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Richard cory

• By Edwin Arlington Robinson

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Edwin Arlington Robinson

• Friends helped him arrange the private printing
  of 3 books of his poetry
• Became the most successful American poet of the
  1920s
• Set free from financial worries of his past when
  he was appointed to a post at the New York
  Customhouse by Roosevelt
• Best poems focus on peoples inner struggles
• Paints portraits of desperate characters who view
  their lives as trivial and meaningless or who
  long to live their lives in another time or place
• (p. 664)

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Speaker

• The voice of a poem
• Although the speaker is often the poet, the
  speaker may also be a fictional character or even
  an inanimate object or another type of non-human
  entity
• Interpreting a poem often depends upon
  recognizing who the speaker is, whom the speaker
  is addressing and what the speakers tone is
• Whenever Richard Cory went to town,
• We people on the pavement looked at him
• Who is the speaker of this poem?

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End Rhyme

• Occurs when rhyming words are repeated at the end
  of lines
• Whenever Richard Cory went to town,
• We people on the pavement looked at him
• He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
• Clean favored and, and imperially slim

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Stanza

• Group of lines in a poem that are considered to
  be a unit
• Couplet- a 2-line stanza
• Tercet- a 3-line stanza
• Quatrain- a 4-line stanza
• Cinquain- a 5-line stanza
• Whenever Richard Cory went to town,
• We people on the pavement looked at him
• He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
• Clean favored and, and imperially slim
• How would you classify this poem?

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Richard Cory by Simon and Garfunkel

• They say that Richard Cory owns one half of this
  whole town,With political connections to spread
  his wealth around.Born into society, a banker's
  only child,He had everything a man could want
  power, grace, and style.
• But I work in his factoryAnd I curse the life
  I'm livingAnd I curse my povertyAnd I wish that
  I could be,Oh, I wish that I could be,Oh, I
  wish that I could beRichard Cory.
• The papers print his picture almost everywhere he
  goesRichard Cory at the opera, Richard Cory at
  a show.And the rumor of his parties and the
  orgies on his yacht!Oh, he surely must be happy
  with everything he's got.

• But I work in his factoryAnd I curse the life
  I'm livingAnd I curse my povertyAnd I wish that
  I could be,Oh, I wish that I could be,Oh, I
  wish that I could beRichard Cory.
• He freely gave to charity, he had the common
  touch,And they were grateful for his patronage
  and thanked him very much,So my mind was filled
  with wonder when the evening headlines
  read"Richard Cory went home last night and put
  a bullet through his head."
• But I work in his factoryAnd I curse the life
  I'm livingAnd I curse my povertyAnd I wish that
  I could be,Oh, I wish that I could be,Oh, I
  wish that I could beRichard Cory

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Activity 1
  Richard Cory Poem Richard Cory Song
Speaker            
5 adjectives that describe the type of man people thought Richard Cory to be ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
How speaker feels about Richard Cory          
Your perception of Richard Cory as a man          
Purpose              
Central Message              
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Activity 2

• Does the song change your interpretation of the
  poem? Why or why not?
•  
• Do you like the song or the poem better? Why?

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Activity 3

• Rewrite the poem from Richards perspective.
  Follow the format used by Robinson, using 4
  quatrains and irony.