This
week’s readings focus on another of America’s greatest poets: Robert
Frost. I would be greatly surprised
if this were your first introduction to Frost; indeed, in today’s world, we
still have cause to remember his work. How
many of you have been to a graduation lately?
Very often, his poem, “The Road Not Taken,” is performed—whether as
poetry or as song. His “Nothing
Gold Can Stay” profoundly impacted a generation of youth when it was recited
in The Outsiders—I realize that this movie may be “before your
time,” but I can assure you that those of us who have seen the movie have
never forgotten that poem.
His
“The Gift Outright,” performed at J.F.K.’s inauguration, is another poem
that many people remember. And
then there are the greeting cards—very often Frost’s verses are still
printed and distributed in this manner. Frost
has had a profound impact on Americans—the scholars and the masses.
Hopefully, as you read through some of today’s selections, you, too,
will have a favorable experience with Frost.
Take
this opportunity to look at page 1942 in your book.
If you haven’t noticed already, this section of the book includes short
biographies of many important authors. Notice
the time period in which Frost lived. What
kinds of things do you remember about that time period, historically speaking?
Where was America, socially, politically, and economically?
Notice where he lived, what kind of education he had.
Notice his major accomplishments: FOUR
Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry!!!! To be popular with the masses and with the critics is rare.
Think about that in terms of the Academy Awards.
Why is it that a movie like Happy Gilmore or Sweet Home Alabama
will never be nominated for Best Picture (if they are nominated, we all know it
MUST have been a “dry” year!)? In
1997, the year that Titanic was nominated, many people had difficulty
awarding a movie that had been SO POPULAR with the masses.
Why? Because the critics and
scholars have, rightly or wrongly, a question regarding the reliability of the
general public to “esteem” true art. Think
about that. Very rarely are the
popular movies awarded the Grand Prize by the critics. And the same is true of
poetry. And of Frost’s poetry.
But what happened with Titanic and what happened with Frost is
this: Sometimes, a work can be
embraced by the masses (the “uneducated” can enjoy it for its entertainment
value) and be critically successful with the critics (the “educated”
find it meets all qualifications of “literary” or “film” merit).
This is precisely what happened with Frost.
Notice
in Frost’s biography that he had experience on a farm.
This is extremely important because MOST of Frost’s best poetry is
inspired by what he learned on the farm. What
did he learn? (Some of you may have
some personal experience with this!) Every
day, he was surrounded by nature—that’s what he saw and that’s what he
wrote about. But with Frost, he took these “beautiful,” natural settings and
compared them—the things that he saw in nature—with things that were true of
the human experience. (At this
point in lecture, I always tell my students who are artists—or would like to
be artists—that they don’t have to move away to find things to
write/paint/sing/etc. about. Frost
is an excellent example of this. If
you’re one of those students, don’t despair!
Look around and GET BUSY creating!!!
The movie Orange County is about exactly this.)
Much
of Frost’s poetry is lyrical: “a
general label for a fairly short poem expressing personal thought and emotion”
(definition in your book), so it “sounds good” and is “pleasing” to the
ear. The masses LOVED Frost,
whether or not they fully understood the complexity of his poetry.
There
are what I like to call two “layers” to Frost’s work:
the first layer is the “surface meaning” of the poem, what you
initially think about the poem after having read it a couple of times.
When you go through these selections, be sure to read the shorter
selections out loud for the first time. You may be amazed at how “lyrical”
they really are, how “pleasing to the ear” they are, how it can be so
deceptive. That’s the thing with
Frost: his poetry is VERY
DECEPTIVE. I strongly urge you to
read through these selections, especially the shorter selections, more than
once. The second “layer”
of Frost’s work—and I don’t mean to “ruin it” for you; rather, I want
you to see it in both ways—is that there is ALWAYS a “darker” meaning to
Frost’s poetry. If you look
carefully, you can “strip off” the lyrical layer and find the “other side
of the coin” with Frost’s poetry. And
there is ALWAYS a Dark Side.
Helpful
hints: Do not merely rely on
interpretations you’ve had in the past: many people teach Frost as being an
“inspirational” poet; very often, especially in high schools, the darker
side of Frost is never discussed or revealed.
For example, MOST of the students I interact with have not been exposed
to the dark side of “The Road Not Taken”—and that is unfortunate.
And while I may understand not teaching all of Frost’s “negativity”
in elementary school, I am forever questioning why they feel the need to
“censor” in high schools.
Having
said all of that, take a close look at the selections this week.
Tell me what you “make” of them.
Good luck!
DIRECTIVE:
A MINIMUM of three typed pages as the end result, you should expect to write over half a page for each response. **Warning** To receive full credit (an A, B, or C), you MUST have FULLY DEVELOPED paragraphs and essay responses. Remember, I am looking for content development, and I can assure you, there is MUCH to say about these selections. In addition, you must submit the Creative Response.