AP Lit Poetry

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud: the title

paradox of being lonely but it being a positive and peaceful experience, the cloud represents peace

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud: daffodils

represent a crowd of people, dancing and fluttering in the breeze

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud: storyline

poet sits in solitude and looks over to see a crowd of people dancing and having fun, poet realizes what a gift it is to see and takes bliss in the scene, also in memory when reflecting later on

How I Discovered Poetry: storyline

• student takes in Mrs. Purdy’s reading, says its like soul kissing

• allusion to I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

• the next day the student was given a racist poem to read to the class, the teacher smiled harder and harder and convinced the student to do it, coercion

• the class afterwards walked to the buses, awed by the power of words

How I Discovered Poetry: allusion

suggests that the shared moment between the speaker and Mrs. Purdy is one of artistic inspiration. Nelson chose the poem to place her experience within rich poetic tradition

How I Discovered Poetry: comments on the title

gives a paradox, the readers first think the journey would be fulfilling and inspiring but it was actually full of hate and shame

How I Discovered Poetry: thematic statement

language not only brings life to people and their minds, it also has a negative driving force that leads to destruction and shame

sonnet 18: tone

the author is in awe of the subjects and is fascinated by their unwavering beauty: adoring, passionate

sonnet 18: figurative language

metaphors and personifications intensify the adoration of the beloved, “thy eternal summer shall not fade”

sonnet 18

the beloved’s immortal beauty is unwavering even in the face of nature, more euphonious

sonnet 130: figurative language

personifications and comparisons to nature are prominent. comparing the speaker’s mistress to objects of nature first leads readers to believe that he sees her as unattractive until the message of realism in love is shown

sonnet 130: euphonious or cacophonous

cacophonous- agression

sonnet 130: message

real love takes in imperfections and does not go with societal beauty standards

whoso list to hunt

uses the extended metaphor of a hopeless deer hunt to tell the story of pursuit of Anne Boleyn despite her marriage to King Henry

wyatt tells other hunters to stop trying because its pointless

irony: shes a possession yet someone is trying to protect her

edmund Spenser: sonnet 30

explores the paradox of passion, where a suitor’s intense desire only his beloved colder, while her rejection makes his love burn hotter

edmund Spenser: sonnet 75

celebrated the power of poetry to defeat time and immortalize love

the speaker attempts to write his beloved’s name in the sand before the tide washes it away and his promise to immortalize her

poetry will preserve her rare virtues and write her name in the heavens

a barred owl: thematic statement

fear can strip away the bliss of innocence

a barred owl

child hears a barred owl outside the window and runs to her caretakers, they tell her it sounds like the owl is just saying who cooks for you to preserve her innocence, however she still feels the errieness

the history teacher

lies to his students about historical events to preserve their innocence, however outside the classroom they use violence and tormentation on other people

the history teacher: thematic statement

innocence cannot be confined by the adult perspective