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The Natural World: Literature lesson plan for Jersey City Curriculum

Dr. Cahir EMSE 3210

Adriana Ramirez

TWS

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Cover Page

Table of Contents

Introduction to Teaching Work Sample

Days 1 and 2 Topic: The natural world: introduction into poetry and literary devices

Days 3 and 4 Topic: The natural world: Follow up on poetry introduction

Days 5 and 6 Topic: The Natural World: Poetic symbols of rain and war

Days 7 and 8 Topic: The Natural world: Meeting the sounds of night

Days 9,10,11,12 Topic: The Natural World: The possibility of Liberation in Feminine Poetry

Days 13,14,15 Topic: The Natural World: The nostalgia of Love

Page 1

Pages 2-3

Page 4

Pages 5-6

Pages 7-8

Pages 9-10

Pages 11-12

Pages 13-15

Pages 16-18

Attachments

Glossary of Literary Terms

There will Come Soft Rains

Lord Randall

Dialectic Journal Sample

Pages 19-52

Page 19-30

Page 31

Page 32

Page 33

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Cuban Missile Crisis handout

Meeting at Night, Sound of Night,Handout

Haiku Handout

I Dwell In Possibility

Variation on a Theme by Rilke

The Fish

Expository Essay handouts

Piano

Fifteen

Rubric for video project

Tonight I Can Write

Midwinter Blues

Page 34

Pages 35-38

Page 39

Page 40

Page 41

Pages 42-43

Pages 44-47

Page 48

Pages 49

Page 50-51

Pages 52-53

Page 54

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Introduction:

This teaching work sample will be used next semester as part of my professional field

experience. I decided to work with a poetry section titled The Natural World from the Jersey

City curriculum for sophomores. Poetry is very dear to me but I do not believe the genre is

given enough focus in High school. I do not have the actual text book from Jersey City, so I

found the poems through the internet and complied activities which I believe will help students

understand the material and retain it in their long-term memory. I will be showing them clips of

videos which when I reflect upon my childhood, spurred my love for poetry. Students will also

be creating their own videos and songs with these poems. This tears down barriers of what and

where poetry belongs. Students will know literary devices and traditional poetic structure;

however, they will also learn poetry crosses genres and form. They will relate songs they know

with poetry to develop an emotional bond with literature.

Throughout the unit students will compile a portfolio through the use of an internet

blog. Their own poems, essays, opinion questions, pictures, and videos will be compacted onto

a webpage they can always visit and expand upon. Grading and checking homework will also

be facilitated through the use of a blog. Since their work will be checked on-line, it diminishes

the chances of things getting lost or being illegible. Also, paper will be saved using this

approach.

Poems will be converted into songs and performed in class. They will be recorded and

posted on their blogs. Songs imbed information in an amazing way. Songs are difficult to forget

and that is my goal, to give the students a poetry unit they will never forget.

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Topic: The natural world: introduction into poetry and literary devices

Materials/ Resources Needed:

Holt/McDougal text book Printed out sheet of literary terms Dangerous Minds movie DVD player or a laptop connected to smart board Computer Internet (YouTube) access

Time needed: Two 45 minute class periods

Objectives: Students will be able to identify literary devices in poetry.

Standards addressed:

I. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone)

II. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.5 Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise

III. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.10 By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Anticipatory set: Students will be given a journal asking: What is the difference between regular prose and poetry to you? How do you identify poetry? What is your favorite poem?

Activity Outline/Procedures/ Steps of Instruction:

Day one

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1. Students will commence their journal upon arrival.2. After the class discusses the journal entries, we will move onto literary devices and their

role in poetry.3. From pages 770-777, definitions of literary devices are given. Since students cannot (in

Jersey City) take their textbooks home with them, I have enclosed definitions from the internet which they may take home with them to study from.

4. We will move on from the ‘technical’ aspect of poetry into the integration of it in music and pop culture tomorrow.

Day two

5. A scene from Dangerous Minds will be shown. Within the scene Michelle Pfeiffer’s character introduces the students to Bob Dylan’s Mr. Tambourine Man.

6. We will put the lyrics up on the smart board alongside the music playing in the background.

7. A discussion of how literary devices are used within the song/poem will be discussed. 8. Students will go home and add two lines to any section of Mr. Tambourine Man using a

literary device.

Assessment:

1. Students will be assessed based on participation and involvement in the lesson.2. Students’ homework will be assessed based on effort and whether or not it is completed.

Reinforcement:

A check mark for student homework reinforces the lesson.

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Topic: The natural world: Follow up on poetry introduction

Materials/ Resources Needed:

Holt/McDougal text book Printed out sheet of literary terms The Dead Poets Society film DVD player or a laptop connected to a smart board Computer

Time needed: Two 45 minute class period

Objectives: Students will be able to compose free-verse style poetry and differentiate it between structured poetry.

Standards addressed:

I. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)

II. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grades 9-10 here.)

III. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology's capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.

