Poetry Essay Prompt #1

Prompt: The following two poems are about Helen of Troy. Renowned in the ancient world for her beauty, Helen was the wife of Menelaus, a Greek King. She was carried off to Troy by the Trojan prince Paris, and her abduction was the immediate cause of the Trojan War. Read the two poems carefully. Considering such elements as speaker, diction, imagery, form, and tone, write a well-organized essay in which you contrast the speakers’ views of Helen.

Helen

BY H. D.

All Greece hates 

the still eyes in the white face, 

the lustre as of olives 

where she stands, 

and the white hands. 

All Greece reviles 

the wan face when she smiles, 

hating it deeper still 

when it grows wan and white, 

remembering past enchantments 

and past ills. 

Greece sees unmoved, 

God’s daughter, born of love, 

the beauty of cool feet 

and slenderest knees, 

could love indeed the maid, 

only if she were laid, 

white ash amid funereal cypresses.

To Helen

By Edgar Allan PoeHelen, thy beauty is to me

Like those Nicean barks of yore

That gently, o'er a perfumed sea,

The weary, way-worn wanderer bore

To his own native shore.

On desperate seas long wont to roam,

Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,

Thy Naiad airs have brought me home

To the glory that was Greece,

And the grandeur that was Rome.

Lo, in yon brilliant window-niche

How statue-like I see thee stand,

The agate lamp within thy hand,

Ah! Psyche, from the regions which

Are Holy Land!

Although H.D. and Edgar Allan Poe each wrote a poem with the same name of "Helen", they both demonstrate very opposite esteem for the subject and couldn't be more divergent. In Poe's writing Helen come across as a very beautiful and inviting women, whereas, H.D. downsizes Helen's beauty with the use of simile and imagery.

Poe writes in three stanzas of five lines that have definite rhyming pattern. The first stanza has the pattern a/b/a/b/b. Poe uses a simile to compare his Helen's beauty to that of Helen of troy, who was considered one of the world's most beautiful women. With tone of reverse and imagery Poe portrays Helen like a goddess. Poe uses the simile and alliteration to show compare Helen beauty's to the emotions of a log that is traveling back to its homeland to be reunited.The poem is a tribute to a beautiful woman, held in high regard.

On the other hand, the Helen of H.D.'s poem is hated by all of Greece.In this three stanza poem, a couple of the lines in each stanza rhyme and the stanza length increases by a line as the poem progresses.H.D. contrasts with a tone of abhorrence and imagery that paints the picture of a monster. H.D. uses parallelism in the first two stanzas and anaphora to convey his attitude toward Helen is that of hatred and bitterness towards her beauty. As the poem progresses, Helen is blamed for past tragedies and the description of her appearance changes to the appearance of a pale unmoving form, resembling death. There is no regard or sympathy for the Helen who was so widely accepted as a symbol of beauty and love.

   H.D. and Poe have different views about Helen's beauty, these portrayals of Helen in these two poems are examples of two extreme interpretations of the physical appearance and symbolism of a historic figure.

Poem Analysis (TPCASTT )

'The Road Not Taken'
Title: I believe the title means that there are two different paths to choose from and that one of them, more often than not, isn't taken.
Paraphrase: This poem could literally be about two paths in some type of forest, but I believe its really just about two choices going around in someone's head. Either path leading to the same place but one traveled on every day and the one only once in a while. One may contain a better story to tell at the end of the journey.
Connotation: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by" This means that there were two options in this persons life and they had to make a difficult choice. They chose to go where many don't, probably because it wasn't the easy way out.
Diction: I think the words chosen by Robert Frost were smart and eloquent because this poem can be understood by many because it doesn't have big, scary words that you need a dictionary for. He wanted his message to be clear and heard by all, young and old.
Attitude: The person in the story seemed determined to find whatever he/she was looking for.
Tone: This poem is very calming which I think is needed because it really makes you think about life and which paths you want to pursue.
Shift(s): The person seems to be intrigued by the path that most people take, but in the end he decides to take the one most people avoid, noting how much work may be involved it would be worth it.
Title revisited: The title now seems to explain that there is a path that isn't followed, but it should be and that's what the person in this poem decides.
Theme: The central message I believe is to know every option you have and to pursue the more difficult one because in the end it could change your life.

4 Essay's

Seventh Reading

The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Act 4

Scene 1:



The three witches are making some kind of potion with a bunch a weird/crazy ingredients
Macbeth has come to visit the witches to ask about his future :

An armed head appears first and all is said is to beware of Macduff

A bloody child next that says none of woman born shall harm him

A crowned child says Macbeth shall be till Great Birnam comes against him



Macbeth wishes to know if Banquo's prophecy will come true and 8 kings are shown last followed by Banquo. All of his kind
Lennox enters after the witches vanish and tells Macbeth that Macduff has escaped to England and therefore Macbeth has decided to take immediate action against him

Scene 2:



Ross visits Lady Macduff and she explains how upset she is that Macduff left in such a haste
The son and Lady Macduff are talking and Lady Macduff tells her son that his dad is dead and he begins to argue intellectually with her
A messenger enters and tells them they are in danger but before they can run away the murders enter and kill the son and chase after Lady Macbeth


Scene 3:

Macduff and Malcom have a conversation that brings them to peace with each other and talk about the army that is ready to launch their attack against Macbeth and Scottland
The kind is said to cure the sickness of people with the touch of his hand
Ross enters and when pressed releases the sad story of the death of the family of Macduff leaving him sad and in shock
This makes Malcom puch Macduff to take action against Macbeth even more

Lit Circles Multiple Choice

Slaughterhouse Five

D
C
D
B
A
B
C
B
A
C
C
D
C
B
B
A
C
B
B
A
C
A
A
D
A
D
D
C
A
B
B
D
D
C
D
D
B
D
A
B
A
C
B
A
A
D
B
D
A
B

Kafka On the Shore

C
C
A
D
A
C
B
A
D
A
C
B
A
C
D
B
A
C
A
A
C
B
B
C
C
A
A
B
B
A
D
D
A
A
B
B
A
C
C
D
A
B
C
A
B
C
B
B
C
D

Life of Pi 1
B
D
C
A
C
A
Life of Pi 2
A
C
C
B
C
A
C
A
D
B
Life of Pi 3
C
C
B
A
C
D
B
C
C
B
C
D
C
C
C
D
B
B
A
B
B
C
C
B
D
A
B
A
A
D
C
A
C
D
A

Multiple Choice Questions: Section One Anwers

E
A
E
B
A
A
D
D
D
B
E
C
E
D
D
C
A
E
C
C
B
C
B
B
C
C
A
C
B
C
D
D
A
B
A
D
E
C
D
D
D
C
A
C
B
E
B
D
A
D
B
C
C
E