The Human Gift: an Introduction to the History of Poetry

Who is Jorge Luis Borges?

• Argentinian novelist, essayist and poet most closely connected with the magical realism movement in fiction

• Deliberate (adjective) done on purpose

• Sumer was a civilization that existed in Mesopotamia (what is now southern Iraq) between 6000-5000 BC.

What does the term "deliberate" mean as used in the passage?

• Argentinian novelist, essayist and poet most closely connected with the magical realism movement in fiction

• Deliberate (adjective) done on purpose

• Sumer was a civilization that existed in Mesopotamia (what is now southern Iraq) between 6000-5000 BC.

What is Sumer?

• Argentinian novelist, essayist and poet most closely connected with the magical realism movement in fiction

• Deliberate (adjective) done on purpose

• Sumer was a civilization that existed in Mesopotamia (what is now southern Iraq) between 6000-5000 BC.

Inherent (adjective) belonging to something by nature or habit

Renowned (adjective) highly honored or celebrated

During a period of US history known as the Great Migration, approximately 6 million Black people moved from the rural South to cities in Northern states between 1916 and 1970.

The Rhodes Scholarship is a prestigious award that began in 1903 and allows winners to study at which university?

• Harvard University

• Stanford University

• Oxford University

• Cambridge University

Conventional (adjective) common; typical; ordinary

What is the central idea of the text?

• Poetry became the most popular form of art once written language was developed around the world.

• Poetry of the Shakespearean and Romantic eras was of a higher quality than the poetry written today.

• Poetry was important in the past, but people have moved on to more modern artforms in the digital age.

• Poetry has a long history and its role in society changes over time.

Which detail from the text best illustrates important values of Transcendentalism?

• "Its use of flowery, superfluous language is sometimes regarded as uptight and stuffy today, but was a remarkable embrace of human spirit at its height." (Paragraph 5)

• "The themes in their work sought to capture peace and divinity in the everyday, as well as the beauty of nature." (Paragraph 6)

• "Transcendentalism became a defining American poetic tradition, with renowned writers like Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and many others among their ranks. (Paragraph 6)

• "They experimented with words and language, and focused on meaning and understanding over things like rhyming and alliteration." (Paragraph 8)