The poetry of Robinson Jeffers : teacher's guide

2008·1.8 MB·English

by  Karman, James

TEACHER'S GUIDE
THE POETRY OF
POETRY
Robinson
Jeffers
FOUNDATION

NATIONAL
ENDOWMENT
FOR THE ARTS
y
W
READ
THE POETRY OF
Robinson
Jeffers
TEACHER'S GUIDE
The National Endow—ment for the Arts is a publi—c agency dedicated to supporting
excellence in the arts both new and established bringing the arts to all Americans,
and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an
NATIONAL
ENDOWMENT independent agency ofthe federal government, the Endowment is the nation's largest
FOR THE ARTS annual funder ofthe arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner
deAsegrrveeastgnraetaitonart. cities, and military bases.
POETRY
The Poetry Foundation, publisher ofPoetry magazine, is an independent literary
organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. It has embarked
on an ambitious plan to bring the best poetry before the largest possible audiences.
rOUNDATION
Published by
National Endowment for theArts
00 PennsylvaniaAvenue, N.W.
1 1
DC
Washington, 20506-0001
[phone]
www.nea.gov
Works Cited
RobinsonJefFers, "Rock and Hawk," from TheSelectedPoetryofRobinsonJeffers. Copyright 1935 and
© 1963 by DonnanJefFers and GarthJeffers. Used by permission ofRandom House, Inc.
Excerpts cited from letters are from The CollectedLetters ofRobinsonJeffers with SelectedLettersofUna
Jeffers, edited byJames Karman (forthcoming, Stanford University Press).
Jeffers, Robinson. TheDoubleAxeandOtherPoems. New York: Random House, 1948.
. The CollectedPoetry ofRobinsonJeffers, Vols. 1-5. Ed. Tim Hunt. Stanford, CA: Stanford
University Press, 1988-2001.
. The WildGodofthe World:AnAnthologyofRobinsonJeffers. Ed. Albert Gelpi. Stanford, CA
Stanford University Press, 2003.
Jeffers, Una. "How Carmel Won Hearts oftheJeffers Family," The CarmelPine Cone (April 19, 1940): 9.
Acknowledgments
NEA
David Kipen, Director ofLiterature, National Reading Initiatives
Sarah Bainter Cunningham, PhD, NEA Director ofArts Education
Writer: James Karman, Emeritus Professor ofEnglish and Religious Studies, California State
University, Chico
Editor: Erika Koss for the National Endowment for the Arts
DC
Graphic Design: Fletcher Design/Washington,
Special thanks to Steve Youngofthe Poetry Foundation, and toAlex Vardamis, Elliot Ruchowitz-
Roberts, andJoan Hendrickson ofthe RobinsonJeffers Tor House Foundation.
Image Credits
©
Cover Portrait: John Sherffius forThe Big Read. Page iv: Greg Probst/Corbis.
Page 1: Dana Gioia, image by VanceJacobs;John Barr, courtesy ofthe Poetry Foundation.
Inside back cover: Photo by Nat Farbman/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images.
July2008
83
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Table of Contents
Introduction
1
Suggested Teaching Schedule 2
Lesson One: Poetry of Place 4
Lesson Two: Historical Criticism 5
Lesson Three: Biographical Criticism
and the Speaker ofa Poem 6
Lesson Four: Word Choice and the Value ofa Dictionary 7
J
Lesson Five: Poetry and Ideas 8
Lesson Six: Eco-Criticism l)
Lesson Seven: Rhythm 10
Lesson Light: Symbols
1
Lesson Nine: Allusions 12
Lesson Ten: What Makes a Great Poet?
1
Essay Topics
1 \
Glossary
5
1
I [andoui One Jeffers's [nhumanism l(->
1 [andout Two: Idlers and the ( Central ( California ( Coast 17
Handout Ihice: Rock and lawk
1 1
caching Resources 19
I
XC II Standards 20
aw
Here is a symbol in which
Many high tragic thoughts
Watch own
their eyes.
