Lesson 4 Listen to a lecture about poetry and give their opinions Discuss themes in poetry read during class Look up and use new vocabulary Learn about the use of imagery in poetry The Pen by Muhammad al-ghuzzi, This Same Sky, p14 The Question Mark by Gevorg Emin, This Same Sky, p14. A Tree Within by Octavio Paz, This Same Sky, p20. Reading (30min) Read The Pen by Muhammad al-ghuzzi and The Question Mark by Gevorg Emin. Ask class: What is poetry? (15min) Write on the board and discuss: literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm. Encourage students to talk about whatever experiences, including music with lyrics, they have with poetry prior to this class. Introduce Imagery (15min) Write on the board and discuss imagery. Brainstorm examples of sensory experiences with students. Examples: Sight: The giant tree was ablaze with the orange, red, and yellow leaves Hearing: A scream shattered the silence. Touch: She wears a long fur coat of mink For teachers: Imagery is the name given to the elements in a poem that spark off the senses. Despite "image" being a synonym for "picture", images need not be only visual; any of the five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell) can respond to what a poet writes. Reading (30min) Read A Tree Within by Octavio Paz. What is the central image of this poem? Have two or three students try drawing the poem on the board as class reads it out loud a second time Wrap-Up: Have students discuss which poems read during class is their favorite, and why. (Or discuss why they don t like any of the poems.) 1
Lesson 8 Listen to a lecture about poetry and give their opinions Discuss themes in poetry read during class Look up and use new vocabulary Review the concept of imagery in poetry Introduce metaphor Create metaphors The Mushroom River by Xue Di, This Same Sky, p86. If students have time for a second poem: The Shadow Inside Me by Tommy Olofsson, This Same Sky, p46. Introduce Metaphor (15min) Write these examples of metaphors on the board. Ask students to describe what they see the language is doing (for example, a student might say, using a thing to describe or explain another thing ). The snow is a white blanket. The hospital was a refrigerator. The classroom was a zoo. America is a melting pot. Her lovely voice was music to his ears. Life is a rollercoaster. The alligator s teeth are white daggers. Their home was a prison. The slide on the playground was a hot stove. His heart is a cold iron. She is a peacock. For teachers: Metaphor: A figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance. (dictionary.com) Reading (45min) Read The Mushroom River. Study this metaphor: memory sprouting as endless white floating mushrooms. Link imagery with metaphors: How do metaphors help create imagery in our minds? (There are no right answers to these questions!). 2
Ask students to find other metaphors. Writing Activity - Creating Metaphors (15min) Write a 5-8 household objects on the board: chair, table, pencil, microwave, stove, pot, rug. Ask students to choose an object and write about themselves or someone they know using this object and the verb to be. For example, the first line of their poem could be: I am a chair. They should follow up with at least two more lines to explain why this person is this object. This is a fun, silly activity. An example: I am a chair. I have a back. I have strong legs. Wrap-Up: Have students read their metaphors to the class. 3
Lesson 12 Discuss themes in poetry read during class Look up and use new vocabulary Review the concept of imagery and metaphor in poetry Poetry was like This by Xue Di, This Same Sky, p 12-13. Magic by Dahlia Ravikovitch, This Same Sky, p 57. Index cards or slips of paper each with one object (see Lesson 8, Creating Metaphor activity) Reading (30-45min) Before reading "Poetry Was Like This," revisit the first day discussion (Lesson 4) about what poetry is. Then, have students discuss the last line of the poem by itself: "Poetry was Ayesha Akhter of my village school/with her long loose flowing hair." Ask students why they think the author sees poetry in this person. Then, have them discuss where they might see poetry in their daily lives or memories. Next, review metaphor. Three examples they can show the class: My mother's hair...is the warm smell of bread before you bake it. I am in love with those two green apples you call eyes. Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor. In each case, why does the speaker or the author use a metaphor to help them explain what they mean? How does the metaphor make the sentence stronger/better/more visual? Read Poetry Was Like This. Ask students: how do metaphors help create imagery in our minds? (There are no right answers to these questions!). Reading (30-45min) Read Magic. Focus the reading on understanding the images of the poems. Look for metaphors. 4
Encourage students to draw images in their notebooks if they would like to while they are reading the poem. Discuss what the poem might mean to the writer and to the reader (no right answers). Wrap-Up: Metaphor Activity: See activity instructions in Lesson 8, Creating Metaphors. 5
Lesson 16 Discuss themes in poetry read during class Look up and use new vocabulary Review the concept of imagery and metaphor in poetry Introduce simile Happy as a Dog s Tail by Anna Swir, This Same Sky, p 42. The Land of Mists by Kwang-kyu Kim, This Same Sky, p 98. Simile Index Cards (Poetry Worksheet Tab) students can share a card to work with. Introduce Simile (15min) Review imagery, and the way that metaphors are used to bring out imagery in poetry (see Lesson 8 and 12 for metaphors examples). Now introduce similes, which are also used to create images in writing. Have students read these examples: She was as stubborn as a mule. She was as cute as a kitten. They fought like cats and dogs. Your explanation is as clear as mud. (Ask students: is this a negative or a positive statement?) Watching the show was like watching grass grow. (ask students: is this a negative or a positive statement?) Direct students to note the use of as and like to make comparisons. For teachers: Simile: a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, as in she is like a rose. (dictionary.com) Reading (45min) Read Happy as a Dog s Tail. Guide students as they recognize both metaphors and similes in this poem. Ask students: how do similes help create imagery in our minds? (There are no right answers). Ask students to find similes. They should look for as or like. 6
If there s time, read The Land of Mists. Encourage students to find the simile in this poem ( people like rabbits ). Writing Activity - Creating Similes (15min) Pass out an index cards or slips of with first part of similes. Each student should think of ways to complete the simile. Write these adjectives to use if students get stuck: Strong, happy, tall, content, angry She was as strong as an elephant. She was as tall as a tree. She was as happy as a cat in a sunny window. Wrap-Up: Have students read their similes to the class. 7
Lesson 20 Discuss themes in poetry read during class Look up and use new vocabulary Review the concepts of imagery, metaphor, simile in poetry Introduce repetition The Pasture, Robert Frost (Worksheets Tab) Or by Ali Darwish, This Same Sky, p 178-179 Introduce Repetition (15min) Write on the board and ask students what they notice about the beginning of this poem: Where is the heart I am calling? Heart become eyelid Of an eye on its way to where I am. The eye is not here yet and already I can see. Before there is a heart I am made of beating. I am calling in an open doorway. I am calling from inside. (Roberto Juarroz, p52, This Same Sky). Ask students: why do they think the poet uses repetition? What does it achieve? For teachers: Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer. There are several types of repetitions commonly used in both prose and poetry. As a rhetorical device, it could be a word, a phrase or a full sentence or a poetical line repeated to emphasize its significance in the entire text. Repetition is not distinguished solely as a figure of speech but more as a rhetorical device. https://literarydevices.net/repetition/ Reading (60min) Read The Pasture. Guide students as they recognize both metaphors and similes in this poem. Read Or. 8
Wrap-Up (15min): Have students try writing a three line poem using the same phrase at the beginning. If they can t think of how to start, try suggesting a few ideas, such as: I want This day is Or, ask them to think of something special and to start their three lines with that person or thing. My daughter My daughter My daughter Have volunteers read their poem to the class if there s time. 9