Assignment Author
CWRL Assignment DatabasePedagogical Goals of the Assignment
Goal: To test how the inflection and variation of pitch in poetic reading effects the interpretation of poetry.
Assignment Description
Description: This assignment asks you to record and archive a particular sonnet. Then compare your own recording of that sonnet with another student's recording, analyzing differences in pitch, stress and jucture.
Sequence of Events:
First, practice reading the sonnet aloud. Using a digital voice recorder, record your reading of the sonnet. Then download your recording on the sonic sonnet archive stored on our class blog. There you will have access to it and to other students' readings of the same sonnet.
Second, by listening to and reading along with your recording, memorize the sonnet. All students will recite the sonnets in class.
Third,choose another student's reading of the same sonnet. Note differences in pitch, stress, and juncture, and any other metrical pauses or discontinuities. Also note non-metrical, or rhetorical, pauses. Write a tightly argued, three page essay in which you compare readings of the sonnet and discuss how those readings bear upon your interpretation of the poem.
This tripartite assignment should take three weeks to complete.
Rationale:
Too often, students are intimidated by poetry. They are under the impression that there is a secret key to reading it; yet, these same students are comfortable listening to poetry. Being able to listen to students, like themselves, read poems often demystifies poetry for them, and being able to listen to readings again and again fosters both memorization and critical interpretive skills. The ability to carry poems around in our head enables us to grasp their nuances and creates connections between that poetry and the world around us.