Anticipatory set: As soon as students enter the room and get seated, a five minute segment of The Dead Poets Society will be shown. The scene in which a student is blind-folded and starts reciting free-verse poetry is viewed.

Activity Outline/Procedures/ Steps of Instruction:

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Day 3

1. Students will watch a part of the movie demonstrating spontaneous free-verse. 2. For ten timed minutes the entire class will participate in spontaneous written free verse.

Anything that comes to mind will be written, even if it is just words which do not make grammatical sense together.

3. I will also participate in the activity and read my example aloud to the class. Other volunteers who want to share their writing may as well.

4. We will have a short class discussion on their opinion about writing which is non-structured.

5. The writing completed in class, will be their first entry into their poetry blog.

Day 4

1. As a class, I will show them how to create a blog using www.tumblr.com on the smart board overhead.

2. We will go through all the steps together so that nobody has an issue when they go home.

3. Any student who does not have a computer or internet access at home will be given library passes.

Assessment:

1. A performance task will be assessed upon completion of free-verse and input of the writing into the students’ blog.

Reinforcement:

Pupils will continue the lesson, by typing their free-verse poem into their personal/individualized blog which will serve as an on-line poetry portfolio. They will also be asked to bring in two copies of a poem or song they appreciate to class the following day, as well as, identifying literary devices within the text of their chosen pieces. Students will underline the devices and label them onto their copies.

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Topic: The Natural World: Poetic symbols of rain and war

Materials/ Resources Needed:

Holt/McDougal text book: There Will Come Soft Rains (pg780), Lord Randall(pg 818) Bob Dylan’s Hard Rain lyrics and music off YouTube Cuban Missile Crisis information sheet Printed out sheet of literary terms DVD player or a laptop connected to a smart board Computer Internet access Dialectic Journal worksheet

Time needed: Two 45 minute class periods

Objectives: Students will be able to relate and compare symbols of rain and war while considering the similarities between three poems from different time periods and genre.

Standards Addressed:

I. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).

II. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.5 Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.

Anticipatory set: As students enter the classroom, Dylan’s Hard Rain will be playing with lyrics set-up on the smart board. I will also be slowly turning a rain stick.

Activity Outline/Procedures/ Steps of Instruction:

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Day 5

1. Students will hand in one copy of their homework. I will look it over quickly, seeing that they have identified literary devices as they listen and read Bob Dylan’s song and lyrics.

2. Every student will read four lines of the poem or song they have chosen for homework, explaining the literary devices they found as well. They may sing or rap if they would like. I will approve of the lyrics before they recite them.

3. After everybody has participated, I will set-up the connection between Bob Dylan’s Hard Rain and the two poems which form a part of the curriculum.

4. We will focus on the symbols of Rain and War. 5. I will read Lord Randall and There Will Come Soft Rains aloud unless a student wants to

volunteer and read. 6. Copies of the three poems will be handed out before class ends.7. They will have to go home and read each poem three times in preparation for

tomorrow’s lesson.

Day 6

1. Now that the students have read the poems at home, we will discuss similarities in form, symbols, and meaning.

2. Dylan wrote the song during the Cuban missile crisis (background information will be given ) and many suggest that hard rain could be metaphor for war and bombs. There Will Come Soft Rains talks of War and Nature’s continuance after our destruction. Students will be asked to find and cite symbols of violence and Nature in Their Will Come Soft Rains and Hard Rain.

3. The form in Lord Randall is extremely similar to Hard Rain’s. Dylan’s Hard Rain and Lord Randall are both Ballads- this will be discussed. Although there is no allusion to rain, there is still the theme of nature and man’s role in it.

4. Students will go home and pick either There will be Soft Rains, or, Lord Randall to write a comparative short paragraph using Hard Rain. Five sentences are the minimum. This will be uploaded onto their blog.

Assessment:

Student Blogs will be reviewed. Oral interviews will indicate whether they read the poems at home. They will use a Dialectic Journal worksheet to dissect quotations which contain the symbols they found.

Reinforcement:

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The paragraph they will create reinforces the lesson.

Topic: The Natural world: Meeting the sounds of night

Materials/ Resources Needed:

Holt/McDougal text book (Meeting at night, Sounds of Night) Printed out sheet of literary terms Internet questions on Sounds of Night

Time needed: Two 45 minute class periods

Objectives: Students will be able to identify common personification use within the two poems (Meeting at Night and Sounds of Night). Students will be able to inter-relate two poems about night-time. Students will be able to generate two haikus for their blog.

Standards Addressed:

I. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).

II. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)

III. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grades 9-10 here.)

IV. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or

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shared writing products, taking advantage of technology's capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.

V. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.2.D Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic.

Anticipatory set: The lights will be turned off when the students take their seats. The windows will be covered, as much as possible, by large pieces of paper of fabric. Light will be cut off and diminished. A CD of nature’s night-time noises will be playing.

