Emily Fraser EDUC 304 9/24/13 Lesson Plan Rationale Within our Romanticism Unit that we have been

working on all year, we have looked at authors like Emerson, Thoreau and thought about their philosophies within the contexts of works like The Dead Poets Society CCRS (10.4) Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including denotative 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). Essential Question: How can we look to an authors historical and personal background to inform and enhance our reading of specific poems and lead us to understand both the denotative and connotative meanings? Objectives: SWBAT identify specific literary devices within a variety of Walt Whitman poems. SWBAT analyze the meaning of these literary devices within the context of the poems and explain they help create and enhance the poems themselves. SWBAT synthesize both the denotative and connotative messages of the poems. SWBAT recognize the influence an authors life and philosophy can have on his/her poetry and evaluate its effect on the piece. Order of Activities (72 mins) 65 mins (5 mins) Introduce Lesson Good morning how are you?! Anyone want to share a story from over the weekend? What they will be able to do You will be able to identify and analyze literary devices as they are used in this specific poem and the ones you are about to read. We will also look to Whitmans personal and historical background to inform our connections. Why it matters: We learned and read a little about Walt Whitman in the Dead Poets Society and he is an example of those poets who look to intuition to inform our views on literature and poetry. He lived during trying times and his poems were sources of optimism many times in relation to his surroundings. He is a wide renowned poet and very respected in America. (10 mins) Intro Whitman Watch bio clip for homework: very quick so we will work with it in class http://www.biography.com/people/walt-whitman-9530126 Slips of paper when they walk in: surface level questions to groups of people in same section - Allows for quick discussion 1) When was he born? 2) What kind of schooling did he have? 3) How did Whitman begin his writing career? 4) What was one social issue that Whitman was adamantly against? 5) How does Leaves of Grass break with prior poetic conformity? 6) What were his major works mentioned in the movie?

7) Why were his accounts of the Civil War so important? 8) Why was Whitman called the Bard of Democracy? At the tail end of the Transcendental era, through the Civil War As we saw with the Timeline before, we can use historical references and authors biographies to help us understand his writing and the choices he makes. We will see influences from his life on the themes and meanings of his poems. (25 mins) Modeling Summaries + Analysis Lets put some of these ideas into practice. I will read poem and model our analysis process. Please take your own notes on this page to refer to later Think Aloud A noiseless patient spider, I mark'd where on a little promontory it stood isolated, Mark'd how to explore the vacant vast surrounding, It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself, Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them. And you O my soul where you stand, Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space, Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them, Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold, Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul. Define: Repetition Catalogues Enjambment Epiphany Theme Main character and Title: predict? We know the spider is important- our first character What do we know about this spider already? - patient willing to wait - How do we feel about it? - What is our point of view? we are looking at it

Diction: isolated, vacant vast, - Attitude = lonely imagery, all on its own on this little piece of land Filament?: thread, spider webbing, searching for something to cling to in order to build its web Ever, ever: never ending, will never give up on trying to connect to something even when its off on its own. My soul is disconnected, off on its own and trying to connect it just like the spider Enjambment: surrounded but by nothingness - We relate: can feel completely alone off on our own, like were always trying to reach out to something, somewhere to give us some company- this never ends

Alliteration, catalogues pushes us through the words ceaselessly, like we keep trying UNTIL (Epiphany/Shift): we find that place to hold onto and the thread finally catches - Know that somehow it will - Hopeful Figurative/connotative meaning: Theme: find the optimism and look past the pessimism

Intro Presentation Projects Now it is up to you to take the reigns and help us understand the meanings of some other Uncle Walt poems. For your assignment we are asking you to become experts on specific poems and present them to the class. But first- get familiar with poems.

(10 mins) Look through poems 1) Look at the side of the paper with the poems on it- briefly look through them to get an idea of them 2) Flip paper over- you will see a number of literary devices, which you will hopefully now be familiar with. Much as you saw with my model, we will use these areas to map out our understanding of the poem through identifying literary devices 3) Take time now to read through (5 mins) Choosing and moving into groups You will then present these findings in a presentation much like the one I gave to you this morning. Now lets choose between 2 options I can give you a choice: 1) You can choose whichever poem you would like to do and base your groupings off of that. So if I really want to do O Me! O Life! then I will choose one other person to work with 2) You can choose who you would like to be in a group with first and that will determine which poem you get. Reminder- the more group members, the longer or more challenging the poem will be. Raise your hand for #1/#2 Poems on board with # and names underneath We will end the class period with you getting into your groups and beginning work on these worksheets and I will hand out the official presentation prompts. So once you have chosen your group and poem, please get together and follow the directions on the analysis worksheet

(15 mins) Group work

HW: Read your poem on your own and begin filling out the sections. We will come back together in the next couple days so you can work with your groups and begin developing your presentation. Keep working on your C/C Essays