance of wessex kings in the South

of England, a dominance that lasted until the Anglo-Saxons themselves were overwhelmed by the last conqueror of England: William, Duke of Normandy, who landed his boats in England in 1066. The Reemergence of Chiristianity It is possible that even King Alfred would have failed as a unifier had it not been for the gradual reemergence of Christianity among the Anglo-Saxons. This process was to a great extent due to the work of isish and Continental missionaries. The most important of whom was probably St. Augustine (the second of that name), who converted King Ethelbert of Kent in 597, founded the cathedral at Canterbury, and became the first Archbishop of Canterbury, or leader of the Church in England. Augustine of Canterburys mision, however, was not immediately or permanently successful, since the AngloSaxon religion was persistent. We are told, for instance, that Ethelbert converted his dependent, King Raedwald of East Anglia, to Christianity but that Raedwalds wife clung to her old religion, to the extent that she had altars to the Anglo-Saxon gods placed side by side with the Christian altars. It is interesting to note that Raedwald seems to have had some connection with a tribe from Swedish Jutland called Geatas or Geats. These were the people of Beowulf, the great AngloSaxon epic. As you will see, this epic convines elements of the Anglo-Saxon and Christian religions. It is also worth noting that aming the most important archeological sites in England were the burial mounds of Sutton Hoo in the land of King Raedwald. These mounds, rich in both Christian and Anglo-Saxon trasures of gold, silver, and bronze scepters, swords, shields, and ringsdate from Raedwalds time. These artifacts cannot help but remind us of the great treasure-filled burial Life in Anglo-Saxon Dependency England: Loyal

the author Seafarer.

of

The

Wandere

and

The

Life for the Anglo-Saxons, however, was centainly not luxurious, and it was dominated by scholarship and the arts. Warfare was the order of the day: war between principalities and between tribes, between clans (subdivisions of tribes), and between established settlers and new invaders. As Beowlf shows, law and order, at least in the early days, was the responsibility of the leader in any given group, whether family, clan, tribe, or kingdom. Fame and success, even survival, were achieved through loyalth to such a leader, especially during war, and success was measured in gifts from the leader. So it is that Beowulf makes his name and gains riches by defeating the monsters who try to destroy King Hrothgar. This pattern of loyal dependency was basic to Anglo-Saxon life. It grew out of need to protect the group from the terrors of an enermy-infested virgin wilderness a wilderness that became particulary frightening during the long, inhospitable nights of winter. In most of England, the Anglo-Saxons tended to live close to their animals in single-damily homesteads, wooden buildings that surounded a communal court of chieftains hall. This cluster of buildings was protected by a wooded stockade fence. Such anarrangement contributed to a sense of security, to the close relationship between leader and followers, and to the Anglo-Saxon tendency toward community discussion and rule by consensus. The Anglo-Saxon Religion The religion of the early Anglo-Saxons had come with them from Germany and had much in common with what think of as norse or Scandinavian mythology. The Anglo-Saxon deity named Thunor was essentially the same as Thor, the god of weather, and praticulary of thunder and lightning. His sign was the hammer and possibily also the twisted cross we call the swastika, which is found on so many Anglo-Saxon gravestones. Thunor was a terrifying god, but he could also funtion as a protector, whose mother was the god Earth itself. (His name survives in Thursday, Thors day.) As she did for the Celts. The earth morher took on many forms for the Anglo-Saxons. In fac, the goddess in her group for as the mothers was common to the Celts and the Anglo-Saxons. No surprisingly, given what we know of the male-centered Anglo-Saxon social
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As the Sutton Hoo indicate, the Anglo-Saxons were not barbarians, though they were frequently depicted that way. And craftmanship was not their only talent. There were genuinely important Anglo-Saxon historians and scholarsh, such as the Venerable Bed and King Alfred himself. And there were poets: the Beowulf poet, the monk Caedmon (whom we discover in Bedes history), and Cynewulf, once thought to be

life, the female deity was concerned with childbearing and homemaking. One of the most important Norse gods was Odin, the god who overcame death irself in order to learn the great mysteries contained in the runes, or religious inscriptions. As the god of feath, poetry, and magic, Odin could help humans communicate with spirits. He was especially associated with burial rites and with ecstatic trances, important fot both poetry and religious mysteries. The Old English name for Odin was Woden (from which we have Wednesday, Wodens day). It is perhaps nor surprising that thios god of poetry and death would have been so important to a people who produced great poetry and who tended particularly toward the elegiac or mournful mood. Still another significant figure in Anglo-Saxon mythology is the dragon. It seems always, as in Beowulf, to be the protector of atreasure. Some scholars suggest that the fiery dragon should be seen as both a personification of death the devourerand as the guardian of the grave mound, in which are laid not only a warriorsashes but his trasure as well. On the whole, the religion of the Anglo-Saxons seems to have been more concerned with ethicswith the manly virtues ofbravery, loyalty, generosity, and friendshipthat with the mystical aspects of reality. One historian. G.M Trevelyan, in describing the Anglo-Saxon ethic, has even suggested that the social standards of the modern English schoolboy come nearest to it. A monks cell on Skellig Michael, off the coast of Kerry, ireland (7th or 8th century) Bards and Poets in Anglo-Saxon England The Anglo-Saxon communal hall, besides offering shelter and a place for holding council meettings, also provided space and oportunity for entertainment. As in other parts of the ancient world (notably in Homeric Greece more than once thousand years earlier), entretainment was provided to a great extent by skilled storytellers or bards, such as this one described in Beowulf: . . . And sometimes a proud old soldier who has heard songs of the ancient heroes and could sing therm all through, stoy after story, would weave a net of words for Beowulfs victory, tying the knot of his veses wmoothly, swiftly, into place with a poetsQuick skill,
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singing his new song aloud while he shaped it, and the old songs as well . . . These bards (called scops) were no way considered inferior to other warriors. To the Anglo-Saxons, creating poetry was as manly as fighting, hunting, farming, or loving. The sang to the accompaniment of a harp. As sources for their improvisational poetry, the storytellers had a rich supply of traditional heroic tales, narratives that reflected the ideals of a people constantly under threat of annihilation by war, desease, or old age. We are rold of the king in Beowulf: . . . Sometimes Hrothgar himself, with the harp in this lap, stroked its silvery srings And told wonderful stories, a brave king Reciting unhappy truths about good And eviland sometimes he wove his stories On the mournful of old age, remembering Buried strenght and the battles in had won. He wouls weep, the old king . . . Lines 2107-2114 Anglo-Saxon literature contains many works in this same elegiac, or mournful, strain; poems such as the wanderer and The seaferer, for example, strees thetransience of a life frequently identified with the cold and darkness of winter. For the non-Christian Anglo-Saxon, only fame and its reverberation in poetry could provide and enduring defense against death. Perhaps this is why the AngloSaxon bards, uniquely gifted with the skill to preserve fame in the collective memory, were such honored members of their society. Monasteries and Anglo-Saxon Literature In the death-shadowed world of the AngloSaxons, the poets or bards provided one element of hope: the possibility that heroic deeds might be enshirned in the collective memory. Another element of hope was supplied by Chiristianity. The strongholds of Christianity in this period, as in the later Middle Ages, were the monasteries, centers of faith and learning. Their cultural and spiritual influence existed right alongside the heroic ideals and traditions of the older Anglo-Saxon religion. In fact, the monasteries probably preserved some of the older traditions: in all likelihood, It was monks who wrote down (and reworked) the greats works of popular literature such as Beowulf and The Wanderer.

These works from the older oral tradition were composed in the vernacular, or the language of the people, a Germanic tongue that we now classify as Old English. But the principal works of learning in the monasteries were written in the language of the Church, which was latin. The greatest of the Latin writers in AngloSaxon England was the Venerable Bede (673735), a monk who had an international reputation as a scholar. Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People (731) provides us with our first major source about early English history. Latin remained the language of serious study (as opposed to popular culture) until the time of king Alfred, who was responsible for the Anglo-Saxon chronicle (892), a running history of England which began in the earliest days and was continued until 1154. Alfred made much use of Bedes work and had texts of his Ecclesiastical History Translated into English. Partly because of King Alfreds efforts, Old English began to gain respect as a language culture, and works such as the ones in this unit came to be recognized as the great works of literature that they are. Old English Poetics Anglo-Saxon or Old English poetry was sung or recited aloud. As we discover from references in Beowulf, poetic recitation was usually accompanied by the harp. The purpose of accompaniment was centrainly to provide a regular rhythm: A stoke of the harp would have been used, for instance, to maintain the beat during a breathing pulse of the minstrelpoet. Besides the use of the harp, internal workings, or poetics, of Anglo-Saxon verse point to irs oral aspect. From the time of Chaucer (1340?1400), English poetry has traditionally derived its rhythm from the strict number and order of stressed and unstressed syllables on a line. Thus, for God mid Geatum Grendles daeda The Anglo-Saxon oral poet was also assisted by a store of ready-made descriptive compound words, or Kennings, that evoke vivid images. In the iliad and Odyssey (chich are also the products of oral composition), Homer used something like kennings in such constructions as rosy-fingered dawn andthe wine-dark sea. The Beowulf poets speaks of the sea as the Whale-road and of ships as sea-stallions.

Finally, in Beowulf, as in the iliad and the Odyssey, we find ready-made formulas used to describe particular activities, such as voyaging on the sea, greeting a stranger, eating a feast, receiving or giving richas. Repeating these formula descriptions word for word and line by line took some of the burden off the bard: he could sing them automatically while whinking ahead to the next part of his story. The poetry of oral epic is thus a combination of traditional and inventive elements, and each public recitation or performance of a narrative probably differed to some degree from every other. We now have available some excellent modern translations of Old English poetry. Now indeed, says scholar Robert Creed about Burton Rafferls translations, the exalted vision of the dead poet in his dead language ca speak to us In the living language of a living poet: `Oh wondergul miracle worked among men. The Venerable Bede (673-735) About A.D 680 a gifted seven-year-old boy named Bede (Baeda) as placed by his parents under thecare of the abbot of the great monasteru of Jarrow in northeast England. As a center of learning, the monastery turned out to be the right place for this remarkable child. Bede was destined to become a monk whose scholarly brilliance would be famous throughout medieval Europe. He was later given the title venerablebecause of his reputation for wisdom and pietry. Bede was the author of forty respected and widely read books. He composed verse, biographies of the saints, theological commentaries, and most important, the Ecclesiastical History of the English Church and people. Written in Latin, and later traslate into Old English by King Alfred, this grat work remains our major source of facts about life in Anglo-Saxon Enlang. It tells of early invations and conquest ofBritain, of the work of the early missionaries, of the founding of monasteries; it also recounts wonderful tales of miracles and of colorful figures in early English history. Among Bedes stories of missionaries is one included here abour the conversion of the powerful King Edwin of Northumbria by the holy Paulinus. Through paulinuss efforts, the pagan cult of Woden wasdramatically overthrown in Northumbria, and the Christian Church was substituted fot it.
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Perphaps the traditional favorite among the tales of Bede is the story of the saintly poet Caedmon, who died the same year that the young Bede came to Jarrow. Caedmon has lived in the nearby monastery of Whitby, which was Ied by St. Hilda from 858-680. Caedmon was uneducated but inspired. He used the old secular forms of poetry for his religious outpourings. The hymn of Caedmon to God the Father,as reported in Bedes History, is the earliest literary document in English. Perphaps it is significant that a prayer was to survive as the beginning of a national literature in which religion was to play such a significant role. From ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE The Saxon Temples Are Destroyed A.D 625 Another of the kings chief men signified his agreement with this prudent argument, and went on to say, Your Majesty, when we compare the present life of man on earth with that time of which we have no ksnowledge, it seems to me like the swift of a single sparrow through the banqueting hall where you are sttingat dinner on a winters day with your thanes and counselors. In the midst there is a comforting fire to warm the hall; outside, the storms of winter rain or snow are raging. This sparrow riles swiftly in through one door of the hall, and our through another. While he is inside, he is safe from the winter storms; but after a few moments ofcomfort, he vanishes from sight into the wintry world from which he came. Even so, man appearch on earth for a little while; but of what went before this life or of what follows, we know nothing. Therefore, if this new teaching has brought any more certain knowledge, it seems only right that we should follow it. The other elders and counselors of the king, under Gods guidance, gave similar advice. Coifi then added that ge wished to hear Paulinuss teaching about God in grater detail; and when, at the kings bidding, this has been give, he exclaimed: I have long realized that there is nothing in our way of worship; for the more diligently I sought after truth in our religion, the less I found. I now publicly confess that this teaching clearly reveals truths that will affords us the blessings of life, salvation and eternal happiness. Therefore, Your Majesty, I submit that the temples and altars that we have dedicated to no advantage be immediately and burned.

In short, the king grated blessed Paulinus full permission to preach, renounced idolatry, and professed his acceptance of the Faith of Christ. And when he asked the Chief Priest who should be the first to profane the altars and shrines of the idols, together with the enclosurses that surrounded them, Coifi replied: I will fo this myself; for now that the true God has granted me knowledge, who more suitably than I can set a public example and destroy the idols that I workwhiped in ignorance? So he formally renounced his empty Superstitions and asked the king to give him arms and a stalionfor hitherto it had not been lawful for the chief Priest to carry arms ot to ride anything but a mare and, thust equipped, he set out to destroy the idols. Girded with a sword and with a spear in his hand, he mounted the kings stallion and rode up to the idols. When the crowd saw him, they thought he had gone mad; but withount hesitation, as soon as he reached the temple, he cast into in the spear he carred and trus profaned it. Then, full or hoy at his ksnowledge of the workship of the true God, he told his companions to set fire to the temple and its enclosures and destroy them. The site where the idols once stood is still shown, not far east of York, beyond the river Derwent, and is known today as Goodmanham. Here it was that the Chief Priest, ispired by the true God, desecrated and destroyed the altars that he had himself dedicated. In 1557, the year Elizabeth became Queen, a printer named Richard Tottlel put out an importan collection of poems entitled Songs and sonnets. The best poems in this book, which is commonly called Tottels Miscellany, had been written some years before by Sir Thomas Wyatt and by Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey. Wyatt and Surrey were both inspired by the italian humanist and poet Francis Petrarch, and they were responsible for introducing petrarch into England. By 1595 or no, Petrarch had many followers busily producing love sonnets by the yard, many of them mediocre but some of them brillant, especially some written by Sir philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser, and William Shakespeare. Even John Donne, a Renaissance poet whose view of love was very different from petrarchs could not escape his influence. The petrarchan vogue illustrates who consicious the poets of Renaissance England were of their predecessors, older poets who wrote not only in English but

