Silent Reading, 20 min

Contemporary Poetry

Derek Walcott, "Elsewhere"

• Review: As a class, find examples of repetition, imagery, simile, metaphor, line, stanza, rhyme scheme, alliteration, consonance, assonance, etc.
• Theme: Walcott spells out the theme in the final stanza of this poem. Put it in your own words.

With a partner, read one of the following poems.

Theodore Roethke, p. 1132

“Night Journey”

Richard Wilbur, p. 1136

“The Beautiful Changes”

Elizabeth Bishop, p. 1143

“One Art”

Sylvia Plath, p. 1146

“Mirror”

Anne Sexton, p. 1154

“Young”

Gwendolyn Brooks, p. 1158

“The Bean Eaters”

Carolyn Forche, p. 1167

“The Memory of Elena”

Rita Dove, p. 1179

“Testimonial”

Mark Doty, p. 1183

“Coastal”

Assignment: All of the following should be completed on the same side of the large sheet of paper.

1. Write your poem on large paper; include the title and author.

2. Find and label at least seven poetic devices within your poem.

3. Create a visual representation of your poem.

4. How is this poem representative of the Contemporary movement? Cite specific examples from your poem (with line numbers) in your answer.