Iacobazzo/Wrambel
CP 11
Unit: American Poets
Date: 5/3/10
Standards:
 1.1.11.D: Demonstrate comprehension / understanding of a wide variety of
appropriate literary works from different cultures and literary movements,
including classic and contemporary literature.
 1.3.11.A: Examine the impact of diverse cultures and writers on the development
and growth of literature. Describe how an author conveys intent and perspective
in contemporary and historical writings.
 1.3.11.B: Interpret and analyze works in various genres of literary and/or cultural
significance in American and world history: Reflect a variety of genres in the
respective major periods of literature. Represent important authors in each
historical period. Reveal contrasts in major themes, styles, and trends in the
respective historical periods. Examine the important philosophical, religious,
social, political, or ethical ideas of the time.
 1.3.11.C: Analyze the relationships, use, and effectiveness of literary elements
(characterization, setting, plot, theme, point of view, tone, mood, foreshadowing,
irony, and style) used by one or more authors in similar genres.
 1.3.11.D: Analyze the effectiveness, in terms of literary quality, of the author’s
use of literary devices, (e.g., personification, simile, alliteration, symbolism,
metaphor, hyperbole, imagery, allusion, satire, foreshadowing, flashback, irony)
in various genres.
 1.4.11.A: Write poems, short stories, and plays. Apply various organizational
methods. Include literary elements and devices. Construct a strong story line with
illustrative details. Include elements of style in writing to develop a personal style
 1.6.11.A: Listen critically and respond to others in small and large group
situations. Respond with grade level appropriate questions, ideas, information or
opinions.
 1.7.11.A: Analyze the role and place of standard American English in speech,
writing, and literature. Evaluate as a reader how an author’s choice of words
advances the theme or purpose of a work. Choose words appropriately, when
writing, to advance the theme or purpose of a work.
Objectives:
 Students will be able to recognize elements of American poetry
 Students will be able to recognize poetic devices and their purpose in poetry
 Students will analyze the structure of American poetry
 Students will respond to written work by discussing poetry and writing poetry of
their own.
Materials:
 Walt Whitman worksheet
 Audio of “America” found at :
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20157
 Watch Levi’s commercial, found at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uBsV8wAEhw&feature=related
 Video and lyrics of “God Bless the USA”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzV61Al8crU
Procedures:
Period 4: (11:08 - 11:53)
10:57 – 10:59: Begin class by giving instructions about what we will be doing this
day.
OVERVIEW
1. Sharing Nature poems in small groups
2. Choose one poem in the small group to present to the whole class
3. Walt Whitman
4. Listen to God Bless the USA and Whitman’s America as well as watch
the Levi’s video
5. Comparing and contrasting some images of America
6. Complete worksheet and then a brief discussion
10:59 – 11:00: Get into student selected groups of 4 or 3
11:00 – 11:05: Share poems in small groups, ask groups to choose one poem to
share with class
11:05 – 11:10: Share selected poems with whole class, collect poems, pass out
lyrics
11:10 – 11:13: Listen to “God Bless the USA”
11:13 – 11:17: Have groups discuss the “America” described in this song
(As groups are discussing, hand out Walt Whitman worksheets)
11:17 – 11:22: Walt Whitman biography, project image from Poets.org
11:22 – 11:23: Listen to “America”
11:23– 11:24: Watch Levi’s video
11:24 – 11:33: Work on worksheet
11:33 – 11:43: Discussion on worksheet and the image of America, collect
worksheets
Period 7: (1:40 – 2:25)
1:36 – 1:38: Begin class by giving instructions about what we will be doing this
day.
OVERVIEW
1. Sharing Nature poems in small groups
2. Choose one poem in the small group to present to the whole class
3. Walt Whitman
4. Listen to God Bless the USA and Whitman’s America as well as watch
the Levi’s video
5. Comparing and contrasting some images of America
6. Complete worksheet and then time in class will be yours
1:38 – 1:39: Get into groups, count off by 7
1:39 – 1:44: Share poems in small groups, ask groups to choose one poem to
share with class
1:44 – 1:49: Share selected poems with whole class, collect poems
1:49 – 1:52: Listen to “God Bless the USA”
1:52 – 1:57: Have groups discuss the “America” described in this song,
(As groups are discussing, hand out worksheets)
1:57 – 2:02: Walt Whitman biography, project image from Poets.org
2:02 – 2:03: Give before, during, after instruction
Listen to “America”
2:03 – 2:04: Watch Levi’s video
2:04 – 2:14: Work on worksheet
2:14 – 2:23: Discussion on worksheet and the image of America, collect
worksheets
Assessments:
Questions for “God Bless the USA”:
1. What does this song say about America?
2. What do you think of when you hear this song?
Questions for “America”:
1. What does this song say about America?
2. What do you think of when you hear this song?
3. How has the image of America changed over time? What do we have now that
we might not have had during Whitman’s time?
4. What is Whitman’s stance on equality? Is it consistent with the time period?
5. How would you describe America?
This will lead to: An idea about what themes American poets frequently explore as well
as an introduction to poetic devices.
Reflection:
Walt Whitman
Born on May 31, 1819, Walt Whitman was the second
son of Walter Whitman, a housebuilder, and Louisa
Van Velsor. The family, which consisted of nine
children, lived in Brooklyn and Long Island in the
1820s and 1830s.
At the age of twelve, Whitman began to learn the
printer's trade, and fell in love with the written word.
Largely self-taught, he read voraciously, becoming
acquainted with the works of Homer, Dante,
Shakespeare, and the Bible.
