1. “The River” T-chart What imagery do you see? Theme statement:
Make a T-Chart : Use “The River” by G. Brooks
Similes and Metaphors Meaning
•Dream is like a river
•Dreamer’s just a vessel
•Waters are my sky
•Good Lord as my captain

2. Maya Angelou
Part 1: Look carefully at this picture. Then answer the following questions.
Maya Angelou Handout
Make a list of words to describe the picture of Maya Angelou.
2. Does she remind you of anyone in your life? Who?
Biography of Angelou’s Early Life:
Writer, dancer, African-American activist. Angelou spent her difficult formative years moving back and forth between her mother’s and grandmother’s. At age eight, she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend, who was subsequently killed by her uncles. The event caused the young girl to go mute for nearly six years. Her teens and early twenties were spent as a dancer, filled with isolation and experimentation.
At 16 she gave birth to a son, Guy, after which she toured Europe and Africa in the musical Porgy and Bess. On returning to New York City in the 1960’s, she joined the Harlem Writers Guild and became involved in black activism.
As a young woman, she joined Martin Luther King, Jr. and other leaders to establish Civil Rights organizations and work for equality for African-Americans. She was devastated when King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, which also happened to be her birthday. To begin dealing with her grief, she wrote the first of six autobiographical volumes, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The book won international acclaim, and she went on to become a successful writer, producer, actor and teacher. In 2010, President Barack Obama announced that Angelou would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.

3. Maya Angelou
Part 1: Look carefully at this picture. Then answer the following questions.
Maya Angelou Handout
Make a list of words to describe the picture of Maya Angelou.
2. Does she remind you of anyone in your life? Who?
Biography of Angelou’s Early Life:
Writer, dancer, African-American activist. Angelou spent her difficult formative years moving back and forth between her mother’s and grandmother’s. At age eight, she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend, who was subsequently killed by her uncles. The event caused the young girl to go mute for nearly six years. Her teens and early twenties were spent as a dancer, filled with isolation and experimentation.
At 16 she gave birth to a son, Guy, after which she toured Europe and Africa in the musical Porgy and Bess. On returning to New York City in the 1960’s, she joined the Harlem Writers Guild and became involved in black activism.
As a young woman, she joined Martin Luther King, Jr. and other leaders to establish Civil Rights organizations and work for equality for African-Americans. She was devastated when King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, which also happened to be her birthday. To begin dealing with her grief, she wrote the first of six autobiographical volumes, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The book won international acclaim, and she went on to become a successful writer, producer, actor and teacher. In 2010, President Barack Obama announced that Angelou would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.

4. 3. How do you think Angelou’s early experiences affected her writing?
4. Read the poem “Still I Rise” aloud as a class. Then with a partner, connect the background knowledge from Maya Angelou’s picture and biography to what you think is the meaning of the poem.
5. I think this poem is about…
6. I think this because ….
7. The background knowledge from the picture and biography helps me understand the meaning because…
8. Specifically, the words / line that says ______
connects to (name a part of her background)
9. How would the reading of this poem have been different without the background information you started with?

5. Put this in your packet
Maya Angelou Handout

6. “Still I Rise” T-chart 7 Similes and 2 Metaphors meaning
Connect Themes: What are some similar themes in “The River” and “Still I Rise”?
7 Similes and 2 Metaphors meaning
•But still, like dust, I’ll rise
•I walk like I’ve got oil wells
•Like moons and like suns
•Like hopes springing high
•Shoulders falling down like teardrops
•I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
•Still like air, I’ll rise
•I’m a black ocean
•I am the dream and the hope of the slave
Put this in Poetry Packet – “Still I Rise” T-Chart

7. Now it’s your turn…

8. Just Because Poem
Themes: Be yourself; don’t ever give up or keep dreaming
Model yours after these examples:
Notice the structure/form?
Just because I’m scared
Don’t laugh and giggle behind my back
Don’t kid and play when I’m not there
Still ask me because I might play
It doesn’t mean I can’t do it
It doesn’t give you the right to talk about me
It doesn’t stop me from having fun
still tell me everything you did
Can’t wait until I get big
Just because I’m scared – please try to be my friend
B. Womack -- Grade 8
Just because I’m an only child
I’m not a freak
I’m not shy
Just because I’m an only child
I’m not lonely
I’m not selfish
I’m not spoiled
I know I’m not perfect
I can’t always be the best friend
I ’m not a nerd
Just because I’m an only child – let me be me
L. Webster – Grade 7

9. Write a final copy on to bordered paper from back
Just Because Poem
Write a final copy on to bordered paper from back
Add to TOC and Put it in Poetry Packet

10. Homework: 6 metaphors meaning Earth is a black shuffling bear
Earth is a black hawk circling
Earth is a fish black blind in the belly
of water
4. Earth is a diamond blind in the black
belly of coal
5. Earth is a black and living thing
6. Earth is a favorite child of the universe