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 (202) 682-5400 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 1 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 kLji iV - THE BIG READ National Endowment for the Arts .^SKv' •VfAto. . 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 I 3 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." 2 ' THE BIG READ National Endowment for the Arts 6 9 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. 7 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. 4 • THE BIG READ National Endowment for the Arts