Evreything About Your Final

Five Minute Shakespeare

Working with a small group you will prepare and present a reduced performance of Much Ado About Nothing.  Your performance will highlight key moments from the entire play and focus on one theme.  In preparation for the production, you will create a prompt book containing the following:

1. Company Report- a one page write up of how your acting company understands the play, what theme you are focusing on, and how you want your performance to be experienced by the audience.

2. Script- a reduced version of the complete play, including key lines from key parts of the play that focus on the theme your group discusses in the Company Report.

3. Character Notes- a chart of characters, their characteristics, and costuming.

4. Production Notes- notes about how you will perform your play

5. Cover- Include the title of the play (you can give it a subtitle of your own), the names of the actors, and a visual that reflects the decisions you made in your company report.

6. Rubric

Company Report

1. What is the main message or theme of the play?  How will you highlight this theme in your performance?

2. Review your Act Reports.  Briefly outline the key events of the play that connect to the theme your group has chosen.

3. What are your reactions to the play?  What do you want your audience to feel as they watch your reduced version?

4.      If you are going to change the setting or period of the play, how will you do this?  Why have you chosen to make this change?  How does the change relate to the theme or feeling you hope to convey to your audience?  If you are not making any changes, why not?

 

Script

Using the Act Report work each of you has already completed, compile a script for your performance.

• You do NOT have to include everything you chose when writing the Act Reports. 
• Your choices should be made after considering the decisions you made in your Company Report.
• You must include work from each person in the group, and at least one to two events from each act, but you do not need to include everything that each group member write about in each Act Report. 
• The script will be written using original lines by Shakespeare.

 For the ease of understanding, you may add one sentence that you write yourselves, for every fifteen lines you take from Shakespeare.  I suggest using these sentences to transition, summarize, or clarify what you cannot otherwise make clear through your acting or through the lines you’ve chosen.

 

Production Notes

Because the script is abbreviated, you will need to rely heavily on your acting to convey what is happening.  Because the script probably has more characters than actors, you will need to reply heavily on your acting to make it clear whom you are playing.  Your acting choices cannot be accidental. 

In the margins of your script, make notes indicating:

• Tone and volume of voice
• Facial expressions
• Gestures
• Actions
• Movements around the stage/ room
• Costume changes
  Performance Rubric

	Exceptional	Strong	Capable	Developing
Presentation	A well-coordinated, smooth performance. Well rehearsed. No awkward lapses. Smooth and effective delivery of fully memorized lines.	A mostly smooth performance in which rehearsal is apparent. Some lapses, but does not detract from performance.  Majority of lines are memorized, but there may be some errors or pauses while actor attempts to recall them.	Laughter or other lapse detracts from performance.  Timing is off at points. Some errors in delivery of lines.  Some lines memorized, while others are read or significant errors.	Performer is clearly distracted. Under-rehearsed. Several major mistakes in line delivery or reading lines without effort to memorize.
Interpretation of characters	Characters are vividly presented.  Production enhances audience’s understanding of the characters. Something extra!	Motivations, personalities, and identity are clearly presented with well acted scenes, emotional delivery of lines, appropriate defining traits and costume choices. A thoughtful and effective presentation.	Motivation of character is not always clear.  Meets expectations, with defining traits and costuming of characters, but lacks pizzazz or energy.	Presentation leaves audience confused regarding personality or identity of character.
Interpretation of play	Theme is vividly and consistently emphasized throughout the performance.  Something extra!	Performance is focused around a common theme or tone. Conveys essential events from all parts of the play. A thoughtful and effective presentation.	Events of play are clear and relate to one another.  May give unbalanced representation to certain Acts within the play.	Presentation leaves audience confused about events of play.
Costumes/Props/Scenery	Costumes, props, & scenery significantly enhance performance. Goes above and beyond expectations.	Costumes, props, & scenery enhance performance by adding clarity or entertainment value.	Costumes, props, & scenery somewhat enhance performance.	No costumes, props, or scenery.

Script

Using the Act Report work each of you has already completed, compile a script for your performance.

• You do NOT have to include everything you chose when writing the Act Reports. 
• Your choices should be made after considering the decisions you made in your Company Report.
• You must include work from each person in the group, and at least one to two events from each act, but you do not need to include everything that each group member write about in each Act Report. 
• The script will be written using original lines by Shakespeare.

