Women’s Issues/Themes; Past and Present

This week we will be analyzing poetry works from several contemporary women writers. We will also be deconstructing their works to interpret the poem in our own words. The opportunity to deconstruct and then recompose a poem is an excellent method and tool in gaining a true appreciation for the poetry genre and allows the reader to, in our case, further access the plight of contemporary women writers. This week the goal is to categorically identify issues, roles, myths and more importantly the motifs associated with the predicament of women in the contemporary society.

Deconstructing a piece of literary work:

When deconstructing a poem it is necessary to look at the poem line by line to achieve the very best results. In my first experience with this type of assignment I chose to deconstruct a 19 line poem by the great Langston Hughes. It seemed difficult at first; however as I really started feeling the poem, the possibilities became infinite. To successfully complete this assignment you will have to work with an open mind, try to step into the author’s shoes and be willing to take risks with the piece of poetry you choose. You will find that the length of the poem can be either constricting or complimentary to your ability to really break your poem down. In other words a short poem can be just as, if not more difficult to deconstruct then a long poem. I encourage you to choose your poem not based on length but rather on the content. Finally, have fun with this assignment as this is an opportunity for you to grow in the literary sense.       

The assignment is as follows:

• Read:List of Poems from Canvas.
• DeconstructONE POEMas your original Discussion Board postANDthen identify what issues and themes the poem you selected donates to the plight of women in contemporary society. Your original postMUSTbe two-part.

1. Your version of the deconstructed poem; and 

2. The identification issues and themes the poem you selected donates to the plight of women in contemporary society.

AND then reply to THREE of your peer's original posts. That is FOUR responses total.  The title for your original response/post should include the week number as well as the name of the poem and the author’s name (ie. Week 6-Phenomenal Woman, by Maya Angelou).

All discussion responses MUST be in your own words. Take care to give well thought out response. You are expected to respond to your peers, exhibit proper grammar and to be engaging and respectful; thus one line responses to original posts are not encouraged. The MINIMUM REQUIRED posts to the Discussion Board will be strictly enforced and may change from week to week.

Attachments:

• 1507800963-Cult of true womanhood.pdf