(This page under construction. I hope to have the finished product online soon. This page will contain the entire senior project essay, which is quit lengthy) 

Jim Hawes

Eng 407

Senior Project  

Mr. Richard Lovelace. Cavalier poet and author of To Althea from Prison. 

(http://www.hearts-ease.org/cgi-bin/library_index.cgi?ID=25)

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Teaching the Cavalier Poets to High School Students

 The Cavaliers and why?   The Cavalier Poets (A term paper for writing 316)     How can we teach the Cavaliers   Reader Response New Criticism   Working Bibliography (A term paper for writing 316) A project for Engl. 339    Beloved   Home    

Jim Hawes

Eng 407

Senior Project

Teaching Values and the Discourse of the University through the Works of the  Cavalier Poets to High School Students.

High School students are preparing to face many challenges in life; these students studying to either enter college or go on into the workplace facing life's struggles without further formal education. Whichever path the student decides on, we as teachers must give them the best tools we can in order to make the decisions that they face now, during the time of their high school career, and later in life. Those students eager to continue their academic career should be given the opportunity to study a wide variety of literature so that they will have a clear understanding of what they will face in their college studies, and those who are planning on entering the work force after high school should be given the opportunity to investigate ways of considering how to make moral choices they might face in life.

As we decide on what literary texts to teach to the students, there are many considerations we must face in order to find what will best help them in the choices they may make on entering either college or the workplace. Specifically, the teacher will have to look at what literature will best help the student facing academia in the college setting, or what literary texts will help students entering the workplace better face decisions they will have to make including those of a moral nature.   Students will find themselves facing many different moral lifestyle choices as well as academic. We must consider all forms of literature, in order to find what texts may convey a message to the student that they might compare to what they face in their own life, and what texts will help them understand what literature is and can do for them. We may want to work with a text that demonstrates the value system of another culture,  recounts a historical view of a culture, or the communicative system of another culture, in order to help the student realize how other cultures have dealt with life before them.

The choices of literature could include works of African, Hispanic, Native, British literature, and  many others. We may want to focus on differing areas of literature, to give the student differing ideas to consider as the progress through their academic careers.  One specific area of texts we can look at, as having validity in guiding our students in either academia or preparing for the life as adults, are the Cavalier Poets of British Literature. The texts offered by these poets are many and vary in literary value. If we seek texts that have messages for our students to help them on their journey through college or the workplace, or even life in general, the Cavalier Poets have much to offer if presented to the students using the most appropriate literary criticisms. The themes of these poems can help the student to come to a better understanding of the differences in literary formation if we teach them using various techniques; according to Uvic , The Writers Guide the theme of a literary work is "sometimes used to in the same sense as motif to signify recurring concepts in literature, the term mainly refers to the argument or general idea expressed by a literary work, whether implied or explicitly stated" (Uvic). These recurring situations or incidents can have meaning to a high school student reader. The student can observe these themes in the text and begin to ask questions in an attempt to make sense of the literary work. As teachers, it is our responsibility to find ways to help the students find their answers, or at least help them begin the find them, which gives credence to why we teach many forms of literature.

The students in our classrooms are in need of guidance in many ways. These students are beginning their lives as adults. It is up to all adults, including teachers in the classrooms, to help find ways they may better face their adulthood. Through literature that has withstood the test of time they can be offered life's lessons from those who have gone before them. That includes not only the teacher but also authors of texts that are based upon life and its challenges. The Cavalier Poets wrote in a different time and culture, but their writings have much to offer the students of today. Because the Cavaliers wrote in a differing time and culture, their views will give the student a chance to view and compare how others have and do think in the world, and according to Nancy Kirkland, "Teachers will have to be prepared to deliver effective instruction that considers various backgrounds, diverse learning styles, different value orientations, and dissimilar patterns of interaction. In so doing, students will be better prepared to live and succeed in a world where they will interact with people who think differently" (14). The texts left to us by the Cavaliers contain messages of value for students facing life decisions, which may help guide them to better choices in their lives. By studying these poems students of differing cultures may find common ground in their studies of a group of poets who wrote in a culture differing form their own. Young adults of high school age face similar choices regardless of culture, and the Cavalier poems may be a way of helping both the teacher and student to communicate and study different ways to respond to life's questions.