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especialy in italian and Latin, and to some extern in Spanish, French and Greek. This part of the history opens, King Edwin has not yetbecome a Christian, though he has been talking to the Christian priest Paulinus and has abandoned workship of Woden. Coifi, Chief Priest of the Old religion, has told the king that though The century after Tottels Miscellany was one of the gratest ages of English poetry; any attempt to summarize it or reduce it to formulas is bound to fail. Yet it did have centrain characteristics that set it off from other great or English poetry. One of these was that renaissance poets wrote with one eye on their suject and the other on what preceding poets had said about the subject. They aimed at making new poems that used the themes and forms of older poems. And so poets who wanted to treat love as something erotic and fuccy would not look to see how Petrarch did it because Petrarch idealized love; instead, they consulted the ancient Roman poet Ovid. Similarly, if they wanted to saritize and redicule certain kinds of human behavior, they srudied the techniques of ancient satirsts like Horace and Juvenal. Unless they also wrote plays, English poets could not expect to make much money from their writings. So for support they looked to aristocratic patrons, people wirh wealth and influence who would reward writers who dedicated their books to them. Consequently, most poetry and other literature in the Renaissance tended to be aristocratic in tone and, with very few exceptions, unconcerned with working people. He himself has been zealous in serving the old gods, they have not favored him. Therefore, coifi suggests, they should all accept the new religion. In the history of England, this was a profoundly important moment. When people of the working classes a appeared, they were ussualy trated comically, and any poets lacking education and knowledge of Latin (like Taylos the Water Poet, aman who ran a boat service on the Thames) were treated as public jokes. A kind of writing known as pasrotal enabled poets and storytellers to portray leisured and educated people as thought they were shepherds or other country dweillers. Marlowes The pasionate Shepherd to His Love is a famous examplke of pastoral poetry. Poets who were themselves aristocrats, like Sir Philip Sidney and Sir

Walter Raleigh, as weill as poets like Donne who aspiredto mambership in the ruling classes, did not publish their works but gave them to their friends, who circulated them in manuscript. Of course English poets drew on their personal experiences, butthey depended on traditional ways of expressing those experiences. And they did not write just a poem; they wrote aparticular kind of poem. As they wrote they were conscious of other poems of that kind already written. There were epithalamia (wedding songs), epigrams (brief poems sometimes prasing but mor often making funof either real or fictitious people), epithaps (vrief poems on dead people), and songs (lyrics suitable for setting to music). Renaissance poets were particulary adept at writing songs of grear beauty and charm; thousand of them survive, both airs for solos and elaborate madrigals, or part-songs for group singing. These songs expressed a greatvariety of moofs and covered a great variety of subjects, from love to religion. Everybody was expected to sing, if anecdotes like then following from Henry Morleys Plain and Easy Introduction to Music (1597) can be trusted: Supper being ended, and music-books (according to the custom being brought to the tables, the mistress of the house pressented me with a part, earnestly requesting me tosing. But when, after many excuses I protested undainedly that I could not, every one began to wonder. Yeq, some wishpered to others, demanding how I was brought up. With its hugh regard for skill in singing, the Renaissance produced some of the greatest lyric poets in the language; even relatively minor writes like John Lyly, Robert Greene, Thomas Nashe, john Dowland, Thomas Campion, Samuel Daniel, and Richard Crashaw each produced a handfuyl of songs that rival those of such major poets as Sidney, Shakespeare, Sonne, George Herbert, and Andrew Marvell. Aside from the songs, many of which seem simple and sincere, most other Renaissance poems thend to be clever and elaborate, full of puns and other exuberant wordplay. Artificialwas a term of approval and admiration; it was used to describe anything skillfulluy made, and poets were often referred to as makers and their works as their doings. In the renaissance all sorts of people wrote poetry, just as they do today, but their poems, unlike most of ours, are always in meter and, with very few exceptions, in
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rhyme. The notion that a poem should seem to ve a natural outpouring of personal feeling in ordinary language was totally foreign to them.Instead, they thought of a poem as something made out of figurative language fitted into formal patterns. Some of their methaphors seem farfetched to us: as when human life was saidto be a boiwling alley, or tow lovers were called a geometers compass, or young womans beauty became the sun at nooday. Extended metaphors of this kind, bringing together things totally unlike eachother, are called conceits, and they may distract us because we have been taught to visualize the images in poetry. Renaissance readers apparently did not try to picture conceits in their minds; instead, they admired them for their boldness and ingenuity. As time passed, the practice of writing conceits intensified and reached a peak in the followers of Donne. Many more kinds of poetry were written in the Renaissance than today because people then used verse for purposes that are now served by prose. For instance, then verse letter was a recognized genre; sometimes it tool the form of a discourse on a topic that would now be treated in an essay or an article. Poetry could be used to describe places, as in Michael Draytons Polyolbion (1622) , a sort of travel book about England and Wales. Poetry could also be used for instruction and edification, as in The divine weeks (1605), as entertaining paraphrase about the creation translated from French by Joshua Sylvester. Many narrative poems were written to sarisfy peoples need for fiction; there were few short sroties ar this time, no novels, and no magazines. Perhaps the most popular book of narrative poems, first published, early in Elizabeths reign and republished many times, was The Mirror for Magistrates, a collection of twenty sensational and disastrous stories in verse by various poets, showing how rich, proud, successful people can come to a bad end. Finally, a much less preachy sort of narrative poem must be mentioned: Hero and Leander (written in or before 1593) by Christopher Marlowe. This entertaining poem mingles the erotic and the ideal, mytology and philosophy, romantic and cynical views of love. Hero oddly enough, is the name of the heroine. In the Renaissance, and for long after, literary people agrred that he highest kind of poetry was epic, exemplified in England by Beowulf, as you have seen, and in classical antiquitu by Homers iliad and Odyssey and Vigils Aeneid. These long, elaborate narrative poems use traditional literary devices and are
40

concerned with national heroes and superantural beings, both good and bad. The italian Renaissance produced two great epic poets, Tasso and Ariosto, and they particulary Ariosto Provided precedents and models for Englands Spenser. Milton, Englands other epic poet, was the last and in many ways the greatest of all the nondramatic poets of Englands Renaissance. The view of humanity found in Spensers and Miltons epic was the view of all the Renaissance humanists: Human beings are completely free agents possessinga powe, know as Reason, that enables them first to distinguish between good and evil and then to choose the good and avoid the evil. Shakespeares Hamlet sums up this view in these words: sure he that made us with such large discourse, Looking before and after, gave us not That capability and godlike Reason To fust(1) in us unused. Renaissance Drama Shakespeare was far from being the only gfreat dramatist in this age; even without him, the Renaissance would be the preeminent period of English drama. And even before the Renaissance the English had been writing and performing plays for several centuries. The Forerunners Some scholars belive that medieval drama evolved from church ceremonies such as the dialogue-songs performed at Easter Eve services. In these tiny playlets three women would appea at a door representing the tomb of Christ and guarded by an angel. (1) Fust: Decay The angel would ask, in Latin whom do yo seek? and then he would announce the Resurrection. From this obscure beginning, drama moved out of the churches and into the marketplace of towns. There, in the 1300s and 1499s various workemens guilds cooperated in staging cycles of plays that deamatized the whole history of the human race as then understood: its creation by God,its fall through the wiles of satan, its life in Old Testament times, its redemption by Christ, and its final judgment at the end of the world. Parts of four cyrcles of these plays have been preserved, and they are named after the

towns where they probably originated: York, Chester, Coverntry, and Wakerfield. Gradually, the plays became less religious, and comedy was incorporated into them. The wife on Noah, for instance, makes a great fuss about entering the ark, and is carried kicking and screaming aboard. In anothes play about Christmas Eve, while the shepherds are warcxhing their flocks by night a clownish thief steals a sheep and a rowdy scene takes place before the angel appears to tell shepherds to go to Bethlehem and present gifts to the newborn Christ. This welldeveloped comic scene take place in one of the best of the cyclial plays, the second Shepherds play of the Wakefield cycle. It seemsto harmonize perfectly with the viclical theme: an early example of English skill in mixing the comic with the serious in drama. The most notable serious play of the period just before the Renaissance is Everyman, based on a Dutch original. This is a moralu play in which Death summons Everyman, who stands for exactly what his name indicates. Everyman asks his friends, who have such allegorical names as Goods, Kindred, Fellowship, Beauty, and Strength, to accompany him, but only Good Deeds stays with hum to the end. Several kinds of plays, then, were written and produced before the Renaissance: miracle and mystery plays based on the bible and saintslegends; moralities that tautht people how to live and die; and starting in the early 1500s a new kind called interludes. Thesewere one-act plays, some of them indistinguishablke from moralities,others rowdy and farcical. With the interludes theplaywright stop being anonymous. The best writer of comic interludes wasJhon Heywood, grandfather on John Heywood, grandfather of John Donne and a great favorite of Queen Mary. In Heywoods play the Weather (1533) everybody complains to Jupiter about the dreadful weather, but nobody agrees on the definition of Dreadful. And in his Four Ps (1545?) a pardoner, a palmer (or pilgrim), a pothecary (or druggist), and a peddler boast about their occupations; the palmer wins a prize for telling the biggest lie, and the pardoner describes a ludicrous trip that he took down to Hell. We can conclude that even before the new humanist learning came in, there were strong dramatic traditions that the great Renaissance playwrights knew about. Renaissance Dramatists

The humanistic influence was first felt in comedy. As early as 1533, a shoolmaster named Nicholas Udall wrote, for his students to perform, Ralph Roister Doister, in the manner of the Roman comic playwrights Plautus and Terence. This play, in which a clever young man encourages an absolute simpleton named Roister Doister to court a rich young woman, first exploited some funny character types and plot patterns that are still with us in oursocalled situation comedies. Some twenty years after this first comedy showing the influenceof classical antiquity, there appeared the first tragedy of that kind, Gorboduc, by Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville, Earl of Dorset. A declamatory play with nothing much actually happening on stage, this tragedy is full af long speeches describing bloody events a prince kills his brother and is then killed by his motherthat look place in ancient Britain, at the court of King Gorboduc.The first syllavle of this undortunate monarchs name is not irrelevant event to this play about him. Both in its gory subject matter and its windy style Gorboduc shows the strong influence of the Emperor Neros tutor Seneca, the author of nine unperformable tragedies of blood and revenge that were much studied and imitated in Renaissance England. While plays written before 1590 are, admittedly, mainly of historical interest, it is important to know that the great flowering of English drama in the 1590s and early 1600s had firm roots in the immediate past. Like the schoolmaster Udall, Shakespeare in his career turned to Plautus for his Comedy of Errors; he developed the tradition of the bloody revenge play in some ofhis greatest tragedies; and he used in all his plays the blank verse invented by Surrey and first used in a play by the authors of Gorboduc. The dramatists of the 1590s may be divided into two groups: those who, like Marlowe, were university graduates and those who, like Shakespeare, were not. In the first group were Robert Greene and John Lyly. Greene, a colorgul youth who died young, wrote among other works five plays the, best know being Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (1594). The plays of lyly are in prose a noveltyand they provide the first examples in English of what became know as high comedy: witty, sophisticated dialogue rather that knockabout farce. Lylys plays include Endimion(1591) and The Woman in the Moon (1594). Among the writers who attended Oxford nor Cambridge in thomas Kyd, author of the thunderous and very popular Spanish Tragedy
41

(1592?)in which a man becomes frantic and feocious after he comes upon his deadson. Ben Joson another dramarist and poet who never studied in auniversity but was nevertheless a true humanist, probably acted, and may well have made additions to, The Spanich Tragedy. Like Shakespeare, Jonson learned his craft and art in the theater itself: His apprentice work came in the sixteenth century. After 1600 there appeared several new and important tragedy writers, among them john Webster, whose white Devil (1608?) and Duchess of Malfil are both about splendid women whom their brothers, husbands, and lovers destroy. Cyril Tourneur was probably the Author of The Revengers tragedy (1607) and the Atheists Tragedy (1611), both subtle additions to the Senecan revenge tradition. Turning to comedy, we find a bewildering variety of line plays besides the famous ones by Shakespeare and Jonson. In the early years of the new century, a large number of satirical comedies were written and produced. The best one of these (not counting Shakespeares Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida), John Marstons The Malcontent (1604), features a foul-mouthed, railing sort to hero if he can be called a heroand the whole play exposes the folly and viciousness of a Renaissance court that is, the people surrounding a ruler and wielding political power. (All the English play that specializes in cruel, outrageous behavior were set in italian or Spain, where such gings, every proper English person assumed, were routine.) A much less scandalous and perhaps more amusing play than The Malcontent is a A Trick to Catch the Old One (1608) by Thomas Middleton; it satirizes English, not italian, mishbehavior. Philip Massinger completeru rewrote Middletons play and called it A New Way to Pay Old Debts (1626); this became one of the most popular comedies in all theater history. The kind of romantic play in which Shakespeare specialized, the sort of comedy that ends with the marriage of attractive lovers, was carried on by john fletcher. For a short time Fletcher collabored with Francis Beaumont. Then he went on by himself to have career in the theater, becoming the chief writer for the Kings Men company of actors when Shakespeare retired in 1612. Fletcher was a prolific writer of both comedies and tragedies, and he event invited a new kind of play which he called tragicomedy: that, is, the play ends happily as in comedy though the
42

characters are incolved in death-threatening circusmstances asin tragedy. Fletchers first tragicomedy was The Faithfull Shepherdess. In 1642 parliament, under the control of people who regarded plays and acting as wicked, shut down the London theaters. By then the golden year of English drama were over, and the only considerable talent that was srifled belonged to James Shirley. Even so, shirley managed to write more plays than anybody else except Shakespeare and Fletcher before he was forced to stop. Somo of his plays look forward to the new age whe the theaters would reopen right after the restoration of King Charles II in 1660. Shirleys Witty Fair One (1628) and his Lady of Pleasure (1635) anticipate the worldly comedies of William Congreve (1670-1729) and William Wycherley (1640-1716), in which the behavior of the fashionable upper classes is put to the test of laughter. Renaissance Prose Most Renaissance books, loke most books in any age, especially since the invention of printing, arewritten in prose, and most Renaissance prose is argumentative. The priting press made it possible to carry on elaborate controversies,mainly religious. Only scholars read these books today, though afew of them do rise to the status of literature. For instance, The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, a tome with a forbidding title written byRichard Hooker in the 1590s eloquently expresses the Renaissance view of humanity as centrally located in the Great Chain of Beigin, midway between God and the animals. Of fiction there is also a considerable amount, mainly in the from of complicated romances about fighting and love; these satisfied their readers desire for mystery, violence, passion, and even philosophical reflection. By far the best romance is Sidneys Arcadia, which his sister published after he was killed in war. A very influential book, it is good reading. A much shorter work, and perhaps more suited to our taste today, is Thomas Nashes The Unfortunate Traveler (1594), about young picaro, or rascal, the named Jack Wilton, Silton wanders about Europe, observing hangings, rapes, murders, tortures.He hears Martin Luther Preach, meets Erasmus and More, and becomes a page to the Earl of Surrey. This book is not a novel in the way that the narratives of Daniel Defore are, but it does anticipated elements of the novel as a literary genre. Tow other romancesm, out of dozens that were

published, deserve mention because Shakespeare made plays out of them: Pandosto (1588) by Robert Greene became The Winters Tale, and Rosalynde (1590) by Thomas Lodge became As you Like it. The Renaissance saw an enormous increase in writing about travel, exploration, and discovery. It was an age in which Europeans began to extend their Boundaries and increase their knowledge of the earth and heavens. Columbus, sailing west, arrived at an unknown hemisphere; Amergio Vespucci named it; Magellan sailed beyond it and circumnavigaed the whole globe for the first time. Galileo saw Jupiters satellites through his telescope, and thereby added evidence to support the new view of the cosmos promulgated by the polish astronomer and mathematician Copernicus. These and many other discoveries by the priting press, had an enormous impact on the imaginations of poets and dramatists. Milton, for instance would never have expressed the vast cosmic distances of Paradise Lost without a knowledge of the new astronomy, nor would Shakespeare have imagined the exotic locales of The Tempest Without the knowledge of faraway places. The English themselves were relatively late addicts to the discovery craze, though Henry VII had dispatched Hohn Cabot on a voyage across the North Atlantic. After Spain was so badly crippled in 1588, the English became active explorers and eventually reign came when she went aboard the Golden Hind and Knighter Francis Drake for his successful trio around the world and the damages he had inflicted on Spanish shipping. Sir Walter Raleigh was a great builder of colonies at least in his head. He dreamed of a vast empire that would put all of North and South America under the just rule of England in defiance of the pope, who had recently divided up the whole new world between Spain and Portugal. And before the Renaissance was over, the English people had indeed to scatter themselves ober the earth. Most of the earliest accounts of English discovery and exploration were collected and published by Richard Hakluyt in his Principal Navigations, voyages, and Discoveries of the English Nation (1589-1600) and by Samuel Purchas in Purchas His Pilgrims (1625), both fascinating collections of tales of which more that half are true. Renaissance prose is represented in this anthology by selections from Francis Bacons Essays and by excerpts from the great King James Bible. Many other prose works might have been sampled, such as Robert Burtons

