next to of course god - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

next to of course god

america

i

By E.E. CummingsSlide2

AmericaSlide3
Slide4

E.E. Cummings

Edward Estin Cummings was born in Massachusetts, USA on 14 October 1894 and died in 1962.

In the First World War he was a volunteer ambulance driver, but was imprisoned for 3 1/2 months in a French concentration camp when his letters home drew the attention of the military censors.

He is known as an avant-garde poet, well known for experimenting with punctuation, syntax and structure and playing with both words and ideas.

This poem was published in 1926 when anti-war sentiments where considered unpatriotic and shocking.Slide5

next to of course god

america i

http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPKp29Lurychttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKbsy2snyQwhttp://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive

/singlePoem.do?poemId=7158Slide6

“next to of course god

america

ilove you land of the pilgrims’

and so forth ohsay can you see by the dawn’s early mycountry ’tis of centuries come and go

and are no more what of it we should worryin every language even deafanddumb

What does this suggest about the speaker?

Where is this line taken from?

Enjambment

Dismissive. Undermines his commitment.Slide7

thy sons acclaim your glorious name by

gorry

by jingo by gee by

gosh by gumwhy talk of beauty what could be more beautifulthan these heroic happy deadwho rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter

they did not stop to think they died insteadthen shall the voice of liberty be mute?”He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water

Speaking so quickly he has mispronounced ‘golly’

American Slang – why?

Powerful image of death and battle- implies?

What does this last line suggest?Slide8

Overview:

‘

next to of course god america

i’ is a satirical poem. The absence of punctuation and capitalisation allows the reader to engage with the poem’s ambiguity – what

does the speaker actually intend with his words? It is interesting that he chooses to capitalise the

pronoun ‘

He’ as if placing the speaker in a place of superiority

or distance

. He initially appears to glorify America

, although

this is also ambiguous as he tempers this

with phrases

such as ‘and so forth’. His

oxymoronic description

of the soldiers as ‘heroic happy dead’

also leaves

the reader feeling ambivalent. In many ways

one can

view this as a very modern poem, with many of

the criticisms

Cummings levels at his country being

as relevant

today as they were in the 1920s.

What

criticisms

are contained within the poem?Slide9

Jingoism

Definition:

extreme

patriotism in the form of aggressive

foreign policy”It refers to the use of threats or actual force against other countries in order to safeguard

national interests

, and colloquially

to excessive

bias in judging

one’s own

country as superior to others

– an

extreme type of nationalism.Slide10

Theodore Roosevelt,

8th October, 1895

There is much talk about

'jingoism'. If by 'jingoism' they

mean a policy in pursuance of whichAmericans will with resolution andcommon sense insist upon our rightsbeing respected by foreign powers,then we are 'jingoes'.Slide11

Endings

they did not stop to think they died instead

then shall the voice of liberty be mute?"

He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of

waterReflection...* Who is 'He'?

What impression do we get

of him

?

* Is his speech rambling words?

Does the poet have a

deeper purpose

?

Explain your ideas.Slide12

Theodore Roosevelt,

8th October, 1895

There is much talk about

'jingoism'. If by 'jingoism' they

mean a policy in pursuance of whichAmericans will with resolution andcommon sense insist upon our rightsbeing respected by foreign powers,then we are 'jingoes'.

Interpreting the Text

Language

Think

about the use of hyperbole,

oxymorons

and

alliteration. What effects do they achieve?

Punctuation

Track

the punctuation of the poem.

Is

its use significant? What about capital letters?

Imagery

Find

where the poet uses a simile and

personification in

this poem. Why are these images used?Slide13

Theodore Roosevelt,

8th October, 1895

There is much talk about

'jingoism'. If by 'jingoism' they

mean a policy in pursuance of whichAmericans will with resolution andcommon sense insist upon our rightsbeing respected by foreign powers,then we are 'jingoes'.

Agree/disagree?

1. Because Cummings

capitalises

the H

in 'He

' but not the pronoun '

i

', he is

placing the

speaker and his personality at the centre of the poem.

2. Cummings leaves out most of the punctuation so the reader

can choose

where to pause for humorous/ironic effect.

3. The poem initially comes across as rambling and a

little incoherent

but this effectively

emphasises

the internal

conflict of

the speaker.

4. The use of rhyme and alliteration gives the poem an

internal structure

that makes it seem to sound quite pleasant.

5. The glorification of war and the soldiers is a form of

hyperbole as

the speaker doesn’t seem to mean it; it is used for effect.

6. Without Cummings' use of

oxymorons

, the poem would lose

its uncertainty

as it could either be read as either patriotic or anti

- American

.

7. Not having a capital A for America in the title confirms that

the poem

is not patriotic.Slide14

Theodore Roosevelt,

8th October, 1895

There is much talk about

'jingoism'. If by 'jingoism' they

mean a policy in pursuance of whichAmericans will with resolution andcommon sense insist upon our rightsbeing respected by foreign powers,then we are 'jingoes'.

Questions

1. How can we tell the poet is

mocking

the

speaker?

2. How does the title of the

poem relate

to the content?

3. How does the poet build up to an

emotive end

?

4. What do you think the poet wants the public to do?

5. Why has the poet used extracts from

well known American

patriotic songs?