The teacher taking into consideration these varied backgrounds will need the texts that will more effectively reach the young adults in the classroom in the high school setting. According to Arthur Applebee many students may not be getting the best variety of literature to help them on their way he writes "the percentage of pages dedicated to poetry was at about 9" (11). The data presented by Applebee comes from a study that examined the content and approaches embodied in seven popular high schools literature anthologies. With only nine percent of the pages directed towards poetry the students in our classrooms may be missing a valuable literary tool to help them prepare for life and its problems and their academic future. The literature teacher of today must be open minded and willing to seek out texts that are challenging, yet will connect with the students in the classroom.

In order to successfully teach the Cavalier Poets at any level we must first make some important considerations. How can we bring the students to a place of accepting and enjoying poetry? According to Paul B. Janeczko, "Young readers will respond to good , carefully chosen poetry the same way they will respond to good, carefully chosen fiction" (Eight Things). As teachers, we need to be ready and willing to convey a sense of excitement about the literature we teach. This can come in the form of guiding students to seek answers about a text. The thrill of finding possible meanings and reasons behind a text can become a challenge students will gladly accept as interesting and meaningful.

One idea that may help the teacher to connect the student with the literature is something of common interest between the text and the student. The Cavalier Poems have a quality that may help the teacher in this respect. The Cavaliers lived by a code of Carpe Diem or seize the day. In The Norton Anthology of English Literature this Carpe Diem attitude is explained as a "time is fleeting, make love now," which the Cavaliers adhered to (1644). Many of our high school age students may find this appealing. The students of today may see this as an interesting theory, yet by working with the students, as they interpret the texts, we can convey to the students that this carpe diem attitude is not a lifestyle we advocate in the world today.  If we, as teachers, can lead classroom discussions about the Cavaliers in the proper manner the students themselves may come to the realization that thinking not only about today but the future may benefit them in the long run.

If we can convince the students to ask questions about the texts we are studying, then the students will have a better chance of realizing the truths the texts are meant to convey. As we study the texts of the Cavaliers with the students we may want to take on an attitude of guide rather than all-knowing teacher. According to James Inglis, “I am certainly not offering to my students some knowledge which I possess and they do not. Even in a lecturing situation, the intonation of my voice is a questioning one; alternatives are being proposed and judgment is being invited, not offered” (1). By combining this explorative attitude with the Cape Diem attitude of the poem the students may have a better tendency to see the texts, and the teacher, as being honest. By allowing the student to see that we are not taking an attitude of all-knowing teacher, they may be more inclined to trust our thoughts on the poem. Sharing ideas between student and teacher puts both in a position of equality and learning together. When we show the student that we are exploring the poetry together, we may find that the students might find more within the text.

The teacher must bring the student to see what is written in the text that may be of value to them. Inglis writes, “One of my jobs is to bring that writer alive as a living “maker,” a man [or woman] to be watched creating language, so that we are, as it were, asking him what he is doing, why he is doing it, and how he is doing it” (1). If we can convince the student to ask these questions of the Cavaliers then we may bring them to a sense of what mistakes the poets made in their lives.

The high school age student is facing many lifestyle decisions as they come closer to adulthood. They face questions that are not always of academic setting. Shmuel Shulman and Miri found in their study that when considering, " older adolescents there was a higher chance that they were currently engaged in a romantic relationship" (8). The authors go on to write: "Finally, currently dating adolescents reported a higher frequency of interaction and higher levels of sexual intimacy and affective intensity in their relationships" (8). By guiding the student's exploration of Cavalier poetry we may help them to see that they are not alone in the struggle to find answers relating to inter-gender relationships and their question regarding their sexual activity or abstaining from it.

