DUE DATE FOR POSTS: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28 7:30 AM
Respond to the poem by e.e. cummings. Some things to think about include the following:
What is the poet's view of patriotism? On what evidence from the poem are you basing your thoughts?
What literary techniques does the poet use and how do they contribute to the work as a whole?
What IS the significance of the work as a whole? What are the author's themes? In other words, what is he really trying to say?
What stands out to you about the poem?
What confuses you? What questions would you like to pose to the class?
DON'T WORRY ABOUT WRONG ANSWERS!!!! We have to start somewhere to make meaning of works that are presented to us.
***Remember, you need to post TWICE, substantively. One post must be in response to the post of a classmate. 5 bonus points for any postings made on Monday.
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29 comments:
This poem was really hard to read because there is no punctuation. I think the author is very patriotic and disdains those who aren't. He says that next to God he loves America the most. He also praises soliders who have fallen.
I may be completely off base here, but I'm wondering if the speaker is drunk. His words "deaf and dumb" run together. That would also explain why there is no punctuation or capitalization of proper nouns, and the way it seems disjointed (lines 2 and 3). At the end it mentions drinking a glass of water...I'm not sure if that would have anything to do with his being drunk or not though. Thoughts anyone?
I agree with Coleigh that he is very patriotic and praises fallen soliders. He includes lines from "The Star Spangle Banner" and "America the Beautiful" to reinforce his patriotic feelings. I think the non-punctuated form is supposed to show his thoughts rushing together so quickly that it all just blends together; he just feels that strongly about the topic. Then once he's done, he has to drink water to calm down, explaining the last line.
I maybe agree with Sarah, That he is possibly drunk. I thought maybe he could have been drinking due to post-dramatic stress disorder from a war? That would make sense, wars being so brutal and all. But if he had been in a war he would definately have loved his country enough to fight for it. So he is very patriotic =)
I'm with Coleigh on it being hard to read. Run-on-sentences kill me.
When I first read the poem, I agreed with Coleigh and Lauren in which E. E. Cummings is very patriotic, but I changed my mind when I read it again. I did think that towards the end of the poem he was praising the soldiers that fought, but he questions the governments motives in war.The line, "they didn't think they died instead " might seem to question if it is right to send men to die for a nation's glory.
Also I did catch what Lauren mentioned about the lines from the "Star Spangle Banner" and "America the Beautiful". I thought it added more to the poem.
I like what Lauren said about the lack of punctuation because of the author's excitement for this topic. The author uses a stream of consciousness method to demonstrate his enthusiasm.
Also, i believe the author does support patriotism. Although he may be criticizing the government for sending soldiers to their deaths, he still praises the soldiers who have done so, and fighting for your country is one of the highest forms of patriotism.
(i have 2 topics here, so can this count as both of my comments?)
Tyler,
What you have here is a nice, substantive (3 sentence) post that both comments on the poem and responds to the comments of your classmate. Nice job.
I will await your required 2nd post on this same work:)
Resourceful effort to avoid more commentary, though.
I was reading this poem for literary elements, and the only one that really seemed to stick out to me was anaphora- "by gorry by jingo by gee by gosh by gum". Could that line also be considered an alliteration? These were the only ones I could find. Anyone?
When reading the poem, I wondered if the last line of the poem had any significance.
"He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water."
This line is separated from the other lines of the poem and also uses punctuation. I wonder why he only used punctuation in that one line and not the rest of the poem?
Mrs. Harl
Since we do not have school tomorrow will we write on Friday or are we filming on Friday?
It seems in the beginning that he is very patriotic, but then as you keep reading it seems like it shows that people are foolish for believing his patriotism with his talk of the downside of war.
TO EVERYONE
As you do your second posts, be sure to include SPECIFIC details, passages from the text to support what you are saying.
Some of the opinions you all are posting are good, but you need to use support from the text.
I agree with Rachel, at first the poem seems to be patriotic despite the lack of punctuation in america, however towards the end it takes a different approach, it sarcastically shows that we are ignoring the down side of war. Cummings seems to show that patriotism isn't all it is cracked up to be.
I'm surprised to see that no one has noticed the sarcasm clearly expressed by Cummings, this poem is not really that patriotic as its a satire on both the cliche spouting patriotism and the gullibility of audiences, it comments on the cliches mouthed by politicians during election time.
I feel that you can really tell from this poem that E.E. Cummings is very patriotic. He says that next to the the "Course of God" which means he holds America 2nd only to God. I also think that he is in a different state of mind when he wrote this poem, explaing the running together of words.
I was thinking along the same lines as Sarah when she said he might have been drunk. Which would explain the words running into each other. He may have been intoxicated during the writing of this poem.
