Author: Matthew Zapruder File Type: epub An impassioned call for a return to reading poetry and an incisive argument for poetrys accessibility to all readers, by critically acclaimed poet Matthew ZapruderIn Why Poetry, award-winning poet Matthew Zapruder takes on what it is that poetryand poetry alonecan do. Zapruder argues that the way we have been taught to read poetry is the very thing that prevents us from enjoying it. In lively, lilting prose, he shows us how that misunderstanding interferes with our direct experience of poetry and creates the sense of confusion or inadequacy that many of us feel when faced with it.Zapruder explores what poems are, and how we can read them, so that we can, as Whitman wrote, possess the origin of all poems, without the aid of any teacher or expert. Most important, he asks how reading poetry can help us to lead our lives with greater meaning and purpose.Anchored in poetic analysis and steered through Zapruders personal experience of coming to the form, Why Poetry is engaging and conversational, even as it makes a passionate argument for the necessity of poetry in an age when information is constantly being mistaken for knowledge. While he provides a simple reading method for approaching poems and illuminates concepts like associative movement, metaphor, and negative capability, Zapruder explicitly confronts the obstacles that readers face when they encounter poetry to show us that poetry can be read, and enjoyed, by anyone.**ReviewZapruders writing is accessible, easygoing, and welcoming, as if hes sitting right there talking us through the poems. (Kirkus) In many ways a marvelous book...This passionate book, aimed at would-be poets, would work well both in a college classroom and in the hands of ordinary readers. (Publishers Weekly) [A] diligently executed investigation. . . . Conversational yet eloquent, accessible and intelligent, Zapruder considers a range of writing on poetics and the craft of composition and includes close reads and smart explication. (Booklist) Refreshingly humble and direct... Zapruder is the ideal narrator to debunk mistaken ideas about the art and claim that the ways we teach poetry are what prevent us from enjoying it...WHY POETRYcasts its net wide and hauls in a splendid bounty. (San Francisco Chronicle) The pleasure in Zapruders book is in going beyond those feelings into an exploration into the hows and whys of poetry. . . . It recaptures that which draws us to poetry as children, while showing us the even deeper pleasures we are capable of as adults. (Chicago Tribune) Why Poetryis a self-described impassioned call for a return to reading poetry. . . .Zapruder is a brainy and passionate advocate. (Seattle Weekly) [Zapruder] writes with clear and inviting prose . . .Why Poetryis part-inspiration, part-guidebook, and part literary memoir. . . .Zapruders spiritual undercurrent raisesWhy Poetryinto something rare the cogent and lively argument that poetry truly matters, fueled by passion rather than pretense. (The Millions) Even for people who already eat poetry three times a day, Why Poetry still offers a refreshingly convivial discussion of poetrys purpose in a world where its too often made to seem like public therapy or pointless frippery. (Paste Magazine) Poetry frustrates people . . . Every now and then one of the poets, in turn, steps up helpfully to explain how to read the stuff. In his friendly new book, Why Poetry, poet, editor and teacher Matthew Zapruder does this very thing with unusual clarity and generosity. (Newsday) Zapruder has written a book intended to help mend the rift between poems and readers . . . I am happy to report that he is refreshingly successful in making his case. Why Poetry is intelligent, straightforward, lucid, and cleanly reasoned. (Los Angeles Review of Books) From the Back CoverAn impassioned call for a return to reading poetry and an incisive argument for its accessibility to all readersIn Why Poetry, award-winning poet Matthew Zapruder argues that the way we have been taught to read poetry is the very thing that prevents us from enjoying it. He takes on what it is that poetryand poetry alonecan do. In lively, lilting prose, he shows us how that misunderstanding interferes with our direct experience of poetry and creates the sense of confusion or inadequacy that many of us feel when faced with a poem. Zapruder explores what poems are and how we can read them so that we can, as Whitman wrote, possess the origin of all poems without the aid of any teacher or expert. Most important, he asks how reading poetry can help us to lead our lives with greater meaning and purpose. Anchored in poetic analysis and steered by Zapruders personal experience of coming to the form, Why Poetry is engaging and conversational, even as it makes a passionate argument for the necessity of poetry in an age when information is constantly being mistaken for knowledge. While providing a simple reading method for approaching poems and illuminating concepts like associative movement, metaphor, and negative capability, Zapruder explicitly confronts the obstacles that readers face when they encounter poetry to show us that poetry can be read, and enjoyed, by anyone.

Author: Antoine J. Banks File Type: pdf Politicians, scholars, and pundits often disagree about whether race has been injected into a political campaign or policy debate. Some have suspected that race sometimes enters into politics even when political elites avoid using racial cues or racially coded language. Anger and Racial Politics provides a theoretical framework for understanding the emotional conditions under which this effect might happen. Banks asserts that making whites angry - no matter the basis for their anger - will make ideas about race more salient to them. He argues that anger, and not fear or other negative emotions, provides the foundation upon which contemporary white racial attitudes are structured. Drawing on a multi-method approach, he demonstrates that anger plays an important role in enhancing the impact of race on whites preferences for putting an end to affirmative action, repealing health care reform, hanging the confederate flag high, and voting for Tea Party-backed candidates. **Review Anger and Racial Politics is a must-read for anyone interested in how modern American democracy functions. It is a pathbreaking book for anyone who hopes to understand the unique and challenging dynamics of race in America. James Druckman, Payson S. Wild Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University Anger and Racial Politics fills a gap in our knowledge of the nature of racial prejudice. In the process, it advances the debate about the relative effects of racial attitudes and nonracial principles, such as small government. But Banks moves well beyond familiar territory, unpacking the emotional underpinnings of racial attitudes and making a strong, novel argument that anger - not fear or disgust - is the main emotional source of white racial resistance in the post-civil rights era. Anger is so closely connected to white Americans views about African Americans that it acts as a force of its own. With this insight, this book sheds light on both older and more recent political phenomena ... A terrific book on an important topic. Tali Mendelberg, Princeton University, and author of The Race Card Campaign Strategy, Implicit Messages, and the Norm of Equality This carefully theorized and well-researched study of the role of racial resentment in modern American politics goes beyond previous research by focusing on the emotional underpinnings of racial resentment. It convincingly argues that whites anger about blacks demands and unwillingness to take responsibility for their own shortcomings, more than their disgust toward or fear of blacks, is central to their racial attitudes. Racial resentment rooted in anger is in contrast to old-fashioned racism, more rooted in disgust, and ostensibly race-neutral conservatism, based on no particular emotion. This book offers a wide variety of impressive, fresh research findings and is written in a vein that makes it accessible to a broad audience. David O. Sears, University of California, Los Angeles Anger and Racial Politics is a contribution of strikingly original research that successfully comes to grips with the role of race in contemporary American politics. Shanto Iyengar, Stanford University Book Description Anger and Racial Politics provides a theoretical framework for understanding the emotional conditions that cause race to have a more pervasive effect on politics. Antoine J. Banks argues that anger, and not other negative emotions, provides the foundation upon which contemporary white racial attitudes are structured. He demonstrates that anger plays an important role in enhancing the impact of race on whites preferences for putting an end to affirmative action, repealing health care reform, hanging the confederate flag high, and voting for Tea Party-backed candidates.