Exploring Persona Poems: A Lesson Plan for Analyzing Voice and Character, Schemes and Mind Maps of Voice

Download Exploring Persona Poems: A Lesson Plan for Analyzing Voice and Character and more Schemes and Mind Maps Voice in PDF only on Docsity! In Another’s Voice Developed by Susanna Lang* August 2014 This lesson focuses on poems that enter into a voice other than the poet’s, perhaps not even a human voice, so that students can explore the dramatic possibilities within a poem. Periods This lesson will require three 50-minute periods:  Day 1: Model  Day 2: Guided practice  Day 3: Group performances and closure If you ask your students to write as well as read and perform, they will need at least one additional class session. NCTE Standards While Poetry Out Loud fulfills NCTE Standards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (with writing extension), 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, this lesson focuses on Standard 4. Common Core State Standards While Poetry Out Loud can involve work on multiple Common Core State Standards, this lesson focuses on the following:  9-10.RL.3  11-12.RL.3  9-10.RL.5  11-12.RL.5 Depending on which writing extension, if any, is chosen:  9-12.W. 4  9-12.W. 9 Introduction One of the tools available to poets is persona, the choice to enter into a voice that is not the writer’s own, whether it is a person who lives in another time or place, a person at another stage of life, a person whose experience has been different from the writer’s—or not a person at all, perhaps an object or an animal. In this way, the poet sees the world through other eyes; speaking directly to the reader, the persona helps us see the world differently as well. This is a distinction from dramatic monologues in which the speaker addresses a silent listener who is usually not the reader. In Poetry Out Loud, the performer is already entering into another voice, the poem’s voice; but a young person new to poetry may have difficulty inhabiting that voice. In persona poems, the writer gives explicit cues to help the reader imagine the speaker, so these poems will support * Susanna Lang’s newest collection of poems, Tracing the Lines, was published in 2013 by the Brick Road Poetry Press. Her first collection, Even Now, was published in 2008 by The Backwaters Press, followed by a chapbook, Two by Two (Finishing Line Press, 2011). She lives in Chicago, and teaches in the Chicago Public Schools. students in preparing their recitation. Persona poems often have dramatic elements, which will help students work on the “dramatic appropriateness” of their performance. Learning Objectives Students will learn how to  analyze the poet’s characterization of the speaker in each poem;  analyze the ways in which the poet suggests a dramatic situation or narrative for its speaker; and  adapt his/her speech to the task of recitation. In addition, if you choose the literary writing extension, students will be able to:  write an effective persona poem of their own. If you choose the academic writing extension, students will be able to  compare two persona poems, making a claim that is true of both poems and supporting that claim with textual evidence. Materials and Resources To teach this lesson you will need:  A computer with speakers; if possible, a laptop cart with earphones  Printed copies of the poems you select from the Poetry Out Loud Anthology (http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poems-and-performance/find-poems). Recommended selections:  John Berryman, “Dream Song 14” (Paul Muldoon reading this poem with others by Berryman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfvwNnKXZc8)  William Blake, “The Chimney Sweeper: When my mother died I was very young” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC4Dq2scQDI)  Gwendolyn Brooks, “a song in the front yard” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWA6V3OaoR8)  Robert Browning, “Confessions” (student performance http://www.poetryinvoice.com/videos/brogan-carruthers-confessions-robert- browning)  Brenda Cárdenas, “Zacuanpapalotls” [Note: most appropriate for students who have at least some knowledge of Spanish] (student performance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq7qUV7DP7w)  Victor Hernández Cruz, “Two Guitars” (student performance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgZQwghvhiI)  Countee Cullen, “Incident” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TYn844thuM)  Mark Doty, “Golden Retrievals” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2MR75POgzk)  Thomas Hardy, “The Man He Killed” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PgU7RvyTc4)  Rudyard Kipling, “Harp Song of the Dane Women” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7i85oNoomc)  Edgar Lee Masters, “Anne Rutledge” or “Lucinda Matlock” (https://librivox.org/spoon-river-anthology-by-edgar-lee-masters/) Literary Writing: Rubric for persona poem 1 (Inadequate) 2 (Developing) 3 (Meets) 4 (Exceeds) Voice Poem does not establish an identifiable voice Poem attempts to establish an identifiable voice but is not consistent Poem establishes an identifiable voice Poem establishes a strong, credible voice Dramatic Situation The poem does not identify the speaker’s situation The speaker’s situation is not entirely clear The reader can identify the speaker’s situation The reader can imagine and empathize with the speaker’s situation Expression Written in a text block; no attempt to use specific or poetic language Uses shape if not line; attempts to use specific language Written in lines; language is clear and precise Poem makes effective use of line and (if appropriate) stanza; poetic devices serve the poem’s purpose Analytic writing: Rubric for comparing two persona poems 1 (Inadequate) 2 (Developing) 3 (Meets) 4 (Exceeds) Claim Claim only accounts for only one text, or does not demonstrate accurate understanding of texts Claim uses commonalities and differences between poems to demonstrate partial understanding of both texts Claim uses commonalities and differences between poems to demonstrate adequate understanding of both texts Claim uses commonalities and differences between poems to demonstrate in- depth understanding of both texts Persona Does not correctly identify the speaker and dramatic situation in either text Correctly identifies the speaker in one text, or partially identifies the speaker in both texts Correctly identifies the speaker’s identity and dramatic situation in both texts Correctly identifies and perceptively interprets the speaker’s identity and dramatic situation in both texts Analysis Does not support a claim with relevant textual evidence Supports a claim with partial textual evidence Supports a claim with relevant textual evidence Supports a claim with the strongest textual evidence Expression Very difficult to read Language may be difficult to follow in some places Language is clear, and errors do not interfere with reading Language is precise, with few or no errors Further Reading Rebecca Hazelton, “Teaching the Persona Poem,” www.poetryfoundation.org NCTE Standard 4 Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes. Common Core State Standards 9-10.RL.3. Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. 11-12.RL.3. Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed). 9-10.RL.5. Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise. 11-12.RL.5. Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact. 9-12.SL.6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. Depending on which writing extension, if any, is chosen: 9-12.W. 4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. 9-12.W. 9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.