 For the ease of understanding, you may add one sentence that you write yourselves, for every fifteen lines you take from Shakespeare.  I suggest using these sentences to transition, summarize, or clarify what you cannot otherwise make clear through your acting or through the lines you’ve chosen.

 

Production Notes

Because the script is abbreviated, you will need to rely heavily on your acting to convey what is happening.  Because the script probably has more characters than actors, you will need to reply heavily on your acting to make it clear whom you are playing.  Your acting choices cannot be accidental. 

In the margins of your script, make notes indicating:

• Tone and volume of voice
• Facial expressions
• Gestures
• Actions
• Movements around the stage/ room
• Costume changes

Script

Using the Act Report work each of you has already completed, compile a script for your performance.

• You do NOT have to include everything you chose when writing the Act Reports. 
• Your choices should be made after considering the decisions you made in your Company Report.
• You must include work from each person in the group, and at least one to two events from each act, but you do not need to include everything that each group member write about in each Act Report. 
• The script will be written using original lines by Shakespeare.
•  For the ease of understanding, you may add one sentence that you write yourselves, for every fifteen lines you take from Shakespeare.  I suggest using these sentences to transition, summarize, or clarify what you cannot otherwise make clear through your acting or through the lines you’ve chosen.

Character Notes

(We gave you a chart to fill in with this information)
Each actor will need to play multiple parts.  Go through the script and figure out who will play which roles.  Remember the same actor cannot play two parts in the same scene (unless you can be very creative!).  Obviously, you will need a way to show the audience which characters you are playing when.  Create table of characters in your play, including:

• Character’s name

• Character’s goal in the play

• Obstacle(s) to obtaining that goal

• Actor who will play the role

• An easily removable piece of costuming that clearly represents the character.

• A key behavior that represents the character (voice quality, posture, etc)

Production Notes

Because the script is abbreviated, you will need to rely heavily on your acting to convey what is happening.  Because the script probably has more characters than actors, you will need to reply heavily on your acting to make it clear whom you are playing.  Your acting choices cannot be accidental. 

In the margins of your script, make notes indicating:

• Tone and volume of voice
• Facial expressions
• Gestures
• Actions
• Movements around the stage/ room
• Costume changes

Act Report

Do you need another Act Report form? Do you just need to remember all the headings? Click on ACT REPORT to link to the template.

Help! I don't understand Much Ado About Nothing

If you need help with Much Ado About Nothing, visit the NO FEAR SHAKESPEARE site for a modern version of the play posted side-by-side with Shakespeare's version.

Oh no, I lost my independent reading packet!

READING PLAN

Note: This is a lot of time.  If you are ambitious, you and your partner can agree to read multiple books during this time.  If so, the plan should reflect that.

Date: 4/9-10

Page:

Date: 4/16-17

Page:

Date 4/25

Page:

Date: 4/30- 5/1  First set of journals turned in.

Page:

Date: 5/7-8

Page:

Date: 5/14-15

Page:

Date: 5/21-22

Page:

Date:5/28-29

Page:

Date: 6/4-5 Second set of journals turned in.

Page: finish all books

SCORING GUIDE

Shows deep understanding of reading all the time.  Always uses class time effectively for reading.  Always on target with reading schedule.	Completes all letters and letter responses in a timely, thoughtful, and thorough manner. (Thoughtful means that you’ve included specific details, original ideas, quotations, etc.)
Shows solid understanding of reading at most points.  Almost always uses class time for reading.  Almost always on target with reading schedule.	Completes all but one required letter and response in a thorough manner.  (Thorough means that you’ve done everything asked)
Shows basic understanding of reading most of the time.  Mostly uses class time for reading.  Mostly on target with reading schedule.	Does majority of letters and responses in a satisfactory manner.  May be missing minor components of the letters or responses.
Does not demonstrate understanding beyond sparknotes level.  Sometimes uses class time for reading.  Rarely on target for reading schedule.	Does at least one letter and response in a basic manner.  May be missing significant components of the letters or responses.
Didn’t read.	Does not turn in letters or responses.

 

ASSESSMENT

           

During each meeting, you and your partner will be writing letters to one another. You will then exchange letters and write a response to each other.  If one of you is absent, you are responsible for writing to each other outside of class.  You will turn in two sets of journals, the firs half way through the process, and the second at the end.  You might choose to have each set reflect a different book that you read.  You will be scored individually.

