Ten Poets for the Group Presentations

17th century
John Donne (1572(?)-1631; England)
Worldly and religious poems. A “brittle” genius, with a singular command of English.
(Poets to consider including: Marlowe, Shakespeare, Herbert, & others.)

18th century
Alexander Pope (1688-1744; England)
Swift’s best friend. A tiny, persecuted Catholic. Ed. Shakespeare & Homer. Wicked satirist.
(Poets to consider including: Swift, Shakespeare, Marvel, & others)

William Blake (1751-1827; England)
Poet, philosopher, and illustrator. A strange, visionary man. “Tyger! Tyger! burning bright…”
(Poets to consider including: Christopher Smart, Coleridge, prose philosophers, & others)

19th century
William Wordsworth (1770-1850; England)
Influential founder of British (and, in effect, American) Romanticism. Poetical giant.
(Poets to consider including: Coleridge, Emerson (infl. by W.W.), and others)

John Keats (1795-1821; England)
Dies young. To many, the greatest lyrical voice after Shakespeare. Ethical & musical. Subj. of recent film, Bright Star.
(Poets to consider including: Shelley, Byron, and others)

Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892; England)
Imposing voice in late British Romanticism. Poet Laureate of England. The ultimate Victorian poet.
(Poets to consider including: Both Brownings, and others)

20th century
William Butler Yeats (1865-1939; Ireland)
Irish cultural revivalist; reluctant 20th c. patriot. Loved Maude Gonne. Symbolist. Nobel laureate.
(Poets to consider including: Irish bards, J.M. Synge (playwright), Lady Gregory, Pound, others)

T.S. Eliot (1920s & ‘30s; U.S.A. / England)
American ex-patriot in London. Mental health issues. First great Modernist. Lit. Crit. Nobel Prize.
(Poets to consider including: Whitman, Twain (prose), Pound, Shakespeare, others.)

Elizabeth Bishop (1940s and ‘50s; U.S.A.)
Brilliant lyrical “link” between Romanticism and 20th c. Wry genius. Extraordinary voice, wit, beauty.
(Poets to consider including: Wallace Stevens, W.H. Auden, Robert Lowell, Hart Crane, Whitman, others)

Seamus Heaney (1960s-‘90s; Ireland & USA)
Outstanding Irish poet, along with Derek Mahon (whom SH calls “the best”). Nobel Prize. Harvard. Beowulf translator!!
(Poets to consider including: Mahon (required!), Yeats, Thomas Hardy, Ted Hughes, others)

The Group Presentation Assignment

In a group of three or four people, make a 20-25 minute presentation on a significant English-language poet from the course list. Include at least all the following attributes in your group presentation:

1. At the Class Before You Present, pass out copies of all the poems your group will address (40).

2. Present (a) a personal biography, and (b) a literary biography of your poet.

3. Present full-voiced readings of two representative poems or excerpts (PB approval req’d.).

4. Present a brief, thoughtful analysis of each poem.

5. Present a full-voiced reading of at least one companion piece by an influential contemporary.

6. Briefly analyze the companion poem; explain why you chose it; and discuss the literary era (e.g., the Enlightenment, Romanticism, Modernism) of your main poet and his/her influences.

PowerPoint helps with these talks; however, do not overlook the power of posters, handouts, costumes, music, and other features that may enhance the class’s appreciation of the literary and social context from which your poet emerges. A grading rubric will follow.

An important consideration to keep in mind is that you and your teammates are responsible, in large measure, for preparing the class in this poet and his or her era. People’s success on the AP Exam can suffer or thrive, depending on the strength of what your group says and does.