Anatomy of Melancholy (1621) and Sir Thomas Brownes Religio Medici (A Doctors Religion, 1642). The former, a great and large book, discusses all kinds of melancholia,or what we called depression, especially depression caused by love and religion.It is a vast compendium of anecdotes, quotations and information, Stylistically it exihibit most of the excesses of Renaissance prose, such as enormously long sentence swollen with names, lists, allusions, quotations, and Latin phrases and sentences. Browne, a physician, wrote a poetic sort of prose that many generations of readers have found delightful because the author himself is so delighted to be alive and capable of wondering about the mysteries of creation. As for the King James Bible, it is still the principal achievement of English prose in any period and the one book that has most influenced English literature. Like most other Renaissance prose works, it contains much poetry: In the words that the ancient psalmist addresses to God, Renaissance humanists could findanswer to their profoundest questions: When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, The moon, the stars, which thou has ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower that the angels, And has crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have diminion over the works of thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet. Psalm 108

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A FRATHER ON THE WIND

Dean Curry ILLUSTRATED SHORT POEMS FOR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE A Feather on the Wind I Watched the feather float Gently on the Wind. I saw the feather lean Softly on the wind. I felt the feather fall Soundlessly. The wind dies too, Soundlessly. Silence and a feather on the ground At my feet Stillness and my heart on the ground At my feet. Stillness and my heart beating in My chest the only echo. Quiet contemplation and my thoyghts Like the feather, Fall to the ground And I know peace. WORD EXPLANATION Lean: to rest against something for support Echo: repetition of a sound. IDEAS AND IMAGES EXPLORED 1. The feathers leaning on the wind refers to a) the wind supporting the feather. b) the feathers falling. c) the wind thefeather. blowing hard against

4. What is the simile?

5. Why does the poet know peace? 6. what foes my thoughts fall to the ground mean? Hope I went down to the river this afternoon And saw that someone had tied a boat to a tree With a strong chain. There were steps leading down. The same steps led up. The boat seemed to be waiting. Like hope it waited impassively. I turned to leave, Then paused and looked back, And asked myself: Is my hope chained? How strong is the chain? How big is the tree? IDEAS AND IMAGES EXPLORED 1. What is the significance of the second verse? How is ir related to hope, if at tall? 2. Have you ever asked yourself a question about the hope in your life? Would you describe it as being chained? 3. What symbols do you find in the poem? Explain what they mean to you. 4. Do you agree that hope is impassive? Why or why not? 5. What similes can you find? Still Contemplation Moon full, luminescent, not crescent. Stillness and night shadows upon the quiet bay. I see with my eyes and hear with my ears The tableau of boats at rest, The oft lapping of the gentle waves. Night gathers together and binds up the wounds of the day. I seek the balm of peace. And find the assuaging velvet voice of hope An assuring response within, As I contemplate vastness, unmoving.

d) the feathers long journey. 2. The wind dies means that it a) continues to blow. b) stops blowing. c) becomes colder. d) makes a lound sound. 3. The echo is caused by a) the feather falling. b) the wind. c) the poets heart. d) the stillness.
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Creation lies calm, unperturbed Under my searching gaze. Dare I? Dare, the reply. WORDS EXPLANATIONS Luminescent: giving out light Crescent: growing; increasing Tableau: impressive scene; picture Lap: to move or beat gently Bind up: to put a bandage on Balm: a hearling or soothing influence Assuage: to calm or soothe Vastness: an immense space IDEAS AND IMAGES EXPLORED 1. What mood is the poet attempting to create? How well does he succed? 2. Who speaks the last line of the poem? Explain your answer 3. What examples of onomatopeic words can you find? 4. Why does the poet ask the questions: Dare I? 5. How do scenes of stillness or quiet affect you? 6. What is the them of the poem? The Alien From under the bridge and across the river the ciry looked alien. From under the bridge I let my eyes wander and Suddenly I felt better. Lights spoke familiarity. Buildings against the sky trailed astride the land.Traces of men and their ingenuity. The bridge stolidly sat, unmoving. Night crept cautiously in from the west, and I warched its first tentacles become slod shadows. Over the land and I wondered how in all this panorama of slowly descending curtains and quickening sparkles to light up the glom, I stood there and felt alone. Perhaps I was the alien. WORD EXPLANATIONS Alien: Stranger; foreigner

Astride: With one leg on each side Trace: sign, mark Ingenuity: Skill in planning or marking Something Stoild: not easily excited; showing no EmotionTentacle: a long, slender flexible growth Panorama: a wide, unbroke view of a surrounding region sparkle: light shining as sparks Gloom: deep shadow; darkness IDEAS AND IMAGES EXPLORED 1. What assurance does the poet get from lights and buildings? 2. Why is the bridge described as being stoild? 3. Is it possible to feel alien or alone in the most of multitudes? Explain your answer 4. Explain why the poet says what he does in the last line of the poem? Can yourelate to that? Why or why not? 5. Find examples alliteration. RedBrick Wall Red bricks in a crumbing wall have much to say sometimes and sometimes nothing at all!. Musing I count the gaps where the bricks have fallen and note the broken pieces on the ground below. Is seems that I should draw some conclusion from all this. I try to thread the needle of my mind with some grand and glorious philosophic observation. Either the thread is too big for the needle. Or im not a good threader of needles! A red brick wall Thats all! Or is it? WORD EXPLANATIONS Crumble: to break into very small pieces Muse: to be completely absorbed in thought Gap: a broken place; opening; unfilled space Needle: a very slender tool, pointed at one end and with a hole or eyes to pass a
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of

personification.

Of

thread through. Philosophic: related to the study of the most general causes and principales of the universe. IDEAS AND IMAGES EXPLORED 1. What causes the poet to examine the wall? 2. What do the gaps and the broken pieces of brick tell him? 3. What does the poet hope to accomplish from his observation? Is he successful? 4. Explain what the poet means by the last line. 5. How do you feel about philosophy? Gulls Flying What is it about gulls flying? What is it abour the grace, that causes me to pause and ponder and then trace Their flight across the sky? Why is it something stairs inside my heart That heither a rainbow or a rose can quicken? Why do I find it even hard to breathe When air and sky appear boundless? When will gulls flying show me more of like Than what I now know? When will you know and help me? WORD EXPLANATIONS Trace: to follow by means of marks or signs Stir: to set in motion; move Rainbow: bow or arch o light showing all the colors of the spectrum, formed opposite to the sun in the sky. Quicken: to make alive Boundless: not limited; infinite IDEAS AND IMAGES EXPLORED 1. To trace the flight of the gulls refers to a) watching them catch insects. b) watching them land on the water. c) whatching them fly in the sky. d) watching them sing. 2. The poet is affected by the beauty of flight and a) limitless sky b) ocean waves
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c) rainbows and roses d) gulls 3. What does the poet mean by the final question? 4. Does the poet already know something of life? How did he learn it? What do yo think it is? 5. In your own words, tell what the poet is saying The Conch Shell I know that what I hear In the shell here at my ear Is only the oceans roar. But I think that its something more. Distrant lands appear In the eye of my ear. Tropic suns and propic noons, Sent-filled shores and waning moons. Romance is far away. For it lives in another day, Signaled by a distrant bell, Muted, soft, within the shell. WORD EXPLANATIONS Conch: any of several mullusk of tropical waters having large, spiral shells. Wane: to lose size; become gradually smaller Muted: not making any sound IDEAS AND IMAGES EXPLORED 1. How does the poet feel about the sound within the shell? 2. Does the poet really see the distant lands? 3. Why does the poet speak o romance as far away? Is that common with romance: that it is usually far away? 4. In your opinion, do mosto people have a romantic outlook on life? Explain your answer. OPTIONAL ACTIVITY Write a short poem of your own feeling abour romance of the attraction or lure of distant, unknown places of people.

THE BIG CHANCE

Frederick Lang He wasnt the kind to pick a secretary by the color of her hair. Not Bill Hargrave. Both Paulina and Nancy had been smart enough to know that. And for some time everyone in the office had known that one of them, Paulina or Nancy, was going to get the job. In fact, the decision would probably be made this afternoon. Hargrave was leaving town and wanted to settle the matteer before her left. The tow girls could see him from their desk outside his office. Maybe it wasd only some correspondence that he was looking at with cool, keen eyes. But for a moment his finger seemed to pause above those tow efficient little pushbuttons. If he pressed the left one, it would be Paulas oulse which would begin to beat faster. Paula couldns keep her eyes off that light on her desk. She kept making mistakes in her typing and nervously taking the sheets of paper out in order to start all over again. She leaned across her typewriter and said to Nancy The boss is all dressed up today. He must be going on a special trip. She was just talking to relieve her nervousness. Nancy took her time about answeting. She wasns used to having Paulina talk to her in such an intimate tone. Not since theyd learned a month ago thatthey were both in line for apromotion, for the important job as Bill Hargraves secretary. He does look nice. Hargrave was young and outside of office hours he was said to be human, But that wasnt why gotten to be one of the important officials of the company. He was quiet, and some of the other men in the office hadns realized how fast he was succeeding in the conpany until they saw hime one day in one of the top executive positions. The two girls saw him get up from his desk and walk to the doorway of his office. He stood there with one hand in a pocket of his blue flannel suit. There was a small white flower in his buttonhole and the usual keen, unrevealing smile on his face. Did you send for the tickets? he asked Nancy. I got the tickets all right, she answered, but . . .and she tried to smile in the same hard way the boss did. She looked about as hardboiled as a white kitten. But there just

arent any staterooms to be had, she told him. Not for love or money. The boss was centrainy disappointed. Anybody could see that. Suppose I try it? Paula suggested quickly. And fot the next ten minutes. Half the office employees could hear Paula telling the ticket agent exactly what she thought if him. Listen, she said, I dons care reservations you have to cancel . . . whose

Well , the job was worth going after. There was the salary for one thing. And there was the prestige. The bosssecretary knew a great deal about the business. And there were the interesting people she got to talk to. The important people. And the boxes of perfume, flowers, and candy they often left on her desk. And there was Bill Hargrave for a boss. Young and clever and attractive. That was a factor, too. Because In theadvertising business you called the boss Bill, and he called his secretary Nancy or Paulina and took her to dinner on the company expense account. It was all strictly business, but it seemed intimate and informal. Both Paula and Nancy knew about those dinners. Bill had tried to be fair. He would ask Paula to stay one night, and then it would be Nancys turn the next night. But Paula had been smart. She had soon learned how impersonal Bill Hargrave could be, even at those imtimate dinners. About as personal as one of those advertisements that says. this m,eans you. And she saw how much harder to please he was during the overtime hours more irritable, more inclined to be critical in his manner. The Big Chance So when Nancy had said. I dont mind staying nights, really. I know Paula usually has a date. Shes popular with the men . . . well, Paula has been glad to let it go at that. Shes been quick to see that neither of them was going to get the job simply on a basis of physical attractiveness, and she wa right. Paula didns need any lessons when it came to office politics. She was the one who was always busy when someone of little importance in the office wanted his material typed. Sorry, but its impossible, Jack. Why not ask Nancy? and they did ask Nancy. It left Paula
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free to do Bill Har graves work in a hurry. She was never too busy for Mr. Bills work. When Hargrave pinally pressed one of those buttons it was at Paulas desk the light went on. She stared to make a grab for her notebook, but she quickly took out her mirror first. Then she grabbed up her notebook and an envelope that was on the desk. As for Nancy, what else could she do but sit there with her pretty blonde head bent over her typewriter? Nancy was a natural blonde, and that seemed the best way to describe her. She just didnt seem to know any tricks such as Paula did for making herself more popular with the boss. Frederick Lang The moment Paula got inside Hargraves office he asked about that stateroom. Any luck, Paula? Paula wasnt dumb, It was the little things that would count with Mr. Bill. Orchestra seats at the theater when an important client was in town and the show was sold out. Qra stateroom when there were no staterooms to be had for love or money. She handred him the envelope. It contained the tow sets of tickets That your stateroom number on the outside, she said in a businesslike way. She had on a blue flannel suit something like Bills, and it was clear he tought she looked pretty smart in it. Dont forget the time, she added, eightfifteen. Hargrave smiled So there were staterooms for love or money, eh? no

on their honeymoon tonight. Tonight at eightfifteen.

VOCABULARY AND IDIOM REVIEW 1. What were the positions which Paula and Nancy held in the advertising company of this story? 2. Why was Paula very nervous this afternoon and why did she keep making so many mistakes as she typed? 3. What position were both of them very interested in obtaining? 4. What were some of the advantages to be gained in being promoted to the position of Bill Hargraves secretary? 5. How did the tow girls, Paula and Nancy, differ in their Characters? 6. Which was the more efficient of the tow girls? 7. Why was Paula always busy when some of the men of lesser importance in the office wanted her to do some typing for them? 8. Which of the two girls was finally able to obtain tickets for the stateroom for Bill Hargrave for that evening? 9. Which of the girls did Bill Hargrave finally select to be his secretary in the future? 10. Which did he select as his wife? VOCABULARY AND IDION REVIEW A. Circle the word in parentheses which completes each sentence correctly: 1. To pick a secretary is to (criticize/select/admire(promote) one. 2. To settle a matter is to (consider it/set it aside/decide it/postpone it). 3. He had a keen knife; that is the knife was (sharp/dull/late/easy) 4. To cancel something is to ( put it off/call it off/put is away/put it down). 5. (Candy/pepper/perfume/butter) make you smell sweet. will

He looked again at the number of his stateroom and he put the envelope cafefully in his inside pocket. Then he told her. She was going to have a new job. He mentionated the salary, too. He didnt neglect to mention the salary. She took it just in a very businesslike manner just enough of gratitude. And the old sportsmanhip. How sorry she felt about Nancy. She didnt look sorry. Andneither did Bill. He told her it was okay, that sheshouldnt worry about Nancy. That Nancy wasnt made for the job anyway, and that besides, he and Nancy were leaving
48

6. A kitten is a (ticket agent/boss/good salary/young cat) 7. A great dreal (little/lot/few/necessity). is a

B. Use the following expressions in sentence of your own:

1. leave town 2. Keep ones eye on something 3. Be dressed up 4. Get dressed up 5. Be used to 6. Get used to 7. Used to 8. Take ones time 9. Go after 10. Be in a hurry 11. For some time 12. In fact STRUCTURE REVIEW C. The negative prefix disis also commonly used with verbs. He hasnt liked any of the moves hes seen recently; hes even disliked the ones that were highly recommended by the critics. Give the form with disfor each of the following verbs, Then use each of the resulting words in a sentence of your own: 1. agree 2. aprovee 3. please 4. connect 5. obey 6. satisfy 7. trust 8. place 9. continue 10. credit