Activity Outline/Procedures/ Steps of Instruction:

Day 7

1. As a class we will go over personification again. 2. We will read Meeting at Night on the smart board and identify the use of

personification. 3. Sounds of Night will be read as well and students will be given questions found on-line

for the poem. 4. Lights will be turned on.5. They are to complete the questions in class; we will go over the assignment together

before class ends. Any questions on consonance, assonance, and alliteration will be addressed.

Day 8

1. Three examples of haikus will be written on the board. Students must copy them into their notebook, they will be given instructions as to how to write a haiku.

2. Every student will create one haiku concerning night-time. The feel, sound, or sight of night can be incorporated.

3. One literary device per poem must be included.4. For homework, students must write a total of five Haikus to post on their blog. Any

written in class are acceptable.

Assessment:

1. Participation in class and on their on-line blogs will be assessed for completion.

Reinforcement:

Students will create their own Haikus using literary devices.

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Topic: The Natural World: The possibility of Liberation in Feminine Poetry

Materials/ Resources Needed:

Holt/McDougal text book: I Dwell in Possibility (pg 788), Variation on a Theme by Rilke (pg 790), and The Fish (pg 796)

Computer

Time needed: Four 45 minute class period

Objectives: Students will be able identify the thematic and stylistic commonalities in, I Dwell in possibility, Variation on a Theme, and The Fish. Students will be able to illustrate poems. Students will be able to produce an expository essay.

Standards Addressed:

I. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.2 II. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.2.A

III. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.2.B IV. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.2.C V. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.2.D

VI. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.2.E VII. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.2.F

VIII. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.4 IX. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.5 X. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.6

Anticipatory set: Students will be asked to write in their journals upon arrival. They will write a list of famous male poets known to them and a list of female poets.

Activity Outline/Procedures/ Steps of Instruction:

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Day 9

1. A discussion of known male poet authors vs. female authors will commence –opinions will be shared upon why there are more known male than female poets.

2. Students will get in groups of three.3. Each student within the group will receive a different biography on the poets. After

reading their assigned biography, each student will recite important aspects of the poet to their group members.

4. Dickinson’s I Dwell in Possibility will be handed out and read to the class before class ends.

5. Students will be asked an opinion question to be answered in their blogs for homework: does poetry allow for more possibility and freedom than prose?

Day 10

1. Students will come into class and start free writing in their notebooks. The theme is freedom. They can write about what freedom means to them; are we a free nation, is freedom something a law can create, or, is it internal?

2. This will be submitted in their blogs3. Denise Levertov’s poem Variation on a Theme by Rilke will be read in class.4. Students will get in the groups they were in the day before.5. Students will be given a large piece of paper in which they will illustrate each line of

the poem on a square. This poem is very descriptive. 6. We will go around the room sharing the images . 7. We will upload the images onto the blog as well.8. For homework, students will be asked to enter a grocery store and simply observe dead

fish(or, if this is not possible, go-online to find images)9. The will write five adjectives describing the fish and bring it into class

Day 11

1. Students will be directed to write their adjectives on the smart board. 2. When they get seated we will read The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop. 3. Every time we stumble upon descriptive adjectives volunteers will write them on the

board.4. When the poem is done being read I will ask them why they believe she let the fish go.

This is an opinion question, no right or wrong answer.5. For homework, on their blogs, they will write a short paragraph on whether they

believe this is a liberation poem, they must cite at least two lines from the poem.

Day 12

1. Students will be given sample expository essays which they will read to themselves.

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2. We will make sure students understand what an expository essay is and its components.3. The Essay Model sheet will be distributed.4. Students will be given 5 minutes to color code the higher level (1st)essay in a parallel

structure as the second, elementary level essay. 5. As a class we will collectively go over both essays, analyzing the similar structure

though the academic level may be different. We will articulate that expository essays explain a particular point of view using facts, generally staying away from opinions.

6. Students will be given their expository essay assignment.7. They will be asked to write an expository essay using any or all of the three poems by

Dickinson, Levertov, or Bishop. How do these poems exemplify freedom and liberation? This will be due in a week and posted on their blog’s as well.

Assessment:

2. A performance task will be assessed upon the completion of their blog entries. Students will also find five quotes pertaining to the theme of freedom and liberation within the poems, along with filling out a Dialectic Journal worksheet on the quotations.

Reinforcement:

Blog homework reinforces lesson as well as the Dialectic Journal.

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Topic: The Natural World: Nostalgia of Love

Materials/ Resources Needed:

Holt/McDougal text book Piano by D.H Lawrence Tonight I Can Write by Pablo Neruda Fifteen by William Stafford Midwinter Blues by Langston Hughes A keyboard A guitar Video phones or cameras Video rubric

Time needed: Three 45 minute class period

Objectives: Students will be able to identify quatrains and rhyming patterns in poems. The sound of poetry to music and its rhythmic beat, will facilitate student comprehension of patterns in meter. Students will be able to construct a video representation of a poem as well as an interpretation and post it on-line.

