Reviving Contemporary Poetry
Prefatory
Statement:
This unit will have students
explore contemporary themes and authors, post WWII, in poetry. The purpose in participating/completing a
contemporary poetry unit is to expand a student’s knowledge of poetry beyond
the knowledge of great past poets.
Young adults infrequently discover an appreciation or understanding of
poetry written in this contemporary time.
Appreciation and understanding of contemporary poetry will enable
students to see the present world with a critical eye.
The set induction plans to
engage students by revealing how one may approach writing and analyzing
poetry. Samples of art and music will
be used to prompt students to free write; they may use any genre to express analyses,
emotions, and thoughts. A simple
painting can leave a lot of room for imagination and creativity. Music is a form of poetry that resembles
many techniques used in poetry.
Students will then transform their free writing into scansion or free
verse poetry. By approaching poetry in the form of a familiar genre, such as
song or art, students may begin to establish similarities between the different
representations of artistic expression.
Poetry helps to reveal the world around us. By focusing on reading contemporary poetry, students will gain a
sense of poetry’s relevancy and abundance in this contemporary time.
Throughout the course of the unit, some topics of
discussion include authors, the history, and transformation of poetry (post
WWII). I plan to expand students’
perspectives of their history, culture, and world by using a diversity of
poets. Final assessment will compose of six total pieces of poetry written from
each subject throughout the unit. The
six pieces will then be bound together with all other classmates’ poems and
will be published for all to have a copy.
This bound book with the students’ one to two poems and all other
work—daily journal reflections, research papers, pier critiques of papers, and
participation—will go into figuring out the overall grade.
The concluding lesson to the unit will involve
contacting a published neighborhood or statewide poet who will volunteer time
to read some of his\hers poetry and some of the student’s poetry (if a student
permits it) aloud. There is no reason
for preaching about contemporary poetry without hearing from a real poet from
our age. There will also be a day where
students can perform their poetry in an open mike forum.
Class
Specification:
This unit is designed for 10th
and 11th graders. Younger students
have the ability to approach poetry, however, with the addition of other
dimensions—history, culture, and poet perspective—analyzing/interpreting poetry
may be too hard. The poets covered will
be men and women from all over the world.
A possible alternative for lower grades could be to teach each poetic
device, such as paradox, consonance, along with poetry which effects each
device then have students write poetry mirroring certain devices.
Significant
Assumptions:
Ø
Students
will know some history of contemporary America (Vietnam, presidents, etc.)
Ø
Students
will know how to write a formal essay (analytical, comparative, with a thesis
and supporting evidence along with an introduction and conclusion).
Ø Students have a basic
knowledge of poetic devices
o
Handout
of terms attached that they should know.
Ø Students will know how to
keep a journal.
Ø Students have access to
computers and Internet.
Ø Students know how to work
well individually, in small groups, and as a whole class.
Desired
Outcomes:
Ø Competent completion of
Minnesota High School Graduation Standard 3.2: Literature and arts analysis and
interpretation.
Ø
Students
will demonstrate the ability to interpret and evaluate poetry by: describing
poet’s intent, historical influences, theme, and elements of style and
structure; applying specific criteria, personal review and response to
interpret and evaluate selected poems; describing how particular effects are
produced by poet’s use of style and structure; and communicating an
thoughtful/informed understanding or interpretation using the vocabulary of
poetry.
Possible Whole Class
Activities:
Ø Discussions about poems and
poets.
o
See
attachment terms of possible discussion questions
Ø Discussions about historical
influences and elements of poetic style.
o
See
attachment terms of possible discussion questions.
Ø Silent and aloud reading of
poems by both students and teacher.
Ø Collection of Poetry
Journals
Possible
Small Group Activities:
Ø Discussions of poems in
pairs and small groups.
o
See
attachment terms of possible discussion questions.
Ø Group
performance/presentation of a poem.
o
Rationale
for why the group thought to present the poem in this way?
o
Group
led discussion.
o
See
attachment.
Possible Individual
Activities:
Ø Journal reflections.
Ø Personal poems influenced by
poets and historical implications.
Ø Final research papers on a
contemporary poet covered in the unit.
Ongoing Activities:
Ø Journal writing.
Ø Personal poems influenced by
poets and historical implications.
o
See
assessment essay interpretation attachment.
Ø Final research papers on a
contemporary poet covered in the unit.
Student
resources:
Web
sources:
Fooling with Words-
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/foolingwithwords/index.html
Glossary of terms and links-
http://shoga.wwa.com/~rgs/gl-lnks.html
More links-
http://www.onlinepoetryclassroom.org/how/index.cfm?prmPageID=39
Book
sources:
Heath Anthology of American
Literature 4th Edition
Harper Anthology of American Literature
Second Compact Edition
Bly, Robert. American
Poetry. New York, NY: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. 1990
Moyers, Bill. Fooling with Words. New York, NY:
William Morrow and Company, 1999
Unit Launch/Anticipatory
set/Set Induction:
Objectives: The standard of this lesson will work towards students
demonstrating elements of their skills in creative writing and artistic
decisions to communicate intent.