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TEN STEPS
Robert Littell I put on a clean collar. I was in our room on the second frloor where I could see into the Hubbells yard, and the ring on the stone post where thet tie uo their dos. The dos wasnt there, The collasr which I took off had two kinds of laundry marks on the inside, one mark from the laundry where I used to take my shirts and a second mark from the present laundry. Then I washed my hands. The soap was worn down so that there was almost none left. It was a soap that smelled like salad. I turned off the water, but the watter still went drip-drip from the faucet. I dried my hands. I hung the towel on the left end of the rod. The right end of the rod is for Mae. The rod is glass, and some day it will come loose and fall down and break. I shut the bathroom door so that I would not near the drip-drip of the water from the faucet. I went into the room again which is Maes and mine. On her bed in the daytime she keeps a French doll with big eyes. Where the back of the bed hits the wall there is a mark. I moved out the bed, and I saw the mark, it is black, and a yard long. The doll fell off and I put it back on the bed so it could not look at me when I went out. Then I went out. I was in the hall, and I shut my eyes. I did not know what kind of wallpaper there was in the hall. I thought that I would be green, but when I opened my eyes again, it was more blue than green, with a woman, and a basket, and a lamb. Around the door the paper was cut off and there was only the lamb; eight times, from the ceiling to the floor, no woman, and no basket, but only lamb. I could touch the ceiling when I stood on my toes. Next to our room is the extra room, which we do not use. I went into that. The back of the mirror was peeling off, and both windows were closed. On the window there was a large fly, and I opened the window and drove him out and he flew away; and in the window frame there was a long nail; and Itook off my shoe and drove in the nail with the heel of my shoe. Then I put on my shoe again. I measured the room by walking across in each direction from one wall to the other. It is ten by fourteen. I came into the parlor from the door across form the desk. The desk has three drawers down one side. I took out an envelope from the bottom drawer and put some money in it
50

and wrote For Mae onit and put it on the top of the desk. The curtains in the parlor were red. Where the sun hits them there is a part that is not red, but pink. There was a magazine on the table called Movieland, and I started to read it, but I did not read it. I went over to the fireplace and looked at the rest of the room from there, ad I saw the table and the carpet and how two chairs were facing right toward each other. I sat down on one of them and one of its legs was shorter than the others, and I got up and went into the kitchen. In the kitchen I saw mae shelling peas. She forced the peas out of the shell with her thumb and they fell into the bowl. There were three peas on the floor and I picked them upand put them in my pocket. The kitchen floor was lais in linoleum with blue and white quares two inches square. Mae was sitting on a stool reading a paper placed in front of her. She did not turn around when I came in. She said, When you come back bring some stove polish with you. I said I was going now. I went out through the back door into the yard. There I saw my kid playing with some sand and toyw in the sand. He was putting the sand into a toy truck, and then running the truck back and forth through the sand. The sand was wet, and I could see the print of his hand on it. It was his left hand. I said So long, son, to him but he didns say anything. He was too busy with his truck and the sand. Then I went to the garage, and unlocked the door. I ran a cloth over the windshield of the car, and ir was scratched in a half circle where the windshield wiper wipwe it. And I stood there for a couple of minutes, and then I closed the doors and walked alongside of the house to the front and looked at my watch. It was twenty minutes to ten. Then I walked down te wooden steps to the sidewalk, and I counted the steps. I counted ten steps, I thought I counted the last step, but perhaps I didns. I walked down the street, and looked back, and saw the house, and there was one window with a shade halfway down, and I wanted to go back and count the steps again to make sure, but I didnt. I walked down to the corner and took the bus and fot ogg at the police station and found Captain Rogers and told him that if they were looking for the man who killed Sam Matthews they should arrest me because I had done it. Captain Rogers asked me if I wanted to write out confession and I said that I would, but

before I tell them how I killed Matthews I want to write down the last things shich I saw in my house and how I remember them, because now ill want always to be able to Remember about all those trhings that I wont ever see again. Discussion Questions 1. To what ten steps does the person who tells this story refer in the title? 2. What crimen had he committed? 3. What was his purpose is observating so carefully some the minor things in his home? 4. What was his wife doing when he went into the kitchen? 5. What did she ask his to bring back with him when he came home again? 6. What was his son doing in the back yard? 7. What did he do when he went to the garage? 8. Did he take his car out of the garage or did he leave it them? 9. Why did he run a cloth over the windshield of the car? 10. What did he say to the police captain when he entered the police station? VOCABULARY AND IDIOM REVIEW A. Circle the word in parentheses which completes each sentence correctly: 1. We send dirty clothing to be washed at the (grocery store/garage/kitchen/laundry ) 2. When water leaks slowly from faucet, we say that (rushes/drips/whispers/bangs). a it

8. A collar is worn aroung (ankle/wrist/neck/elbow ). 9. A fly is a kind (lamb/airplane/cloud/insect )

the of

10. A parlor is a ( porch/sitting room/bathroom/bedroom ) B. Use the following expressions in sentence of your own: 1. put on 2. take off 3. wear down 4. turn off 5. fall down 6. fall of 7. fall over 8. vut off 9. peel off 10. take out 11. go out 12. pick up C. Another common prefix is en- (em- before b, m, or o). It is used to change a noun or adjetive into a verb, and it has the meaning of make. He wants to be rich; he wants to enrich himself no mater how Change the following nouns of adjetives to verbs by adding en-. Them use each of the resulting words is a sentence of your own: 1. sure 2. able 3. bitter 4. large 5. feeble 6. rage 7. slave 8. power 9. dear 10. act

3. Little girls ussually like to play with (dolls/trucks/wallpaper/peas ) 4. A young sheep (lamb/calf/colt/veal). is a

5. Two important pars of a shoe are the sole and the ( stool/hole/heel/desk ) 6. We often cover the floors of our kitchens with (nails/sand/squares/linoleum ) 7. the outer covering of an apple or an orange is called the (hell/fireplace/step/peel )

51

DECISION
Roy Hilligoss Even after a year, Chad still called us Aunt Pat and Uncle Bill. But we thought our hob had become that of mother and father until that Atillery letter arrived from the 6th headquarters in North Africa in our mailbox in East Orange, New Jersey. Chad hadcome to us as an English refugee. He was supposed to stay until they had put Mr. Hitler in the bag, as he expressed it, and he could go back to his adore father, Major Jollison of the Royal Artillery. In other words, he had been sent to the United State like many other English children to live with an American family for the duration of the war, after which time he planned to return home to London. But Major Jollison had been killed while reisting a Nazi tank attack in the North African desert. Chad had taken the news without the slightest show of emotion. Probably pat and I alone realized the sharp pain that must have torn through his young hear when he learned that his father was dead. He was English and his people were fighting a desperate battle, so he could not let his own individual tragedy show. England meant much to him, but he had recovered a little from the shock he seemed resigned to living with us and becoming an American. He had no one else but his father. I shall try very hard, he told us seriously in that thin rather sharp voice of his, to be as you would want your own boy to be. I shall get onto your American ways as quickly as I can and try to make you quite proud of me. He smiled. I shall even patriots. admire your Revolutionari

The 6th Arthillery had been Major Jollisons military unit. Pat help the letter out to me one evening, the moment Icame in the door, But she was too upset emotionally to wait until Id read it. He was terribly foung of Chads father, Bill, she said. And hed like to offer Chad a place to live with his motherin her home justo outside London. I looked up from the letter. He says he recognizes the danger. But hes like all Englishmen, I suppose, Pat said. Rain or Shine, bombs or no bombs, they think that England is the only place in the world to alive. And of course he thinks Chad will be company for his mother. Shes old and alone . . .Oh, Bill do you think hell go?. I shook my head. I dont know, But Ive been afraid he would some day. But he huas no relatives there. Surely hes rather be with us . . . Its like you said rain or shine. And hes not really our boy, pat; we just hoped he would be,and hes tried to pretend. She sighed I know, I was only hoping, not talking sense. Well . . . she took my arm,lets go up to his room and tell him. Chad was lying on his small stomach, reading, when we entered his room. He got quickly to his feet and shook my hand he always did that when I got home evenings. Howd the stoock market go today, uncle Bill? He was picking un our ways fast. I handed him the letter. I Watched his blue eyes move quickly back and forth across the page, and they reached the bottom they stayed there. He was thinking rapidly. Suddenly I knwe hed made his decision because his face lost all expression: a habit of his. Are you going, dear? Pat asked softly He nodded I must, Aunt Pat. Theyre raining bombs on London, son, I said.I know he said. Thats why im going. I dont understand, I said I mean. . . for a moment he paused,well, when your countrys having its most difficult times, thats when it needs you most.

So we couldnd help loving him, you see, and hoping hereally wanted to stay with us forever, even after the war had ended. He did brilliantly, and an early problem the way the other boys at school kidded him about his English accent and manners had disappeared. Everyone in town knew how bravely his father had died, and this gave Chad a certain romantic interest. In fac, everything had gone beautifull till that letter came from a member of the 6th Artillery, Captain Burroughs.

52

That sounded a bit too grown-up, too like something he had read somewhere. I looked suspiciously at him, but his eyes met mine bravely. All right son, I said. Im Sorry, but if you . . . . Ims sorry too, he said quickly. Really, uncle Bill. Buti must go. Id better getting dinner, Pat said in a queer voice, and left us. and I have to wash, Chad said steadily. I was left, staring down at the letter from Captain Burroughs, already missing this strange youngster as if hes been all our own from the very start. We didnt talk much about his going. But we might as well have discussed it constantly; it centrantly; it centrainly was with usevery moment. From that first nigh, on through the week following, there were few signs of cheerfulness in our house. But the evening I came home with final details about histrip to New York, where a friend of mine would take charge and get him safely onto the boat . . . well, that about finished it. Chads quiet, unrevealing face didnt change a bit, but Pat looked at me as if Id struck her. I knew how she felt. Late that night I woke up, frightened, sure I had heard Chad crying in the next room. But it was Pat. Chad crying in the next room. But it was Pat. Youre crying, darling? Of course, she said shakily. Oh, Bill, it hurts to lose him. I held her close. I know so well, I said. Hes like our own boy. And then so quickly, it was the day for Chad to leave us. I had stayed home to drive him to the station, but Pat wasnt going along. She said she simply couldnt take it. The three of us were standing in the doorway, just standing there with little to say. Chad was wearing the same clothes he had come to America in he had wanted to wear themthe short coat, the small cap, the wool stockings that left his knees bare. But when we had first seen him on a dock in New York, he had been looking about him defiantly, with his chin out, trying to hide his fears; now his face was serious, his lower lop pulled slightly in. Ive been happy here, he said. He was interrupted by the mailman, who handed a leter to Pat. She passed it on to me.

Goodbye, Chad she said weakly. always remember that we . . . Wait, I broke in this letters from Captain Burroughs. But my enthusiasm was short-lived. its just a little consolation, I said. He says we wont have to worry about Chad. Mrs. Burroughs is being removed to Australia and Chad is supposed to join here there. There wont be any bombs any way. Thats something, Pat said. But chad was suddenly all animation. Then I dont have to go!Pat dropped to her knees and stared at him you dont have to go? Didnt you want to go?. Pat was half-laughing, half crying, and hugging him wildly. To cover my own feelings. I said with an imitation English accent, Then youre quite happy now, old boy? Quiet happy? he smiled up at me. Uncle Bill, I feel like a million bucks! Chad Jollison American schoolboy, our boy. COMPREHENSION AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Why had Chad left England and come to live with an American family? 2. What had happen to Chads father? 3. Why were Pat and Bill very disappointed to receive the letter, from Captain Burroughs, the friend of Chads father? 4. What offer did Captain Burroughs make to Chad in his letter? 5. After reading Captain Burroughsletter, why did Chad decide immediately to return to England? VOCABULARY AND IDION REVIEW 1. lower 2. weak 3. few 4. east 5. south 6. thin 7. lend 8. before 9. more 10. dark 11. higher fat many little borrow less strong light north north west after

53

USE THE FOLLOWING EXPRESSIONS IN SENTENCES OF YOU OWN: 1. go well 2. kid someone 3. be upset 4. be fond of 5. had better do somethins 6. wake up 7. break in 8. feel like a million bucks 9. in other words 10. in fact 11. of course 12. rain or shine

54

STORY TELLER
Edgar Alan Poe

THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF EDGAR ALAN POE PART ONE THE AMERICAN WRITER EDGAR ALLAN POE is probably better known outside the United States today than any other American writer. There was something about his poems and especially his short stories which interested people ah over the world. Sorne of thern were people whose whole way of living was completely different from his own. Perhaps it was the certain knowledge we ah have that we must die which joins us together; perhaps that is what we feel we have in common with Edgar Poe. For his short stories, at least the ones people read today, are filled with death, with fear, with more than fear with terror*; they deal with murders without reason, with murders for revenge*; they deal with beautiful women who softly and slowly pass from life into death, so quietly that no one knows just* when they died or even whether they died at ah! Poes stories deal with the strange and the wonderful, with unreal happenings which seem real. Indeed, they seem so real that it appears Poe could not have written thern at ah if he had not hirnself had the experiences he describes. And so, as the years went by, people began to picture in their minds a man named Poe who was like the men in Poes stories; a man who did not have complete control of his mad, a man who was mad, perhaps, or half-mad; sorne strange rnanner being troyed. There is no doubt that Poe used his own experiences in writing his own stories. This does not, however, mean that Poe was the men in his stories. Who was he, then? What was he? Edgar Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in January of 1809. His mother and father were actors. They moved around in the eastern part of the United States, travelhing from city to city, acting in plays which no one remernbers today. They had no real home; only hotel rooms. One day, when Poe was only fine months old, his father went away and was never seen again. No one knows why. Poor Mrs. Poe was left with two srnall children and a third one stihl unborn. And Poe was only two years old when his mother died and he and his brother and baby* sister were Ieft alone in the world.

