8) American Modernist Poetry

Question 1

Periodization of the American Modernist Poetry

Answer 1

early 20th century

Question 2

What is American Modernist Poetry like?

Answer 2

focus on subjectivity, rejection of romanticism - more objective and detached approach to reality, depicting the world as it was, often breaking free from strict meter and rhyme schemes embracing free verse and exploring innovative techniques such as fragmentation, juxtaposition, and nonlinear narrative

Question 3

Name some American Modernist Poets

Answer 3

Robert Frost, T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, Marianne Moore, E. E. Cummings

Question 4

Robert Frost

Answer 4

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, The Road not Taken

Question 5

T. S. Eliot

Answer 5

The Waste Land

Question 6

Ezra Pound

Answer 6

The Cantos

Question 7

William Carlos Williams

Answer 7

The Red Wheelbarrow, Spring and All, Desert Music and Other Poems, Pictures from Brueghel and Other Poems, Patterson

Question 8

Marianne Moore

Answer 8

A Grave, Paper Nautilus

Question 9

E. E. Cummings

Answer 9

The Enormous Room

Question 10

What is Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening about?

Answer 10

traveller pausing to admire snow-covered forest, vividly describes it, is tempted to stay longer but realizes he has a long journey ahead of him so he must continue on his way

Question 11

What are the themes of Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening?

Answer 11

nature, solitude, human connection to the natural world, solitude, isolation, passage of time

Question 12

What is the rhyme scheme in Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening?

Answer 12

AABA, iambic tetrameter

Question 13

In which person is Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening narrated?

Answer 13

first person narrator

Question 14

What is The Road Not Taken about?

Answer 14

the speaker describes coming across a fork in a wood, they have to choose between two diverging paths, and they regret not being able to travel both

Question 15

What are the themes in The Road Not Taken?

Answer 15

choices, individuality, consequences of decisions

Question 16

What is the narrator and the scheme in The Road Not Taken like?

Answer 16

first person narrator, rhyme scheme is ABAAB, iambic tetrameter

Question 17

When was The Waste Land published?

Answer 17

in 1922

Question 18

Which poem had a profound influence on the development of the modern poetry and is considered one of the most important poems of the 20th century?

Answer 18

The Waste Land

Question 19

In how many parts is The Waste Land divided?

Answer 19

five

Question 20

Name the parts of The Waste Land

Answer 20

The Burial of the Dead, A Game of Chess, The Fire Sermon, Death by Water, What the Thunder Said

Question 21

How long is The Red Wheelbarrow?

Answer 21

very short, only 16 words and 8 lines

Question 22

What is the Imagist movement?

Answer 22

early 20th century mainly poetry movement, that emphasized clarity, precision, free verse, and economy of language; Ezra Pound, Hilda Doolittle, William Carlos Williams

Question 23

What are the themes of Marianne Moore’s A Grave?

Answer 23

themes of morality, the passage of time, the enduring nature of art, complexities of life and death