WHAT TO WRITE TO YOUR PARTNER

Write a letter to your reading partner in which you discuss the book you’re reading.  Your goal is to summarize what you’ve read, seek help about confusing aspects of the text, and share ideas about the content of the book. 

Start with a BRIEF summary of the reading (1-2 sentences).  If needed, you may use one of the following sentence stems:

• In this weeks reading,…
• Immediately before/ after…, ….
• The most important thing that happened was…
• I was interested in… because…

           

In the next LONGER paragraph, share your thoughts on the reading.  You may use some of these sentence stems:

• I would have liked… more if the author had….
• It was/ wasn’t believable when…because….
• I was confused when…because….
• It was/ wasn’t predictable that… because….
• I think that …will happen next because….
• … reminds me of… because….
• I was interested by the passage, …because….
• I liked the author’s use of the word… because….
• I was confused by….
• I wonder … because….
• I think the author used the literary element, …, in order to….

In the final BRIEF paragraph, ask your partner 2-4 questions. 

• What did it mean when…? 
• Why do you think the author …?
• What does the word… mean?
• What do you think about…? 
• Why do/ don’t you like…?
• What do you think will happen to…? 
• What does… remind you of?
• HINT: Use the questions to get help with things that you don’t understand.

           

RESPONDING TO YOUR PARTNER

Carefully read your partner’s letter and then respond.

Open by addressing the questions your partner has asked you.  Answer any that you can.  Feel free to go back to the book, use a dictionary, etc.

Then, respond to the body of what they wrote. 

            Ask questions:

·        What did you mean when you said…?

·        Why do you think… is important?

·        How do you know that?
How does that compare to…?

·        What evidence is there that…?

Agree or disagree with what they wrote and explain:

·        I think that’s true/ false because…

·        I didn’t interpret it the same way because…

Add additional information:

·        I noticed something similar/ different when…

·        This reminds me of….

·        This connects to something in life/ society. Another book I’ve read, such as….

JD Salinger Biography

Born January 1, 1919 in New York City, New York, Jerome David Salinger, despite his slim body of work and reclusive lifestyle, was one of the more influential 2Oth century American writers. His landmark novel, Cather in the Rye, set a new course for literature in post World War II America and his short stories, many of which appeared in The New Yorker, inspired the early careers of writers such as Phillip Roth, John Updike, and Harold Brodkey.

Salinger was the youngest of two children and only boy born to Sol Salinger, the son of a rabbi who ran a thriving cheese and ham import business, and his Scottish born wife Miriam. At a time when mixed marriages of this sort were looked at with disdain from all corners of society, Miriam's non-Jewish background was so well hidden that it was only after his bar mitzvah at the age of 14 that Salinger learned of his mother's roots.

Despite his apparent intelligence, Salinger, or Sonny as he was known as child, wasn't much of a student and after flunking out of the McBurney School near his home in New York's Upper West Side, was shipped off by his parents to Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pennsylvania.

Aspiring Writer

After graduating Valle Forge, Salinger returned to home for what proved to be only a year stay at New York University before heading off to Europe, flush with some cash and encouragement from his father to learn another language and bone up on the import business. But Salinger, who spent the bulk of his five months overseas in Vienna, paid closer attention to language than business.

Upon returning home, he made another attempt at college, this time at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania, before coming back to New York and taking night classes at Columbia University. There, Salinger met a professor, Whit Burnett, who would change his life.

Burnett wasn't just a good teacher, he was also the editor of Story magazine, an influential publication that showcased short stories. Burnett, sensing Salinger's talent as a writer, pushed him to write and soon Salinger's work was appearing not just in Story, but in other big-name publications such as Collier's and the Saturday Evening Post.

Military Service

His career had started to take off, but then, like so many young American men around this time, World War II interrupted his life. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor attack, Salinger was drafted into the army, which he served with from 1942-1944. His short military career saw him land at Utah Beach in France during the Normandy Invasion and be a part of the action at the Battle of the Bulge.

During this time, however, Salinger continued to write, assembling chapters for a new novel whose main character was a deeply unsatisfied young man named Holden Caulfield.

Salinger, however, did not escape the war without some trauma and when it ended, he was hospitalized after suffering a nervous breakdown. The details about Salinger's stay are shrouded in some mystery, but what is clear is that while undergoing care he met a woman named Sylvia, a German and possibly a former Nazi. The two married but their union was a short one, just eight months. He married a second time in 1955 to Claire Douglas, the daughter of a high profile British art critic, Robert Langdon Douglas. The couple were together for a little more than a decade and had two children together, Margaret and Matthew.

