Now that we’ve practiced analyzing poetry as a class with Van Gogh and Anne Sexton’s “Starry Night”, you’ll practice working in small groups with your peers to analyze the next set of poems and paintings.
For this assignment you will choose to either read the American poet Allen Ginsburg’s poem “Cezzane’s Ports” while examining the French painter Paul Cezzane’s painting “The Gulf of Marseilles Seen From L’Estaque”, or read American poet X.J. Kennedy’s “Nude Descending a Staircase” while analyzing the painting by French artist Duchamp with the same title.

Paul Cezzane’s painting “The Gulf of Marseilles Seen From L’Estaque”. L’Estaque is a town in southern France.
Remember, refer to the chart you made in class if you have a hard time remembering which artistic elements you should be looking for, and how they relate to poetry:
Artistic Element | Poetic/Literary Element |
Color | Imagery, or Symbolism |
Texture | Imagery |
Images | Imagery |
Lines/Movement | Line breaks, stanzas, enjambment |
Lighting | Imagery |
Level of detail | Imagery |
Emotion | Mood/Tone |
Contrast | Juxtaposition |
Symbols | Symbolism |
Click here to access the poems if you misplaced them.
You will be responsible in Part One of this analysis project for teaching your other group members about the poem or painting you’ve selected.
In Part Two, you will work together with those students to teach the rest of the class how your poem and painting pair together.
Please click here to view the assignment sheet and rubric for this project.