7.1 Dunn and Janzen

Objectives for Today's Class

  • By the end of today’s class, students will be able to:

    • Define key poetic terms such as free verse, apostrophe, anachronism, and enjambment.

    • Explain the significance of passive and active characters in Janzen’s poem “Re-Extinction.”

    • Discuss the context and allusions within the analyzed poems.

    • Perform a close reading of literary devices present in a poem.

Housekeeping

  • Upcoming Deadlines:

    • Essay #1 due Friday.

    • Complete reading of Frankenstein by the 18th; ensure the outline is submitted on time.

    • No major deadlines until after Reading Week.

    • Exam scheduled for Dec. 20, 9 am-12 pm, ENG 1B71 (Engineering).

Quotation Integration Bonus

  • Quoting Poetry:

    • Use slashes (/) to indicate line breaks in quoted poetry.

    • Instead of page numbers, use line numbers for citations.

    • Example: The speaker concludes the ode by stating, “you stare and smile / dumbly from a glass case” (31-32).

Free Verse Poetry

  • Defined as poetry that lacks a regular metrical pattern; it does not follow a predominant meter.

  • Important to remember that free verse poetry is inherently irregular.

“Re-Extinction”: Context

  • The poem's subject centers on a Pyrenean ibex, specifically one named Celia and her clone.

  • Important Facts:

    • Burcardos, the species, became extinct in 2000.

    • Celia was the last living burcardo.

    • Cloning efforts utilized Spanish ibexes and domestic goat/Spanish ibex hybrids to attempt to revive the species.

Apostrophe

  • Defined as a direct address to an absent person, as if that person were present, or to an abstract quality or entity.

“Mary Shelley in Brigantine”: Context

  • Overview of Mary Shelley's life events:

    • 1797: Mary Shelley (née Wollstonecraft) is born; her mother, known for her early feminist writings, dies shortly after childbirth.

    • 1814: At the age of 16, Shelley elopes with Percy Bysshe Shelley, a married man.

Mary Shelley’s Life Events (Continued)

  • 1815: The death of Shelley’s first child.

  • 1816: Percy Bysshe Shelley’s first wife dies, and Mary and Percy marry shortly after.

  • 1822: Percy Bysshe Shelley tragically drowns.

  • 1851: Mary Shelley passes away from a brain tumor.

Children of Mary Shelley

  • Overview of her children:

    • First child (unnamed): 1815-1815.

    • William: 1816-1819.

    • Clara: 1817-1818.

    • Percy Florence: 1819.

    • Miscarriage in 1822.

Brigantine Castle

  • Historical context:

    • A landmark located in Brigantine, NJ, operational from 1976 to 1987.

    • Castle Frankenstein was opened in 1978.

    • Notably, Mary Shelley passed away before the castle opened and never visited the USA.

Enjambment

  • Explained as the continuation of a sentence or phrase from one line of poetry onto the next without a pause or terminating punctuation mark.

Anachronism

  • Defined as an error in chronology where something is placed in a time period to which it does not belong.

  • According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it also refers to the practice of making such chronological errors.