This happened in Richmond, in the state of Virginia. A man named John Ahlan took Poe into hs horne in Richmond. But Mr. Allan never adopted Poe; that is to say, he never made Poe his son by law. And Mr. Ahlan never took Poe into his heart, either. This was the cause of many of Poes troubles as he grew older. However, Mrs. Allan didnt have any children of her own, and she wanted a child very much. So she loved Poe more than was good for him. This, too, probably caused hirn trouble as the years passed. Mr. Allan did, however, provide young Poe with a good education. Poe went to good schoois from the time he was four years oid until he was seventeen. When Poe was seventeen he began to do speciai studies to prepare himseif to go to a university. In those days not rnany young peopie were abie to go to a university. But by that time Mr. Alian had becorne quite rich. For this reason it is difficult to understand what happened when Poe arrived at the University of Virginia in Charlottesvilie. Before Mr. Allan went back to Richmond he gaye Poe sorne money; but he didnt give hirn nearly enough. Poe couldnt pay for even the most necessary things. The result was that at the end of his first day at the university he owed money to at ieast two people. He wrote to Allan, asking for more money; Allan sent him sorne, but again it was a small amount. By this time, however, Poe had discovered that the businessmen of Chariottesviile wouid iet hirn take things without paying. They did this because they knew that Mr. Alian was rich. They thought that Allan would pay. But this is only part of the story. Poe was a young man; and he was living and studying in the company* of other young men. He did the tbings they did. One of the things they did was gamble; they played games with cards and the winner took money from the loser. That is, frorn ah iosers except Poe, for Poe had no money. And he often iost. The resuit was that Poe owed stihl more money. Another one of the things these young unversity students did was drink. In English, when we use the word drink we usuaily tehl what the person is drinking: water, milk, Coca Cola. But when we say, He drinks, without telling what the person drinks, we mean that he drinks things like wine and gin and whiskey, things that have alcohol in them. These are the drinks wbich make a person feel good for a little time unless he drinks so rnuch that he cant remain standing, or so much tbat he gets2 sick.
55

Well, Poe began to drink. 1 was about to say that he learned how to drink; the trouble is that he didnt3. In those early days of the young United States hife was rougher* than it is today. Most men did not think badly of another man just because he drank; but if the man didnt know how to drink if he drank too much or at the wrong time of day or in the wrong place then men felt that drinking was wrong. Poe was one who didnt know how. Oh, we rnustnt tbink that Poe drank ah the time. If that had been true he could not have written anything. No, there were long periods*when Poe didnt drink at ah; but there were other periods when he felt he couldnt continue to exist* without drinking. Thus, Poe created* trouble for himself. This is not the only example of how Poe did the wrong thing, knowing that it was the wrong thing.Apparently it was a part of his character to do so4. Poe recognized this problem in himself. In his story The Black Cat, he wrote: Who has not, a hundred times, found himself doing wrong, doing sorne evil* thing for no other reason tlum because he knows he should not? Are not we humans at ah tirnes pushed, ever driven5 in sorne unknown way to break the law just because we understand it to be the law? At the end of the school year Mr. Allan carne to the university to get2 Poe. Poes life had been a pleasant* enough life until then. But his troubles were about to begin. For Allan learned what Poe had been doing. Now, Mr.Allan was a businessrnan. 1 can see him, in my minds eye, his face red with anger, declaring that young Poe didnt know the value of a dollar. Ahlan did pay sorne of the money Poe owed, but not the money Poe iost playing cards. And so when Poe left the university he still owed a lot of rnoney; and there was hardly* a day for the rest of bis life that he didnt owe money to someone. Allan took Poe back to Richrnond. He toid Poethat he would give him no further7 rnoney to continue bis studies at the university. Ahlan wanted Poe to work for hirn, in bis business. Poe, of course, was the kind of person who would be very unhappy as a businessman. One day in March of 1827, after more angry words, Poe ran away from horne. He was just* eighteen years oid. Eighteen years oid and facing the world alone. Once or twice* in the foilowing years he did enter Mr. Ahlans home again once when Mrs. Alian died, Mrs. Allan, who had loved Poe so rnuch and whom Poe had loved so much. However, most of the time he was, as we say, on his own.
56

And he felt that he had been thrown out of his home. Facing the world alone, Poes chief purpose in hife was to prove to Ahlan and to the world his value as a person. Poe wanted to be famous* more than anything else. He wanted everybody to know him and taik about him. He felt, it seems, that it was better if people said bad or untrue things about him than if they did not notice hirn at all. We know little about what happened to Poe in the next few years. But its not important for us to know day by day, month by month, exactly what Poe was doing. Wc do know that he was writing; and that he was poor. He had been writing poems since he was fourteen years oid. When he was only eighteen a friend had made a few of the young mans poems into a very smahl, thin* book. Few people bought it; almost no one even noticed it. But it was a book, even so8. And two years later these poerns and sorne new ones appeared in another book, still a very smahl one. Few people liked the poerns; but even people who wrote that the poems were bad noticed them. Poe was already a poet. He was also about to become the first American professional* man of letters*; that is to say, he became the first American writer who tried to get2 enough money to uve just* by writing. This is an important fact in his life. Today good writers are paid enough so that they can rnake a iiving by writing. But in Poes time this was quite impossible*. A writer needed a job wbich he could do with just a few hours of work each day, but which paid him enough for him to uve, and left him time to write. Poe wanted such a job, and he thought, once, that he had found one. But he drank too much the day he had planned to tahk to some important people about the job. Again he had let himself do what he knew was exactly the wrong thing to do. Who knows why? He probably would not have been able to explain it himself. So Poe was reahly forced to try to earn* a hiving by writing. But no one ever paid him for bis writings what they were worth. As a resuit he ahrnost never had enough money, and most of bis remaining hife he ws ppo, very poor. PART TWO In 1827, when he was only eighteen, Edgar Allan Poe found himseif separated frorn his famiiy and without any means to support

himself. In the coming years he tried to uve by selling his writings. But no one ever paid hirn for his writings what they were really worth, never in bis whole life. So he was poor; st of the time, very poor. He was not completely without family and friends, however. When he left bis home with the Allans in Virginia, one of the first things he did was look for bis grandmother, bis fathers mother. He found Mrs. Poe in Baitimore, a very oid woman who was living in a little house with her daughter, Mrs. Clemm, and Mrs. Ciemrns young daughter, Virginia. Poe immediately liked these people; he felt they were a new horne.They, too, were poor, and at first he didnt want to rnake them carry also a part of bis troubles. But after four difficult years of iiving alone, when he had almost no rnoney at ah, he went to Baltimore and began living in one of the rooms of bis grandmothers house. He was ready to do anytbing to heip the family. He tried to find work, without success. He did not therefore just sit and do nothing. He continued to write. In those days a writer who wanted to be famous*, to be noticed and talked about, could take bis poems or stories to meetings in the homes of rich peopie who enjoyed having famous people around them. At these rneetings the writer could read bis poems or stories and in that way become known. And Poe did this. But this was the slow way. If a persons writings appeared in a magazine or a newspaper many more people would know them. There were severai magazines which appeared once every month or every two months. They contained poerns, stories, articies* on literature or on the probiems of the nation, notes nri interesting and unusual happenings, ietters from ders indeed, almost anything. One of the magazines which accepted and published* sorne of Poes poems and stories was called the Southern Literary Messenger. The owner of the magazine soon asked Poe to read new books by other writers and to write articies about them. un this way Poe began to work as a critic*. The greatest part of ah that Poe wrote was articles about other writers, about literature, and about the art of writing. This is a fact that students of American literature often forget. Poe had been writing for the Southern Literary Messenger for oniy a few months when the owner of the magazine asked him to come to Richmond to heip publish the magazine. Poe was very pleased and accepted at once. The pay he received for bis work was quite small.

But at that time Poe had no money at ah, so it looked large to hirn. And it wa perhaps even more important to Poe that he now had a forum*: he now could choose what wouid be published and what would not. Often he chose sornething he himself had written. Poe was never a good businessman. But he was a good editor. He made the magazine and himself known ah over the nation. His writings as a critic were especially weli known. For Poe was not only a man with a fine mmd who was a good writer; he had very clear opinions about the art of writing and had no fear at ah about publisbing those opinions. lf he didnt like a book or a poem or a story he cut it and the writer into pieces with his words. Poe became a man with a few good friends, and with many enemies. It is hard for us today to understand why Poe wrote some of the things he did1 he was often more unfriendly than seems necessary, even unjust*. At home with Mrs. Ciernm and Virginia, and when he was with other women, Poe was a sweet and loving man, who never failed to consider carefully the feeiings of those around him. But Poe clearly felt that he was a better writer than most of the others. He considered himseif a proper judge of the art of writing, and a judge that other writers should listen to. By the time Poe went to Richrnond Mrs. Ciernm and Virginia were alone and without any rneans of support; the other members of the family had either died or gone away. And Poe needed the Clemms; he needed Mrs. Clemm for a mother and Virginia for a sister. They finaiiy agreed to go to Richrnond with him, and two years later Poe married Virginia. He was twenty-eigit years oid and she was not yet fourteen. Some critics have claimed that Poe married Virginia just* to be sure that he would not lose his new mother, Mrs. Clemm, and the home she had given him. The Poes stayed in Richmond only two years. Poe had been working for the Messenger only a month when he appeared in the office early one rnorning and it was clear that he had been drinking already; he immediately lost bis job. Poe promised he would never do that again, and he was aliowed to come back. But in the next two years he did it at ieast twice* again, and finally the owner let him go and woulcl not take him back. The family moved to New York City. Poe couldnt find work. They found a iarge house,
57

with several rooms they didnt need. And for a certain amount of money Mrs. Ciemm let people uve iii those rooms and eat at her tabie. For months the money she got in tbis way was ah the money they had. Finally Poe left New York City and went to Phiiadelpbia to becorne editor of Burtons Magazine. Later he was editor of Grahams Magazine. Then he was editor of the Broadway Journal, in New York City again. We could spend many minutes talking about bis work as an editor and as a critic. He was a good editor. Every magazine he worked with became a better magazine and got more readers. But he never stayed with any magazine more than two years. It was not only because of his drinking; for a long time during these years he didnt drink at ah. But he and the owner of the magazine finaily wouid have2 very different opinions about something and after many angry words Poe would leave the magazine. Poe clid not like to be toid what he, as editor, ought to be doing. Dunng the year that Poe was editor of Grahams Magazine he was paid enough so that the family was not always poor. But that was only one year. Poe began to drink again. He knew that Virginia would3 not uve long; and Poe himself had sorne kind of sickness, no one knows what. By December of 1846, in New York City, they were so poor that a group of Poes nch women friends went to visit their own friends ni the city to ask them for money and clothes and food to give to the Poes. Poes chief work, thus, was done as a critic. But it is for his stories that he is remembered today, and for sorne of his poems, especiahly The Rayen. These were the writmgs people liked best in bis own time. This was the age of Romanticism* in Europe. And Americans stil considered Europe to be the best source of new ideas. One of the most important Romantic ideas was the escape from reality*; poerns and stories could take people out of real life and into a dream world where they felt and saw and heard things that never were and never wilh be. Poe wrote these stories with so much skilh* that they seerned real, at least for a few minutes until the reader reached the end of the story and dropped back into the cold reahity of bis everyday life. Poe himsehf stated that he wrote horror* stones because that was what people wanted to read. He wrote them because he knew they would bring him fame*. And they did . They brought him little else, however. During these lat years Poe had a battle* of words with a group of editors and critics in New York City. By early 1847 Poe knew that
58

he had lost this batthe. He carne out of it with many more enemies and no more friends. In January of that year Virginia died. From that time on4 it was alh down bilh for Poe. His spirit was broken. He spent more than a year running frorn New York City to Richmond to Philadelpbia, trying to find one of bis rich women friends who would rnarry blm. He did5 continue writing and he published sorne interesting things. But bis great work was done.In the middle of 1849 Poe returned to Richrnond to give a talk6 on literature. We must rernember that Poe hived as a child in Richrnond. Now he was farnous in bis horne city. Surehy he enjoyed that. But he was a sick man. A few weeks later he was found in Bahtimore, hying in the street, and in a few days he died. No one knows why he had come to Baltimore or what he died of. He was not yet forty-one years oid. Almost none of bis friends carne to see bis body put into the ground. And many people were not sorry to see hirn go. Poe had lived a hard life, and during rnost of that life the drearns he dreamed remained onhy dreams. He drank to escape frorn the troubles of the real world. He escaped hitobis dream world in bis poems and in rnany of bis finest stories. Poe birnseif said that he was a dreamer. Think, he said, think of that moment when you are about to go to sieep7, but are not yet sleeping. You dream strange dreams. lf you go to sleep you forget them. Poe chaimed that he couid come near to sleeping and then cali himself back to the real world, remernbering the dreams of the half world from wbich he had just* come. These, he said, were the rnateriahs of sorne of bis writings. If he said it, we may believe that it is true. But in addition to that he fihled bis poems and bis stories with the dreams he dreamed when not asleep* at ali.

THE MASK OF THE RED DEATH

Had long been feeding on the country. No sickness had ever been so deadly * so great a kiler or so fearful* to see. Blood was its mark the redness and the horror* of biood. There were sharp* pains, and a sudden feeling that the mmd was rushing* in circies inside the head. Then there was bleeding* through the skin, though it was not cut or broken and then, death! The bright* red spots upon the body and especially upon the face of the sick man made other men turn away from him, afraid to try to help. And the sickness lasted, from the beginning to the end, no more than half an hour. But Prospero, the ruler of that land, was happy and strong and wise*. When half the people of his land had died, he called to him a thousand healthy, happy friends, and with them went far away to uve in one of his palaces*. This was a large and beautiful stone building he had planned hirnseif. A strong high wali circied it. This wal! had gates* of iron. The gentiemen, after they had entered, brought fire to heat then of the gates to make them close so firmly that nobody ld open them. Here they could forget the sickness, the Red Death. They would leave2 the outside world to care for itself. Prospero had supplied everything they needed for pleasure*. There was music, there was dancing, there was beauty, there was food to eat and wine to drink. Ah these were within the wali, and within the wall they would be safe. Outside the wall walked the Red Death. It was near the end of their fifth month there that Prospero asked his friends ah to come together for a dancing party, a masquerade. Everyone was asked to come dressed in fine ciothes and with his eyes, or perhaps his whole face, covered by a cloth mask. It was a scene of great richness, that masquerade. There were seven rooms in which Prosperos friends danced. In many oid palaces the doors can be opened in such a way that rooms hike these seven can be seen ah at the same time, In this palace it was different. Little more than one of them could be seen at one time. There was a turn every twenty or thirty yards. To the right and ieft, in the middle of each wall, was a tau pointed window. The windows were of colored glass, of the same color that was used in each room. The first room had blue cloth hangings on the wahls and blue were its windows.3 The second room had wall hangings of that blue-

red known as purple, and here the windows were purpie. The third was green, and so4 was the glass of the windows. The fourth had hangings and windows of yellow the fifth of white the sixth of violet*. But the seventh room had hangings on the walls made of a rich soft cloth which was black, black as night, and the floor, too, was covered with the same heavy black cloth. In this room the color of the windows was not the same. It was red a deep5 blood color. Ah the roorns were lighted through the outside windows. The resulting light was strange indeed, as it colored the shapes of the dancers. But the light that feil on the black hangings through the blood-colored6 glass was the mosi fearful of them ah. It produced so wild a look on the faces of those who entered that there were few of the dancers who dared* to step within those dark walls.In this room stood a great7 clock of black wood. Gently* it marked the seconds as they passed; and when it was time to mark the hour the clock spoke with a loud, clear voice, a deep tone* as beautiful as music, but so strange that the music and the dancing stopped and the dancers stood still to listen. And then, after another sixty minutes, after another three thousand and six hundred seconds of Time, of flying Time, the clock struck again, and the dancers stopped as before. Nevertheless*, it was a happy and beautiful masquerade. And you may be sure8 that the clothes the dancers chose to wear, their costumes, were strange and wonderful. The dancers looked Iike the forms we might see in troubled dreams. And these the dreams danced softly through the rooms, taking the color of the rooms as they moved. It did not seem that their steps followed the music, but that the music rose from their steps. But into the seventh room the dancers do not go, for the red light coming through the windows, and the blackness of the wallhangings, make them afraid and he who enters hears more deeply5 the striking of the great black clock. But the other rooms are crowded, and in them beats hotly the heart of life. And the dance goes on9 until at last the clock begins to strike twelve. Again the music stopped. Again the dancers stood without moving while the slow striking sound continued. Before the clock was quiet again, many in the crowd saw that in the first room, the blue room, there was a masquerader who had not been seen before. As they talked softly to each other about him a feeling of surprise spread through al! the
59

dancers, then a sickening horror.