When faced with the question of: Do we want to teach morals to our students in the classroom?” there are several issues that we need to take into consideration. In an article published online, Joan Goodman is quoted from her article "Talk Of The Good Is Good Talk", as writing, “By overwhelming majorities ... parents and teachers support moral instruction in school, ... yet many educators remain skittish about making moral teaching a curriculum priority. What appears troubling to them is the judgmental nature of morality - good implies bad; moral, immoral; virtue, vice” (Talking Point).  A majority of both teachers and parents in favor of helping students recognize good moral judgment will also lead us to the question of how we reach students to help them make these decisions as they go on in life. If we want to teach our students valid ideas within the curriculum that will help them excel as they leave our classroom, we need to focus on texts that might at least draw the students into some sort of dialogue with the ideas the poet is expressing. It may not serve our purpose as educators to spend our time in front of the classroom asking students to just consider moral values and how to live in the right way. We cannot make those choices for the students. It will be of greater service to both the students and the public at large to find texts that the student can learn from about how other people in our own culture and others have struggled with moral values. By way of the students exploring how others have and are dealing with moral issues, they may better see that it takes thought to find the answers they will need in the present and future in the moral arena.

In his article “High School Students: Values and Expectations” Richard Riley looks at the results of a Shell Poll that surveyed over 1,000 high school students. In this poll students were given the opportunity to answer honestly simple questions like do you like school or not and why. According to Riley some of the outcomes might surprise some people. Riley writes, “Only about [forty percent] of our sample told us that they were very confident about dealing with their emotions…” (3). This figure may give us a feeling that the students polled may need help in their emotional decision making process. By using the Cavaliers and comparing their emotional outlook on life with that of today’s society we may give the students in our classrooms something that they can weigh in the comparison. The process the student goes through in reading and comparing the texts of these poets and the worldview of people today may shed light on the fact that their own generation is facing some of the same problems as that of the authors.

Our educational system’s recent history of in-school violence may direct us to think in a positive manner toward our helping students gain a sense of values and how to think about them. According to Thomas Estes and Dorothy Vasquez-Levy, “…the debate over whether we should or should not teach values in the schools is empty fodder for bad letters to the editor from the extremes of the political and religious spectrums. This argument is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. We always teach values. The choice lies in which values and in how we teach them” (2). One way of integrating values instruction with our students' value instruction may be as simple as what literature we use in the classroom and how we help the students approach it.

As the research on the question of teaching morals through literature has increased I have questioned the idea that literature can teach the reader ideals or morals. In the past I have felt this teaching should be left to the parent; however, the more I investigated the issue the more apparent it became that we are all liable for helping our young people make wise choices in life. As a matter of fact, "literary art, art that, because of its very nature entails language loaded with ethical judgments, implants views about how to live or not to live" (Booth). Booth's statement is one an instructor may want to take to heart. Each time we ask a student to read a text, we are asking them to judge, or at least question, a author's own moral judgments. Most often texts used in a classroom will have some form of a moral message behind it. We want our students to question the statements offered in a text., to analyze the text, or to make some sort of judgment about the literary message presented.

In his research for the article, "Why Ethical Criticism can never be Simple," Wayne C. Booth asked  adults the question: "Do you think a large share of your ethical education, your construction as a person, was performed by stories from infancy on?" (3). The answer he found most prevalent was a simple "Yes". As he expanded on these answers Booth writes, "They agree that when we really engage with the characters we meet and the moral choices those characters face, ethical changes occur in us, for good of ill--especially when we are young" (3). We must ask ourselves how we can help the student to see just what the differences in ideals are held within the texts for their own society as compared to that of the author's of another. A literary tool that will help the teacher in this area is that of reader-response criticism. According to Louise M. Rosenblatt "both the reader and the text must work together to produce meaning" (qtd. in Bressler 66). The student reading the Cavaliers, if working with the text as Rosenblatt says, can derive meaning from the poems that can help them in making life decisions of a moral nature. Rosenblatt explained in her text The Reader, the Text, the Poem that, "Both the reader and the text interact or share a transactional experience: The text acts as a stimulus for eliciting various past experiences, thoughts, and ideas from the reader, those found in both our everyday existence and in past reading experiences" (qtd. in Bressler 66-7). When the student reads the Cavalier's poems and notes their ideals and attitudes they may use these to formulate their own on life. These students are reaching a stage in their life where they are beginning to have the ability to think for themselves. They can see mistakes others make and have made. It is this ability, combined with learning how the Cavilers faced relationships, that can lead the high school student to make better choices in their lives in the same area.  We can look at Richard Lovelace's "To Althea, from Prison" as an example of how this may be done:

As the student reads this first stanza they may sense it is a love poem. This may come from his/her own "horizon of expectation". The student's past experience in life may direct them to believe some of the text is directed toward a romantic theme. Phrases such as, "love, divine Althea, and When I lie tangled in her hair," could be seen by the student as romantic in theme.  This horizon of expectation, according to Hans Robert Jauss will "…include all of a historical period's critical vocabulary and assessment of a text," Jauss points out how "any text is evaluated from one historical period to another…necessarily changes" (qtd. in Bressler 72). The high school student may be beginning to encounter these longings as they strive towards adulthood. 

  The proceeding stanza may connect with the high school student when the teacher guides them to use reader response as a literary critique form. The student may align them self with the "seize the day" attitude of the stanza. The utterances, "careless heads with roses bound," and "When thirst grief in wine we steep" could be of interest to the  high school student  According to Desna Wallin Hansen, "Literature can provide a reflection of historical and social thought" (2). This social thought may be thought of in terms of the high school student's. The thoughts "careless heads" and "in wine we steep" may connect with those students in the high school class who are concentrating their time in school within a social context. In today's classroom, students come with a more liberal attitude towards life, which they may see as similar to the Cavaliers' ideology. 

In this stanza the student, if seeking the truth of the poem using reader response may come to a point of confusion. The student may sense that the message within the poem seems to have changed direction. They will begin to attempt to fill in the gaps left by Lovelace in the text. As the student reads the lines they may reach a sense of patriotism:

  This sense of  patriotism will come from their "horizons of expectation" (Bressler 73). The reading of this text by the student may cause them to ask questions of themselves about life and what their role is in it. According to Robert L. Twiss, "Perhaps most importantly, especially in the secondary schools, we are seeing literature as part of the humanizing process - so much so that many of us are willing to say that we read literature to learn what it means to be a human being" (4). These feelings of loyalty the student may rest from the poem could be seen as part of that process. They may be feelings of loyalty to country or family, depending on the student. 

  If we, as teachers, allow the student to explore this stanza using reader response and let them find their own meaning the student may come to realize that the author's culture may have similarities in viewing freedom, love, and loyalty to their own. According to David S. Miall "…teachers of literature cannot communicate this power directly; they can only convey knowledge about literature. The experience of reading is subjective, and in itself incommunicable"(Empowering the Reader). Each student may find meaning that comes from their own worldview of the poem; however, the students may find that their interpretation of the text may be similar to others of their age. Teachers using these texts must be aware that the student may come to the wrong conclusion concerning the author's views. It is important to have in class discussion about the text so that the instructor might help guide the student to find a correct interpretation.

The Cavalier poets and their text can have an interesting affect on our students. According to James Inglis, "When we come to the upper school, we are dealing with pupils who are more or less willing…A teacher's enthusiasm can be very infectious. Here the content should be stimulating, covering 'inner experiences' of all sorts and unfolding new ideas on questions of morality, social consciousness, and the great issues facing man. At this stage content should never be enough" (8). The students sensing those ideas concerning love, freedom, and loyalty faced by others in relationships within the poetry will gain a sense that they are not alone in this world facing everyday problems; there are others who have passed before them who faced similar ordeals and questions.

Finding their way through moral choices is not the only thought of the future we as teachers need to consider as we consider our high school students. Those students who are contemplating continuing on into the higher ed. system is another group we need to keep in mind. The high school literature teacher has a duty to help prepare these students for their entrance into college. In his essay, "Inventing the University" David Bartholomae writes, "The student has to learn to speak our language, to speak as we do, to try on the peculiar ways of knowing, selecting evaluating, reporting, concluding, and arguing that define the discourse of our community" (589). We, as high school teachers, need to help the student begin to understand the discourse of university. These high school students contemplating entering college will be served positively if we give them a chance to explore how they  will be expected to think, communicate, and learn. They need to understand what is expected of them in classes that require them to evaluate differing ideas presented in texts at the university level.

