ENGL 801
Genre: Frost, “Home Burial”; Essays by Sanders, Vogt, and Bell
Announcements
 Reminder from Greg: Sign up for 20-minute advising slot(s)
 Contribute to Bulletin Board conversation
 For Wednesday
o Entering the Conversation: “Print and Online Resources for Scholarly Research”
 Gibaldi, “Research and Writing” (1-63) and “Plagiarism” (65-75)
 Paragraph-length description of selected research topic due in class
 Describe topic, as specifically as possible
 Include questions/issues you’d like to pursue, as you map the
boundaries of the critical conversation(s) on your topic
o Contact me if you’d like to discuss plans, need assistance with your topic for Paper #2
 Questions or concerns?
Today
 Recap of Mid-Semester Evaluations
 Critical Essays on Frost and Genre-Crossing [CP]
o Sanders, “Frost’s North of Boston, Its Language, Its People, and Its Poet”
o Vogt, “Narrative and Drama in the Lyric: Robert Frost's Strategic Withdrawal”
o Bell, “Robert Frost and the Nature of Narrative”
Mid-Semester Evaluations (see hand-out)
 In general, class is going well, has been enjoyable; for many, class is exceeding expectations
 Reading going well
 “Entering the Conversation Days” generally useful
 Discussion
 Specific Requests
 Writing
 Any further questions, comments, or concerns? Be sure to let me know!
Critical Essays on Frost and Genre-Crossing
 Sanders, “Frost’s North of Boston, Its Language, Its People, and Its Poet”
o Discusses Frost’s view and use of poetic language and embodied, ordinary speech
o Locates poems within biographical, historical, and literary historical contexts
 Vogt, “Narrative and Drama in the Lyric: Robert Frost's Strategic Withdrawal”
o Reads the dramatic and narrative elements of Frost’s poetry as his extension of the
lyric form
o Locates poems within literary critical context
 Bell, “Robert Frost and the Nature of Narrative”
o Explores the function of time, especially linear narrative time, in Frost’s poetry
o Locates poems within literary and literary critical contexts using belle-lettres style
Each person was responsible for a closer reading experience of one of the three essays, with the
following questions in mind:
 How might the essay’s discussion assist our reading of “Home Burial,” especially our
discussion of the poem’s inter-generic qualities?
 What insights does the essay offer about using genre as an interpretative or analytic category,
a way of thinking about art?