Annotated Bibliography

By Stephanie Nguyen, Poetry Interpretation (PI)

1.   Gilbert, Jack. "Failing and Flying." poets.org. 2005. Academy of American Poets. 13 Feb 2008 http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16872

 Jack Gilbert is an American poet who became known through his book Views of Jeopardy, published in 1962. His book won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition and a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1962. Wikipedia describes his poetry as being “distinguished by simple lyricism and straightforward clarity of tone.”  Poets.org is a non-profit organization that supports American poets by listing thousands of poems, biographies, essays, interviews, and even poetry recordings. It is an award winning website that offers seven major awards and nearly 200 College Prizes at schools across the country. Jack Gilbert’s biography and several of his poems are located on this website.  Originally launched in 1996, today Poet.org is considered “the best poetry resource on the internet. Not only does it provide a search engine that connects poetry lovers to thousands of poems, it also list local club events pertaining to poetry. Subscribers to the website are personally emailed writing tips, new features on the website, and listings of local club events having to do with poetry. Several additional features characterize poet.org, for example links to purchase the books on Amazon sit at the right side of the poet’s biography. In addition to quick links, Poet.org provides free audio recordings of poems read by the poets themselves. Related articles, poems, and further reading are recommended to the user at the left hand side of the webpage (when viewing the poet’s biography). All poems and poets are archived on the site; a search engine field at the top left hand region of the web site allows you to search through poet.org.

2. Adobe Dreamweaver.  Adobe Systems, Inc. 13 February 2008. http://www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver/

Adobe Dreamweaver is a software program that enables users to “design, develop and maintain standard based websites and applications.” It is the software program our team has selected to create several poetry interpretations, particularly because it enables non-coders to create web pages and sites. Alessandra Horii is familiar with Dreamweaver, as she has used it before for a previous course. We will be using Dreamweaver to consolidate our different interpretations at one site, which the software links together through hypertext. It is a user friendly program that simplifies a variety of tasks and allows for an organized site structure. The software offers an array of templates and tools for users to create their own personalized site. Such programs as Photoshop are integrated into the software, meaning a user can simply drag a Photoshop file and place into Dreamweaver. Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Flash can also be used in Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver is currently priced at $400 dollars; new users can trial the program for thirty days through a 30-day free trial period (located at the website). The website also offers instructional videos, and information to help first time users learn the process and features available in the program. Short video tutorials are available at the website listed above.

3. Camtasia Studio.  Tech Smith, Inc.  13 February 2008. http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp]

Camtasia is an instructional software tool that allows users to make screen recordings for instructional videos. It is also known as “screen casts.” I have used it for the past two quarters to create two minute instructional videos for first time users of the online learning and collaboration website Sakai. The software allows for voice narration, audio recordings, and webcam video, editing, and production. Video enhancements such as call outs, zooming, panning, and titles are also featured. It is considered a smart way to train and present to students, lectures, and at meetings or conferences. It allows other programs, such as PowerPoint, to be used in Camtasia. Creators of instructional videos can engage users by way of quizzes and tests. The test and quizzes can be placed directly after you have shown the user how to complete a certain task or it can be delivered at the end of the video. Screen captures can be edited and produced in different formats such as website formats, blog formats, or DVD formats. The program is currently prices at $299 dollars. A free 30-day trial can be accessed at the website listed above. It is a very user friendly program that enables high quality instructional videos to be created and used as training sessions.

4. Brooks, Cleanth. The Well Wrought Urn, New York: Harcourt Brace, 1947

Cleanth Brooks was an influential American literary critic that is best known for changing the teaching, and reading, of poetry in academics. New Criticism was his contribution to higher education. He argued that the “ambiguity” and “paradox” within the poem helped, rather than inhibited, our understanding of it. This particular chapter is relevant to our team project because it shifts from the traditional way of reading poetry to a more modern way. Because we are primarily concerned with creating a new way of interpreting poetry, we are using Brooks’ literary criticism to guide us through the pitfalls of certain ways of poetry interpretation. One particular line that struck me to wake up and reinvent poetic interpretation is towards the end of the chapter, where he states “The poem, if it be a true poem is a simulacrum of reality- in this sense, at least, it is an “imitation” – by being an experience rather than any mere statement about experience or any mere abstraction from experience.” (Brooks 213) His approach taught us to close read a poem as an experience. In providing four different interpretations of the same poem, we hope to use Brooks’ idea of a poem as a “simulacrum of reality.”

5. Leydier, R., et. al., Jim Dine: Photographier l'inconscient / Photographing the Unconcious. Art Press no. 292 (July 2003) p. 24-9

 The American artist Jim Dine discusses the medium he practices in his art. He discusses the art work he has created in his life. For example, he tells of his work with Lee Friedlander, in which he helped with his photography to jointly create a book. Most interestingly, he discusses the influence of psychoanalysis on his artwork. The examination of the words in his images is discussed as an artist’s personal reflection and interpretation of his past art, and consequently, his life. The formulation of the artist inner world is explained as being made up of elements of a dream. Dine explains his idea of an “imagistic vocabulary,” which he believes that the artist speaks through alone. He posits that if the unconscious perhaps had its very own language it would consists of the association of words. Because of his dyslexia, Dine always felt like a prisoner of his words, he combated this through visual art. Ironically his visual art was plagued by his words; the integration of the two has led him on a deep journey into “Photographing the Unconscious.” He argues that one could also argue that “poetry, by its immoderate use of metaphor, is ultimately closer to the image than to text, even if its basic material is the word.”