Recitation Analysis

Starter 11

1. Read your Tredecim out loud to your group.
2. Trade with one person.  Read their poem.
3. Write for your starter:  What's the best line of their poem?  Explain why it's effective, and what it makes you think and feel.  What simile/metaphor is weakest?  What makes it weak?

TURN IN: STARTERS 7-11, TREDECIM.

Work Priorities

1. Read and annotate your recitation poem for devices, tone, vocab, and message.
2. Work on your written analysis.  Outline, draft, then see Lori for feedback.
3. Memorize your poem.  See the assignment handout for tips on how to do this!

HOMEWORK

1. Work on memorizing your poem!  Poem Recitation Schedule is linked here.  Remember, your written analysis of your poem is due the day that you recite.

Tredecim and Recitation Poem

Starter 10

1. Choose your favorite piece of figurative language from the examples on the board.
2. Write it + the author name.
3. Chart it like you did yesterday in class: Identify the subject and what it's being compared to, list the similarities, and explain in a few sentences what the author is trying to convey with the comparison.
4. Draw the image this piece of language makes in your mind.

Tredecim

Choose the topic you're most likely to do for your final poem.  Write a Tredecim about that concept, or about an object related to that concept.  Play with the power of figurative language here- make your comparisons insightful and interesting!

Recitation Poems

1. Tell Lori your poem choice
2. Sign up for a time and day to recite
3. Read and annotate.  Look for: vocabulary, devices, tone, message/perspective
4. Outline your written analysis: Analysis Outline Handout
5. Work on memorizing your poem

HOMEWORK

Finish Tredecim if you didn't in class.  DUE: Start of class, Friday.

Figurative Language

Starter 9: Peace Poems
Describe your peace organization to your group, and share 3 facts about them with your group.  Listen to their descriptions.

Write a 10-12 line poem (if you go a little over, that's okay) that is inspired by one of the organizations.  Make sure it includes two of the following devices: Turn, Symbol, Metaphor or Simile.

Figurative Language
Complete the worksheet linked above to analyze 4 examples of figurative language.  Then do the Your Turn activity on the back.

Make sure you have an example on the board with your name by the end of class!

HOMEWORK
Choose poem to memorize.  DUE: Start of Class, Thursday.

Peace Research

Starter 8

Bystanding- The Beginning of an American Lifetime

On the text of poem:

1. Circle the years, divide into 8 sections
2. Message/perspective for each section (write next to the section)
3. Message/perspective overall (look at title, no “duh” perspectives!)
4. Most powerful part/line, and why
5. Watch the video linked below
6. How does the video change/deepen/add to the experience of the poem?

Peace Research

Follow instructions on handout to broaden knowledge about groups working for peace.

Dulce Seminar Reflection

Work on Seminar Reflection

HOMEWORK

Dulce Seminar Reflection.  DUE: start of class, Wednesday, in Lori’s email or the mailbox.

Choose poem to memorize.  DUE: Start of class, Thursday.

Poetry Centers and Memorization

Starter 7

Based on what you’ve read and experienced so far…

1. What kind of poetry or aspects of poetry do you like the most?  Why?

2. What types of poetry do you dislike, or find it hard to connect to?  Why?

Poetry Center Guidelines

1. Follow directions- read them carefully!
2. Work with your group members, support each other
3. Participate actively
4. Ground your interpretations in the text
5. Take intellectual risks
6. Take as long as you need: be mindful and thorough
7. Must do at least 5
8. Move to table with poem (don’t move poem to table) 

Links to Music for Centers:

Strange Fruit

Time

Poetry Memorization Assignment

Review assignment sheet, start thinking about what you want to do for your memorized poem.

HOMEWORK

1. Dulce Seminar Reflection:  See Friday's post for details.  You will have 30-45 minutes on Tuesday to work on this in class.  DUE: Start of class, Wednesday.
2. Choose Poem to Memorize:  See handout linked above. DUE: Start of class, Thursday.

Dulce et Decorum Est Seminar

Dulce Seminar: Main Questions

1. What is the tone of this poem?  How does the author achieve it?
2. How would the meaning or impact of this poem be different if the author just told you about these experiences, rather then writing it as a poem?
3. What is this poem trying to communicate:  Intellectually, Emotionally, Sensory?
4. Is it ever sweet and right to fight and die for your country?  Why does the author say it’s a lie?
5. (Coffins Story) During a time of war, should citizens be shown the horrors that soldiers experience, or should they be sheltered from those horrors?
6. Is poetry important in our social dialogue about war?  Should it be?
7. Can poetry make you see war in a different way?

