AP English Literature AMSCO Guided Notes
8.1: Subtleties of Structure and Contrasts
AP English Literature Guided Notes
AMSCO 8.1 - Subtleties of Structure and Contrasts
Essential Questions
- How do structure and contrast in poetry create and convey meaning?
I. Ideas, Punctuation, and Interruptions of Patterns
1. How do poets use lines, stanzas, and punctuation to establish structure and create emphasis in poetry?
A. Extended Ideas and Images
1. What is the key difference between how ideas and images function in poetry versus prose?
2. How do the line and the sentence function as separate units of meaning in a poem?
B. Follow the Grammar
1. Why is identifying grammatical elements and punctuation essential to understanding the literal meaning of a poem?
2. How do subordinate clauses in 'The Retreat' work together to develop the speaker's emotional state?
C. Blocking/Chunking the Text
1. How does dividing a poem into blocks or chunks of related text help reveal its structure and meaning?
D. Unpack the Imagery
1. How does grouping lines according to imagery patterns help identify divisions and meaning within a poem?
2. What does the contrast between 'weaker glories' and 'eternity' reveal about the speaker's view of earthly versus heavenly existence?
E. Punctuation and Enjambment
1. What is enjambment and how does it affect the reader's experience of a poem's rhythm and meaning?
2. How does the punctuation in lines 5-6 of 'The Retreat' create a contrast that changes the reader's initial interpretation?
3. How do the comma and exclamation point in lines 21-22 differ in effect from the punctuation in lines 1-2?
F. Setting and Breaking Patterns
1. How does the regular eight-syllable line structure and iambic pattern in 'The Retreat' establish reader expectations?
2. What effect does the missing syllable at the beginning of the final line create, and what does it emphasize about the poem's meaning?
3. How do the rhyming couplets 'love/move' and 'urn/return' contribute to the poem's meaning and emphasis?
II. Juxtaposition, Irony, and Paradox
1. How do contrasts and opposites in poetry create complexity and enrich a poem's layers of meaning?
A. Juxtaposition and Antithesis
1. What is juxtaposition and how does it emphasize ideas by placing contrasting elements next to each other?
2. How does antithesis differ from juxtaposition, and what effect does parallel grammatical construction create?
3. How do lines 29-30 of 'The Retreat' use structural similarity to emphasize the antithetical relationship between the speaker and other men?
B. Irony
1. What is the core trait of irony and why is expectation essential to creating an ironic effect?
1. Verbal Irony
1. What is verbal irony and how does the speaker in 'The Lanyard' use it to comment on the relationship between parental and filial love?
2. Situational Irony
1. What is situational irony and how does it occur when events contradict expectations?
2. How does the situational irony in lines 27-28 of 'The Retreat' reveal the conflict between spiritual and earthly existence?
C. Paradox
1. How does a paradox in literature differ from a simple self-contradictory statement, and what does it reveal?
2. What paradox does John Donne present in 'Death, Be Not Proud' and what belief system makes this paradox meaningful?
3. How do the final two lines of 'The Retreat' present a paradox about death and rebirth, and what does it reveal about the speaker's desire?
4. How does the paradox in Sara Littlecrow-Russell's 'Song from a Reedless Flute' suggest a deeper meaning about communication and connection?
Key Terms
structural patterns
line
stanza
punctuation marks
juxtaposition
antithesis
verbal irony
situational irony
paradox