I now agree with Ben. After having read this poem again I think Cummings may have been sarcastic and not very patriotic. For one, he does not capitalize America.
Secondly, I think the last line about drinking water, is about a person giving a speech. So i get the impression that this is a politician speaking. But since Cummings seems to be sarcastic, I take it that this speech is being delivered to people to gain their support and brainwash them or something rather than truly show patriotism.
I'm not sure if I am wording this right, but maybe someone can follow my train-of-thought?
I meant that in a speech people stop to take quick drinks of water.
I think the message cummings is trying to send is obscure. You really have to read through it multiple times to understand it and catch the authors point of view on patriotism. By the end of the poem i was convinced that he is against war and people that are foolish to be overly patriotic
I agree with some of the commentary about this poem.....I can tell some of you are really reading the words carefully; however, you STILL need to support these opinions about whether he is sarcastic, patriotic, etc, with SPECIFIC PASSAGES from the poem:)
After seeing what Shawn had to say about the poem, I reread it a few times and realized he was right. The last 3 lines seem to be mocking the blind patriotism that some people have.
Procrastinating has really bitten me. Haha. Everything has been said and I don't know how much more this short passage can be broken down.
I like what Ben said though. I perceived it first as an enthusiastic patriot, like the majority of the first posts.
Most of these Literature passages can be interpreted in different ways. I enjoy rereading Next to of Course God America keeping in mind Ben's view.
Here is the way I read it:
Next to of course God, America,
I love you.
Stating Patriotism.
[land of the pilgrims’] and so forth [oh say can you see by the dawn’s early] [my country ’tis of] centuries come and go and are no more what of it we should worry in every language even deaf and dumb.
Thy sons acclaim your glorious name by gorry, by jingo, by gee, by gosh, by gum.
Suggesting that we put too much glamor on Patriotism.
Why talk of beauty; what could be more beautiful than these heroic happy dead who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter.
They did not stop to think.
They died instead.
Then shall the voice of liberty be mute?”
The "voice of liberty" is the military.
-His opinion must include the most patriotic Americans being the dedicated military; sacrificing their own lives to represent their nation.
He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water.
...thirst
At first I thought of this poem as him trying to be patriotic, and how he shows how some people can take their patriotism a little to serious those being the extremist. This is why i thought he uses the spill about people singing the jingles and all of that.
Now that I have gone over some of the classes other thoughts i mostly agree with Ben. I believe he is being sarcastic about being patriotic and how it is some what even foolish to be patriotic, because sometimes being patriotic can sometimes get us as individuals in trouble and sometimes even the country (i mean by getting us into a war). I think ee cummings is saying its ok to patriotic just don't become a patriotic extremist. He also uses a lot of cliches while using the songs in his poem. I also think with the part about the soldiers he his using patriotism as some sort of illusion that is blinding them and this is why they go of to be slaughtered without any hesitation of thinking things through.
I believe that this poem by e.e. cummings views partiotism in a sarcastic way. I feel like he is mocking what partiotic people do and how they rank America next to God. Maybe his poem is to show people how patriotism is something that runs people's lives and shouldn't anymore...that's just a guess.
I agree with Colten and Ben...e.e. cummings is sarcastic:)
I believe that this poem by e.e. cummings views partiotism in a sarcastic way. I feel like he is mocking what partiotic people do and how they rank America next to God. Maybe his poem is to show people how patriotism is something that runs people's lives and shouldn't anymore...that's just a guess.
Reading through the classes various comments, my opinion has pretty much stayed the same; however, they did make me think.
I still believe that e.e. cummings is not patriotic and that he is almost by sickened by the extent of some Americans patriotism. The beginning of the poem, when he is reciting various parts of patriotic songs, makes me believe that he is mocking the songs and cliches.
I also agree with Sarah when she says that he might have been drunk. I don't see what other reason he would have for making an entire poem a run on sentence with absolutely no punctuation.
Also, Ashley discusses the fact that he might be a soldier who was previously in battle and suffers from post-dramatic stress disorder. This seems like good explanation for why he would be writing the poem while he is intoxicated; however, the standpoint from which he writes the poem doesn't seem like that from someone who has actually fought in the war, but simply that of a bystander just knowing what he hears on the radio and news from a war. Thus making his views on the country and patriotism negative.
As far as literary elements go, I think tone is one of the most major literary elements that show the poems view on patriotism. The tone throughout the poem is completely sarcastic, yet towards the end of the poem the tone changes slightly to a more serious sarcasm that depicts almost anger and kind of shows that the poet may be sickened by the fact that some people would go to such extents as to kill themselves to show their patriotism.
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