Anticipatory set: Students will enter the classroom to D.H Lawrence’s Piano on the Smart board. I will be playing chords on the guitar in repetition until they sit down. Instructions will also be posted on the board.

Standards addressed:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.4Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

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CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.5Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.6Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology's capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.

Activity Outline/Procedures/ Steps of Instruction:

Day 13

1. As soon as everybody is seated, we will begin reading Piano by D.H Lawrence. Together we will look at the form of the poem and decide whether it is structured or free-verse.

2. The three quatrain poem has a definite aabb rhyming formula to it. 3. As a class we will turn this poem into a song.4. We will read the first line and the students will vote on which of the major chords sound

better alongside the lyrics. We will do the same for every line in the first quatrain.5. Every quatrain will follow the same chord progression. 6. Once our song is complete, I will play the chords while the students recite the lyrics

(somebody will be recording this) All students will have this as a part of their blog entry.

7. Finally, we will speak upon the poem, turned to song, and its nostalgic feel. (I will make sure the way in which I play the chords evokes this)

Day 14

1. Tonight I can write by Pablo Neruda will be read aloud for mere pleasure- they will have nothing assigned.

2. They will, however, have to create a video for William Stratford’s Fifteen. Students will be working in groups of three. The poem is extremely visual, containing many images which can be re-produced. Before reciting the poem, students will introduce the author and name of the poem. They will recite the poem and act out at least five scenes. A short interpretation will follow. Each student is responsible for at least two roles. They must choose from narrating the poem, acting, or reciting the intro and final interpretation.

3. The video rubric will be distributed for assessment.

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4. After their project is explained, they will be asked to write a short re-telling of a story from their past or present which is memorable. They can write a poem for extra credit. All work will be posted on-line.

Day 15

1. Midwinter Blues by Langston Hughes will be posted on the Smart board upon entry.2. We will read it together out loud.3. The poem comes with its own set of chords- Langston must have intended for this to be

a song. 4. I will bring in a guitar and keyboard to play alongside the poem. This can be done in a

multitude of ways which can only be determined in each individual class. Since, some people like to volunteer more than others and some are shyer than others.

5. Essentially, somebody will read the poem and I will play guitar. Piano is much easier to play than guitar, hence, a student who wants to try to play the keyboards may do so. If, there are students who can play instruments in class, they can take over.

6. An optional visit to a retirement home in order to share writing would be a possibility depending on administrative opinion and instruction.

19Allegory

A symbolic narrative in which the surface details imply a secondary meaning. Allegory often takes the form of a story in which the characters represent moral qualities. The most famous example in English is John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, in which the name of the central character, Pilgrim, epitomizes the book's allegorical nature. Kay Boyle's story "Astronomer's Wife" and Christina Rossetti's poem "Up-Hill" both contain allegorical elements.

AlliterationThe repetition of consonant sounds, especially at the beginning of words. Example: "Fetched fresh, as I suppose, off some sweet wood." Hopkins, "In the Valley of the Elwy."

Anapest Two unaccented syllables followed by an accented one, as in com-pre-HEND or in-ter-VENE. An anapestic meter rises to the accented beat as in Byron's lines from "The Destruction of Sennacherib": "And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, / When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee."

AntagonistA character or force against which another character struggles. Creon is Antigone's antagonist in Sophocles' play Antigone; Teiresias is the antagonist of Oedipus in Sophocles' Oedipus the King.

AssonanceThe repetition of similar vowel sounds in a sentence or a line of poetry or prose, as in "I rose and told him of my woe." Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" contains assonantal "I's" in the following lines: "How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, / Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself."

AubadeA love lyric in which the speaker complains about the arrival of the dawn, when he must part from his lover. John Donne's "The Sun Rising" exemplifies this poetic genre.

BalladA narrative poem written in four-line stanzas, characterized by swift action and narrated in a direct style. The Anonymous medieval ballad, "Barbara Allan," exemplifies the genre.

Blank verseA line of poetry or prose in unrhymed iambic pentameter. Shakespeare's sonnets, Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost, and Robert Frost's meditative poems such as "Birches" include many lines of blank verse. Here are the opening blank verse lines of "Birches": When I see birches bend to left and right / Across the lines of straighter darker trees, / I like to think some boy's been swinging them.

CaesuraA strong pause within a line of verse. The following stanza from Hardy's "The Man He Killed" contains caesuras in the middle two lines:

He thought he'd 'list, perhaps,Off-hand-like--just as I--Was out of work-had sold his traps--No other reason why.

CharacterAn imaginary person that inhabits a literary work. Literary characters may be major or

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http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072405228/student_view0/poetic_glossary.html

There Will Come Soft Rains

There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;

And frogs in the pools singing at night,And wild plum trees in tremulous white;

Robins will wear their feathery fire,Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;

And not one will know of the war, not oneWill care at last when it is done.

