Work together as a group to choose a poem from this week’s reading.
Read back through your poem as a group and answer the following questions about it:
1. After your initial read-through, what are your “first impressions” of the narrator? What is s/he like? Do you like him/her? If you met this person at a party, would you want to hang out with them? Why or why not?
2. Now try to delve into the narrator’s persona more deeply. Answer these questions that Vendler asks us to consider:
a. Where is the narrator in time? Space? What happens before, after, and near the action of the poem?
b. Where does the poet display his or her “imagination” in constructing this persona? What is surprising, unexpected, or curious about it?
c. What are the narrator’s motivations? Are they complex? Simple?
d. Describe the narrator’s tone. how does the tone contribute to your perception of the narrator’s persona?
3. After examining these details has your perception of the narrator changed? If so, then how? How does the narrator allow you to get to know him or her more deeply? What aspects of the poem complicate your first impression?
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