The Catcher In the Rye

When Salinger returned to New York in 1946 he quickly set about resuming his life as a writer and soon found his work published in his favorite magazine, The New Yorker. He also continued to push on with the work on his novel. Finally, in 1951 The Catcher in the Rye was published.

The book earned its share of positive reviews, but some critics weren't so kind. A few saw Caulfield and his quest for something pure in an otherwise "phony" world as promoting immoral views. He seemed unhinged, possibly crazy.

But over time the American reading public ate the book up and The Catcher in the Rye became an integral part of the high school literature curriculum. To date the book has sold more than 120 million copies worldwide. Along the way Caulfield has become as entrenched in the American psyche as much as any fictional character. Mark David Chapman, the man who assassinated John Lennon was found with a copy of the book at the time of his arrest and later explained that reason for the shooting could be found in the book's pages.

Not surprisingly, Catcher vaulted Salinger to a level of unrivaled literary fame. For the still young writer, who had fiercely boasted in college about his talents, the success he had seemingly craved early in life became something to run away from once it arrived.

Reclusive Lifestyle

In 1953, two years after the publication of Catcher, Salinger pulled up stakes in New York City and retreated to a secluded, 90-acre place in Cornish, New Hampshire. There, Salinger did his best to cut-off contact with the public and significantly slowed his literary output.
Two collections of his work, Franny and Zooey and Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters, all of which had appeared previously in The New Yorker, were published in book form in the early 1960s. In the June 19, 1965 edition of The New Yorker nearly the entire issue was dedicated to a new short story, the 25,000-word "Hapworth 16, 1924". Then, nothing. "Hapworth" was the last Salinger piece ever to be published while he was still alive.

Personal Life and Legacy

Despite Salinger's best efforts, not all of his life remained private. In 1966, Claire Douglas sued for divorce, reporting that if the relationship continued it "would seriously inure her health and endanger her reason."

Six years later Salinger found himself in another relationship, this time with a college freshman named Joyce Maynard, whose story, "An 18-Year-Old Looks Back on Life" had appeared in The New York Times Magazine and caught the interest of the older writer.

The two lived together in Cornish for 10 months before Salinger kicked her out. In 1998 Maynard wrote about her time with Salinger in a salacious memoir that painted a controlling and obsessive portrait of her former lover. A year later, Maynard auctioned off a series of letters Salinger had written her while they were still together. The letters fetched $156,500. The buyer, a computer programmer, later returned them to Salinger as a gift.

In 2000, Salinger's daughter Margaret wrote an equally negative account of her father that like Maynard's earlier book was met with mixed reviews.

For Salinger other relationships followed his affair with Maynard. For some time he dated the actress Ellen Joyce. Later he married a young nurse named Colleen O'Neill. The two were married up until his death on January 27, 2010 at his home in Cornish.

Despite the lack of published work over the last four decades of his life, Salinger continued to write. Those who knew him said he worked everyday and speculation swirls about the amount of work that he may have finished. One estimate claims that there may be as many as 10 finished novels locked away in his house.

© 2012 A+E Networks. All rights reserved.

Catcher in the Rye: SparksNotes Video

Catcher Vocabulary

Are you having difficulty understanding Holden's language? Click here to link to a glossary. You might even print out this list and use it as a bookmark.

Historical Background to Catcher in the Rye

The Dawning of the 50’s
The 50s decade was known for many things: post-war affluence and increased choice of leisure time activities, conformity, the Korean War, middle-class values, the rise of modern jazz, the rise of ‘fast food’ restaurants and drive-ins (Jack in the Box – founded in 1951; McDonalds – first franchised in 1955 in Des Plaines, IL; and A&W Root Beer Company – formed in 1950, although it had already established over 450 drive-ins throughout the country), a baby boom, the all-electric home as the ideal, white racist terrorism in the South, the advent of television and TV dinners, abstract art, the first credit card (Diners Club, in 1951), the rise of drive-in theaters to a peak number in the late 50s with over 4,000 outdoor screens (where young teenaged couples could find privacy in their hot-rods), and a youth reaction to middle-aged cinema. Older viewers were prone to stay at home and watch television (about 10.5 million US homes had a TV set in 1950).