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Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree,If mankind perished utterly;

And Spring herself, when she woke at dawnWould scarcely know that we were gone

Lord Randall

by Anonymous

"Oh where ha'e ye been, Lord Randall my son?O where ha'e ye been, my handsome young man?" "I ha'e been to the wild wood: mother, make my bed soon, For I’m weary wi' hunting, and fain wald lie down."

"Where gat ye your dinner, Lord Randall my son?Where gat ye your dinner, my handsome young man?" "I dined wi' my true love; mother, make my bed soon,

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For I'm weary wi' hunting, and fain wald lie down."

"What gat ye to your dinner, Lord Randall my son?What gat ye to your dinner, my handsome young man?" "I gat eels boiled in broo: mother, make my bed soon, For I'm weary wi' hunting, and fain wald lie down."

"What became of your bloodhounds, Lord Randall my son?What became of your bloodhounds, my handsome young man?" "O they swelled and they died: mother, make my bed soon, for I'm weary wi' hunting, and fain wald lie down."

"O I fear ye are poisoned, Lord Randall my son!O I fear ye are poisoned, my handsome young man!" "O yes, I am poisoned: mother, make my bed soon, For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain wald lie down."

http://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/Domain/16378/Pre-AP

%2010%20Dialectical-Journal-Handout.pdf

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In October 1962, an American U-2 spy plane secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being

built by the Soviet Union on the island of Cuba. President Kennedy did not want the Soviet

Union and Cuba to know that he had discovered the missiles. He met in secret with his

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advisors for several days to discuss the problem.

After many long and difficult meetings, Kennedy decided to place a naval blockade, or a ring

of ships, around Cuba. The aim of this "quarantine," as he called it, was to prevent the Soviets

from bringing in more military supplies. He demanded the removal of the missiles already

there and the destruction of the sites. On October 22, President Kennedy spoke to the nation

about the crisis in a televised address.

No one was sure how Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev would

respond to the naval blockade and U.S. demands. But the

leaders of both superpowers recognized the devastating

possibility of a nuclear war and publicly agreed to a deal in

which the Soviets would dismantle the weapon sites in

exchange for a pledge from the United States not to invade

Cuba. In a separate deal, which remained secret for more than

twenty-five years, the United States also agreed to remove its

nuclear missiles from Turkey. Although the Soviets removed

their missiles from Cuba, they escalated the building of their

military arsenal; the missile crisis was over, the arms race

was not.

In 1963, there were signs of a lessening of tensions between the Soviet Union and the United

States. In his commencement address at American University, President Kennedy urged

Americans to reexamine Cold War stereotypes and myths and called for a strategy of peace

that would make the world safe for diversity. Two actions also signaled a warming in relations

between the superpowers: the establishment of a teletype "Hotline" between the Kremlin and

the White House and the signing of the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty on July 25, 1963.

In language very different from his inaugural address, President Kennedy told Americans in

June 1963, "For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this

small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all

mortal

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." http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/Cuban-Missile-Crisis.aspx

Meeting at Night

 

by Robert Browning

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The gray sea and the long black land; And the yellow half-moon large and low: And the startled little waves that leap In fiery ringlets from their sleep, As I gain the cove with pushing prow,And quench its speed i’ the slushy sand. Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach; Three fields to cross till a farm appears; A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch And blue spurt of a lighted match,And a voice less loud, through joys and fears, Than the two hearts beating each to each!

The Sound of NightMaxine Kumin (b. 1925)

And now the dark come on, all full of chitter noise.Birds huggermugger crowd the trees,the air thick with their vesper cries,and bats, snub seven-pointed kites,skitter across the lake, swing out,squeak, chirp, dip, and skim in skatesof air, and the fat frogs wake and prinkwide-lipped, noisy as ducks, drunkon boozy black, gloating chink-chunk.

And now on the narrow beach we defend ourselves from dark.The cooking done, we build our fireworkbright and hot and less for outlookthan for magic, and lie in our blanketswhile night nickers around us. Cricketschorus hallelujahs; paws, quietand quick as raindrops, play on the stonesexpertly soft, run past and are gone;fish pulse in the lake; the frogs hoarsen.

Now every voice of the hour—the known, the supposed, the strange,the mindless, the witted, the never seen--

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sing, thrum, impinge, and rearrangeendlessly; and debarred from sleep we waitfor the birds, importantly silent,for the crease of first eye-licking light,By the lake, locked black away and tight,we lie, day creatures, overhearing night.

Understanding the Poem1. Consider the poet’s use of unusual words in this poem. What part of speech is chitter according

to the dictionary, and how is it used in line 1? What do you notice about the placement and meaning of the word huggermugger in line 2? Finally, how does the use of vesper as an adjective in line 3 continue the mood created by the other images in the first stanza?

2. Air cannot be literally “thick” with sounds. How does the figurative device of synesthesia work in line 3?

3. What do alliteration, assonance, and consonance add to the mood of the poem?4. The bats are the subject of a metaphor in line 4. What do the bats have in common with the

kites? ?5. Consider the poet’s description of the frogs in lines 7-9. What is unusual about the word choice,

and what is the effect of these choices? What is added by the sounds of the words?