Students should begin to understand poetry’s relevancy in their lives.
Methods:
1. Explain what will be expected from students during the unit; tell about what authors will be covered; and tell about some historical implications—women’s movement, Vietnam war, etc.)
2. Begin listening to selections of student chosen music (no explicit lyrics, let the students choose groups, only 4 to a group, if someone needs a group, then be considerate and invite him/her in). Keep the song length to a maximum of 3-4 minutes). 4 minutes (each)
3. After each selection free write on songs. (5 minutes)
4. Finish the hour with volunteers that would like to read what s/he wrote.
Homework:
1. Begin reading James Wright *Spring Images *In Fear of Harvests
*To the Evening Star:
Central Minnesota
2. Tell students to come back with paragraph
responses to include in journal.
Assessment:
1. I will know that the lesson went well if students
read aloud what they wrote.
2. If Day 2s homework is completed.
3. If everyone participates.
Organization
of the Unit:
Week 1.
Day 1. Intorduction
to the unit with free genre writing of music and art
Day 2. Introduction to and Historical Implications of James
Wright
Day 3. Discussion of *Spring
Images *To the
Evening Star: Central Minnesota
*In Fear of Harvests
Day 4. Discussion of *Milk Weed *Autumn Begins in
Martins Ferry, Ohio
*A Blessing
Day 5. Conclusion Journal
writing of Wright and working with creative writing elements, structure,
meaning or expression illustrated in each.
Weak 2.
Day 1. Introduction to and Historical Implications of Robert
Lowell
Day 2. Discussion of *Skunk
Hour *Memories
of West Street and Lepke
*Four the Union Dead *Near the Ocean
Day 3. Introduction
to and Historical Implications of Etheridge Knight
Day 4.
Discussion of *Freckled Faced
Gerald *The Idea of Ancestry
*A Poem for Myself
Day 5. Discussion of *The
Bones of My Father *Former Sergeant
Crothers
Week 3.
Day 1. Introduction to and Historical Implications of Lucile Cliffton
Day 2. Discussion
of *adam thinking *eve thinking
*won’t you celebrate
me *oh absalom my son my son
Day 3. Introduction to and Historical Implications of Adrienne Rich
Day 4. Discussion
of *Driving into the Wreck *Coast to Coast *Power
*From a Survivor
Day 5. Introduction to and Historical Implications of Lorna Dee Cervantez
Week
4. Research
and Journal Transformation.
Day 1. Discussion of *Poet’s
Progress *Poem for the
Young White Man . . .
Day 2. *Bananas
Day 3-5. Library research and time to finish poetic
responses **First Drafts Due on
Fifth Day**
Week
5.
Day 1-2. Rap up, hand back teacher
revisions and assign peer review partners, peer reviews are due back on the
second day of the week,
Day 3-4. Everything is due on the third day; send Poems for
Publication; Open Mike of Student Poetry
Day 5. Speaker – Notable Poet. (teacher found)
Detailed
Plans for Three Days of the Unit:
Objectives: The standard of this lesson will work
towards students describing how particular effects are produced by the author’s
use of elements in a piece literature, and communicating an informed interpretation
through group performance.
Methods:
5 groups of 6 students; this may carry on to next
day. (20 min)
Homework:
1.
Ask
students to come back with paragraph responses to include in journal.
Objectives: The standard of this lesson will work towards students describing the elements and structure in a piece of literature; the artistic intent; and the historical, cultural, and social background.
Methods:
1.
Start
the class off with a student reading of “won’t you celebrate with me” and
discuss (7 min)
2.
Begin
the lesson with reading “adam thinking” and then discuss (7 min)
3.
Read
“eve thinking” and then discuss. (7 min)
4.
read
“oh absalom my son my son” and discuss (7 min)
5.
Write
a page response that further compares
and contrasts “eve thinking” and “
“adam thinking” (22 min)
·
Lucille
Clifton uses biblical titles in three of these poems -- "adam thinking,"
"eve thinking," and "oh absalom my son my son." Create
alternative titles for these poems. What would you gain or lose by eliminating
the biblical allusions?
· Listen to the words Lucille Clifton emphasizes when she reads "adam thinking" and "eve thinking." How does your listening experience differ from your reading experience?
Homework:
Objective: The standard of this lesson will work towards students using skills of conciliation, mediation, or negotiation to present their findings concerning elements and structure of a piece of literature. Students will also describe the historical, cultural, and social background in a piece of literature.
