Women Voices: Untold Stories Through Poetry AAPI Women Voices: Untold Stories Through Poetry Unit Slide AdvancingJustice-LA.org 1 AASC.UCLA.edu

AAPI Women Voices: Untold Stories Through Poetry LESSON 1 Unit Introduction Central Idea AdvancingJustice-LA.org 2 AASC.UCLA.edu

What Is Poetry Anticipation Guide Please fill out the “What Is Poetry Anticipation Guide” in your handout. Let’s Review when everyone has completed the form. AdvancingJustice-LA.org 3 AASC.UCLA.edu

What Is Poetry Anticipation Guide Agree or Disagree Poetry is something I’m familiar with Poetry is fun. Poetry is hard to understand. Poetry is difficult to write. Poetry is written by women Poetry is written by Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans. AdvancingJustice-LA.org 4 AASC.UCLA.edu

Basic Structure of a Poem Prose Structure: Poetry Structure: Sentence Line Paragraph Stanza AdvancingJustice-LA.org 5 AASC.UCLA.edu

AAPI Women Voices: Untold Stories Through Poetry AAPI is short for Asian American and Pacific Islander. We will explore how poems are used to depict various subjects. Poets often explore different issues, topics, and ways of thinking. AdvancingJustice-LA.org 6 AASC.UCLA.edu

AdvancingJustice-LA.org 7 AASC.UCLA.edu Janice Mirikitani Born, raised in California She is a community organizer She and her family were incarcerated in Rohwer, Arkansas, concentration camp with the mass internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. AdvancingJustice-LA.org 7 AASC.UCLA.edu

AdvancingJustice-LA.org 8 AASC.UCLA.edu Janice Mirikitani Co-founder and President of the Glide Foundation. Glide empowers San Francisco’s poor and marginalized communities to make meaningful changes in their lives to break the cycle of poverty and dependence. AdvancingJustice-LA.org 8 AASC.UCLA.edu

“Bad Women” by Janice Mirikitani Central Idea of a poem Let us watch the video “Bad Women, a poem by Janice Mirikitani” Observe in the “Bad Women” video: How Mirikitani emphasizes her words How she introduces her topic How she concludes her poem Now watch the video AdvancingJustice-LA.org 9 AASC.UCLA.edu

Reflection on “Bad Women” Do you agree with Janice’s take on being a bad woman? Do you enjoy her poem? What pieces do you like or dislike? Where does her inspiration come from? Poets often surprise us about topics Write what others would be surprised to learn about you. AdvancingJustice-LA.org 10 AASC.UCLA.edu

Expectation of this Class We will exploring 1 or 2 poems each day in class Study poems as homework Learn how to write poems At the end of this unit you will write your own poem Keep all your classwork , homework, & handouts. They will be helpful in writing your own poem. Bring handouts. “AAPI Women Voices: Untold Stories Through Poetry” story contains all the poems for lecture, classwork and homework. Bring it to class everyday. AdvancingJustice-LA.org 11 AASC.UCLA.edu

AdvancingJustice-LA.org 12 AASC.UCLA.edu Classwork Highlight their favorite lines. Star lines that make you think differently about the title Bad Women. Think about the last line, the concluding line, “Bad women can burn.” What does it mean? Is that the central idea of the poem? Mark the lines which support the concluding line. AdvancingJustice-LA.org 12 AASC.UCLA.edu

AdvancingJustice-LA.org 13 AASC.UCLA.edu Class Discussion What is the central idea of the poem? What is Janice Mirikitani conveying in her concluding line? Keep in mind you will need a central idea and a concluding line for your own poem. AdvancingJustice-LA.org 13 AASC.UCLA.edu

AdvancingJustice-LA.org 14 AASC.UCLA.edu Homework 1. Read Janice Mirikitani’s biography in the “AAPI Women Voice” story 2. Read Shirley Geok-Lin Lim’s biography 3. Read “Learning to love America” by Shirley Geok-Lin Lim 4. How does Shirley Geok-Lin Lim support her central idea? Write your interpretation of the 7 lines in the poem. Write how you feel about the concluding line. AdvancingJustice-LA.org 14 AASC.UCLA.edu

AdvancingJustice-LA.org 15 AASC.UCLA.edu Homework 2 1. Read Lehua M. Taitano’s biography 2. Read “One Kind of Hunger” by Lehua Taitano Turn to Homework 2 in your Central Idea Handout Background information about the poem: The poem is Lehua Taitano’s response/ re- telling of “The Origin of Stories.” Seneca is a member of an American Indian people of what is now western New York. The Seneca were the largest of six Native American nations “The Origin of Stories” is a Seneca oral story regarding the creation of story itself and its importance in passing on cultural tradition. AdvancingJustice-LA.org 15 AASC.UCLA.edu

AdvancingJustice-LA.org 16 AASC.UCLA.edu Homework 2 “One Kind of Hunger” is a furthering of the ideology of indigenous cultural preservation practices. It tells the tale of an orphan boy who goes out hunting and discovers a stone that tells stories. The boy learns quickly that the emotional nourishment he receives from the stone’s stories is even more important than the physical nourishment he receives from the birds he hunts. 4. Find at least 3 lines in the poem that support the central idea of the poem. 5. Write how the central idea relates to your own experiences. AdvancingJustice-LA.org 16 AASC.UCLA.edu

AAPI Women Voices: Untold Stories Through Poetry Curriculum Developer: Megan Roberto Curriculum Contributors: Prabhneek Heer, Kristy Phan AdvancingJustice-LA.org 17 AASC.UCLA.edu