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6. Consider the verbs used in lines 5-6. What is the overall impression produced by this string of verbs?

7. Analyze the metaphors in lines 14-16. What connects these comparisons?8. In line 23, what does the poet mean when she says that the birds are “importantly” silent? What

two meanings of this adverb fit the poem?

Thesis BlueprintIn [poet]’s poem [title of poem—in quotation marks], [literary devices] accentuate the experience

andemotions of those who spend the night beside a lake, revealing [What observation about human

nature is thepoet making?].

(https://d3jc3ahdjad7x7.cloudfront.net/yOHFU1aLjvjPy4ho38RbnuGEXpd97bFB2UG75OT0J5VxGtdj.pdf)

Haiku Instructions

Haiku is a Japanese poetry form, with roots more than 1,000 years old. Poet Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902) described haiku as "verbal sketching"—litt le works of art that capture something observed.

Suggestions for writing haikuFormA haiku has three short lines. For balance, the second line is typically longer than the other two. Traditional Japanese haiku have three parts with 5, 7, and 5 syllables, making 17 syllables in all . Because the English and Japanese

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languages are very different in structure, the equivalent length in English would be about 10 to 14 syllables (or 6 to 12 words). The length of a haiku in any language should be one breath long.

Here and nowHaiku attempt to capture one moment in time, based on direct observation of something in front of you. Therefore, they are written in the present tense. Like a snapshot or a quick sketch, a haiku should feel spontaneous and capture the essence of something you have experienced.

Connecting with natureHaiku is a way of looking at the world, connecting with nature. Writing haiku requires slowing down, looking at what is around you, and appreciating the small moments in life. Haiku should awaken the senses—seeing, smelling, hearing, tasting, feeling—and often suggests a particular season.

Sharing with othersHaiku is about letting an object or event touch you and then sharing that experience with others. The poet and reader play a collaborative role. A poet doesn't need to describe everything—haiku should be understated, leaving something for the reader to wonder. A good haiku inspires readers to think about what the poet observed and to experience it through their own imaginations. (http://www.nga.gov/feature/jakuchu/haiku/haiku_instructions.shtm )

I dwell in Possibility-- A fairer House than Prose--

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More numerous of Windows-- Superior--for Doors--

Of Chambers as the Cedars-- Impregnable of Eye-- And for an Everlasting Roof The Gambrels of the Sky--

Of Visitors--the fairest-- For Occupation--This-- The spreading wide my narrow Hands To gather Paradise—

--Emily Dickinson

Variation on a Theme by Rilke

 by Denise Levertov

A certain day became a presence to me;

there it was, confronting me–a sky, air, light:

a being. And before it started to descend

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from the height of noon, it leaned over

and struck my shoulder as if with

the flat of a sword, granting me

honor and a task. The day’s blow

rang out, metallic–or it was I, a bell awakened,

and what I heard was my whole self

saying and singing what it knew: I can.

The Fish

I caught a tremendous fishand held him beside the boathalf out of water, with my hookfast in a corner of his mouth.He didn't fight.He hadn't fought at all.

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He hung a grunting weight,battered and venerableand homely. Here and therehis brown skin hung in stripslike ancient wallpaper,and its pattern of darker brownwas like wallpaper:shapes like full-blown rosesstained and lost through age.He was speckled and barnacles,fine rosettes of lime,and infestedwith tiny white sea-lice,and underneath two or threerags of green weed hung down.While his gills were breathing inthe terrible oxygen--the frightening gills,fresh and crisp with blood,that can cut so badly--I thought of the coarse white fleshpacked in like feathers,the big bones and the little bones,the dramatic reds and blacksof his shiny entrails,and the pink swim-bladderlike a big peony.I looked into his eyeswhich were far larger than minebut shallower, and yellowed,the irises backed and packedwith tarnished tinfoilseen through the lensesof old scratched isinglass.They shifted a little, but notto return my stare.--It was more like the tippingof an object toward the light.I admired his sullen face,the mechanism of his jaw,and then I sawthat from his lower lip--if you could call it a lipgrim, wet, and weaponlike,hung five old pieces of fish-line,or four and a wire leader

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with the swivel still attached,with all their five big hooksgrown firmly in his mouth.A green line, frayed at the endwhere he broke it, two heavier lines,and a fine black threadstill crimped from the strain and snapwhen it broke and he got away.Like medals with their ribbonsfrayed and wavering,a five-haired beard of wisdomtrailing from his aching jaw.I stared and staredand victory filled upthe little rented boat,from the pool of bilgewhere oil had spread a rainbowaround the rusted engineto the bailer rusted orange,the sun-cracked thwarts,the oarlocks on their strings,the gunnels--until everythingwas rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!And I let the fish go

---Elizabeth Bishop

Sample Expository Essay

The purpose of an expository essay is to present important information about a specific subject.

