We’ve been looking at the theme of isolation and identity in poetry. Thought you might want to review the poems we’ve been reading in class, so here they are (and a few we will get to), in no particular order:

• “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Lawrence Dunbar (1913) ((Yep, he’s American, but these are important poems.))
• “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
• “Not Waving But Drowning” by Stevie Smith (1957)
• “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1875)
• “If” by Rudyard Kipling
• “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay (2009)
• “I am a Rock” by Simon & Garfunkel (1965) ((Can’t find a clean link—search if you’d like.))
• “Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles (1966)
• “Self-Dependence” by Matthew Arnold (1852)
• “Warning to Children” by Robert Graves
• “Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas (1952) (With audio!)

I asked you to read and journal over “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot, which you can find here. It is a complicated poem, so don’t worry if you have more questions than answers at this point ((And here I use an emdash to set off a parenthetical elaboration…))—I don’t expect a dissertation, just a record of your initial reaction and questions, lots of questions.

If you come across (or know of) any other poems we should read, post a link in the comments or bring a copy to class.

For the good of the class, comment the links to college applications below.

Youniversitytv.com offers virtual tours of universities around the country.

Commonapp.org—One application, 390 universities.

In lieu of a final this session, we’ll kick off the college search with a few applications to get you comfortable with the process. Fill out the OU and OSU applications to the best of your ability–we’ll look over them tomorrow and I’ll give you some feedback. Also, bring three other applications from universities of your choice.

In case I don’t say it enough in class:

Visit colleges this summer.

Get a group of your friends (and a parent or two) and hit the road. Integrate college visits into your vacations. Talk to people back from college for the summer. Talk to the people with the job you dream about. ((Honestly, there are many vocations out there that do not require a regular degree. Find someone successful and see how they got there.)) The College Visit is a rite of passage; dive in.

Last thing:

I know a number of you signed up for the Senior Visit Day at TU; if you didn’t, there is still time.

Found this post at The findingDulcinea Blog (our blogs were meant for one another!).  Contains some good links to start your college search.  Don’t forget to check out the comments, too.  Apparently eNotes has a "Get Answers from Real Students" section.

Happy Spring Break.