“America at this moment,” said the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1945, “stands at the summit of the world.” During the 1950s, it was easy to see what Churchill meant. The United States was the world’s strongest military power. Its economy was booming, and the fruits of this prosperity–new cars, suburban houses and other consumer goods–were available to more people than ever before. However, the 1950s were also an era of great conflict. For example, the nascent civil rights movement and the crusade against communism at home and abroad exposed the underlying divisions in American society.

Cost Of Living 1950: How Much things cost in 1950?

Average Cost of new house: $8,450.00
Average wages per year $3,210.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas 18 cents
Average Cost of a new car $1,510.00
Stromburg Black and White Television $249.95


President Eisenhower
This five-star general and 34th U.S. president launched the Space Race and created the federal interstate highway system.
VIDEO: CLICK HERE

The Cold War
During World War II (This should be familiar from World Civilations)the United States and the Soviet Union fought together as allies against the Axis powers. However, the relationship between the two nations was a tense one. Americans had long been wary of Soviet communism and concerned about Russian leader Joseph Stalin’s tyrannical, blood-thirsty rule of his own country. For their part, the Soviets resented the Americans’ decades-long refusal to treat the USSR as a legitimate part of the international community as well as their delayed entry into World War II, which resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of Russians. After the war ended, these grievances ripened into an overwhelming sense of mutual distrust and enmity. Postwar Soviet expansionism in Eastern Europe fueled many Americans’ fears of a Russian plan to control the world. Meanwhile, the USSR came to resent what they perceived as American officials’ bellicose rhetoric, arms buildup and interventionist approach to international relations. In such a hostile atmosphere, no single party was entirely to blame for the Cold War; in fact, some historians believe it was inevitable.

The Highway System:
On June 29, 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. The bill created a 41,000-mile “National System of Interstate and Defense Highways” that would, according to Eisenhower, eliminate unsafe roads, inefficient routes, traffic jams and all of the other things that got in the way of “speedy, safe transcontinental travel.” At the same time, highway advocates argued, “in case of atomic attack on our key cities, the road net [would] permit quick evacuation of target areas.” For all of these reasons, the 1956 law declared that the construction of an elaborate expressway system was “essential to the national interest.”
VIDEO: CLICK HERE AND WATCH!

The Space Race
After World War II drew to a close in the mid-20th century, a new conflict began. Known as the Cold War, this battle pitted the world’s two great powers–the democratic, capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union–against each other. Beginning in the late 1950s, space would become another dramatic arena for this competition, as each side sought to prove the superiority of its technology, its military firepower and–by extension–its political-economic system.
VIDEO: CLICK HERE AND WATCH!!

The Baby Boomers
Almost exactly nine months after World War II ended, one historian writes, “the cry of the baby was heard across the land.” More babies were born in 1946 than ever before: 3.4 million, 20 percent more than in 1945. This was the beginning of the so-called “baby boom.” In 1947, another 3.8 million babies were born; 3.9 million were born in 1952; and more than 4 million were born every year from 1954 until 1964, when the boom finally tapered off. By then, there were 76.4 million “baby boomers” in the United States. They made up almost 40 percent of the nation’s population.

Montgomery Bus Boycott and The Little Rock Nine
The Montgomery Bus Boycott, in which African Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, to protest segregated seating, took place from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956, and is regarded as the first large-scale demonstration against segregation in the U.S. On December 1, 1955, four days before the boycott began, Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, refused to yield her seat to a white man on a Montgomery bus. She was arrested and fined. The boycott of public buses by blacks in Montgomery began on the day of Parks’ court hearing and lasted 381 days. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ordered Montgomery to integrate its bus system, and one of the leaders of the boycott, a young pastor named Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-68), emerged as a prominent national leader of the American civil rights movement in the wake of the action.

In a key event of the American Civil Rights Movement, nine black students enrolled at formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in September 1957, testing a landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional. The court had mandated that all public schools in the country be integrated “with all deliberate speed” in its decision related to the groundbreaking case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. On September 4, 1957, the first day of classes at Central High, Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas called in the state National Guard to bar the black students’ entry into the school. Later in the month, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent in federal troops to escort the “Little Rock Nine” into the school, and they started their first full day of classes on September 25.

VIDEO #1: CLICK HERE AND WATCH!!
VIDEO #2: CLICK HERE!!!