This gray rock, standing tall
On the headland, where the sea-wind
Lets no tree grow,
Earthquake-proved, and signatured
By ages of storms: on its peak
A
falcon has perched.
think, here is your emblem
I
To hang in the future sky;
Not the cross, not the hive,
But this; bright power, dark peace;
Fierce consciousness joined with final
Disinterestedness;
Life with calm death; the falcon's
Realist eyes and act
Mysticism of stone,
Which failure cannot cast dow
Nor success make proud.
—
ROBINSON JEFFERS
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iV - THE BIG READ National Endowment for the Arts
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Introduction
Welcome to The Big Read, an initiative from the National Endowment for the Arts.
V Designed to revitalize the role of literary reading in American culture, The Big Read
hopes to unite communities through great literature, as well as inspire students to
become lifelong readers.
The National Endowment for the Arts joins the Poetry Foundation to create a new
program to celebrate great American poets and the historic sites associated with
their lives and works. By honoring these writers and literary landmarks, we hope
both to bring poetry to a broader audience and to help preserve and promote local
cultural heritage and history.
This Teacher's Guide contains ten lessons to introduce students to the poetry
of Robinson Jeffers. Jeffers's poems are emotionally direct, magnificently musical,
and philosophically profound. No one has ever written more powerfully about the
natural beauty of the American West. Determined to write a truthful poetry purged
of ephemeral things, Jeffers cultivated a style at once lyrical and tough-minded.
Each lesson has five components: a focus topic, discussion activities, writing
exercises, vocabulary words, and homework assignments. In addition, we have
suggested essay topics, as well as handouts with more background information
about the poems, the historical period, and the author. All lessons dovetail with the
state language arts standards required in the poetry genre.
Finally, The Big Read Reader's Guide deepens your exploration with booklists,
We
timelines, and historical information. hope these educational materials allow
you to have fun with your students while introducing them to the work of a great
American poet.
From the NEA and the Poetry Foundation, we wish you an exciting and productive
school year.
H^
d^Su^
6k
,
Dana Gioia John Ban-
Chairman President
National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Foundation
National Endowment tor tin THE BIG READ
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Day One Day Three
FOCUS: Poetry of Place FOCUS: Biographical Criticism and the Speaker
— of a Poem
Activities: Discuss the influence of place Central
—
California on the poetry of Robinson Jeffers. Use Activities: Discuss the ways in which understanding
a map of California to locate specific places in these Jeffers's life enriches the reader's appreciation. Discuss
poems. Write an essay or poem about your setting the speaker of "The Stone Axe," which is notJeffers.
or home. Write an essay.
Homework: Read the introduction to Jeffers from the Homework: Read "Inscription for a Gravestone" and
Reader's Guide (p. 3) and Jeffers's biography (pp. 4-6). "The Deer Lay Down Their Bones."
Read three poems by Jeffers: "Night Without Sleep,"
"The Answer," and "The Day Is a Poem." Write a
paragraph describing the mood of one of the poems. 4
Day Four
FOCUS: Word Choice and the Value ofthe Dictionary
Day Two
Activities: Consider the value of understanding a
word's varied meanings. Look up words from today's
FOCUS: Historical Criticism
poems. Write an essay that describes Jeffers's tone,
Activities: Discuss the historical context ofJeffers's life syntax, and diction.
and poetry. Look at his attitude toward World War II Homework: Read Handout One, "Jeffers's Inhumanism."
through three of his poems. Write a response. Read Jeffers's poems "Credo" and "The Place for No
Homework: Read "Jeffers and California" (pp. 8-9) Story."
and "Tor House and Hawk Tower" (pp. 10-1 I) from
the Reader's Guide. Read two poems by Jeffers: "The
Stone Axe" and "Oh Lovely Rock."
5
Day
Five
FOCUS: Poetry and Ideas
Activities: Discuss Jeffers's philosophy of life, which
he called "Inhumanism." Discuss the application of a
934 Jeffers letter to today's poems. Write a personal
1
Jeffers's poems remain protected by copyright, but may response.
be printed from the Poetry Foundation's Web site:
www.poetryfoundation.org. Go to the Poetry Tool and Homework: Read Handout Two, "Jeffers and the
search by the poet's name, or each poem's title. All the Central California Coast" Read Jeffers's poems "The
poems cited in this guide are available on this Web site. Purse-Seine" and "The Coast-Road."