With the help of the teacher, the student can find part of  this discourse by studying the Cavalier poetry with the aid of  "new criticism," along with reader response.  According to Bressler, "The poem's overall meaning or form, then, depends solely on the text in front of the reader. No library research, no studying of the author's life and times, and no other extraneous information is needed, for the poem itself contains all the necessary information to discover its meaning" (37). We need not ask the student to spend time researching an author's history or background to find meaning in the text; rather, it may be to the student's and teacher's advantage to seek the truth in the text only, at least at this point. According to Christopher Clausen the student can ignore outside influences like, " a direct reflection of its author's life; or an embodiment of the culture of its moment; or a philosophical statement; or a political manifesto."

We may want to begin looking at a text through the use of New Criticism by looking at its form or structure. When helping our students prepare to enter a college classes, it would be helpful if they some experience with the important literary terms used in poetry. One of these terms is meter. When looking at the themes of a poem it may be helpful to know what techniques were used when the author created it. These techniques can aid the student in seeing how the author stressed certain ideas or themes in the text.  We can again look at Richard Lovelace's "To Althea from Prison," as an example. In the first stanza the author is setting the tempo with the meter of the poem. In the classroom we could look at the first stanza to look at the meter used:

To Althea, from Prison

(U = semi-stressed, x = stressed, and / = unstressed syllables.)

In this stanza the student can learn the difference between both trimeter, when they discover the lines demonstration of "three feet," and the use of "tetrameter," or four feet. The iambic foot will consist of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The first and third lines of the stanza consist of  four iambic feet, which shows its form as being "tetrameter," (Norton 2944). The second and fourth lines consist of three iambs, which create trimeter in its rhythm. As the we help the student study the meter of the poem, we will stress that they look for differences in the meter and where this difference happens. We must guide the student to seek these difference in hopes of finding ambiguity. This ambiguity is a necessary part of the New Critics tool box. 

This ambiguity is a term referred to by New Critics which is brought about by tension in the poem. According to Dr. Tom Fish tension is, "The energy of oppositional elements or forces that paradoxically make possible the organic unity of a piece of literature" (Formalism). The tension referred to here can be found in one way by continuing to study the meter of the poem. In the third stanza of the poem a sense of tension can be found by the student:

In this, the next to the last stanza of the poem, we find that the meter has changed. The stresses are not the set as they were in the first stanza. Now we have examples of trochaic feet, or a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable, as in "linnets and mercy." This change in meter draws attention to certain words or phrases in the poem. Because of this attention, the implied reader will find that words such as linnets, king, majesty, and liberty are exposed to be of some importance. While in the beginning of the poem words such as love, whisper, and wanton were of a more critical nature. This tension brings about a state of ambiguity, which is, "the existence of several possible meanings, including conflicting feelings or attitudes" (Formalism). The ambiguities of these words are a clue for the student to put together with others to find the meaning in the text. At this point we can suggest the student consider both the denotative meaning and connotative meanings of the text.

Through other uses of New Criticism the high school student can find evidence of the same ambiguity in the poem. In the first stanza word such as love and phrases like "hovers within my gates," can direct the student to see the poem as a love poem; however, in later stanzas the ambiguity of Lovelace's work will be reinforced, by the denotative and connotative meanings the student finds. The same phrases and words that were earlier found to be in irony with those in the beginning of the poem can be seen as opposing what was earlier thought.

The last stanza of the poem will bring the reader to a sense of the  poems tension. According to Bressler tension is used to, "describe the opposition or conflicts operating within the text" (45). The fact that the author is describing his loyalty to his kind will surface as the real meaning behind the poem. This meaning will become evident to the student due to the structure of the poem. The climax caused by the last stanza will show the student the real meaning in the text, which is the author's loyalty. As we work with the student seeking meaning in a text, we will need to remind the student that when using New Criticism the author and their culture are not taken into account. Research into the history of an author is avoided, along with any question of their beliefs or values. According to New Criticism, "To believe that a poems meaning is nothing more than an expression of the private experiences or intentions of its author is to commit a fundament error of interpretation the New Critics call the Intentional Fallacy" (Bressler). We must remember in New Criticism the poem is an object, not a message of the author's thoughts or beliefs.