Google Docs Presentations

Mental Health Project

Helpful Internet Sites for Mental Health Project
Recommended websites for mental health issues:

ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002518/
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder/complete-index.shtml

Anorexia Nervosa/Bulimia
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001401/
http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=By_Illness&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=102975

Bipolar disorder
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001924/
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder-in-children-and-teens-easy-to-read/index.shtml
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder/index.shtml

Depression
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001941/
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression/complete-index.shtml

Generalized Anxiety Disorder
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad-when-worry-gets-out-of-control.shtml
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/DS00246

OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder)
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-when-unwanted-thoughts-take-over/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-when-unwanted-thoughts-take-over.shtml
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001926/

PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001923/
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/DS00246

Schizophrenia
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001925/
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/schizophrenia/complete-index.shtml

Suicidal Tendencies
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002521/
http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=By_Illness&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=10210

CHSEE/ Final info

Please use the links to the side of the page to get additional information and sample questions.

Views on poetry in the classroom

 

Poetry Is Dead. Does Anybody Really Care?

If you're like me, untangling symbol and allusion seems as irrelevant now as it did in high school

by Bruce Wexler, Newsweek, May 5, 2003

      It is difficult to imagine a world without movies, plays, novels and music, but a world without poems doesn't have to be imagined. I find it disturbing that no one I know has cracked open a book of poetry in decades and that I, who once spent countless hours reading contemporary poets like Lowell and Berryman, can no longer even name a living poet. All this started to bother me when heiress Ruth Lilly made an unprecedented donation of $100 million to Poetry Magazine in November. An article published on the Poetry International Web site said critics and poets agreed that the gift "could change the face of American poetry."

     Don't these critics and poets realize that their art form is dead? Perhaps not. They probably also don't realize that people like me helped kill it.

     In high school, I, like most of my classmates, hated the poetry unit in English class that surfaced annually with the same grim regularity as the gymnastics unit in physical education. Just as I was a good athlete who detested the parallel bars, I was an avid reader who despised rhymed and rhythmic writing. Plowing through tangled symbol and allusion, I wondered why the damn poets couldn't just say what they meant.

     Then I went to college and at some point, I got it. Maybe it was when I was infatuated with some girl and read "I Knew a Woman" by Theodore Roethke: "I knew a woman, lovely in her bones/When small birds sighed, she would sigh back at them." Or maybe it happened when I read Keats's odes or Eliot's "Prufrock" or that haunting line in Frost: "I have been one acquainted with the night." For the next 10 years or so, I was hooked. I read poetry, wrote it and recited verse to impress dates.

     And then my interest waned. On the surface, I suppose it was because I had other interests that demanded my time and attention: I got married, had children, pursued my career, bought a house. With apologies to Frost, I began to find more relevance in articles about interest rates than essays on the sprung rhythm of Hopkins.

     Society, too, was changing in a way that did not favor the reading of poetry. From the Me Generation of the '70s to the get-rich-quick '80s, our culture became intensely prosaic. Ambiguity, complexity and paradox fell out of favor. We embraced easily defined goals and crystal-clear communication (Ronald Reagan was president, presiding over the literalization of America). Fewer politicians seemed to quote contemporary poets in speeches, and the relatively small number of name-brand, living American poets died or faded from view.

     By the '90s, it was all over. If you doubt this statement, consider that poetry is the only art form where the number of people creating it is far greater than the number of people appreciating it. Anyone can write a bad poem. To appreciate a good one, though, takes knowledge and commitment. As a society, we lack this knowledge and commitment. People don't possess the patience to read a poem 20 times before the sound and sense of it takes hold. They aren't willing to let the words wash over them like a wave, demanding instead for the meaning to flow clearly and quickly. They want narrative-driven forms, stand-alone art that doesn't require an understanding of the larger context.

     I, too, want these things. I am part of a world that apotheosizes the trendy, and poetry is just about as untrendy as it gets. I want to read books with buzz--in part because I make my living as a ghostwriter of and collaborator on books--and I can't remember the last book of poetry that created even a dying mosquito's worth of hum. I am also lazy, and poetry takes work.

     In my worst moments, I blame the usual suspects for my own failings: the mainstream media, the Internet, the fast-food mentality. If it weren't for the pernicious influence of blah, blah, blah... Ultimately, though, there's no one to blame. Poetry is designed for an era when people valued the written word and had the time and inclination to possess it in its highest form.

     I really do believe that poetry is the highest form of writing. Read Yeats's "The Wild Swans at Coole," Whitman's "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd," Thomas's "Fern Hill," and you'll experience the true power of art. They touch the heart and the head in ways that movie-makers (our current artistic high priests) can only dream of.

