1. Women Voices: Untold Stories Through Poetry
AAPI
Women Voices: Untold Stories Through Poetry
Unit Slide
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2. AAPI Women Voices: Untold Stories Through Poetry
LESSON 1
Unit Introduction
Central Idea
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3. 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.
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4. 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.
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5. Basic Structure of a Poem
Prose Structure: Poetry Structure:
Sentence Line
Paragraph Stanza
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6. 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.
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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.
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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.
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9. “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
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10. 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.
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11. 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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17. AAPI Women Voices: Untold Stories Through Poetry
Curriculum Developer:
Megan Roberto
Curriculum Contributors:
Prabhneek Heer, Kristy Phan
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