Breathe in: experience. Breathe out: poetry

“Breathe in: experience.

–Muriel Rukeyser

A Year 10 English Unit

Group Two:

Carly Bretherton

Danielle Santangelo

Andy Williamson

James Butterfield

Table of Contents

Rationale	3
VELS Consideration	5
Section One – Carly Bretherton
Poetry: Love me, Love me not	6
Section One Appendices	11
Section Two - Danielle Santangelo Morbid Pop: The Concept of Death in Poetry and Culture	12
Section Two Appendices	37
Section Three– Andy Williamson
Poetry and War.	61
Section Three Appendices	74
Section Four – James Butterfield
Belonging and Dislocation
Section Four Appendices

Unit Rationale

This Unit has been developed as a resource with which teachers can approach the teaching of poetry at year 10 level. Underlying all of the lessons and activities is a desire to encourage students’ open and honest responses to poetry and, most of all, to foster engagement with the poetic form and an interest in poetry that will remain with the students beyond the end of the unit and, hopefully, into their adult lives.

But why should we teach poetry at all? Often regarded by students, and perhaps teachers as well, as unapproachable, inaccessible and socially irrelevant, there are convincing arguments about why the study of poetry should be incorporated into the English curriculum at all levels. For a start, poetry provides an avenue through which students can explore subjects that are relevant to their own worlds, and in the myriad styles and forms that are used in poetry, encourages the reader to think flexibly, appreciating different perspectives and previously unimagined nuances.

On a more practical level, studying poetry assists with development of skills that will be relevant to other studies, such as building vocabulary, and lays the foundations for an appreciation of the power of words and how they can be effectively used in a more precise and deliberate manner. Poetry’s efficacy in building literacy skills is not limited to students talented in English, however. The heightened role of the imagination and the freedom to ignore textual conventions such as punctuation and sentence structure provides for many more ways “into” a poem than is offered by a piece of prose. Similarly, students whose first language is not English are able to enjoy and appreciate a short poem, improving reading and vocabulary skills whilst simultaneously building their confidence as an English learner.

This unit approaches the teaching of poetry in a somewhat unconventional manner, not by grouping poems by author or era, but by examining them in the context of specific themes: “apocalypse/war”, “death”, “love and friendship” and “belonging and dislocation”. The thematic approach allows comparisons to be drawn between aspects of popular culture and poetry from any era. A focus on a specific , timeless and relevant theme encourages an immediate openness to the role poetry can play in facilitating nuanced and thoughtful responses and reflection.

Grouped under a given theme, each lesson has a specific objective that focuses on the learning outcome that students will achieve for that lesson. In this respect, the unit’s method may also differ from traditional classes in which students, under the direction of a teacher, “do” a poem - analysing its meaning, unpicking its structure and highlighting lexical incongruities - all the while referring to the poet’s life experiences that inform the poem. Here, the objective will focus on one particular skill or aspect of one or more texts, and in the activities that follow, students will gain a thorough understanding of this aspect and be able to recognise it and apply it in different contexts.

The unit is not meant to be prescriptive and the poems and texts offered herein can be used as a guide to the sort of poems or texts that a teacher might consider to reach the lesson’s objective. Other suggestions are offered in each unit, however the process of students discovering poetry that works for them has the potential to greatly enrich the learning experience.

Similarly, we have chosen to divide each section or theme into ‘parts’ rather than ‘lessons’. We felt that this approach would provide more flexibility for teachers when designing lessons; allowing you to spend more time on one part and less time on another, according to the strengths of your class, and where you feel they would benefit most.

Finally, a note on assessment. While the unit does include opportunities for assessing students’ work, it was felt that an overly rigorous assessment regime has the potential to undermine engagement with and enjoyment of poetry. This unit is designed to provide a counterpoint to the emphasis on functional language and analysis that dominates senior curricula, especially in the VCE. It is, therefore, more suited to flexible and innovative methods of evaluating students’ progress, and suggestions about the form that might take are offered within the individual lesson guides.

REFERENCES

Tunica, M. (2005). A Passion for Poetry: Practical Approaches to Using Poetry in the Classroom. Newtown: Primary English Teaching Association

Wright, T. (2005). How to be a Brilliant English Teacher. Oxon: Routledge.

VELS Consideration

This unit is intended for students in Year 10. We have therefore addressed VELS Level 6.

• 
  Read, view, analyse, critique on and discuss contemporary and classical imaginative texts that explore personal, social, cultural and political issues of significance to their own lives. 
  
• 
  Read, view, analyse and discuss a wide range of informative and persuasive texts and identify the multiple purposes for which texts are created.
  
• 
  Explain how texts are shaped by the time, place and cultural setting in which they are created.
  
• 
  Compare and contrast the typical features of particular texts and synthesise information from different texts to draw conclusions.
  

• 
  Write persuasive texts dealing with complex ideas and issues and control the linguistic structures and features that support the presentation of different perspectives on complex themes and issues.
  
