Read these poems: “The Cape Cod House” by Steve Straight, “The Long Road Home” by C. J. Dennis, “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, Thoughts of Home by Du Fu , Prayer for a Small House by Florence Bone, andThe Home I Love by Kay Hoffman.
- Choose one or two poems below to write about home.
- What is home within your chosen poem or poems? People? Places? Things? Feelings? Something else?
- If your poem is written by someone from another country or culture, how does that affect your understanding of the idea of home as a universal human longing?
- These writers (along with moviemakers, artists, and musicians) depict home ( or whatever subject) in different ways. Do any of these poems show the value of home in an unusual way — by its absence or by the longing for home or by something else? Or what about a series of events that show the atmosphere of the home without ever saying anything directly about home? This can be a very powerful way of telling a story.
- What is the relationship of location or place or architecture to our idea of home? Do any of these poems depict the effect of location, place or architecture on the speaker’s idea of home?
- After writing a two or three paragraphs about your poem or poems, write one or two about your own idea of home and how it connects to something in your chosen poem(s).
Post should be 500 words basically correct in grammar and punctuation. The two responses to classmates should be 25-50 words.