feeling

of

fear

and

of

In such a group as this, only a very strange masquerader could have caused such a feeling. Even among those who laugh at both life and death, sorne matters cannot be laughed at Everyone seemed now deeply5 to feel that the stranger* should not have been allowed to come among them dressed in such clothes. He was tau and very thin, and covered from head to foot like a dead man prepared for the grave. The mask which covered his face or was it really a rnask? the mask whch covered his face was so much like the face of a dead man that the nearest eye could not see the difference. And yet al! this might have been acceptable but the masquerader whom nobody knew had made himself look like the Red Death itself! His clothes were spotted with blood. And the mask over bis face was covered with the terrible red spots . . . or perhaps it was indeed his face! When Prospero looked upon this fearful* form he was first filled with terror* and then with anger. Who dares? he cried. Take him! Seize* him! Puil offhis mask so that we may know who1 we must hang at sunrise!. Prospero stood in the blue room when he spoke these words. They sounded through the seven rooms, Ioud and clear. At first, as he spoke, sorne of the dancers started to rush toward the strange masquerader. But they stopped, afraid, and no one dared to put out a hand to touch him. The stranger started to walk toward the second room. He passed within a few feet of Prospero, who stood still, surprised. And while the dancers moved back from the center of the room, the stranger moved quietly, without being stopped, with a slow and measured step, through the blue room to the purpie room through the purpie room to the green room through the green to the yellow through this to the white and then to the violet room. As the stranger was entering the seventh room, Prospero suddenly and angrily rushed through the six rooms. No one dared to fo!low him. He held a sharp knife* high over his head, ready to strike the stranger. When he was within three or four feet of the strange masquerader, the stranger turned and stood silent, looking firmly into Prosperos eyes. There was a cry and the knife dropped shining upon the black floor, upon which a minute later Prospero himse!f feil, dead. The dancers then rushed into the black room. The strongest of the rnen tried to hoid the
60

masquerader, whose taIl form stood beside the black clock; but when they put their hands on him they found inside the grave-clothes no human form, no body nothing! Now they knew that it was the Red Death itself that had come in the night. One by one the dancers feil, and each died as he feil. And the fires died. And the clock stopped. And darkness and decay* and the Red Death ru!ed forever over a!!. NOTES 1. Feed on: one of the many two-word verbs in English. 4 usualiy means give food to. Adding changes the aning, which becomes take food or nourishment om, or, as here, take support from, be supported by. 2. Leave: here, means allow to continue to do sornething. A similar meaning, though not exactly the same, can be found in The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Part 3: The police had left the room as they found it. A different meaning occurs in William Wilson, Part 2: 1 ieft that oid school and never entered it again, and aiso Part 4: You must leave my room, and leave it now. 3. Changing the order of words (from the usual its windows were blue) draws the listeners attention to the color and emphasizes the importance of that color. Changing the order of words to achieve a special effect is a frequent feature of Poes style. 4. So = g: See Life and Writings, Part 1, note 4. 4. Usualiy means going a rather long distance into (She put the knife deep into his heart) or down into (The hole in the ground was deep). It has other rneanings which are not ciosely related to distance, but rnost of thern have sorne meaning similar to far, such as more, very, much. Deep blue is a very biue blue, without any green or yeilow in it; it also implies that the color is rather dark. A deep blood color is, then, a very red red of low brilliance. ote a similar use of deeply on page 16. 5. Blood-colored: See The PalI of the Flouse of Usher, Part 2, note 7 6. Great: here, means not oniy big or large but very large. Great has other meanings, but ah of them contain the idea of more than is usual or more than others of its kind. Here, the clock is much bigger than clocks usuahiy are. Near the end of The Pali of the House of Usher the

story-teiler notes that because of their great thickness the ciouds cut off ah hight from the moon and the stars. The meaning of large is here not as irnportant as the rneaning thicker than ciouds usuahiy are. 7. Most of Poes stories were written using the pronounj, the story-telier talks with the reader. Poe probably felt that thisstyhistic device helped give a feeling of truth to his stories. Here, the phrase You may be sure that. . . adds little to the rneaning of the sentence, The clothes the dancers wore . . . were strange and wonderful. But it does help to make the reader feel as if he is reahly hearing the story.Goes on = continues: Compare Life and Writings, Part 2, note 4. Laughed at: See The Story of William Wilson, Part 1, note Who we must hang at sunrise: Since who is the object of the verb hang sorne might think it should properly be whom buTEs would sound strange, and is not usually said. The question word who has never had the form whom in normal speech; and who in the present case is really a question word. The sentence, Puli off his mask so that we may know who we rnust hang at sunrise! means, Puli off his mask so that we may find the answer to the question: who must we hang at sunrise? EXERCISES A. In this exercise you have three choices: a, b, and c. Choose the one which most nearly means the same as the words with a une under them. 1. No sickness had ever been so great a killer or so fearful to see as the Red Death. a. dead b. deadly c. deadening 2. The ruler of that land lived in a large and beautiful stone building. a. farm b. house c. palace 3. Everyone was asked to come to a party B. Dressed in fine clothes and with his eyes, or perhaps his whole face, covered by a piece of cloth. a. mask b. mash c. masquerade. Everyone seemed now deepy to feel that the person who had not been seen before should not have been allowed to come among them dressed in such clothes. a.

strangely b. strangeness c. stranger When Prospero looked upon this fearful form he was first filled with great fear and then with anger. a. terror b. wonder c. terrorism.

8. The

knife had a fine cutting edge. a. was sharp b. was duIl c. was pretty head.

9. He felt that his mmd was going very fast

in circies inside his a. rushing b. crushing c. brushing

10. I

was afraid to enter the room. a. dared b. did not dare c. did not care

11. When it was time to mark the hour, the

clock spoke with a deep sound as beautiful as music. a. tone b. tongue c. ton were strange and wonderfu a. customs b. costume c. costumes wood. a. famous b. large c. noisy

12. The clothes the dancers chose to wear

1.

13. In the room stood a greatclock of black 14. The light that fell through the blood-

colored glass was the most fearful of them alt. a. afraid b. frightening c. filled with fear room was a deep blood color. a. clear bright red b. blue-red color c. very dark red.

15. The color of the windows in the seventh

61

THE BLACK CAT

TOMORROW I DIE Tornorrow I die, and today I want to tell the world what happened and thus perhaps free my soul frorn the horrible weight which lies upon it. But listen! Listen and you shall hear how I have been destroyed. When was a child had a natural goodness of soul which led me to love animals ah kinds of animals, but especially those animais we cali pets, animais which have learned to live with men and share their homes with them. There is sornething in the love of these animais which speaks directly to the heart of the man who has learned from experience how uncertain and changeable is the love of other men. I was quite young when I married. You will understand the joy I felt to find that my wife shared with me my love for animals. Quickly she got for us several pets of the most likeable kind. We had birds, sorne goldfish, a fine dog, and a cat. The cat was a beautiful animal, of unusually large size, and entirely black. I named the cat Pluto, and it was the pet I Iiked best. I alone fed it, and it followed me all around the house. It was even with difficulty that topped it from following me through the streets. Our friendship lasted, in this manner, for several years, during which, however, my own character became greatly changed. I began to drink too much wine and other strong drinks. As the days passed I became less loving in my manner; I became quick to anger; I forgot how to smile and laugh. My wife yes, and my pets, too, all except the cat were made to feel the change in my character. One night I came home quite late from the inn, where I now spent more and more time drinking. Walking with uncertain step, I made my way with effort into the house. As I entered I saw or thought I saw that Pluto, the cat, was trying to stay out of my way, to avoid me. This action, by an animal which I had thought still loved me, made me angry beyond reason. My soul seerned to fly from my body. I took a small knife out of my coat and operied it. Then I took the poor animal by the neck and with one quick movement I cut out one of its fear-filled eyes! Slowly the cat got well. The hole where its eye had been was not a pretty thing to look at, it
62

is true; but the cat no longer appeared to suffer any pain. As might be expected, however, it ran from me in fear whenever I came near. Why should it not run? Yet this did not fail to anger me. I felt growing inside myself a new feeling. Who has not, a hundred times, found himself doing wrong, doing sorne evil thing for no other reason than because he knows he should not? Are not we humans at all times pushed, ever driven in sorne unknown way to break the law just because we understand it to be the law? One day, in cold blood, I tied a strong rope around the cats neck, and taking it down into the cellar under the house I hung it from one of the wood beams aboye my head. I hung it there until it was dead. I hung it there with tears in my eyes, I hung it because I knew it had loved me, because I felt it had given me no reason to hurt it, because I knew that my doing so was a wrong so great, a sin so deadly that it would place my soul forever outside the reach of the love of God! That same night, as I lay sleeping, I heard through my open window the cries of our neighbors. I jumped from my bed and found that the entire house was filled with fire. It was only with great difficulty that my wife and I escaped. And when we were out of the house, ah we could do was stand and watch it burn to the ground. I thought of the cat as I watched it burn, the cat whose dead body I had left hanging in the cellar. It seemed aimost that the cat had in sorne mysterious way caused the house to burn so that it could make me pay for my evil act, so that it could take revenge upon me. Months went by, and I could not drive the thought of the cat out of my rnird. One night I sat in the inn, drinking, as all. En the comer I saw a dark object that I had not seen oefore. I went over to see what it could be. It was a cat, a cat almost exactly like Pluto. He touched it with my hand and petted it, passing my hand softly along its back. The cat rose and pushed its back agamst my hand. Suddenly I realized that I wanted the cat. I offered to buy it from the innkeeper, but he claimed he had never seen the animal before. As I left the inn, it followed me, and I allowed it to do so. It soon became a pet of both my wife and my self. The morning after I brought it horne, however, I discovered that this cat, like Pluto, had only one eye. How was it possible that I had not noticed this the night before? This fact only made my wife love the cat more. But I, myself, found a feeling of dislike growing in

me. My growing dislike of the animal only seemed to increase its love for me. It followed me, followed me everywhere, always. When I sat, it lay down under my chair. When 1 stood up it got between my feet and nearly made me fahl. Wherever I went, it was always there. At night I dreamed of it. And began tohate* that cat! One day my wife called to me from the cellar of the oid building where we were now forced to live. As I went down the stairs*, the cat, following me as always, ran under my feet and nearly threw me down. In sudden anger, He took a knife and struck wildly at the cat. Quickly my wife put out her hand and stopped my arm. This only increased my anger and, without thinking, I turned and put the knifes point deep into her heart! She fell to the fibor and died without a sound. I spent a few moments looking for the cat, but it was gone. And I had other things to do, for knew I must do something with the body, and quickly. Suddenly E noted a place in the wall of the cellar where stones had been added to the wall to cover an old firepiace which was no ionger wanted. The wails were not very strongly built, and I found E could easily take down those stones. Behind them there was, as I knew there must be, a hole just big enough to hold the body. With much effort I put the body in and carefully put the stones back in their place. I was pleased to see that it was quite impossible for anyone to know that a single stone had been moved. Days passed. Still there was no cat. A few people carne and asked about my wife; but E answered them easily. Then one day several officers of the police carne. Certain that they could find nothing, he asked them into and went with them as they searched. Finahly they searched the cellar frorn end to end. I watched them quietly, and, as E expected, they noticed nothing. But as they started up the stairs again, I felt myself driven by sorne unknown inner force to let them know, tC) rnake thern know, that I had won the battle. The walls of this buiiding, E said, are very stronglY built; it is a fine oid house. And as I spoke I struck with nY stick that very place inthe wall behind which was the body of rny wife. Imrnediately I felt a coid feeling up and down my back as we heard coming out of the wall itseif a horrible.

For one short moment the officers stood looking at each other. Then quickly they began to pick at the stones, and in a short time they saw before thern the body of my wife, biack with dried blood and srnelling of decay. On the bodys head, its one eye fihled with fire, its wide open mouth thclOj of blood, sat the cat, crying out its revenge!. NOTES EXERCISES 1. Made to = caused to, forced to. 2. Got became. 3. Driven = past participle of drive. What is the simple past of drive? (The forms of al! the irregular verbs used in these lessons can be found in the Appendix.) 4. In coid blood = without any feeling or emotion. 5. Left: Compare Thc Mask of the Red Death, note 2. 6. Got between my feet: went between my feet. See Life and Writing, Part 1, note 2. What did the cat obtain here? 7. Spent = passed. 8. Asked them in = asked them to come in. A. In this exercise you have three choices: a, b, and c. Choose the one which most nearly means the same as the words with a une under them. 1. I loved those animals which have learned to uve with men and share their homes. a. petting b. pests c. pets 2. One night I sat in the hotel, drinking as usual.a. inner b. in c. inn 3. The cat tried to pay back a wrong done it on me. a. take revenge b. revere c. reveal 4. I offered to buy the cat from the man who ownedthe small hotel. a. innkeeper b. policeman c. servant 5. I have been destroyed gradually. a. little by little b. little or nothing c. not a little 6. The cat tried to avoid me. a. annoy me b. stay out of my way c. awake me 7. At once I felt a coid feeling up and down my back. a. immediate b. immediately c. only one time
63

8. I thought the cat still a. yet b. quietly c. always

loved

me.

9. I spent a few moments looking for the cat, but it was gone. a. couple of hours b. a little while c. almost an hour 10. Behind them there was, as! knew there must be, a hole just big enough to hold the body. a. was b. would be c. had to be 11. My natural goodness of soul led me to ove animais. a. forced b. caused c. allowed 12. There is something in the love of pets that speaks directly to a persons heart. a. immediately b. strongly c. straight 13. Have you not found yourself doing wrong for no good reason? a. realized that you were b. begun c. learned that you enjoyed 14. Suddenly I realized that I wanted that cat. a. understood that I b. really c. in reality 15. The cat followed me home, and I allowed it to do so. a. wanted it to b. let it c. led it B. Answer the following questions. 1. What kind of animals did I ove best when I was a chi Id? 2. Who was Pluto? 3. In what way did my character change? 4. What did I do one night when I came home quite late from the inn? 5. What did the cat do when I came near? 6. Why did I hang the cat? 7. What did I think of as I watched the house burn? 8. What did I see one night in one comer of the inn? 9. How was this cat like Pluto? 10. How did I kill my wife? 11. What did I do with her body? 12. How did the police find the hole where the body was? 13. What did we see in the hole in the wall? C. Which group of words (a, b, or c) best completes each unfinished sentence?
64

1. My own character gradually changed as a. I alone fed Pluto. b. I began to drink too much wine and other strong drinks. c. Pluto followed me all around the house. 2. With one quick movement. a. I was unkind to my pets. b. I cut out one of Plutos eyes. c. avoided Pluto. 3. I thought of the cat as I watched. a. the house burn. b. Pluto. c. my wife.

