"Those Circles Moved"
Collaborative Electronic Conferencing Selections
American Literature Survey TCC D. Reiss
The following examples come from an American literature survey course at Tidewater
Community College, Virginia Beach.
- Students were asked to read four poems, pick one image that they especially liked, and
explain their choice in a posting to the entire class.
- Then each student was asked to read the entire class’s postings, pick one and write
a letter to that person telling why they liked the student’s choice (copy to me).
- Finally, each student wrote a letter to me informally assessing the activity.
We used Daedalus Interchange as a bulletin board for this asynchronous activity. It
could have been done with e-mail, a Web forum, disk exchanges, or a newsgroup.
Letter 1 to All Classmates
The image "(She moved in circles, and those circles moved)" is
from "I knew a Woman" by Roethke. This particular image is a way
that he is showing one part of her seductive body language that he sees in her. This image
is very seductive and permiscuous, and shows how carefully he has watched her every move.
This poem shows such adoration and love through its use of specific language. The whole
poem has a great deal of motion throughout its entirety. It’s obvious that he watches
and studies her constantly; therefore, he is always learning from her. She is in complete
control of this relationship and he has no problems with that issue at all. In actuality
he enjoys constantly learning from her, and not being dominant and in control. It seems as
if he is at the point in his life that he knows what he can teach and what he now wants to
learn. This seductive woman is whom he wants to learn from. This image shows the movement
from teacher to student and from student to teacher. This also shows how willing he is to
trade places with her and to learn.
Letter 2 to One Classmate
Dear Ms. __: I agree with your view on Roethke’s "I Knew a
Woman." Stating that the woman was in complete control of the relationship with the
gentleman who is obsessed with her every movement. "(She moved in
circles, and those circles moved)," does suggest that there is some sexual
undertones. It appears that this gentlemen is in fact obsessed with her body physically,
with not knowing her intellect this seems to be shallow but when it comes to sexuality who
really wants to get involved with the mental attachment? This poem suggests that there is
a lot of movement in not only the woman but also with the gentleman. The poem deals with
sexuality and promiscuity on the parts of both the woman and the gentleman.
Another Letter 2 to the Same Classmate
Dear Ms.____: Your explication of the line in Theodore Roethke’s poem "I
Knew a Woman," was very accurate in my opinion. Your interpretation of the line,
"She moved in circles, and those circles moved," certainly describes the
seductiveness and control the woman had over Roethke. The circle within a circle movement
is almost like some form of hypnosis that Roethke has undergone, almost willingly. This
hypnotic effect has cost him his control over the situation but he does not seem to mind.
But, to be honest which man among us has not been swayed by the hypnotic effect women have
over us. And for that matter which woman can claim to be ignorant of this technique.
Letter of Assessment to Me
Dear Ms. Reiss, Did you have the chance to read Ms. ___ ’s explication of the poem
"I Knew a Woman"? I read it and was happy to see someone else had the
same view as I. I too say this was Roethke’s way of looking at this woman as she
moved. It seemed that she could have been going nowhere, and yet in his mind she was
moving everywhere. I thought he was sort of degrading her in a provocative way at first,
but I read the poem the poem several times and picked up on the way he was circling her
with admiration. The punctuation that he put in the poem also helped. As mentioned by
another classmate, the semicircles that were around "(She moved in
circles, and those circles moved)" was a way of enclosing her maybe with his love for
the way she moved and expressed herself. I also thought that the author wanted to stress
that she was moving in circles and the circles moved too. It was like an aroma was
following her and maybe the way she moved caught the attention of the air in the circle
too. It’s possible that this was an unmentioned love of Mr. Roethke’s long past
that he has circling among his memories…. Dick H.
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