Starter 6

1. Trade definition lists with someone who chose a different topic than you did.
2. Read someone else’s list of definitions they did yesterday.  Write down their name, and the topic they chose.
3. What is the most powerful/interesting definition?  Write it down, and explain what makes it powerful.
4. Write your own definition about this topic, then underneath it, explain why you chose the comparison you did, and what you were trying to illuminate about this topic.

Dulce Seminar Reflection

See handout linked above for guidelines.  Main seminar questions are listed above, and Lori's Choice question is below.  

Lori's Choice Question (for seminar reflection)

What did you learn about reading and interpreting poetry from this process?  (Think start to finish, from the time you started reading the poem for the first time, through the end of the seminar.)

IF YOU WERE ABSENT: SEMINAR MAKE-UP.  ONLY DO THIS IF YOU WERE ABSENT!!!

Answer two of the following questions, in a typed, 2 page paper (you should be writing 2 substantial paragraphs per question).  Make sure to use evidence from the text of the poem.

1. What is the tone of this poem and how does the author create it?  Make sure to address any tone shifts (turns)!
2. Explain what this poem is trying to communicate about war, and discuss two tools the author uses and their effects on the reader and the poem’s message.  Quote the poem!
3. What have you learned from this seminar process about reading and interpreting poetry? (Use specific examples to back up your ideas).
4. Is poetry important in our social dialogue about war?  Why/why not?

HOMEWORK

Finish Seminar Reflection.  You will have some class time (30-45 minutes) to work on it in class on Tuesday.  DUE:  Start of class, Wednesday.

Dulce Coaching and Poetry Definitions

Starter 5

What do you find most interesting about war, peace, violence, truth, or power?  What do you have to say about these topics that is unique?

What theme (or themes) are you interested in exploring for your poem?  Why?

Dulce Coaching

1. Fluid Reading: Make sure each group member is clear on pronunciation of words.  Each student reads poem out loud to the group.
2. Close Reading: Go line by line until every group member can summarize every line of the poem.  
3. Coaching Handout:  Do what it tells you.  :)

Definitions of Poetry

1. Read through this list of definitions of poetry.
2. Choose 3 of the definitions, for each, explain what you think this definition is trying to convey about poetry.
3. Choose one of the following topics:  War, Violence, Peace, Truth, Power.  Write a series of definitions in the style of Sandburg that aims to illuminate different aspects of your chosen topic.  Must have at least 6 definitions (can have more). 

Homework:

Finish Definitions of Poetry activity.

Dulce and Difficulty

Starter 4

1. What devices are used in this poem?  List them.
2. What's your favorite part?  Why?
3. What's the message/perspective of this piece?

Poem Share
Share the poems you wrote last night in your groups.

Reading Poetry Notes
Useful Habits

1. Willingness to Probe: Dig deeper, ask questions, persevere.
2. Capacity for Uninterrupted Thinking:  Don't get distracted, stay focused, read in one sitting.
3. Receptivity to Deep Thinking:  Be willing to grapple with complex and difficult ideas/language.

Reading Poetry = Two Way Radio

1. Power and clarity of the transmitter (the poem)
2. Sensitivity and tuning of the receiver (the reader)

Language is 4 Dimensional

1. Intelligence
2. Sensory
3. Emotional
4. Imaginative

Strategies for Reading:

1. Read it more than once.  You will find new insights each time.
2. Have a dictionary out, and actively use it.
3. Read out loud if possible, so you can feel the sensation of the words in your mouth.  If this would make you look crazy, silently form the sounds of the words in your mouth and head.
4. Pay attention.  You can't "skim" poetry- you should be in constant dialogue with the text.

Dulce Et Decorum Est (page 241 of reader)

Read and annotate.  Make sure that in your annotations, you do the following:

1. ID and label devices
2. Vocab
3. Have at least one annotation for each of the 4 dimensions of language above.

Difficulty/Curiosity Journal

Complete and TYPE the assignment linked above.

HOMEWORK

1. Dulce:  Finish reading and annotating.  DUE: Start of class, Thursday.
2. D/C Journal:  Finish typing this.  PRINT IT.  DUE: Start of class, Thursday.

Poetry Notes 2

Starter 3

Watch the first performance on here (Rock Out).

1. What's your favorite line?  Why?
2. What's the message/perspective of this poem?
3. What experience does this poem give you that changes how you see something?

Poetic Devices

See handout linked above for more devices we didn't cover yesterday in class.

Poetry Notes, Part 2

See handout linked above for instructions.  You will also need your class reader.

