James Whitcomb Riley

Heather JacksonEDUC 357.002Mr. Sandrick

My Experience

• In second grade, our teacher taught us the poem “Little Orphan Annie”. We were then asked to memorize a portion of the poem to be performed in front of the assembly.

• We also visited Riley’s home in Greenfield, IN, when I was in second grade.

Questions that Arose

• What was James Whitcomb Riley’s life like?

• What other poems did James Whitcomb Riley write?

• How did James Whitcomb Riley die?• How did James Whitcomb Riley begin

writing poetry?

What was James Whitcomb Riley’s Life Like?

• Born on October 7, 1849 in Greenfield, IN.• As a boy, Riley was noted for ingenuity and

pranks.• Riley was unable to learn history or mathematics.

Yet he still attempted to become a lawyer.• Riley never settled down, instead traveling with a

“Miracle Medicine Show”.• Entertainment was Riley’s strength, he performed

in plays and published poems in newspapers.• Taken from:

http://www.jameswhitcombriley.com/riley_links.htm

What Other Poems did James Whitcomb Riley Write?

• A Life-Lesson• A Noon Interval• A Parting Guest• A Passing Hail• A Poet’s Wooing• A Song of the Road• A Summer Afternoon• At Broad Ripple• Ike Walton’s Prayer• Knee-Deep in June• There Was a Cherry-Tree• To a Boy Whistling• Unless• We to Sigh Instead of Sing• Who Bides His Time• Ylladmar• Granny• The BumbleBee• Wet-weather Talk

• Liberty• Orlie Wilde• The Harper• The Merman• The Old Guitar• The Old Times Were the Best• The Rapture of the Year• The Ripest Peach• The Rival• The Song of Yesterday• The Willow• Almost Beyond Endurance• Nine Little Goblins• Little Orphan Annie• Our Hired Girl• The Old Swimmin’-Hole• When the Frost is on the Punkin• A Barefoot Boy• The Raggedy Man

Taken from: http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/James-Whitcomb-Riley

How did James Whitcomb Riley Die?

• Riley died of a stroke in July 22, 1916.• Riley died shortly after he visited his

hometown of Greenfield, IN for a funeral of a boyhood friend.

• In his late fifties, Riley suffered a stroke that paralyzed his left side.

• Taken from: http://www.jameswhitcombriley.com/riley_links.htm

How did James Whitcomb Riley Begin Writing Poems?

• Riley wrote his first poem when he was 21 years old, in 1870.

• He began writing for multiple newspapers, eventually settled writing for the Indianapolis Journal in Indianapolis, IN.

• Riley’s big break came when he privately published 1,000 copies of The Old Swimmin’ Hole and ‘Leven More Poems in 1883.

• Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Whitcomb_Riley#Writing

Poem Excerpt from Little Orphan Annie

•“Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,

An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,

An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,

An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;

An' all us other childern, when the supper-things is done,

We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun

A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,

An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits youEf youDon'tWatchOut!”

“Wunst they wuz a little boy wouldn't say his prayers,--

An' when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,

His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,

An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wuzn't there at all!

An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an' press,

An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'-wheres, I guess;

But all they ever found wuz thist his pants an' roundabout:--

An' the Gobble-uns 'll git youEf youDon'tWatchOut!”

Taken from: http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/James-Whitcomb-Riley/13510

Standards Associated

• 2.1.3-Identify individuals who had a positive impact on the local community.

• 1.1.1-Compare the way individuals in the community lived in the past with the way they live in the present.

Resources

• James Whitcomb Riley.com: http://www.jameswhitcombriley.com/

• American Poems.com: http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/James-Whitcomb-Riley

• Wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Whitcomb_Riley

• Indiana Historical Society: http://www.indianahistory.org/pop_hist/people/riley.html

• About James Whitcomb Riley: http://www.classicauthors.net/Riley/index.html