Poetry Unit 2016 Week 2

Growing Up 41 Years in 60 Seconds Portrait of Lotte – 0 to 14 Years (4 minutes)

Before reading “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” Short stories and novels are told by a narrator. Poems are told by a speaker, or a voice that “talks” to the reader. The speaker could be: -the poet -a fictional character -something in nature (animal, plant, etc.) Just because a poem uses the pronouns “I, me, my” does NOT mean the speaker is the poet. You must use the context to determine who the speaker is, so you can understand his or her situation. It is essential to understanding the meaning of a poem. Read the expository article “Maya Angelou” and choose the best summary.

Listen to Maya read “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me”

TPCASTT A Strategy for Analyzing Poetry T – Title Make a prediction of what the poem might be about. P – Paraphrase Rewrite the poem into your own words. C – Connotation Go beyond the literal meaning of the poem. Examine figurative language, imagery, & sound elements (onomatopoeia) A – Attitude (Tone) Notice the author’s attitude toward the subject of the poem—Humorous? Sarcastic? Admiring? S – Shifts Look for changes in tone. *Remember the girl’s poem in 10 Things I Hate About You! T – Title (revisited) Look at the title again now that you’ve read the poem. Look at it from a more interpretative perspective—does it have more depth of meaning now? What new insights do you have? T – Theme What message is the author trying to convey?

Before reading the two other poems this week: Recall the story “Eleven.” What was it about? Video Trailer for “Eleven.” One theme of “Eleven” was Growing up can be a challenging experience, but there is much to learn from it. Purpose for Reading: How do the authors of these two poems develop the same or similar theme in their work?

“On Turning Ten” by Billy Collins Listen to Billy describe a little about his own childhood. What is U.S. Poet Laureate? - appointed each year by the Librarian of the U.S. Congress - serves as the official poet of the nation - works to increase awareness & appreciation of reading & writing poetry - Collins served as Poet Laureate during his term, he hosted the “Poetry 180” project which distributed a poem each school day to every high school

How was this poem similar to “Eleven”?

“Where the Sidewalk Ends” Shel Silverstein (1930 – 1999) -author, illustrator, poet, musician -began career writing & drawing for an adult audience including songs for recording artists -most notable: Johnny Cash’s “A Boy Named Sue” (won a songwriting Grammy) – An editor encouraged him to write for children; one of his first & most successful was “The Giving Tree.” -Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974) was his first book of poetry