Poem Writing

Choose 3 poetic devices from the list or from our list yesterday.  Write a poem about a topic of your choosing that uses all 3 of those devices.  It's time to move away from silly poetry, and into poetry that actually says something real.  Think carefully about what you're passionate about, and what you'd like to say.  Try to make your poem have:

1. A clear perspective, or experience you are trying to share with the reader
2. 3 poetic devices

HOMEWORK

Finish the poem described above.

Poetry Project Intro and Notes

Starter 2

1. What is your favorite line of this poem?  Why?

2. What is this poem making you think?  Explain.

3. What is this poem making you feel?  Explain.

Project Introduction

Read over the handout linked above for a quick guide to our project.  If you want to see examples of past projects, go to my YouTube channel.  I am TheLoriTeacher.  There you can see examples from 3 years of this project.

Poetry Notes, Part 1

All activities and notes below should be kept in the same place.

Brainstorm 1:  What is the difference between poetry and other types of writing?  List at least 5 things.

Robert Frost: Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening (page 243 of your reader)

1. Read out loud
2. Circle 5 words that show the emotional mood of the poem
3. What is this poem about?  What experience is it trying to convey?
4. What do you notice about the way it is written?
5. Poetic Devices (add to notes and define):  Rhyme scheme, Meter (iambic): syllable count + stressed/unstressed syllables, Tone, Imagery/Sensory Details.

The Walrus and the Carpenter (page 244 of reader)

1. Read aloud
2. Annotate poem to mark what makes it unique.  How does the poet write, what is he doing?

Devices to find and define in this poem:

1. Meter (sing-songy, tone)
2. Rhyme scheme (lines 2,4,6 rhyme)
3. Humor and irony
4. Personification
5. Juxtaposition
6. Repetition (word odd)
7. Dialogue
8. Narrative
9. Symbolism (use this to transition to Dogma clip)
10. About…religion?  Warning, some foul language ahead!  Show Dogma clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hfFyGtbXwM&NR=1

Shakespeare Sonnet 116 (page 248 of reader)

1. What does reading Shakespeare require from you as a reader?  Brainstorm as a class.
2. What is this poem saying about love?

Shakespearean Sonnet Form

1. Always 14 lines
2. Iambic pentameter
3. 3 quatrains + couplet
4. Rhyme Scheme: a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g.
5. Couplet summarizes or introduces new perspective (turn)

Other Devices in this poem:

1. Enjambment
2. Turn
3. Personification

Omelas Seminar

Starter 9:
Watch the following TED Talk:  Synthesizing Happiness.

Answer the following questions:

1. What are his lab's main conclusions about happiness?  What did they find in their experiments?
2. What is the difference between natural and synthetic happiness?  Do you think one should be valued over the other?  Why?
3. He says that "freedom is the enemy of synthetic happiness."  Why?  Have you seen this in your own life?

Turn in Starters 1-9

To email or the mailbox.

Start Omelas Seminar Reflection, Part 1

Write a piece of short fiction that extends the story of Omelas.  Choose ONE of the options below.  This must be TYPED.

OPTION 1:  Write the story from the perspective of one of the characters in Omelas

1. Flute player
2. Boy in basement
3. One who walks away

OPTION 2:  Write an alternate ending to the story, or a “what if” possibility.

1. What if someone tried to rescue the child and failed/succeeded?
2. What if someone who walked away came back?
3. What if the child dies?  What happens then?

OPTION 3:  Write about what happens to a person who walks away—extend the story beyond what LeGuin has shown us.

OPTION 4:  Write a missing scene that’s set in the same world—show us something about this world that the author doesn’t.

Omelas Seminar: Major Questions

1. What’s the difference between the people who walk away and the people who stay in Omelas?
2. What role does the idea of happiness play in this story?
3. How does her writing style influence the message and reading of the story?
4. Paragraph 3:  “The trouble is we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid.” Agree or disagree?  Why?
5. Paragraph 3:  “One thing I know there is none of in Omelas is guilt.” Why? How does this connect to the broader story?  To happiness?
6. Why do they show the child to all of their citizens?  What do they gain by seeing the child
7. Does our culture have its own small child in a broom closet?

Omelas Seminar Reflection, Part 2

Choose one of the major seminar questions listed on my DP.  Write one thorough and well organized paragraph that answers the question.  Take your time and craft this carefully.  Remember to:

1. Have a clear topic sentence
2. Use evidence (quotes) from the text to back up your position
3. Analyze your evidence thoroughly—explain what it shows, and how.  The more specific, the better!
4. Proofread carefully.

HOMEWORK

Omelas Seminar Reflection, parts 1 and 2.  DUE: In Lori's email by the end of the day on Wednesday, 3/6.