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Outline

• Introduce Poem, and e. e. cummings
• Non- Capitalization of his name – explain
• Title – explanation
• Absence of title
• Like much of Cummings's work, the poem is actually untitled, so critics use the first line to refer to the poem.
• Cummings often wrote in a manner that did not follow standard English syntax and punctuation. This style is evident in the poem's first line, which is written in all lowercase letters and contains the unlikely phrase 'pretty how town'
• Rhyme scheme, type of poem, feet and meter
• Not clear rhyme scheme
• Free verse
• Quatrameter
• Read Poem Out Loud
• Tone shifts – each stanza can be identified as positive or negative tone
• It is possible to read each stanza as primarily positive or negative in tone and feeling as Cummings moves from the sympathetic lovers to the antagonistic and imperceptive commonality who oppose the lovers' childlike simplicity
• Literary movements and time periods
• Romanticism
• Live within the moment – message
• Individualist – non-conformist message
• World war – Cummings’ experiences – people not accepting differences
• Audience - people of society that are resistant to change/differences in others
• Stanza by Stanza analysis w/ literary terms
• See literary criticism page
• Overall theme of the poem – purpose
• Cummings criticizes people who blindly follow social conventions
• also criticizes society's intolerance of differences
• Cummings asks the audience to question traditions and to understand them for their true intent
• He challenges people to go beyond comfort zones to achieve their dreams
• Questions?