Forum Presentation - Bercasio, Jen

A Tribute to the Teacher by Joy
Elmer Morgan: A Poem

Analysis through New
Criticism Theory
Jennifer L. Bercasio, BSE 4A, CBSUA - CDE

Introduction:
Poetry is a compact language that expresses complex

feelings.
- American Poets of the 20th Century
Literary analysis is a vital stage in the development of

students' critical thinking skills.
-Rusul Alrubail, 2014
A Tribute to the Teacher by Joy Elmer Morgan: A Poem Analysis through New Criticism Theory
Definition of Term: New Criticism Theory
- “close reading”
- Guide Questions:
a. Who are the protagonist and antagonist in the story and how
they are characterized?
b. What is the conflict?
c. What theme does the work include?
d. How are symbols, images, and other poetic devices used?
e. What role does the setting play in the work?
f. Trace the plot structure particularly rising action, climax, and
resolution.
g. Examine how genre form affects the content.
Framework of the Study:
A Tribute to the Teacher

by Joy Elmer Morgan
New Criticism Theory
Poem Analysis
Methodology Used
- Qualitative Design
- Record Keeping Method
- Guide questions presented from the theory
About the poem:
- written by JOY ELMER MORGAN
*Calloway, Nebraska
*December 11, 1889
*Editor, Journal of the National Education Association,
1920
*founded Future Teachers of America , 1937
*President, Senior Citizens of America, 1954
- to give an honor to Educators and his advocacy for
educating the youth during his time
A Tribute to the Teacher – Joy Elmer Morgan
The teacher is a prophet.
He lays the foundation of tomorrow.
The teacher is an artist.
He works with precious clay of unfolding personality.
The teacher is a friend.
His heart responds to the faith and devotion of his students.
The teacher is a citizen.
He is selected and licensed for the improvement of society.
The teacher is an interpreter.
Out of his mature and wider life, he seeks to guide the
young.
The teacher is a builder.
He works with the higher and finer values of civilization.
The teacher is a culture bearer.
He leads the way toward worthier tastes, saner attitudes,
more gracious manners, higher intelligence.
The teacher is a planner.
He sees the young lives before him as a part of a great
system that shall grow stronger in the light of truth.
The teacher is a pioneer.
He always interpreting and attempting the impossible and
usually winning out.
The teacher is a reformer.
He seeks to remove the handicaps that weaken and destroy
life.
The teacher is a believer.
He has an abiding faith in God in the improvability of the race
Problem 1. Examine the poem structure in New Criticism
Theory lenses.
a. Who are the c. What theme d. What are symbols, g. Examine how
protagonist and does the work images, and other genre form
antagonist in the story include? poetic devices used? affects the
and how they are content.
characterized?
- teacher is the only - Description and - Consonance, free - presents the role
character in the text ; characterization verse, descriptive, of a teacher
described through to acknowledge measurement (22 lines,
symbolism the teacher 1 stanza), symbolisms
-Guide questions b, e, & f are not applicable

Problem 2. Assert how important the New Criticism Theory
is in teaching literature.
- offered a relatively straightforward and politically uncontroversial
approach to the teaching of literature
- focused on the history and meaning of individual words and their
relation to foreign and ancient languages, comparative sources
- tended to distract from the text and meaning of a poem and entirely
neglect its aesthetic qualities in favor of teaching about external
factors, and the biographical circumstances of the authors
- still fundamental tools of literary criticism, underpinning a number of
subsequent theoretic approaches to literature including
poststructuralism, deconstruction theory, and reader-response theory
Gerald Graf
Professing Literature, Chicago and London:
The University of Chicago Press, 1987
Conclusion
How would you want people to judge you - based off what
they've previously heard about you, or your words and
actions as you interact with them? Most people would want
to be judged off their own words and actions.
- Joseph Vigil, 2018
Therefore, A Tribute to the Teacher by Joy Elmer Morgan

means the text itself through New Criticism theory.
References
• https://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/new.crit.html
• https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/
new-criticism
• https://courses.lumenlearning.com/introliterature/chapt
er/new-criticism-suggested-replacement
• https://www.britannica.com/art/New-Criticism
• https://bowiestate.libguides.com/c.php?g=442217&p=30
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A Tribute to the Teacher by Joy

Elmer Morgan: A Poem

Jennifer L. Bercasio, BSE 4A, CBSUA - CDE

Poetry is a compact language that expresses complex

Literary analysis is a vital stage in the development of

A Tribute to the Teacher

New Criticism Theory

-Guide questions b, e, & f are not applicable

Therefore, A Tribute to the Teacher by Joy Elmer Morgan

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