SOFT FORES MAN

On his Having Arrived at the Age of Twenty-Three John Milton How soon hath Time, the subtle thiefofyouth, Stolen on his wing my three and twentieth year! My hasting days fly on with fuil career, But my late spring no bud or blossom showeth. 5 Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth, That I to manhood am arrived so near, And inward ripeness doth much less appear, That sorne more timelyhappy spirits endueth. Yet be it less more, or sooh or slow, io It shall be stifl in strictest measure even To that sarne lot, however mean or high, Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heaven; All is, if I have grace to use it so, As ever in my great Task-Masters eye. On His Blidness John Milton When I consider how my light is spent, Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide, And that one talent which is death to bide Lodged with me useless, though my sou! more bent 5 To serve therewith my Maker, and present My true account, lest He, returning, chide; Doth God exact day-labor, ligbt denied! I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent That murmur, soon replies: Goci doth not need io Either mans work or His own gifts; who best Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best. His state Is kinglythousands at His bidding speed And post over land and ocean without rest; They also serve who only stand and wait. An Essay on Criticism Alexander Pope Popes couplets and epigrams quoted. Here is a sample. are oflen

4. Of ah the causes which conspire to blind Mans erringjudgrnent, and misguide the mmd, What the weak head with strongest bias rules, Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools. 5. Trust not yourseif: but your defects to know, Make use of every friendand every foe. 6. A little iearning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring. There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking iargely sobers us again. 7. Tis not a hp, or eye, we beauty cali, Rut thejoint force and ful! result of ah!. 8. Trise wit is Nature to advantage dressed, What oft was thought, but neer so well expressed. 9. As shades more sweetly recommend the light, So modest piainness sets off sprightly wit. 10. Words are hike leaves; and where they most abound, Much fruit of sense beneath is rareiy found. 11. True case in writing comes from art, not chance, As those move easiest who have learned to dance. 12. Re not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the iast to lay the oid aside. 13. Sorne praise at morning what they blame at night, But aiways think the Iast opinion right. 14. We think our fathers foois, so wise we grow our wiser sons, no doubt, wihl think us so. 15. Good nature and good sense must everjoin; to error is human, to forgive divine. 16. Pierian (pi ir1 n) spring, that is, inspiration; from Pieria, where the Greek Muses were boris. An Essay on Criticism. The Soldier Rupert Brooke If I should die, think only this of me: That theres sorne comer of a foreign fleid That is forever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; 5 A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware; Gaye, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam, A bocly of EngIands breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, biest by
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1. Tis with ourjudgments as our watches; none Gojust alike, yet each believe his own. 2. Let such teach others who themselves excel, And censure freeiy who have written well. 3. Music resembles poetry; in each Are nameless graces which no methods teach.

suns of home. And think, this heart, afi cvii shed away, io A pulse in the etemnal mmd, no iess gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; Aiid laughter, learned of friends; and gentleness, in hearts at peace, under an English heaven. INTRODUCTION American Uterature: Poetry, verse in English that originates from the terrltory now known as the United States. American poetry dlffers from Britlsh or Engllsh poetry chiefly because Americas culturaiiy diverse traditions exerted pressure on the Engilsh language, aitering its tones, diction, forms, and rhythms until something identiflable as American English emerged. American poetry ;s verse writreq in thls altered form of English. The term American poetiy 15 in sorne ways a contradiction Americe renresents a break with traditk,ri and the invention of a new culture separate from the European past. Poety on the other hand, represents tradition itseif, a long hlstory of expresslon canied to America from a European past. American poetry thus embodies a clearly Identiflable tension between tradition and Innovation, past and future, and oid forrns and new forms. American poetry remalns a hybrid, a Ilterature that tries to separate ltself from the tradition of English ilterature even as it adds to and alters that tradition. American oetry could be defined differently, however, especiaily if it 5 not limited to poetry In English. Without that qualifying term, American poetry has lts origlns in ffie rich oral tradltlons of Native American cultures. Each of these cultures developed compiex symbollc tales of the origlns and hlstory of its people, akln to epic poems in the European tradition. These tales were performed as part of rituals and passed on through memorization from one generation to the next. Some of them have been translated into English. Yet these works tend to vanish from most histories of American poetry because they were parc of ongong pertormances based In spoken rather than wrltten language. Moreover, thelr rhythms and sounds are bound to the natlve languages In which they evolved. Slmllarly, there Is a rich heritage of Spanlsh-language poetry written In America from the time of the earllest Spanlsh explorers to current HlspanIc and Chicano and Chicana poetry. American poetry tradltions also have thrived In many other languages, from Chinese to Ylddlsh, as
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ffie result of centurles of lmmlgratlon to the Unlted States. 1993-1998 MICROSOFT CORPORATION. "AMERICAN LITERATURE: POETRY". BEGINNINGS: 1600S THROUGH THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (1775-1783) From me beginning until weli into me l9th century, widespreac agreement existecl that American poetry would be judged by Brltish standards, and that poetry written in America was simply Britlsh poetry composed on the other side of tne Atlartic Ocean. Yet in responding to Brltish styles, American poetry took inspiratior from me new physical envlronment and the evoMng cuture o the colonies. in the process it recorded a subtie shift from poets who were dependent imitators to poets who spoke for and in the language of the new nation. New England Puntan Poetry Puritans who had settled in New England were me tirst poets of tne American colonies. Most Puntan poets saw the purpose of poetry as careful Chrlstlan examination of their lives; ano private poems, like Puntan diaries, serveci as a forum where the self could be measured daily against devout expectations. Puntan leaders deemed poetry a safe and insplrlting genre, since they consldered the Bible itself to be Gods poetry. Thus poetry became the Iiterary form that aliowed devout believers to express, wlth Gods help, divine lessons. Other genres, such as drama and fiction, were considerad dangerous, capable of generating lies and leading to Idie entertalnment Instad of moral uplift. Puntan poets had grown up in England durlng a peniod when Chrlstlan eplc poetry culmlnatlng in Paradise Lost (1667) by John MCtonwas considered the highest llterary accompllshment. When they came to America they maintained their cultural alleglances to Britain. Anne Bradstreet Iooked to British poets Sir Phllip Sidney and Edmund Spenser; Edward Taylor looked to poets George Herbert and John Donne. Bradstreet was the first poet In Amerlca to publish a volume & poetry. me Tenth Muse Late/y Sprung (Ip In Americe was published In England In 1650. Bradstreet had Ilved in England until 1630, when at the age of 18 she arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony,

where she spent the rest of her life. Although Bradstreet wrote many poems on farnitiar Britlsh themes and produced skllled ;mltatlons of Brltish forms, her most remarkable works responded dlrectly to her experlences in colonial New England. They reveal her attraction to her new world, even as tne dlscomforts & life in the wildemess slckened her. Her poetry contalns a muted declaration of independence from the past and a challenge to authonty. Altnough i3radstreets verses on the buming of her house in 1666 and poems on ffie death & three grandchildren end by reafflrmlng me God-fearing Puntan bellef system, along ffie way they also question the harsh Puntan God. Further, Bradstreets work records early stlrnlngs of female reslstance to a social and religious system ln whlch women are subservlent to men. In The Prologue (1650), Bradstreet wrltes, 1 am obnoxious to each carplng tongue / Who says my hand a needie better A poets pen.... Bradstreets instlncts were to ove this world more than the promised next world of Pudtan theology, and her struggle to overcome her ove for the world of natura energlzes her poetry. Taylor, a poet of great technlcal sklll, wrote powerful meditative poems In whlch he tested hlmself morally and sought to Identlfy and root out slnful tendencles. In Gods Determlnations Touching HIs Elect (wrltten 1680?), one of Taylors most important works, he celebrates Gods power In the trlumph of good over evil In ffie human soul. Ah of Taylors poetry and much of Bradstreets served generally personal ends, and ffielr audience often conslsted of themselves and thehr famlly and closest fnlends. Thls tradltlon of pnivate poetry, kept ln manuscrlpt and clrculated among a small and Intlmate cirde, continued throughout me colonIal perlod, and numerous poets of the 17th and l8th centurles remalned unknown to me general publlc untll long after thelr deaths. Por them, poetry was a klnd of helghtened letter wnltlng that reafflrmed the ties of famhly and fnlends. Taylors poems remained unpubllshed untll 1939, when me Poetica/ Works of Edwrd Tay/or appeared. Many of Bradstreets most personal poems elsa remained unpublished during her lifetime. Public poetri for the puritains was more didactic or nstructive in nature and often involved the transtormaton into verse of important biblical lessons that guided Puntan beef, Poet and minister Michael Wiggilesworth wrote theological verse in bailad meter, such as 77e Dey of Doom (1662). Which turned the

book o Reveleationinto an easily memorized sng-song epic. Puntan poetry also included elaborate elegies, or poems honoring a person who nad recenoy dted, Puritans used mese poems to explore the nature of the selt, readng me character of the dead person as a text and seeing the life as a collection of hidden meanings. Southern Satre Colonial poets of the I8th century still looked to Brtish poets of ther time, such as Pope and Ambrose Phil!ps, Both were masters of pastoral versepoetry that celebratea an dea zed Lnglish countryside and rural hfeand of satinical verse. Initially, this satinc tone was more prevaient in me southern colonies than in New England. Twa poets from the Maryland Colony, Ebenezer Cook and Richard Lewis, wrote accomplishea satinical poems based on British pastoral models. But their poems cleverly undermine those modele by poking fun at the British. Cooks The Sot-Weed Factor(1708) is a long narrative poem written in rhyming couplets that mocks Amenicans as a backward people but dm5 its satine most effectively at the poems narrator, who is a British snob. Amenicans may be laughabie, Cook suggests, but they are not as ridiculous as the British with their gnorance and prejudice about Amenicans. MICROSOFT CORPORATION. "AMERICAN LITERATURE: POETRY" Early Black Voices Slavery was the great contradiction in the new natior that had affirmed n its Declaration of Independence a basic behef that all men are created equal and have inalienable rlghts to life, liberty, and the purswt of lapoiness. Many of the countrys early ieace-s believed that African siaves were lntellectually inferior to whites. Phii,is Wheatiey, a Boston slave, challenged those racist assumptions early on. Brought to America as a young giri, Wheatley was educated by her masters In English and Latin. She became an accomplished poet, and her Poems en Varlaus Subjects, AeIsglous anO Moral (1773) was published in England. Like the whlte patrlot poets, Wheatley wrote in l8th-century literary forms. But her highly structured and elegant poetry nonetheless nation, African American poetry
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retained lts concem with the bumlng lssues & the Amencan Revolution, including llberty, Independence, equallty, and ldentlty. It also expressed African American experlences & dMded loyalties. Just as white Amerlcans experienced dlvlded loyalties In the republlcs early yearsunsure whether their ldentlty derived from the new country or from thelr European pastso toc dio Afrlcan 4mericans, who loolced always to thelr African past and to their problematic American present. THE 19TH CENTURY The 19th century began with night hopes my poetlc accomplishment. The flrst ompreflensve anthoiogies of American poetry appeared in the 1820s, 1830s, and 1840s In me first hat of the century poets Sobnt to entertain, to intorm, and to put into memorable language Americas history, myths, manners, and topography, but they did not seek to torge a radical new poetlc tradition. Thelr poetry built upon tradition, and they met the first great goal of American poetry: that it be able to compete ln quallty, inteligence, and breadtn with Bntish poetry. But just as they achieveci thls goal, poetic aspirations began to change. By the mid-l9th century the new goal for American poetry was to create something very different from Britlsh poetry. Innovative poets, particularly Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, led the way. The Fireside Poets William Cullen Bryant, Herry Wadsworth Logfellow, James Russell Lowell, Oliver Wendell Holres, and John Greenieat Whittier constituted a group sometimes called the Fireside Poeta They earned this nickname because they frequently used the hearth as an Image of comtort and unlty, a place where famllles gathered to leam and teil storles. These tremendously popular poets also were widely read around ffie hearthsldes of 19th century American fammes. The consensus of American critics was that the Flreslde Poets first put American poetry on equal footlng wlth Britlsh poetry. Bryant gained publlc recognitlon flrst and Is best remembered for Thanatopsls, publlshed In 1821 but written when he was a teenager. Still wldely anthologlzed, thls poem offers a democratic rewnciliation with death as the great equalizer and a recognition that the till voice o God is embodied in a forcesses of nature. Duririg a busy lite as a lawyer an editor of me New York Everung Post Bryant
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vrote accomplisheci, elegant, and romantc descriptlons of a nature suffused with spirit. Longfellow was the best known of the Firesioe Poets, and it was with nim that American poetry began its emergence from ffie shadow of rs British parentage. His poetic narratives helped create a national historical myth, transforming colorful aspects of me Amencan past into memorable romarce. 111ev ieie Evangellre l 647) which concerns iovers who are separated during the French ano inaian War (1754-1763), and Pie Song of Hlawatha (1855), whlch derives lts themes from Native American foiklore. No American poet before or since was as widely celebrateo ouring his or her Ilfetime as Longfellow. He became the first and only American poet to be honored wlth a bust in the revered Poets Comer of Westminster Abbey in London, England. The accompllshments of the other Fireside Poets were varlous. LowelIs BIgIow Papas (1848) added to the Amencan :radition of long satirical poems. Holmes wrote severa memorable short poems such as The Chambered Nautllus (1858). Whittler became best known for Snow-Bound (1866), a long nostaigic 100k at ilis Massachusetts Quaker boyhood, when the famlly gathered around the fireside durlng a snowstorm. Abolitionist Poetry During the 19th century, black and white poets wrote about the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of slaves. George Moses Horton, a North Carolina siave, was the first Southem black poet. Joshua McCarter Simpson was a black poet from Ohio whose memorable songs of emancipation were set to popular tunes and sung by fugitive siaves. Frances Eilen Watklns Harper wrote passionate abolitionist and early feminist poems that called both blacks and whltes to action agalnst oppresslon. Biack poets approprlatedout & the 1alt men are created equal equation. Black poets aisc ofter expressed themselves wath irony and amblgulty so that dlfferent audlences hearci different intonatlons and meanings, a double volclng that would become central to later African American wrltlng. Whlte abolitionist poets, from thelr more privileged social positiori, could afford totheir more confrontational about the lssue of slavery. Whiztier was a flery abolitionlst wnose numerous antlslavery poems were collected in voices ot Freedom (1846). Longtellows Poems Qn Slaveiy (1842) forms a long-forgotten but llluminating contrlbutlon to the tradition of

American political poema Lowell also was an ardent abollttonist. Mid-Century Innovation Many 2Oth century critics of the beginnings of a uniquely American poetry to the appearance of Leves of Grass (1855) by Walt Whitman. Whitman drew a good deal & insplratlon from New England wrlter Ralph Waldo Emerson. In his 1844 essay The Poet, Emerson called for a radlcally new American poet who would make poetry out of the rough experience of Amenca and break free of conventional pattems of writing and thinklng. Emerson could not answer his own call; his poetry, always challenglng and often cryptlc and hlghly symbolic, tended to fall into conventional rhythms and remalned aloof from day-to-day reallty. After readlng Lea ves of Grass, Emerson realized that Whitman mlght be the flrst truly original American poet: I greet you at the beglnning of a great career, he wrote to Whitman. But most people mean by American poetrythose rhythmic, memorable, and signlficant verse forms composed in Englisn in the United States or in lands that became the United States. This overvlew of more tnan 300 years & American poetry tracks the creation of a iatonal uterature identifiably different from that of any other nation. In the 1600s colonial poets responded to the challenges of their new world and expressed the hopes and fears of Europeans who settled there. In the years followlng the Declaratlon of Jnciepenaence (1776) American poets created a patriotic poetry as a deflning llterature for the new nation. A powerful new kind of poetry flowered in the mid- and late l9th century among the first poets to be bom and raised as actual citlzens of the United States. American modemlst poetry emerged in the first half of the 2Oth century, as many wrlters sought to subdue nationalist Impulses in thelr poetry and define themselves as part of an International advance in the arts. Finally, In the second half of the 2Oth century a multipllclty of diverse voices redefined American poetry. For information on American prose or drama, see American Lite-ature: prose; American Literature: Drama. Walt Whitman A newspaper reporter and I went to the first published place were traditional in form and conventional ln sentlement. In tne early 1850s, however, he began experimentlng with

a mixture of the colloquial diction and prose rhythms of journalism; the direct address and sounds, voice of oratory; the repetitons aid cataloges of the Bibie; ano mc iyricisn, rnL.sic, ano orama of Doptar opera. He sought to write a democratic ooetrya poetry vast enough t anta.n ai the varety of burgeorng l9th-century American culture In 1855 Whitman published the first edition of Lea ves of Grass, the book he would revise and expand for the rest of his lite. The first edition contained only 12 untltied poems. The longest poem, whlch he eventually named Song of Myself has become one of the most discussed poems in ah of American poetry.In It Whitman constructs a democratlc a voice that sets out to celebrate itself and the rapture of lts senses experlencing the world, and in so doing to celebrate the unfettered potential of every individual in a democratic society. Emerging from a working class family, Whitman grew up in New York City and on nearby Long Island. He was one of the first working-class American poets and one of the first wrlters to compose poetry that is set in and draws its energy from the bustling, crowded, diverse streets of the city. Whitman later added a varlety of poems to Lea ves of Grass. They include Crossing Brooklyn Ferry (1856), in which Whitman addresses both contemporary and future riders of the ferry, and Out of tbe Cradle Endlessly Rocklng (1860), a revene about his boyhood on the shores of Long Island. Other poems were about affection between men and about the experlences and sufferings of soldlers In the Civil War (1861-1865). Whitmans work was lnltiaily embraced more fuily In Britain than in ffie United States. An influential 1872 anthology, American Poems, published in England and edited by Engllsh llterary critic William Michael Rossette. MICROSOFT CORPORATION. "AMERICAN LITERATURE: POETRY". I celebrate myself, and sing myself, and what I assume you shall assume. For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. Excerpt From Song of my Self

