JOHNJOHN LENNONLENNON

Lennon’s Early Life He was born during WWII during air raid He was raised by his aunt Mimi His mother died when he was 18, by a car driven by a police officer In High School he was a prankster who drew grotesques figures and cripples, teachers thought he could go to college with this talent.

Here is one of his pieces

Unique Details ●He would sometimes sleep in a coffin. ●He almost beat a man to death because of the start of rumors that he was gay. ●he was the last Beatle to learn how to drive at age 24 ●He had two children before he died, a son and a daughter

●It was a joke of theirs that John saw a vision, when he was 12, of a man riding a flaming pie saying “From this day on you will be called Beetles with an ‘A’” THE BEATLES

What do you think was going through his mind when he wrote this poem? Get in groups of 4 and write your own poem based on this one. Be prepared to share! Instructions

instructions As you listen to the song draw or write what you feel, ask others what they drew. Be prepared to share!

Mind Games //

We're playing those mind games together Pushing the barriers planting seeds Playing the mind guerrilla Chanting the Mantra peace on earth We all been playing those mind games forever Some kinda druid dudes lifting the veil Doing the mind guerrilla Some call it magic the search for the grail Love is the answer and you know that for sure Love is a flower you got to let it grow So keep on playing those mind games together Faith in the future out of the now You just can't beat on those mind guerrillas Absolute elsewhere in the stones of your mind Yeah we're playing those mind games together Projecting our images in space and in time Yes is the answer and you know that for sure Yes is surrender you got to let it go So keep on playing those mind games together Doing the ritual dance in the sun Millions of mind guerrillas Putting their soul power to the karmic wheel Keep on playing those mind games together Raising the spirit of peace and love (I want you to make love, not war I know you've heard it before)

Slide 1: interesting info about poet Make sure it’s interesting. Things that might be interesting: Unusual jobs, unusual family relationships or feuds, how poetry was received by public, topics for poetry, what inspired poetry, unusual cause of death. Things that are definitely not interesting: birthdate, death date, college, siblings, etc.

Slide 2 Why we chose this poet

Slide 3 A copy of poem 1 should be here or you should pass out a copy of the poem

Slide 4 1 st poem – tell us about how you analyzed it. 1)point out at least 5 poetic elements. You can do this even if you don’t think there are very many. Point out symbols, metaphors, imagery, and there will likely be 2 others. 2)Put the poem in your own words. 3)What 2-3 words or phrases stand out to you? What do they make you think of? 4)tell us how this poem was received by the public 5)what inspired the poet to write it 6)Tell us any information about the historical background of the poem. What was happening in the poet’s life when this poem was written. Can you make any connections to the historical background and the poem?

Slide 5 Have a copy of poem 2 here, or pass out a copy of it

Slide 6 2 st poem – tell us about how you analyzed it. 1)point out at least 5 poetic elements. You can do this even if you don’t think there are very many. Point out symbols, metaphors, imagery, and there will likely be 2 others. 2)Put the poem in your own words. 3)What 2-3 words or phrases stand out to you? What do they make you think of? 4)tell us how this poem was received by the public 5)what inspired the poet to write it 6)Tell us any information about the historical background of the poem. What was happening in the poet’s life when this poem was written. Can you make any connections to the historical background and the poem?

Slide 7 : engaging activity. Do something with poem 2 that gets the class engaged. 1)Cut up lines. have them put it together. 2)Have them identify symbols in some fun way. 3) Have them find poetic elements 4) Have them draw images from the poem 5) Race to memorize the poem 6) Have them write different lines based on the 1 st half of the poem 7) Have them write a response poem 8 ) have them annotate it as if they were going to perform it at a slam. 9) Play a game based on the information you shared in your presentation. Trivia, jeopardy, etc. 10) Scavenger hunt 11) Play 2 truths and a lie to share the information about the poet