In the following example, RHS student writer Kellyann Bandusky carefully explains her career

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ambitions. Notice that the essay follows the proper MLA format.

Kellyann Bandusky

Mrs. Cavallo

English I

January 30, 2006

A Career to Make Life Worth Living

Many teenagers spend a lot of time contemplating what they want to do when they

graduate from high school. I am fortunate in that I already know; I decided to become a

veterinarian when I was two or three years old. Just like humans, animals need people to treat

them with the respect and dignity they deserve, and I want to be one of those people. Because of

this, I am doing all I can at Reavis to lay the groundwork for my success in college. Then, once I

am in college, I will study and learn about all species of animals. Finally, I will find happiness in

my career as a veterinarian because when animals need my assistance, I know that I will be able

to help them.

First, as a freshman at Reavis High School, I keep in mind my lifelong dream of

becoming a veterinarian. I have been taking my education here very seriously, because I know

that a person needs to be not only knowledgeable, but also extremely disciplined in order to

become a veterinarian. Because of this, I work hard to earn good grades, I take pride in my

work, and I have learned to manage my time properly. These skills will be particularly valuable

when I enter college.

After leaving Reavis, I must attend college because it is definitely a requirement for

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becoming a veterinarian. In fact, a bachelor’s degree is necessary in order to even enter a

veterinarian program. One must also possess excellent communication, leadership, public

speaking, and organizational skills. I have put a lot of thought and consideration into college,

and I have decided that I would like to go to the University of Illinois. It is a wonderful school,

and they even have a graduate program designed for students who want to become veterinarians.

Once I have completed a veterinarian program, I will be able to pursue my dream career.

This career provides numerous benefits, the first of which is salary. The average veterinarian

salary is $60,000 a year, a salary that would definitely allow me to live a comfortable life.

Secondly, it is a rewarding job. This job would provide me with the satisfaction of knowing that

I am helping or saving an animal’s life. Finally, becoming a veterinarian would assure me a

lifetime of happiness. I know I would love going to my job every day, because I would be

working with what I love most: animals.

In summary, when I graduate from Reavis, I plan to go to college to become a

veterinarian. I love animals and I want to do anything that I can to help them. I know I am only

a freshman, but I also know that I am growing up quickly. As Ferris Bueller quotes, “Life moves

pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it!”

(http://teacherweb.com/CA/VanNuysHighSchool/TovarsEnglishClass/sampleexpository.pdf)

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Five-Paragraph Expository Essay Model

Essay TitleParagraph 1: The Introduction

Topic Sentence (Main Idea for your paper) Example Sentence #1 (Subtopic) Example Sentence #2 (Subtopic) Example Sentence #3 (Subtopic) Concluding Sentence that repeats the Main

Idea

Paragraph 2: Example #1

Topic Sentence Example #1 (from the Introduction)

3 Examples sentences that prove your Topic Sentence

Concluding Sentence that repeats Example #1

Paragraph 3: Example Paragraph #2

Topic Sentence Example # 2 (from the Introduction)

3 Examples that prove your Topic Sentence Concluding Sentence that repeats Example

#2

Paragraph 4: Example Paragraph #3

Topic Sentence Example #3 (from the Introduction)

3 Examples that prove your Topic Sentence Concluding Sentence that repeats Example

#3

Paragraph 5: Conclusion

Topic Sentence (Main Idea for your paper) Example Sentence #1 (Subtopic) Example Sentence #2 (Subtopic) Example Sentence #3 (Subtopic) Concluding Sentence that repeats the Main

Idea

My Dog, Romeo

My dog, Romeo, is the best pet anyone could have. He is beautiful and easy to care for.Playing with him is lots of fun. He always takes care of me. There isn't a better pet anywhere.

Romeo is a beautiful tricolor Sheltie. He is mostly black with white and a bit of brown. Caring for him is easy because I simply have to make sure he has fresh water and food every day. I exercise him by throwing his toys. Romeo is a good pet because he is nice looking and doesn't require much care.

Romeo is lots of fun to play with. He loves to play catch. He follows me around the house with a toy and drops it on my foot so I will kick it. He can catch just about anything, but his favorite is chasing a Frisbee. I really have fun playing with Romeo.

Romeo takes care of me. He always follows me when I leave a room. When I am sitting on the couch he plops down right beside me. When we are outside in the woods he always makes sure that I keep up with the rest of the family. He always watches out for me.

As you can see, Romeo is a great pet. I am proud of him and he doesn't require much care. Playing with him is always enjoyable. He watches over me and keeps me safe. Romeo is absolutely the best pet anyone could even have!

Written collaboratively with 4th grade students about Mrs. Barnard's dog, Romeo.

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Remember that after you have your ideas down in this format, you can make your writing stronger by combining sentences, varying sentence structure, and using a thesaurus to locate powerful words.

http://www2.asd.wednet.edu/pioneer/barnard/wri/essay_model.htm

PIANO

By D.H. Lawrence

Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me; Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.

In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.

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So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.