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Emily Dickinson, along with Whitman, is one of the most original and demanding poets in American literature, Living her whole ife in Amherst, Massachusetts, Dickinson com:osed more than 1,700 short, untitied poems. Despite her productivity, only a handful of Dickinsons poems were published before her death n 1886. Most of her Doems borrow the repeated four-line, rhymed stanzas of traditional Christan hymns, with two mes of four-beat meter alternating with two unes of three-beat meter. A master of irnagery that makes the spiritual materialize in surprising ways, Dickinson manage manifoid variations within her simple form: She used rnperfect rhymes, subtle hreaks of rhythm, and diosyncratic syntax and punctuation to create fascnatr crc pu::ies, wnch have produced greatly divergent interpretations over the years. Dickinsons intensely private poems cover a wide range of subjects and emotions. She was fascinated with death, and many of her poems struggle with the contradictions and seeming mpossibility of an afterlife, She carnes on an argument with God, sometimes expressing faith in him and sometimes denying his existence. Many of her poems record moments of freezing paralyss that could be death, pain, doubt, fear, or love. She remains one of the most private and cryptic voices in American literature. Because of Dickinsons prominence, it sometimes seems that she was the only female poet in America in the l9th century. Yet nearly a hundred women published poetry in the first six decades of the 1800s, and most early anthologies of American poetry contained far more women writers than appeared in anthologies in the first half of the 2Oth century. Dickinsons work can be better understood if read in the context of these poets. Lydia Huntley Sigourney, for example, was a popular early19th-century poet whose work set the themes for other female poets: motherhood, sentirnent, and the ever-present threat of death, particularly to children. She developed, among other forms, the same hymn stanza that Dickinson used, although she experimented with fewer variations on it than Dickinson, and her poetry was simple and accessible. The work of Sigourney, along with that of Elizabeth Oakes Smith, Frances Sargent Locke Osgood, Alice and Phoebe Cary, space than any other poet. From then on American poetry was jusdeg not by how closely it aproximated the best British verse, but by how radically ir divorced itself British tradition.
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It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there. Except from Aspohodel, That Greeny Flower

Imagisrn and After Early in WUhamss career he belonged to a group led hy E: cahed the magists. Pound, Wiliiams, and Doohttle al! met at the Universty of Pennsyivania and became part of Pounds self-declared movement to remake poetry, or, as he said, fo make it new. The imagist credo called for new rhythms, ciear and strpped-down mages, free choce o subject matter, concentrated or compressed poetic expression, and use of common speech. The poets wo suoscribed fo tiis redo appiied it aifferentiy W!hams torc hs new rhythms in everyday speech, while Pound sought his new rhythms n adaptations in English of Chinese, Greek, Provenal (southern France), and other poetic traditions. Pounds Personae (1909) demonstrated his remarkable abi!ity to write intense, beautiful experimental verse, echoing poems from other languages. Pound ntroduced the poetry of Hilda Doolittie as the model of magism, and her chiseled and often erotic Sea Garden poems (1916) became for many the movements signature book. H. D., Pound, and WiIIiams left magism behind, but it continued to influence some poets for a number of years under the leadership of Arny LoweIi, a descendent of James Russell Lowell. Pound took his modernist revotution in a surprising new direction, building his brief imagist poems into a jagged collage that eventually became a massive long poem, 77?e Cantos. While the individual poems that went to make up the Cantos were published in various torms from 1917 until the 1960s, the first complete English language edition of the poem was published in 1970 as The Cantos of Ezra Pound. This Jifeiong work invites cornparisons with Whitmans lifelong project, Lea ves of Grass. Pound distanced himself from Whitman, however, disliking what he saw as the l9th-century poets overinfatuation with America.

Pound believed the poet should be a citizen of the world and a contemporary of aH the ages, abie fo earn from exceilence wherever and whenever it appeared. He and Williams debated this issue for years, WiHiams insisting that original poetry could emerge only from the ocal and the present and Pound nsisting that fresh beauty could come only by encounters with the dlstant and the past, the lost and forgotten. Whereas Willlamss Paterson insists on staying In one place, Pounds Cantos move tnrough time, languages, and culturesleading Pound eventually to a flirtation with fascism, whit he ernbraced while n Italy auring World War II (1939-1945). Yet both of meir compilations share a couage style, built of sudden, unexpected juxtaposltions of disparate materials. Doolittle also tumed to long poems with her trilogy, me Walls Do (Vot Fali (1944), Tnbute to Angels (1941), and the Flowering of the Roo (1946). In these works she turned to Egyptian mythology, ancient history, and a reconfiguration of Christian tradition as a response to me violence of World War II. An Important result of Pounds push to build long poems out of imagist fragments was his editing of me Waste Lano (1922) by T. S. Elliot. For many readers this poem ranks as the great statement of despair in the aftermath of World War I (1914-1918). Before its publicatlon Pound condensed and reshaped this hlghly allusive, dandy suggestlve work, which s built on fertllity myths and the legend of the Holy Grail. me Waste Land has been read in many different ways, lts meaning as unstable and fluid as its diverse imagery. Eliot, born in St. Louis, Missouri, eventually became a British citizen and joined the Church of England. Much of hls laten verse, lncluding Ash-Weonesclay (1930) and Four Quartets (1943), relates to his spiritual concems and suggests a religious pathway out & despair and toward a renewed sense of purpose. Microsoft Corporation 1993-1998 Because I could not stop for DeathHe kindly stopped for meThe Carriage held but just Ourselves and immortality. We slowly drove-He knew no haste And I ha put away

My labor and my leisure too For his Civility. Except from Poem. Poe, Melville, and Others Other poets who tired out distinctive new forms inciuded Edgar Allan Poe and Herman Melville. Poe devoteci great effort to wrltlng poetry that was unhike anything before it. A careful craftsman, he examined in detall the effects that his every poetlc choice had. Pofl poetry earned LIttle respect from his contemporaries, who dismissed hlm as 0the Jingle nart He had, said Whitman, the rhyming art to excess. Yet Poes nlghtmarish scenes, unnerving plots, and prblngs of abnormal psychology gaye fis poetry, as well as his tales, a hauntlng, memorable quallty that makes him one of the most admired innovators in American Ilterature. The opening Unes of his best-known poem, The Rayen (1.845), demonstrate Poes love of rhymlng and his use of varylng rhythm: Once upon a midnlght dreary, whiie I ponderad, weak and weary, / Over many a qualnt and curious volume of forgotten lore. Melville, though much better known as a novelist, nonetheless wrote powerful poetry about the Civil War, collected in Battle-Pieces andAspects of theWar(1866). He iater wrote a long and mysterious poem, Claml(1876), about his search for falth, his struggle with doubt, and his anxiety about the decline of civilization. Lesser-known innovators of the l9th century Include iones Very, Sidney anier and Henry Tlmrod. Very was a Massachusetts poet who produced striklngiy original religious sonnets. Lamer was a Georgia poet who sought to reproduce in larrguage the effects of muslc. Tlmrod, a Southem poet who was known as the laureate of the Confederacy, wrote some notably original and dark poetry in the 1860s. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered. Weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore. While I nodded, nearly happing, suddenly there came a tapping. As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. Excerpt from The Raven.
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Toward the 2Oth Century Whitman liad hoped that his work would generate new energy in American poetry. But when he clieci in 1892, the American poetic scene was relatively barren. Most & the major poets had died and no successor to Whitman was emerging. William Vaughn Moody, a poet borr. in Indiana, wrote me Masque of .luclgement (1900), wh;ch was the flrst in a ser.es of verse dramas about humanitys sprituai tortures and eventual spirltuai victory. Stephen Crane, best known tor his noveis, puDilshea two voiumes or poetry, 777e u/aa Rioers anci Other Unes (1895) and WarFs KInd and Other Poems (1899). In their tone and fragmented form, his grim poems anticipate the concerns of many modem writers. But neither poet lived far into the 2Oth century. THE 2OTH CENTURY By 1900 the United States was far different from the new nation it had been a hundred years eariier. Westward expansion, waves of immigration, and increasing urbanization alt combined to create a physicaiiy targer, more popuious, and far more diverse country than its founders couid have imagined. These changes are tracked more visibiy in Americas fiction than in its poetry, but the nations growing diversity is evident in the diverse votes of 2Oth-century American poets. American poetry in me opening decades of the century dispiayed far less unity than most anthologies and critical histories indicate. Shifting aliegiances, evoiving styles, and me sheer number of pos make it difficult to categorlze 2Oth-century poetry. Regionalism In the last decacies of me l9th century, American literature had entered a period of regonaiism exploring me stories, dialects, and idiosyncrasies of Pie many reglorls of the united States. Dialect poetrywritten in exaggerated accents and colorful Idioms became a sensauon tor a time though it produced little of lasting value. However. one major poet wno rose to fame on the basis of his dialect poems was Paul Laurence Dunbar, a black writer from Ohio. runbars diaiect poems, which romanticizeci the life of siaves in the pre-CM War Soutn, were extremeiy popular. His volumes DaR and vy (1893) and MaJor ano Minors (1895) brought attention to
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African American literature, although the dialect poems later embarrassed many black poets. Dunbar also wrote many nondlalect poems and initiated through his work an lmportant debate In African American literature about what volces and materlals are approprlate for black wrlters. Other reglons and groups developed their own distlnctive voices. Kansas-bom Edgar. te Masters achieved success with Spoon RlverAntholagy(1915). His poetlc epltaphs (commemoratlons) capture me hldden passions, decelts, and hopes of Mldwestemers burled in the fictional Spoon River cemetery. Edwln Arbngtcr Robnson explored the Ilves of New Englanders In his fictional Tllbury Town through dramatlc monologuespoems wrltten entlrely In the voice of each of his characters. Many of the monologues employ the rhythm of everyday speech and reflect a Puntan sense of humanklnds moral corruption. Pobert rrcst turther developed Roblnsons New Engtand voice In poems that can be reao both as regional and as some of the most accomplished modern poetry of the early 2Oth century. Restrained, humorous, and ran sentences over several unes so that the poetic meter plays subtly under the rhythms of natural speech Tie first ifries of Birches (1916) illustrate this distinctPie ner approach to mythm: When I see bircnes bend to ieft and nght / Across tte hnes of straighter darker trees, / I like to think sorre novs been swing.ng tflajr, / But swinging aoesnt bend them down to stay As ice-storms do. Often you must have seen them / Loaded with ce a sunny understated, Frosts poetry gives volce to modem psychologlcal constructions of ldentlty wlthout ever loslng its focus on the local and the speclflc. He often wrote in the standard meter of blank verse (lines wlth five stresses) but winter moming/ After a rain... And while Frosts mages and voice seem familiar and old, his observations of New Engiand life of new England life haveand edge of skepticism and irony that make his work, upon rereading, never as easy and carefree as it first appeared. Frost delivered American poetry into the 20th century. Fire and Ice Some say the world will end in fire. Some say in ice. From what ive tasted of

desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great and would suffice. Modernism The early 2Oth century was a tme cf huge incustai expansia n America, ard ma-y wrlters found the condltlons for creating art unfavorable in a culture that was so focused on buslness and making money. Part of the struggle among modemlst wrlters concemed the posslbllity or even desirabihty of contlnu!ng to oevelop a speciflcally American poetic traaitlon. Many writers exiled themselves in cultures that seemed more conducve to art, wille others decided to stay ana resist through thetr poetry the grovtng materiahst;c culture. One way to categorize the major modemist poets is to separate those who left the United States and wrote most of thelr poetry as expatriates In Europe from those who stayed n America. Among the expatriates are Ezra Pound, Hilda Doollttle (who wrote under the pen name H. D.), T. S. Elliot, and Gertrude Stein. Those who stayed In the United States Include William Carlos Willlams, Hart Crane, Wallace Stevens, Marianne Moore, Carl Sandburg, Vachel Lindsay, Langston Hughes, and Roblnson Jeffers. Most of the Iatter grojp visited Europe at sorne polnt and flirted wlth the idea of staying there to write. Sweet sweet sweet sweet tea. Susie Asado. Sweet sweet sweet sweet tea. Susie Asado. Susie Asado which is a told tray sure. A lean on the shoe this means slips slips hers. When the ancient light grey is clean it is yellow it is a silver seller. Excerpt from Susie Asado

The Whitman Tradition During the first naif of tne 2Oth century a number of poets carried on what we might cali a Whitman tradition. Tney wrote In free versea rhythm that responds to the specific subject instead of adherlng to a predetermined, set meter. And they strived for a poetry that would have a wide appeai and would help define and develop a democracy. Carl Andburg devoted his poetc career to celebrating me powe- of a tough, tree, democratic working class. !n thls way he sifteo Vinitmanis focus individual loentity to a new concem with social ldentity, an idea that culminated in his Depression-era book, The People, Yes(1936). Vachel Lincisay set out to tramp across America, tradlng poems for food. His goal was to bulid a klnd of mass partlclpatory poetry through what he called the higher vaudeville, performances in whlch he led large groups of people n chantlng his poetry. Langstr Hughes, who became one of the centurys most important black writers, wrote sociaily consclous poerns tnat sought to capture the black expenence. Hughes used the rhythmic structure of blues muslc and the Improvisational rhythms of jazz In his innovative development of Whltmans Ideas, and he insisted on a more Inclusive democracy than even Whitman had proposed. Michael Goid, bom and ralsed In New York City slums, wrote lmpassloned chants to American workers, often Invoklng Whitman. Were Whitman aliveso Goid imaginedhe would have joined the Communist struggle to liberate the worklng class. William Carlos Wllllarns, a physlclan from industrial New Jersey, looked to Whitman as the source of his own American rhythms, whlch he daimed to pick up from llstenlng to Americans talk on the streets. Wllliams developed forms that broke Whltmans long unes into brlef unes that focused attentlon on the concrete reality In front of the poet: No Ideas but In thlngs, he said. Wllllamss masslve poem Paterson (1946-58), released In five volmenes, is an epic about paterson, New Jersey. Williams sought to make poetry uot material considered unpoetic by conventiona standars: his focus was always on the local and immediate.

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