Tasks & exercises

The short story in this assignment is entitled Some Hangover and is written by American writer Charles Bukowski in 1974 and subsequently included in his 1983 short story collection, Hot Water Music. Read the story aloud in groups and make a brief characterisation of the important characters in the text. At the end of the story, the protagonist Kevin is asked to see a psychologist. Write down 10 questions you would ask Kevin if you were the psychologist. Be prepared to present and discuss the questions and potential answers in class.

The poem in this assignment is entitled Beer and stems from Charles Bukowski's poetry collection Love is a Mad Dog From Hell released in 1971. Watch the studio Nerdo's visualisation of the poem below and briefly discuss the use of cinematic techniques. Identify the poem's use of figurative language. Lastly, discuss the poem's portrayal of gender roles and how the poem would have been received today. You must keep notes on your group discussions.

BEER by Charles Bukowski from NERDO on Vimeo.

This short story is entitled Loneliness and is taken from Bukowski's short story collection South of No North: Stories of the Buried Life released in 1973.

In the short story there is a 50 word dating ad. Before reading the text, pretend that you are looking for love and write a 50 word dating ad in which you make use of the following tenses; the present perfect and the past perfect at least once. You can also use Tinderkit to generate a dating profile, but remember that you still have to meet the requirements mentioned before. Be prepared to share your dating ad with your group and compare it to the one in the text.

Afterwards, read the text aloud in groups and choose a couple of focal points for analysis. Be prepared to share your analysis and discussion in class.

The poem in this assignment is entitled Bluebird (1975) and it showcases a different side of Bukowski. The poem originally comes from a letter he wrote to then-girlfriend artist and sculptor, Linda King. Watch the visualisation of the poem below and analyse the poem using poetry analysis.

Narration by Tom O'Bedlam