South of the Bridge on SeventeenthI found back of the willows one summerday a motorcycle with engine runningas it lay on its side, ticking overslowly in the high grass. I was fifteen.

I admired all that pulsing gleam, theshiny flanks, the demure headlightsfringed where it lay; I led it gentlyto the road and stood with thatcompanion, ready and friendly. I was fifteen.

We could find the end of a road, meetthe sky on out Seventeenth. I thought abouthills, and patting the handle got back aconfident opinion. On the bridge we indulgeda forward feeling, a tremble. I was fifteen.

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Thinking, back farther in the grass I foundthe owner, just coming to, where he had flippedover the rail. He had blood on his hand, was pale—I helped him walk to his machine. He ran his handover it, called me a good man, roared away.

I stood there, fifteen.

---

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CATEGORY Advanced Proficient (AP) [10]

Proficient (PR) [7]

Developing (DE) [4]

Emerging (EM) [1]

Presentation(Persuasion)

The trailer flows very smoothly and captivates the attention of the audience. It compels the viewer to read the book.

The trailer flows smoothly and holds the attention of the audience. The viewer is left interested in the book.

The trailer flows reasonably but there are some transitions that need improvement in order for the viewer to be persuaded to read the book.

The scenes from the trailer are choppy and the transitions seem abrupt. The viewer may be left confused and not inclined to read the book

Content(Storyline or plot)

Key scenes or themes from the book have been creatively presented. These make the content of the book clear to the viewer

There is one key scene or theme from the book represented in the trailer. This makes the viewer generally aware of the content of the book.

An attempt has been made to depict some aspect of the book, however from the content of the book has not been made clear to the viewer.

There is no scene in the trailer that suggests that the student has read the book. The viewer also has no idea of what the book is about.

Images

Images create a distinct atmosphere or tone that matches the different parts of the story.

The images create an atmosphere or tone that match some parts of the story

An attempt was made to use images that create an atmosphere or tone but it needed more work. The choice of images is logical.

Little or no attempt has been taken to use images to create an appropriate atmosphere or tone.

Voice(Soundtrack)

The voice track is clean and fully understandable. The pace fits the storyline. The viewer is always engaged.

The voice track is occasionally too fast/slow for the storyline. The pacing is relatively engaging for the viewer.

Tries to use pacing and rhythm but it is often noticeable that it does not fit the storyline. The viewer is not engaged consistently.

No attempt to match the pace f the storytelling to the storyline. The viewer was not engaged.

Audio(Soundtrack)

The music stirs an emotional response that matches the storyline.

The music stirs and emotional response that somewhat matches the storyline.

The music is adequate and does not distract but not much was added to the story either.

The music is distracting, inappropriate or was not used.

Video Editing

Editing demonstrates a full working knowledge of the software. Many effects were incorporated and used effectively.

Editing demonstrates a good working knowledge of the software. Some effects were incorporated and used effectively.

Editing demonstrates a fair knowledge of the software. Limited special effects were incorporated into the video.

Editing shows a lack of understanding of the software. No special effects were used in the making of the video.

Strong awareness of the audience in the

An awareness of the audience in

Some awareness of audience in the design. Some

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Tonight I Can Write

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

Write, for example, 'The night is starryand the stars are blue and shiver in the distance.'

The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.

Through nights like this one I held her in my arms.I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.

She loved me, sometimes I loved her too.How could one not have loved her great still eyes.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.

To hear the immense night, still more immense without her.And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.

What does it matter that my love could not keep her.The night is starry and she is not with me.

This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance.My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

My sight tries to find her as though to bring her closer.My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.

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The same night whitening the same trees.We, of that time, are no longer the same.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but how I loved her.My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.

Another's. She will be another's. As she was before my kisses.Her voice, her bright body. Her infinite eyes.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her.Love is so short, forgetting is so long.

Because through nights like this one I held her in my armsmy soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

Though this be the last pain that she makes me sufferand these the last verses that I write for her

--Pablo Neruda

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MIDWINTER BLUES(Langston Hughes)

A —   D7 — A / A7 D D7 — A / E7 D7 E7 A / (start verse 2) E7

In de middle of de winter, snow all over de ground, In de middle of de winter, snow all over de ground, 'Twas de night befo' Christmas ma good man turned me down.

Don' know's I'd mind his goin' but he left me when de coal was low. Don' know's I'd mind his goin' but he left when de coal was low. Now if a man loves a woman that ain't no time to go.

A7 — D — A / A7 — D D7— A / E7 D7 E7 A / (guitar only) nc/E

He told me that he loved me, but he must-a been tellin' a lie. Oh yes, he told me that he loved me, he must-a been tellin' a lie. But he's de only man I'll love 'til the day I die.

A —   D7 — A / A7 D D7 — A / E7 D7 E7 A /

I'm gonna buy me a rosebud an' / plant it at my back door. Gonna buy me a rosebud, an' / plant it at ma back door. So when I'm dead they won't need no flowers from de store.

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