Methods:
1.
Begin
with reading “Poet’s Progress” and discuss (7 min)
2.
Read
“Poem for the Young White Man . . .” and discuss (7 min)
3.
Get
into groups of 4 and cover the stanza’s from “Bananas” **note groups will over lap
stanzas in some cases**
4.
Give
discussion questions to each group then present findings
Ask groups members to assign
a presenter, a mediator, an encourager, and a note taker (25 min)
5.
Discuss
all the stanzas and the poem as a whole. (10 min)
Homework:
1.
Journal
Ideas:
· Journal about your
encounters with animals and plants, of all sorts. Note how these encounters
stimulate or reflect your feelings and ideas.
· Write your own "Poet's
Progress" about yourself or a poet you admire.
Supporting
Material for Teachers
Web
sources:
Fooling with Words-
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/foolingwithwords/index.html
Glossary of terms and links-
http://shoga.wwa.com/~rgs/gl-lnks.html
More links-
http://www.onlinepoetryclassroom.org/how/index.cfm?prmPageID=39
Book
sources:
Gere, Anne Ruggles Ruggles ,
Colleen Fairbanks, Alan Howes. Language
and Reflection
Hall
PTR November 1991 17, 93, 141
Berg, Stephan & Bonnano,
David & Vogelsang, Arthur. The
Electric Body: America’s best poetry from The American Poetry Review. New
York, NY: World Poetry, Inc. 2000
Bizzaro, Patrick. Responding
to students poems: application of critical theory. NCTE 1993
Bly, Robert. American
Poetry. New York, NY: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. 1990
Moyers, Bill. Fooling with Words. New York, NY:
William Morrow and Company, 1999
Heath
Anthology of American Literature 4th Edition
Harper
Anthology of American Literature Second Compact Edition
Grades:
16 total Daily journals 15%
Journals will receive full points:
·
16
total
·
Turned
in everyday at the beginning of class
·
4
each week
8 total Bi-Weekly poems 20%
·
8
total poems
·
Turned
in every Monday and Wednesday
·
Reflective
of the elements, structures,
meanings
or expressions of poetry of
contemporary
America.
1 Research Paper 45%
·
A first draft is due at the end of the fourth week. 15%
·
A peer review is due back on the second day of the fifth week. 10%
·
A final draft is due on the third day of the fifth week. 20%
·
Follows all criteria
6 Contribution to
Publication 20%
·
Final
revisions with drafts of unit
tuned
in to me by the last week of unit.
100%
Possible early unit
questions:
1.
What
intrigues, worries, angers you?
2.
Is
this the same for contemporary poets?
3.
What
is present American society? What do
poets believe it is?
4.
What
are the images that control/pervade/persuade/invade our society?
5.
Who
produces these images?
6.
How
can it be changed?
7.
What
kind of society should America be?
8.
What
solutions have do you have to remedy issues that angers, worries, or intrigues
you?
9.
America
is a diverse nation, yes; how do contemporary poets view the juxtaposition of
America in relation to other nations?
10.
How
has post-modernist poetry developed to create a voice distinctively “American
culture”?
11.
How
is this a break away from imitations of European forms and manners in poetry?
12.
Why
does this independence even exist?
13.
How
has American poetry participated in the central cultural movements of the 20th
century, modernism and postmodernism?
14.
How
has American poetry helped to provide a voice for alternative views and
opinions?
15.
How
has modern and postmodern poetry related to other art forms of the
20th-century?
General
discussion questions:
http://uwc.tamu.edu/handouts/poetry.html
http://mail.tcitys.org/~stowersl/poetry.html
1.
Who
is the speaker? Is it possible to determine the speaker’s age, sex,
sensibilities, level of awareness, and values?
2.
Is
there an identifiable audience for the speaker? What can you know about this
audience?
3.
How
do you respond to the speaker? favorably? negatively? What is the
situation/occasion? Are there any special circumstances that inform what the
speaker says?
4.
What
is the setting in time (hour, season, century, etc.)?
5.
What
is the setting in place (indoors or out, city or country, land or sea, region,
country, etc.)?
6.
Does
reading the poem aloud help you to understand it?
7.
Does
a paraphrase reveal the basic purpose of the poem?
8.
What
is the poem about? State the central idea or theme of the poem in a single
sentence. Is the theme presented
directly or indirectly?
9.
What
does the title emphasize?
10.
What
is the tone of the poem? How is it achieved?
11.
Outline
the poem so as to show its structure and development. What kind of poem is it
(ode, sonnet, dramatic monologue, lyric poem, etc.)? Why is this type of poem
an appropriate means to communicate the author's theme?
12.
Summarize
the events of the poem.
13.
Discuss
the diction (the word choice) of the poem. Point out words that are particularly
well chosen and explain why.
14.