Spoon+River+Project

The Spoon River Project Based on //The Spoon River Anthology// by Edgar Lee Masters
 * || =8th English=
 * || =8th English=

Students in the two sections of 8th English taught by Susan Davis/Stephen Vrla and Shelby Cherin have created pages that interpret the poems from Edgar Lee Masters's famous anthology in two ways: first, they conduct a formal character analysis of one of the personae represented in the collection; second, they interpret the poem of that character in a dramatic reading of the poem. This project was completed by students at Chinquapin Preparatory School in November 2011.

Students used the following tools and resources for their projects: The Spoon River Anthology Definitive Online Edition, Fotobabble, Behold (for Creative Commons photographs), and Wikispaces. || "The Hill" Read by Susan Davis Photo by Susan Davis media type="custom" key="11129010" This poem opens the anthology and sets the stage for the voices who follow. Masters presents the narrators of the personal stories as equals who live side by side in a graveyard, when they might have never spoken as they passed one another on the street in real life. He gives a few clues here, too, to the events that have led to various speakers' deaths. In the end, "all, all are sleeping, sleeping, sleeping on the hill" (line 9). "Sleeping" suggests a peaceful end to what turn out to be many unhappy, tormented lives.

Hod Putt (Alejandro) Hod Putt (Ahmad) Ollie McGee (Yasmin) Ollie McGee (Claudia) Fletcher McGee (German) Dora Williams (Viviana) Dora Williams (Amber) Dora Williams (Myrna) Mrs. Williams (Kaijah) Mrs. Williams (Jocelyn) Mrs. Benjamin Pantier (Anuar) Cooney Potter (Daniel) Reuben Pantier (Juan) Reuben Pantier (Josue) Reuben Pantier (Diego) Emily Sparks (Lesley) Emily Sparks (Elizabeth) Emily Sparks (Alyssa) Doctor Meyers (Christian) Doctor Meyers (Jose) Doctor Meyers (Erik) Yee Bow (Trevor) Yee Bow (Mat) Yee Bow (Naomi) Indignation Jones (Kevin) Fiddler Jones (James) Fiddler Jones (Luke) Minerva Jones (Yadi) Butch Weldy (Shelby)