The student's natural curiosity at this point will guide them to ask who this loyalty might be directed to, or the instructor may pose the question to the students. At this point New Historicism could be introduced to the class. As the students in our classroom begin to question why Lovelace would direct "To Althea from Prison," as a political message the instructor could suggest they research the life of the poet. It might also be suggested that the students seek information on the politics of the poets time and culture.

According to Michel Foucault "history is not linear, for it does not have a definite beginning, middle, and end, nor is it necessarily teleological, purposefully going forward toward some known end" (qtd. in Bressler). As the student or students continue to seek the reasons behind the poem we need to remind them that according to new historicism, or cultural poetics:

How these discourses interact in any given historical period is not random, but dependent on a unifying principle or pattern…the episteme: Through language and thought, each period in history develops its own perceptions of the nature of reality (or what it defines as truth) and sets up its own acceptable and unacceptable standards of behavior, in addition to its criteria for judging what it deems good or bad, and what people  articulate, protect, and defend the yardstick whereby all establish truths, values, or actions are deemed acceptable" (Bressler 242).

Once the student understands how each time period and culture finds their own truths they might better understand what Lovelace went through and possible explanations for why he wrote the poem the way he did and the language he used.

As the student progresses in their research of Richard Lovelace they will find that he was, "Born into a wealthy Kentish family, he was educated at Oxford, and, like Suckling [another famous Cavalier] fought for his king in Scotland (in both expedition, 1639 and 1640)" (Norton 1670). As the student considers the fact that Lovelace not only wrote poetry that is linked to his king, but he also fought in battle for him.

The student will find that it may be possible that Lovelace wrote "To Althea from Prison," as he spent time in prison, "for supporting the 'Kentish Petition' that urged restoration of the king to his ancient rights" (Norton 1670). The value of this historical background the student finds can add to their appreciation of what and how people of differing times and cultures saw and believed in during their own lifetimes. This may be used as a comparison to what is happening in the students own life, not only on a personal level but a political level as well. Classroom discussion can be used to focus not only on poem and Lovelace, but serious discussion could be directed toward the differing literary tools that have been used to dissect the poem and what it has to offer.

Whatever the message is that the student gains from the poem, one thing is imperative that we remind ourselves of; the act of learning should be one of joy and exploration. Our position in front of an overpopulated classroom demands that we have a purpose in our teaching. The Cavaliers and their poetry can remain with a student for a lifetime. Not all of our students will leave our classroom happy or enriched by the Cavaliers. However, if we can help even one student gain something from  the poetry we have achieved some sense of success, "Poetry can be a rewarding and joyful experience. Poetry appeals to the near universal fondness children have for rhyme and rhythm. It nurtures a love and appreciation for the sound power of language. Poetry can help us see differently, understand ourselves and others, and validate our human experience" (Perfect). To reach students and keep them interested in what we are teaching this "rewarding and joyful experience," should be an important consideration as we teach. The Cavalier's work can become a point of interest to our students as they begin to see how the message within the poem can be found.

Successfully teaching the Cavalier Poets to a classroom full of high school students will depend on the excitement the teacher shows for the text, how we can help the students connect to the poetry, and the question of whether or not the student enjoys the poetry. According to Maria Brountas, "Poetry can do just about anything--from enriching the language of children to enhancing all areas of the curriculum. Poetry is a lovely gift we give to children that appreciates in value and last throughout their lifetime" (Teaching PreK-8). This lovely gift can come in the form of the poems by the Cavalier Poets. The texts handed down by these fine poets can add to the students repertoire including the strengths of their ability to make sound moral choices, the addition to their preparation of a discourse of the university, and a sense of enjoyment they can take with them for a lifetime. 

The Cavaliers and why?  How can we teach the Cavaliers Reader Response

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