Whitman worked as a printer in New York City until a
devastating fire in the printing district demolished the industry. In 1836, at the age
of 17, he began his career as teacher in the one-room school houses of Long Island.
He continued to teach until 1841, when he turned to journalism as a full-time career.
He founded a weekly newspaper, Long-Islander, and later edited a number of
Brooklyn and New York papers. In 1848, Whitman left the Brooklyn Daily Eagle to
become editor of the New Orleans Crescent. It was in New Orleans that he
experienced at first hand the viciousness of slavery in the slave markets of that city.
On his return to Brooklyn in the fall of 1848, he founded a "free soil" newspaper, the
Brooklyn Freeman, and continued to develop the unique style of poetry that later so
astonished Ralph Waldo Emerson.
In 1855, Whitman took out a copyright on the first edition of Leaves of Grass, which
consisted of twelve untitled poems and a preface. He published the volume himself,
and sent a copy to Emerson in July of 1855. Whitman released a second edition of
the book in 1856, containing thirty-three poems, a letter from Emerson praising the
first edition, and a long open letter by Whitman in response. During his subsequent
career, Whitman continued to refine the volume, publishing several more editions of
the book.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Whitman vowed to live a "purged" and "cleansed"
life. He wrote freelance journalism and visited the wounded at New York-area
hospitals. He then traveled to Washington, D.C. in December 1862 to care for his
brother who had been wounded in the war.
Overcome by the suffering of the many wounded in Washington, Whitman decided to
stay and work in the hospitals and stayed in the city for eleven years. He took a job
as a clerk for the Department of the Interior, which ended when the Secretary of the
Interior, James Harlan, discovered that Whitman was the author of Leaves of Grass,
which Harlan found offensive. Harlan fired the poet.
Whitman struggled to support himself through most of his life. In Washington, he
lived on a clerk's salary and modest royalties, and spent any excess money,
including gifts from friends, to buy supplies for the patients he nursed. He had also
been sending money to his widowed mother and an invalid brother. From time to
time writers both in the states and in England sent him "purses" of money so that he
could get by.
In the early 1870s, Whitman settled in Camden, NJ, where he had come to visit his
dying mother at his brother's house. However, after suffering a stroke, Whitman
found it impossible to return to Washington. He stayed with his brother until the
1882 publication of Leaves of Grass gave Whitman enough money to buy a home in
Camden.
In the simple two-story clapboard house, Whitman spent his declining years working
on additions and revisions to a new edition of the book and preparing his final
volume of poems and prose, Good-Bye, My Fancy (1891). After his death on March
26, 1892, Whitman was buried in a tomb he designed and had built on a lot in
Harleigh Cemetery.
A Selected Bibliography
Poetry
Drum Taps (1865) Good-Bye, My Fancy (1891) Leaves of Grass (1855) Leaves of
Grass (1856) Leaves of Grass (1860) Leaves of Grass (1867) Leaves of Grass
(1870) Leaves of Grass (1876) Leaves of Grass (1881) Leaves of Grass
(1891) Passage to India (1870) Sequel to Drum Taps (1865)
Prose
Complete Prose Works (1892) Democratic Vistas (1871) Franklin Evans; or, The
Inebriate (1842) Memoranda During the War (1875) November Boughs
(1888) Specimen Days and Collect (1881)
Iacobazzo/Wrambel
CP
11
American
Poets
Name:_________________________________
Walt
Whitman
America
Centre
of
equal
daughters,
equal
sons,
All,
all
alike
endear'd,
grown,
ungrown,
young
or
old,
Strong,
ample,
fair,
enduring,
capable,
rich,
Perennial
with
the
Earth,
with
Freedom,
Law
and
Love,
A
grand,
sane,
towering,
seated
Mother,
Chair'd
in
the
adamant
of
Time.
1881
1. After
listening
to
Whitman’s
poem,
what
do
you
think
he
is
saying
about
America?
2. What
is
your
immediate
response
to
this
poem?
3. If
you
could
describe
America,
how
would
describe
it?
GOD BLESS THE USA LYRICS
By Lee Greenwood
If
tomorrow
all
the
things
were
gone,
I’d
worked
for
all
my
life.
And
I
had
to
start
again,
With
just
my
children
and
my
wife.
I’d
thank
my
lucky
stars,
To
be
livin’
here
today.
‘Cause
the
flag
still
stands
for
freedom,
and
they
can’t
take
that
away.
And
I’m
proud
to
be
an
American,
Where
at
least
I
know
I’m
free.
And
I
won’t
forget
the
men
who
died,
Who
gave
that
right
to
me.
And
I
gladly
stand
up,
Next
to
you
and
defend
her
still
today.
‘Cause
there
ain’t
no
doubt
I
love
this
land,
God
bless
the
USA.
From
the
lakes
of
Minnesota,
To
the
hills
of
Tennessee.
Across
the
plains
of
Texas,
From
sea
to
shining
sea.
From
Detroit
down
to
Houston,
And
New
York
to
L.A.
Well
there’s
pride
in
every
American
heart,
And
it’s
time
we
stand
and
say.
That
I’m
proud
to
be
an
American
Where
at
least
I
know
I’m
free.
And
I
won’t
forget
the
men
who
died,
Who
gave
that
right
to
me.
And
I
gladly
stand
up,
Next
to
you
and
defend
her
still
today.
‘Cause
there
ain’t
no
doubt
I
love
this
land,
God
bless
the
USA.