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A Study Guide for Maxine Kumin's "400-Meter Freestyle"
A Study Guide for Maxine Kumin's "400-Meter Freestyle"
A Study Guide for Maxine Kumin's "400-Meter Freestyle"
Ebook36 pages24 minutes

A Study Guide for Maxine Kumin's "400-Meter Freestyle"

By Gale and Cengage

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A Study Guide for Maxine Kumin's "400-Meter Freestyle," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 2, 2016
ISBN9781535816427
A Study Guide for Maxine Kumin's "400-Meter Freestyle"

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    A Study Guide for Maxine Kumin's "400-Meter Freestyle" - Gale

    11

    400-Meter Freestyle

    Maxine Kumin

    1961

    Introduction

    Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Maxine Kumin's poem 400-Meter Freestyle closely follows the movements of an accomplished swimmer competing in a swim meet. The poem is very visual, an effect achieved not only through Kumin's poetic verbal expressions but also through the layout of the words on the page.

    As readers imagine the scene that Kumin's poem creates, they also see the unusual pattern of the words: at the end of a line, the words represent a quick turn by flowing down the edge of the page. The lines of words mimic the physical route of the swimmer, who is first moving down the lanes of the pool and then quickly turning underwater at each end of the pool. The combination of Kumin's carefully chosen, descriptive words and the clever placement of those words on the page creates a strong impression for the reader. It is easy to imagine oneself in the grandstand, watching this race, from the sound of the starter gun to the final tally of the clock.

    400-Meter Freestyle was first published in 1961 in Kumin's first published collection, Halfway. The poem has since been republished in her highly praised 1997 collection of new and old poems, Selected Poems, 1960–1990. This particular poem is often used in classrooms as a good example of concrete poetry.

    Author Biography

    Kumin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 6, 1925, the youngest of four children born to Peter and Doll Winokur. She attended Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she studied literature and history and graduated with a master's degree in 1948. Although she had been exposed to literature in college, her interest in poetry was sparked later while attending a workshop taught by John Holmes. It was in this adult-education class that Kumin not only began to write but also met the poet Anne Sexton, who would become a collaborator and a lifelong friend.

    In 1961, Kumin published her first poetry collection, Halfway, which contains 400-Meter Freestyle. This decade proved fruitful for

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