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Day Six Day Nine
FOCUS: Eco-Criticism FOCUS: Allusions
Activities: Discuss Eco-Criticism, and Jeffers's Activities: Examine important allusions in Jeffers's
celebration of the Monterey-Carmel-Big Sur coast. poetry that draw on religion, Egyptian history, and
Research the construction of California's Highway American history. Write an essay which explains how
One. Write a response. three allusions contribute to the meaning of "Shine.
Republic."
Homework: Read "Continent's End" and 'Gray
Weather." Homework: Read Jeffers's poems "To the Stone-
Cutters" and "Love the Wild Swan." Read "Jeffers and
Culture" (p. 14) in the Reader's Guide.
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Day Seven 10
FOCUS: Rhythm Day Ten
Activities: Discuss Jeffers's use of rhythm. Consider
FOCUS: What Makes a Great Poet'
the tempo at which poems should be read aloud.
Write an essay. Activities: Explore the qualities of a great poet
Discuss what Jeffers's poetry can teach about the
Homework: Read Jeffers's poems "Hurt Hawks" and
concerns of his generation. Write a short essay that
"Rock and Hawk." Then read Handout Three, "Rock
explains one central theme or major feature of his
and Hawk."
work.
Homework: Write a paragraph about Jeffers's legacy
8 in the twenty-first century.
Day Eight
FOCUS: Symbols
Activities: Analyze two major symbols in Jeffers's
poetry: stones and hawks. Write V\ essay that
discusses the "almost religious feeling" Jeffers had
toward hawks
Homework: Read "To the House." "Hooded Night.-
and "Shine, Republic." and list the references they
contain.
National Endowment tor tin THE BIG READ 3
Begin each days lesson by reading the poems aloud in class.
For some poets, the place where they live is an essential element oftheir
work. In William Wordsworth's poetry, for instance, we encounter the
beautiful Lake District ofEngland, and in Robert Frost's we experience the
New
England countryside. Such poets look closely at the living landscape
around them, seeking to capture the sights, sounds, and human drama
found there.
FOCUS:
To understand the poetry of Robinson Jeffers, one must know where he
Poetry of
lived. In 1941, in a rare public lecture, Jeffers described the rocky coast
where he lived as "not only the scene of my narrative verse but also the chief
Place
actor in it." Assuming that many people in the Washington, DC, audience
had never seen Carmel, California, or its surrounding area, Jeffers offered
some descriptive details. "The mountains," he said, "rise sheer from the
ocean; they are cut by deep gorges and are heavy with brush and forest.
Remember, this is Central, not Southern California. There are no orange-
groves here, and no oil-wells, and Los Angeles is far away. These mountains
pasture a few cattle and many deer; hawk and vulture, eagle and heron fly
here, as well as the sea-birds and shore-birds; and there are clouds and sea-
fog in summer, and fine storms in winter."
VOCABULARY WORDS
From "Hands"
Discussion Activities
Sign-manual,
n.
A Read "Carmel Point," "Bixby's Landing," and "Hands" aloud with your class. Using
1. personal signature,
especially that ofa sovereign a map of California, locate Carmel, Bixby Landing, and Tassajara Creek, and study
or king the Monterey County coastline. Have students draw an illustration of the general
2. A hand gesture for conveying landscape, using the poems as their inspiration. Students will then research some
a command or message
images and see if they are similar to the illustrations. Did the poems clearly
From "CarmelPoint" capture what students found in the images?
Deface, What does Jeffers see in these three settings? In "Hands" and "Bixby's Landing,"
v.
To mar, spoil, or disfigure what do the hand prints and the cable car have in common? What message might
they communicate?
Milch cow,
n.
A cow kept for milk
Pristine, adj. Writing Exercise
From the earliest period or
state; exuding original purity Ask students to think about the place where they live. Identify its most
prominent features. What words describe its distinctive mood? Using Jeffers for
inspiration, have students write an essay or poem about their home. To extend
the exercise, have them add an interesting character to the setting.
Homework
EJ
In the Reader's Guide, read the introduction to Jeffers on page 3 and his
biography on pages 4-6. Read three poems by Jeffers: "Night Without Sleep,'
"The Answer," and "The Day Is a Poem." Make a list of all the historical
references in these poems.
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