Test+Notes

**Please check out the answers shown below and compare them to yours. There are some very common mistakes found in several papers and they are in the bulleted list below:**
 * many people did not __follow directions__. For example, Question #1 had two parts: write a one sentence statement to summarize each paragraph and then, put those sentences into a paragraph. Many students did one or the other.
 * In Question #2, you were asked to show two examples of the poet's philosophy which you found in the poem. Many people simply commented on two aspects of the philosophy. Others did not make the connection.
 * Question #3,A asked you to comment on the meaning of the poem - to explain it. Answers were often vague and too general. Additionally, the question asked for two or three sentences; many people wrote only one sentence.
 * Question #3,B: the structure is just that - how is the poem put together? Comment on stanzas, length, repetition and so on.
 * Question #3, C: asked for three **different** examples of imagery.

All of these answers came from students' tests.
__**Question 1**__ **(Al Purdy)** 1. Al Purdy is grateful the he and others ahve been given the gift of enabling them to write poetry. 2. He never knows what the end result of his poems will be. 3. He and other writers are influenced by everyone else that writes. 4. In both good and bad times and even as he gets older, Al Purdy still wants to write poems.

Al Purdy is grateful that he and others have been given the gift [of enabling them] to write poetry. __"Even at the worst of times, writing poems has been joyous and rewarding__". At anytime, poetry can always give [you] a good feeling, in both good times and bad. He never knows what the end result of his poems will be. Not always knowing how he wrote a poem, it leaves him not certain what it will bring. He and other writers are influenced by everyone else that writes. He has learned many things from others, [like] how he should and should not write. In both good and bad times and even as he gets older, Al Purdy still wants to write poetry. Even when it is time to slow down, there are still poems to be written

(Please note how these answers are in sentences, not in point form and that there is a strong connection shown between the lines of the poem and what the poet has stated as his or her philosophy.) //1. " a foolish old man with a brain on fire"// **(Al Purdy)** This sentence reflects the poet's philosophy because he states in his writing philosophy that he is getting old but still his mind is full of ideas for new poetry. This phrase describes how Purdy is in fact, a foolish old man with his brain on fire and there are still poems he wants to write.
 * __Question 2__** : //Find and explain two examples of the poet's philosophy in the poem.//

2. **Afua Cooper:** The "chorus" part of the poem, about ancestors rising from graves in Ontario, is a big example. It ways they demand we remember them, and not just [be] thrown away as dead slaves like they probably were. They have risen to make a change and be remembered as something good, fighting against degradation, like in the philosophy.


 * __Question 3:__ A** __Meaning.__ //In two or three sentences, what would you say the poem/poet wants us to think about? In other words, what is the meaning of the poem?//

The poet wants us to think about how when we get older we still can do some of the things we have always done. We will see our foolish selves getting older but we will still continue on. The loss of love and the journey of doing things will end up meaning more because it shapes us. The feelings we have, including anger, will be remembered. It is our past that we remember.
 * "Listening to Myself" by Al Purdy**

"**Negro Cemeteries" by Afua Cooper** The poem is about negro graveyards appearing in places all over Ontario and the history that is appearing with them. [She] repeats the line "ancestors are rolling over" to emphasize that the dead once burrued with their problems and insecurities are surfacing again and questioning.

This poem was written in two seperate stanzas. The first stanza speaks briefly about an old man, then there is a new stanza after a break showing there is a new idea. This stanza is more in depth and inside emotions rather than physical [in] the first stanza. There are line breaks used in the poem to create emphasis on certain, important aspects. eg. - look down ... - (lines 5 - 7)
 * Question 3 B:** __Structure.__ //Briefly comment on the form or structure of the poem.//
 * "Listening to Myself" by Al Purdy**

"**Negro Cemeteries" by Afua Cooper** The poem is written in only two stanzas. The first is much smaller than the second though I also notice that there seems to be almost a chorus that keeps coming up throughout the poem. This is the part that talks about "negro cemetaries in Ontario".