[broadwaybaby246]

yes, this was posted on the MDN social board too...but someone suggested CATS and i think that its a REALLY good idea. Are there any poems in Cats that you think would fit for me pretty well? read the next paragraph for more info. I was looking at Memory and Moments of Hapiness. i dont know much about cats so if you guys have ideas could you kind of explain to me whats going on? thanks

Ok, so in English our project is to pick a poem (it can be a song) and we have to interpret it to the class. We can do it like a monologue, we can also act it out and then play the song to the class if it is a song etc... I was wondering if any of you have any ideas of a good piece to use. I was looking at Les Mis, but the poems we read in class are kind of hard to understand and something like IDAD would seem kind of straight forward, you know what i mean? This is 9th grade English, so far weve read poems like "The Hired Man" "Richard Cory", some stuff by E.E. Cummings. We've also read "The Ad-Dressing of Cats" Please help me, id like something from musical theatre, but it doesent have to be if you know of a good poem i would be very grateful.
Thanks

[Belle]

My favourite is "The Moments of Happiness". It's much harder to follow than the rest of the Cats poems, but I like it for that. I think the song phrasing somewhat detracts from the sense of it, so you could do a good project comparing your own phrasing with the musical version. See if you can get it clearer breaking up the phrases differently.
Also the Moments of Happiness/Moonlight section of the Cats DVD would make a lovely example of the show.

[Pounce]

I would go with "Memory". "Moments of Happiness" is very short and unless someone here can interpret it, I still find it hard to understand, but maybe that is what you are looking for. "Memory" is easier but still not too easy to understand however, if you've seen the show or at least saw the video, interpreting "Memory" will be that much easier.

"Memory" has lyrics written by Trevor Nunn but he used lines from T.S. Eliot, so it is not technically a T.S. Eliot poem but it sounds like one.

[Flitterbug]

Choose any of his poems. But I'd suggest - if you want a real challenge - interpret the poem on a line by line basis first. It's interesting the sort of things you come up with if each line has it's own meaning rather than each stanza as a whole.

[Roxanne]

Sounds like a neat project. =)

Keep in mind that in most of the actual lyrics used in CATS, the words to TS Eliot's poems have been changed (him to I and such things as this, if there character is narrating his own song), and Memory as a song is only based on TS Eliot's works. Just good to know if you have to have the author listed.

TS Eliot's book "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" is what CATS is based on, and has Eliot's poems in their original forms.


On another note, if you want something really challenging or just very very interesting (not sure how much you're into poetry), look into some works by Emily Dickinson. Her writing's so very interesting. o.o

Good luck with your project. =)

[Moongewl]

It's not in CATS, but I suggest TS Eliot's "Preludes." It's wonderfully confusing/nonsensical to high school students such as myself. I've memorized the third and fourth parts simply for my own recitative pleasure. (Though since it's 9th grade, you might get a few snickers.)

[Spanish_Rumple]

Well, I've learned by heart Shakespeare's sonnet nº 18, but not for any class project but for myself because on one hand I had the poem as a song in a CD called Diana Tribute, putting music to the words help a lot to memorize the words!!

I also like "Greensleeves" and it's got its own music too. But I think that is a song not a poem... Here's a link to the lyrics:

http://www.uidaho.edu/student_orgs/arthurian_legend/game/music/GreensleevesLyrics.htm

I hope it helps.

[Rumpleteazer4760]

The poem "Rhapsody On A Windy Night" (upon which "Memory" is based) is a nice poem by T.S. Eliot, but I'm not sure how appropriate it would be for a 9th grade English class because of the subject matter. Just thought I'd throw it out there.

The mention of the poem "Richard Cory" reminded me of a similar poem I read called "Miniver Cheevy". I think it was by the same author. You might look into that one.

[MzGalinda]

"Moments of Happiness" is where Old Deut sings after the Pekes and Pollicles, right? If it's not, do that one. You're right, it's rather tough to interpret, but I think it's a good poem/song...

[Roxanne]

[sweetjemimakitten]

Hmmm. I think that Skimbleshanks' song or Macavity's song would be fun to do, but that's just me o.o;

There's a poet..Bradley Hathaway? He's a christian guy or something and..murr, I'm not sure exactly where to place his sort of poetry. It's sort of spoken-poetry, I guess, but it's amusing nonetheless with a good meaning behind the words. Alot of freshman at my school are into him, but I'm not sure if you're looking for that sort of poetry ( and really, some of the poems he writes..really have nothing to do with christianity, such as 'The Annoying Hardcore Dude That Goes Too Far'. ) Just a thought

Good luck! Let us know what you pick :]

[Etcetera Kitten]

Sadly, I lack culture when it comes to English poetry, but I know most of the great French poets (I am a poet myself, well I dont mean to sound like I self-claim myself a poet, but I've won paid university for my poems).

Are you looking for a poem that rhymes, or just prose, or any specific poetry movement? Too bad I dont know English poets too well, but the one suggestion I can make is to may be pick a poet that was either in the Romantic movement (like Victor Hugo, he's the one who originally wrote Les Misérables) or a Symbolist poet like Verlaine. But of course, it'd have to be an English poet.

But oh! Thinking of it, I've always liked that one song by Simon and Garfunkel, the Sound of Silence. Would that be too well known or too easy?

I wish you luck with that, I'm a huge poetry fanatic, and I like the idea of that project. And oh, when you find a good poem or song for class, I'd be really pleased to read it, your post made me really curious!

EDIT: Confusion here, sorry to ask, but about how old are 9th graders in the US? I work with the Quebecker system, so yeah may be all the stuff I said wouldnt be appropriate anyways depending on the age. ^^;;; sorry! But I still hope it helped.

[Rumblepurr]

Ninth Graders inthe US are usually 14-15 years old...

[Etcetera Kitten]