1. List two 20th century American poets who published poems concerning Christmas?
(Hint: One poet wrote “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and one was a
medical doctor for fifty years in Paterson, NJ)
2. List the titles of the Christmas poems each poet above published.
3. What are the narrative voices and moods in each of the above poems?
4. How many different narrative voices are expressed in the thirteen parts of the
“Christmas Coffee” scroll? List each voice.
5. In their themes, what parts of “Christmas Coffee” compare to the above two.
20th century Christmas poems? Explain your answer.
6. In their themes, what parts of “Christmas Coffee” contrast with the above two
20th century Christmas poems? Explain your answer.
7. List the literary devices (writing techniques) used in one of the two 20th century
Christmas poems.
8. Select three parts from “Christmas Coffee” and list the literary devices used in
each part.
9. If you were a literary magazine editor and only had room to publish three parts. of the “Christmas Coffee” scroll, what three parts would you publish? Explain your answer with text references to each of the three parts you listed.
10. If you decided to write a “seasonal” poem or short prose narrative, what
would be one or two significant challenges you think you would face in order
to hook and hold the attention of readers? What narrative voice(s), content,
and style(s) would you use within your poem? Explain your answer.
1. In what ways are “romance novels” and commercial Valentine cards different from 19th century American Romantic writing?
2. In what ways are “romance novels” and commercial Valentine cards similar to 19th century American Romantic writing?
3. List three 19th century poems whose themes concern love or romantic love.
4. List the titles of three 20th century songs whose themes concern love or romantic love.
5. List three 20th century poets known for their romantic love themes.
6. List three 20th century songwriters known for their romantic love themes.
7. List three 21st century poets known for their romantic love themes.
8. List one poem from each poet listed in #7.
9. List three 21st century songwriters known for their love songs.
10. List one song from each songwriter listed in #9.
11. What is the overarching theme of the twenty-one-part “Heart to Heart” scroll?
12. Use details from at least three parts of the scroll to explain your answer to #11.
13. If you edited a literary magazine and could only publish three parts of the “Heart to Heart” scroll, what three parts would you publish? Explain.
14. What narratives, settings, genre(s), literary devices, narrative voices, and tones or moods would you include if you created a scroll like “Heart to Heart”?
1. Define the word “rumination.”
2. Define the word “consonance.”
3. List at least three examples of consonance in Part I of the scroll “March Ruminations.”
4. Define “simile.”
5. What similes are used in Part II and Part III of “March Ruminations”?
6. Explain why you think writers should or should not avoid using similes that are not their own?
7. In “March Ruminations” what are four well-known things that take place in March?
8. Why do you think the above March related events are written about in chronological order within “March Ruminations”?
9. Define “imagery.”
10. What is an example of imagery used in Part IV, Part V, and Part VI of “March Ruminations”?
11. Define the word “allusion.”
12. What are two allusions in Part III of the scroll?
13. Define the word “personification.”
14. In Part III of the scroll what is an example of personification?
15. Define the word “metaphor.”
16. In Part IV of “March Ruminations” what are two ways that “wolf” is used as a metaphor?
17. Define the word “satire.”
18. What are two examples of satire in Part VII of the scroll?
19. In content and style, compare and contrast Emily Dickinson’s “Dear March Come In” with “March Ruminations.”
20. In content and style, compare and contrast William Wordsworth’s “Written in March” with “March Ruminations.”
21. If you wrote a three-part, 200-word poem about March what would each part be about?
22. Explain your answer to the above question