The Beaches of Mexico (CAROLYN GRAHAM) Orly Kassiff

The Beaches of Mexico (CAROLYN GRAHAM) Have you ever seen the beaches of Mexico? Have you ever walked the streets of San Juan? Have you ever been to Haiti? Have you ever been to Spain? Have you ever walked barefoot in a heavy rain? Have you ever been in trouble? Have you ever been in pain? Have you ever been in love? Would you do it all again? Well, I've never seen the beaches of Mexico. I've never walked the streets of San Juan. I've never been to Haiti. I've never been to Spain. I've never walked barefoot in a heavy rain. But I've sure been in trouble, I've sure been in pain, I've sure been in love, I'd do it all again

Read the poem again and answer: Structure 1.How many stanzas are there? 2.What is special about the structure? (questions and answers-dialogue; repetition ) 3. How many stanzas of questions and how many of answers do you see? 4. Why are there …….. stanzas of questions? What is the difference between them? 5. Which type of questions do we have more? Why? 6. Which word is added in the answers? Why? 7. Who is the poet asking the questions?

Let’s focus on the meaning 1.Why do you think the poet chose to ask questions and answer them? 2.The poem introduces contrasts in the poem. What contrasts can you identify?

3. What does the poet mean when he says: " I'd do it all again?" Why? The poet says that he would experience love, pain, trouble again because he learned from these experiences, they built his personality, and developed him).

4. What do you think about the poet’s answer? Would you have given the same answer?

5. How does the structure used reinforce this idea? The poet talks about his life experience. The Present Perfect Simple is used to describe actions that happened in the past but effect the present. 6. What do you think about this answer? Would you have given the same answer?

7. What is the message of the poem? How should we begin the answer? Begin your answer with one of the following: I feel/ I think/ In my opinion, the poet is trying to say….

The Message  People have different experiences, some are external such as visiting places and some are internal like love and pain. (the beaches etc. symbolize the external while pain etc. the internal)  The external surrounding can change however, the internal cannot.  The external experiences differs between people but the internal don't since we all experience love (not just to a lover-it can be to a pet…) pain, and trouble.  The poem introduces contrasts.

8. Go back to the name of the poem. What can you say about it now? The name of the poem hides the feelings the poet conveys in the poem. The title makes us think we are talking about a place, a fantasy, whereas we are actually discussing life and reality. There is a contrast between fantasy and reality.

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Classwork 1.In your notebooks fill in the chart. Give an example for each of the features we spoke about: 2. What is the message of the poem? FeatureExpression in the poem 1. Stanza scheme 2. Dialogue 3. Repetition 4. Contrasts 5. Symbols

Homework Choose ONE task: 1. Write your own poem using the same structure. Optional- using a shorter version for example: Have you ever ________________________? Have you ever _________________________? Have ________________________________? Have you ever been _________________? Would you do it all again? Well, I've never _____________________. I've never _________________________. I ________________________________. But I've sure been _______________, I've sure been __________________, I'd do it all again 2. Write a letter to the poet. Share your thought and feelings after reading the poem. You can also ask questions, give suggestions etc.