• 
  Select subject matter and begin to use a range of language techniques to try to position readers to accept particular views of people, characters, events, ideas and information.
  
• 
  Compose a range of other texts, such as feature articles, web pages and workplace texts.
  
• 
  Plan and deliver presentations, sequencing and organising complex ideas.
  
• 
  Write accurately punctuated, grammatically sound and complex sentences with embedded clauses and phrases.
  
• 
  Maximise the effects of rhythm and tone, and write with developing fluency. They proofread and edit their own writing for accuracy, consistency and clarity.
  

• 
  When engaged in discussion, they compare ideas, build on others’ ideas, provide and justify other points of view, and reach conclusions that take account of aspects of an issue. 
  

• 
  In their presentations, they make effective use of the structures and features of spoken language to deal with complex subject matter in a range of situations.
  
• 
  Draw on a range of strategies to listen to and present spoken texts, including note-taking, combining spoken and visual texts, and presenting complex issues or information imaginatively to interest an audience.
  

The aim of this section is to explore the themes ‘love’ and ‘friendship’ as they are conveyed through poetry. Ultimately, these activities work towards providing students with diverse learning opportunities. This unit has been designed to allow flexibility in teacher delivery and incorporates recommended extension and modified activities. Student learning objectives include building analytical skills in relation to successfully reading poetry, allowing students to explore ways of learning through a mix of group and individual work as well as encouraging students to contextualise their learning by identifying the ways in which poetry is still prevalent and relevant in present day society.

An overview of the objectives for each class (bullet points)

• 
  Students to apply a variety of language mechanisms and techniques to form coherent and creative texts aimed at a specific target audience
  
• 
  Students to successfully identify and understand key forms and mechanics of poetry and employ these mechanics in the creation of their own poems
  
• 
  Students to practice group work, presentation, reading and listening skills in the context of VELS standards; developing skills in listening to others and responding positively to their opinions
  
• 
  Students to successfully utilise ICT and research skills
  
• 
  Develop an increased understanding and awareness of the language techniques used in poetry and the impact these have on audience
  
• 
  Students to develop abilities in self-reflection and evaluation
  
• 
  Students to demonstrate ‘deeper level’ thinking by deconstructing messages within the poem and applying them to real world contexts
  

Some of the more famous and widely used poems explore themes of ‘love’ and ‘friendship’. Indeed, Shakespeare’s more famous plays and sonnets tell tales of love and lust and–combined with the works of other classic poets–illustrate the (excuse the pun) love-affair poets have had with writing such poems throughout history. These themes are still relevant in current-day society – not only because of the literary heritage they have instilled within our culture, but also because that heritage is still being built upon. Contemporary artists, (including US rapper Eminem and his song ‘Stan’ for example) continue to find modern-day uses for poetic canons, which work to illuminate the importance of learning and exploring poetry today.

• 
  Can you identify or recall any poems you have heard about love and friendship?
  
• 
  Can you think of any present-day examples of poetry that convey love or friendship?
  

Teachers may also choose to investigate student learning opportunities here and gather information on what and how their students would like to learn about poetry:

• 
  How would you like to learn about poetry?
  
• 
  Have you experienced any problems or difficulties with reading poetry? If so, what were they?
  
• 
  What skills do you think you need to ‘read’ and understand a poem? Are there any skills you would like to build upon?
  

Divide students into small groups. Teachers may decide to use homogenous (based on ability) or heterogeneous (mixed ability) groups here, or simply allow students to work in a group of their choosing. Once divided, clearly explain that each group is to work together to research a famous poet and report back to the class on their findings. Depending on prior knowledge, teachers may choose to provide students with a short-list of poets. This short-list could include the following:

It may be useful for teachers (specifically for those students requiring a modified delivery) to set specific research questions to guide students’ learning. These may include a list of points about the poet that teachers would like each group to answer (i.e. their date of birth/death, where they lived, what they were famous for, a picture (if available) and a sample poem they wrote). Students may choose to present this information using PowerPoint or with the help of other internet clips or resources.

Explain that students will need to have their presentations completed before the next lesson where they will be expected to present to the class.

Ideally, students will have already completed Activity 2 through which one group will have provided the background information on William Shakespeare. Otherwise, teachers should take a moment to provide students with a brief biography.

Explain that the next activity is about understanding a poem’s message. Teachers may like to take this opportunity to provide students with some standard questions they may like to use when approaching a new poem. Explain that it can be difficult to understand the message of a poem straight away and that to ease us into this process, we could begin by noticing ‘things’ about the poem. These questions could include:

1. 
   What do you notice about the poem?
   
2. 
   What does the poem remind you of?
   
3. 
   Can you see any repetition or rhyming in the poem?
   
4. 
   Is there anything interesting about the poem’s shape or structure that you can see?
   

Using Shakespeare’s Sonnet 141, encourage students to re-write the sonnet using contemporary language.