Robert Frost 1874 1963 Lived much of his life in New England Used more traditional poetic forms Writes language as it is actually spoken Writes searching and often dark meditations on universal themes ID: 200659
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American PoetsSlide2
Robert Frost
1874 - 1963
Lived much of his life in New England
Used more traditional poetic forms
Writes language as it is actually spoken
Writes searching and often dark meditations on universal themes
His poems are often psychologically complex with layers of ambiguity and irony
Won four Pulitzer prizes for his workSlide3
Robert FrostSlide4
Gary Soto
1952 –
Born to Mexican-American working-class parents in California
Worked in the fields of San Joaquin valley when he was young
Not academically motivated, but he became interested in poetry in high school
Attended Fresno City College and then California State University
Won a bunch of awardsSlide5
Gary Soto
Poems focus on daily experiences, often reflecting on his life as a Chicano
About his work, the writer Joyce Carol Oates has said, "Gary Soto's poems are fast, funny, heartening, and achingly believable, like Polaroid love letters, or snatches of music heard out of a passing car; patches of beauty like patches of sunlight; the very pulse of a life."Slide6
Gary SotoSlide7
Langston Hughes
1902 – 1967
Divorced parents – raised by grandmother until he was thirteen when he moved to Illinois to live with his mother
After graduation, spent a year in Mexico and a year at Columbia University – in this time he worked as an assistant cook, launderer, and busboy
His first novel won the Harmon gold medal for literatureSlide8
Langston Hughes
Influenced a lot by the world of jazz
Extremely important influence on the Harlem Renaissance
Known for insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in America from the twenties through the sixtiesSlide9
Langston HughesSlide10
Walt Whitman
1819 – 1892
Self-taught reader
Worked at a printer, as a teacher, and finally as a journalist
Struggled to support himself much of his life
Often called the Father of Free Verse
Leaves of Grass
was an attempt to reach out to the common people with an American epicSlide11
Walt WhitmanSlide12
E.E. Cummings
1894 – 1962
Began writing poetry as early as 1904
B.A. and M.A. from Harvard
Volunteer ambulance driver in WWI
He
and a friend were interned in a prison camp by the French authorities on suspicion of espionage
for
his outspoken anti-war convictions
.
Traveled throughout Europe, visiting poets and artists (like Picasso).Slide13
E.E. Cummings
Experimented
radically with form, punctuation, spelling and syntax, abandoning traditional techniques and structures to create a
new means
of poetic expression.
Had a great popularity,
especially among young readers, for the simplicity of his language, his playful mode and his attention to subjects such as war and sex
.
Second most widely read poet in America at his death after Robert FrostSlide14
E.E. CummingsSlide15
EdGar Allen Poe
1809 – 1849
Parents died before he was three
Could not finish college because of money
Life-long struggle with depression and alcoholism
One of the originators of horror and detective fiction
“Architect” of the modern short story
Forerunner to the “art for art’s sake” movement
One of the first American writers to became a major figure in world literature.Slide16
Edgar Allen poeSlide17
Maya Angelou
1928—
Marguerite Johnson
author, poet, historian, songwriter, playwright, dancer, stage and screen producer, director, performer, singer, and civil rights
activist
Best known for her autobiographic books
In 1959, at the request of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Maya Angelou became the northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership ConferenceSlide18
Maya Angelou
Appointed
by Gerald Ford to the Bicentennial Commission and later by Jimmy Carter to the Commission for International Woman of the
Year
She accepted a lifetime appointment in 1981 as Reynolds Professor of American Studies at
Wake Forest University
in Winston-Salem, North CarolinaSlide19
Maya Angelou
In 1993, Angelou wrote and delivered a poem, "On The Pulse of the Morning," at the inauguration for President Bill Clinton at his
request
The first black woman director in Hollywood, Angelou has written, produced, directed, and starred in productions for stage, film, and televisionSlide20
Maya Angelou