     April was National Poetry Month, a fact I know only because it was noted in my younger daughter's school newsletter. I celebrated by finding out the name of our poet laureate (Billy Collins) and reading one of his poems. This may not seem like much, but I have television shows to watch, best sellers to read and Web sites to visit before I sleep.

Bruce Wexler is a writer living in the Chicago area.

© 2003, Newsweek, Inc.

Once Again, Poetry is Dead?  It must be trus becasueNewsweek said it

Bruce Wexler has declared poetry dead, leaving only the question, “Who the hell is Bruce Wexler, and why the hell should we care?” Writing in the pages of Newsweek, he says “I find it disturbing that no one I know has cracked open a book of poetry in decades and that I, who once spent countless hours reading contemporary poets like Lowell and Berryman, can no longer even name a living poet.”
I’m not sure which is more disturbing: the fact that a virtually anonymous middle-aged white guy has lost touch with American poetry is evidently grounds for coverage by a national news magazine, or that Wexler never seems to consider that his disinterest in poetry may well be a failing in himself, rather than in the art form.
“My interest waned,” writes Wexler. “On the surface, I suppose it was because I had other interests that demanded my time and attention: I got married, had children, pursued my career, bought a house. With apologies to Frost, I began to find more relevance in articles about interest rates than essays on the sprung rhythm of Hopkins.”
This is the same logical fallacy as saying, as a friend put it to me, “I don’t like ice cream, therefore no one does.” Moreover, as in the vast majority of articles critical of the state of contemporary poetry, the author doesn’t even make a cursory effort to investigate whether he’s been missing something. Only at the end of the essay does Wexler reveal that he celebrated National Poetry Month by discovering that the current Poet Laureate is Billy Collins. Hey, Bruce! There are single-celled organisms 10,000 leagues beneath the sea that could have told you that one! Perhaps we could name a handful of others whose names are generally recognizable even to those of you cloistered in an Arctic research station or wherever you’ve been? Lawrence Ferlinghetti, perhaps? Maya Angelou? We ain’t talking obscure here.
Still, perhaps it’s not fair to be flip.... except that I get tired of writers like Wexler declaring poetry dead by demonstrating their own ignorance. “I am part of a world that apotheosizes the trendy,” writes Wexler, “and poetry is just about as untrendy as it gets. I want to read books with buzz -- in part because I make my living as a ghostwriter of and collaborator on books -- and I can’t remember the last book of poetry that created even a dying mosquito’s worth of hum. I am also lazy, and poetry takes work.”
So does journalism. If Wexler had made one iota of effort, he’d have noticed a few things: like thousands upon thousands of people attending recent poetry festivals in locales as diverse as Orange County, California, and Austin, Texas... Or the 10,000 people who attend the National Poetry Slam Finals annually...
Or the fact that poetry sales have been rising for years now, even through the bad economy, and Sam Hamill’s Poets Against the War (Thunder’s Mouth Press, April 2003) and Todd Swift’s 100 Poets Against the War (Salt Publishing, February 2003) are not only garnering that superficial pop buzz Wexler so craves, but have also attracted hundreds of thousands of readers. Most ironic of all, the man lives in Chicago (!), birthplace of the poetry slam and home to the Green Mill, where poetry of all forms can be found being read to large crowds on any night of the week. If Wexler is that oblivious to his own surroundings, it’s no surprise that he’s unaware of the regular standing-room-only crowds at the Nuyorican Poet’s Café and the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City, the Poetry Lounge in Los Angeles, the Puro Slam in San Antonio, the Java Hut in Worcester, and on, and on, and on. Poetry has actually transformed over the years, and it’s quite possible that Wexler has missed the boat. So, Bruce, here’s the crash course: Poetry is no longer insular -- it’s a living, growing, vibrant art form. Poetry is no longer the province of the white middle class -- it’s been embraced by youths and minorities. Poetry is not uncool -- why else would teenage black kids in inner cities so proudly proclaim themselves poets?
Poetry is alive, and well. Bruce Wexler, on the other hand is… well… who cares?

Victor Infante

CAHSEE Practice Test

Do you feel the need for more CAHSEE practice? These questions are released from the California Department of Education and will help you prepare for both our class final and the exit exam in February. Answers are at the end. Click on the heading CAHSEE Practice Test to link to the site.