Poetry Unit

Poems of Nature, Short Writing Assignment

The Poetry of Nature – Short Writing Assignment

As long as poets have been composing verse either in the oral or written tradition, they have been writing about the natural world. During this module of the poetry unit, we read many poems that explore, ponder and sometimes celebrate the relationship between human beings and nature. These poems explore the wonder of life and landscape; flora and fauna, wilderness and proximity to human society, viewing nature from afar, with awe and aloofness or right beside us, perhaps, with intimacy. Some explore the violence and terror of the natural world, conveying its extraordinary power over humankind.

You will notice two important trends in the poems here. The first category of poems is centered on one single object or artifact of nature. In these, the poet, who is typically the subject, explores his/her/their life and emotions by illuminating the object – a bird, mountain, ray of light, lily, pumpkin, creek, for example] usually written as a way to express the feelings of the author. A specific flower’s life cycle may be a metaphor for the poet’s blossoming and dying love, or a mountain range may represent seemingly unsurmountable obstacles to gaining what the poet needs or wants. The second category of poems, on the contrary, observes the grandness of all of nature. Rather than centering on individual plants, animals or even landforms, these poems take a broader view of the wonder or terror of the natural world itself.

The Poetry of Nature" Module lecture and assignments by Nina Adel are licensed under CC BY-NC-SA.

For these poems, you will complete two assignments. This first one is a Short Writing Assignment (SWA).

Required Reading and Recommended Watching: 

Below are links to some poems that are required readings for the Poems of Nature module. These poems include links which you may follow to access the text. Additionally, a selection of recommended poems - which are readily available through any online search engine - are listed. A third way to access poems for the module assignments is by visiting established sites like poetryfoundation.org or poets.org. You may search by theme or poet for these assignments. Following the readings, there is a list of poems you can

Read:

Berry Poems:

Mary Oliver Poems:

Various Poets:

Robert Frost

Sarah Teasdale

Walt Whitman

Joy Harjo

Lucille Clifton

M. Bartley Seigel

  • Land Acknowledgement 1842 Territory (recommended)

Connie Wanek

Listen:

It is recommended that you listen to poetry readings, which provide another way to enjoy, experience and make meaning of poems. Search for any of the selected works above and notice your response as you read along.

Purpose: 

This assignment will focus on skills necessary for interpreting a poem and considering its thematic concerns. Further, it will practice and develop awareness of how a poem’s themes are illuminated in concert with other major elements of poetry.   

Learning Outcome(s) Addressed: 

Students will learn to:

  • Read, analyze and interpret poetry.
  • Identify and explain specific elements and thematic aspects of poetry in a text.
  • Produce a written analysis of a poem or poems.
  • Document the use of poetry in MLA style.

Skills: 

This assignment will focus on skills necessary to interpret poetry. You will practice:

  • Identifying specific themes in poems.
  • Analyzing poems with related themes comparatively.
  • Discerning different approaches to similar themes through the use of elements of poetry.
  • Choosing specific textual evidence and citing it within a discussion.
  • Writing concise analysis and literary argumentation.
  • Use of MLA style format and conventions.

Knowledge: 

The skills necessary to the analysis of poetry are transferable to other critical thinking tasks and opportunities that you will use in the future. These include interpretation, inference, explanation, application of standards, discriminating, information-seeking, logical reasoning, predicting, and development of aesthetic sensibilities.

Task: 

To complete this assignment you should:

  1. Read all assigned poems.
  2. Consider the idea, as explained above, of poems that are centered on one object/artifact of nature vs. poems illuminating nature itself (or a broad element of nature). Identify one poem that exemplifies the former and one that exemplifies the latter.
  3. Compose a 2-paragraph mini essay. Focus one paragraph on each poem. The first will discuss how the first selected poem focuses on an object of nature as metaphor; the second will discuss how the second selected poem illuminates the grandness (for better or worse) of nature or an element of nature and its importance. Identify and discuss how you see the relationship of the poet to nature or the object or element of nature portrayed in the poem.
  4. Make sure that your first paragraph begins with a strong introductory sentence and your second ends with a strong concluding sentence.
  5. Include textual evidence (for eahc poem)and cite it.
  6. Use MLA Style format and conventions.

Criteria for success: 

  • both poem choices conform to instructions
  • essay is 2 full paragraphs in length
  • has introductory sentence containing thesis statement and concluding sentence revisiting thesis
  • contains cited textual evidence
  • essay identifies and explains each poem's relevance to the prompt.