ENGL 215 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Al Purdy, The Canadian Encyclopedia, Leonard Cohen
4 Apr 2018
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Discussion question: what types of linguistic and rhetorical devices set contemporary poets such as al. While readi(cid:374)g al purd(cid:455) a(cid:374)d leo(cid:374)ard cohe(cid:374)"s poe(cid:373)s, i noticed a lack of grammar and form. There seemed to be only a few dashes and commas in the poems combined with a heavy use of enjambment. Compared to the confederation poets, who wrote according to a form such as iambic tetrameter or a sonnet, these poems appeared to be more free and disorganized. Their lack of form mirrors a scattered train of thought, writing without boundaries or rules. This break away from literary conforms is a very modern occurrence, as modern life has increasingly become more and more based upon freedom of speech and expression. Poets from the 1960s developed wide-ranging, open-ended, experimental, and colloquial forms, in response to the 1960s counterculture, the postmodernist movement, and the feminist movement (performance poetry, sound poetry, found poetry, the long poem).
