Poems before Candide
"I love you as a sheriff searches for a walnut / That will solve a murder case unsolved for years."
"To You" Kenneth Koch
Planting the Garden - Poems Before Candide:We have a lesson built on poems (and one piece of verse) that are thematically related to the upcoming novel - to introduce and set the mood for the novel - while at the same time exercising our poetry interpretation muscles.
Lesson Overview (see also poems with notes)
For some reason (maybe one year they shortened the period beyond belief) - in addition to my preferred way of doing these poems (small groups or partners analyze then read aloud and tell us what they think it mean) - I also created a Power Point to go over the poems together as a class. If I can find that I will post it here.
In any case, no quiz today and you need to get started right away. I usually stand at the door and give the handout with the poems to the students as they enter (and tell them to start looking at it right away).
As soon as the bell rings, you want to get them into groups right away. This is NOT group work - you want to put them into groups based on their geography of sitting (to save time) and put a number of people in the analysis group based on the length and to a lesser extent the difficulty of the poem. The poems are also about the same the length (and difficulty). There are 9 (10 with the prose quote about gardens) poems and one piece of prose. So that means in a typical class of 23-30 students you will put either 2 or 3 students together. For this first time - you will have to eye it - you want them started on the poem analysis right away (in fact - tell them to start reading it right away - don't wait for everyone to be in a group).
Since this is the second time they have done this - there are not specific directions, Tell them to read the poem aloud without stopping. Next - go through it line by line and try and figure out what it means. Remind them - they can look up words or names BUT NOT the poem. I've never had students do that - hurray! Tell them - and mean it - there are no wrong interpretations. I tell them I don't care about SYMBOLISM (boo!), themes, etc. Just try and figure out what is happening in the poem. What is the story? What are the cool words - ideas. If they have time they can look at the poem as a metaphor - for what? That's up to them. The AP version has them look at methodology as well (they're going to be tested on it).
Give the students about 8-10 minutes (in a 50 minute period) to look at the poem. You can't give more than that - because you want to come together as a class to discuss them.
After that time- tell students they need to now listen (and take notes) on what their classmates came up with. REMIND them to take copious notes - and tell them - if they haven't figured it out - that the ideas in these poems will help them and give depth to the reading of the novel they are about to embark on. The teacher has to be very cognisant of time here - spend as much time on each poem as you can - and still get through all of them. The notes on my version of the handout (see below) form the basis of the questions and ideas that I will present about the poems BUT remember it is always better to hear from the students - if it is a matter of time - let what they have to say be the final word.
Go through each poem (and the one piece of prose) and AS YOU DO make sure students are taking notes. Have the students read the poem aloud - either one of them or taking turns or in a creative way - and remind the class before the poem is read aloud that the rest of the students should at that time TAKE NOTES on what they think the poem means BEFORE the small group gives their interpretation. The bookmark for this novel has lines from the poems on it - so it will bring this class - these ideas to the forefront as they are doing their reading. At the end of class, remind them of what is due - there will be a quiz - and to follow their bookmarks and read ahead. The quote about Gardens you can read aloud and do as a class.
The Poems
The Poems with my notes see below for student handout
The Poems with my Notes: PDF
A Power Point of the Poems - this Power Point goes far beyond giving the groups directions - though it could be used for that as well. I do give my THREE RULES FOR UNDERSTANDING Poetry - something we will come back to a lot over the year. It also has the poems - which would be super useful for Remote Learning - but I would generally not use that part of the Power Point and instead rely on the student verbal presentations.
Once the students are done with their analysis in small groups - we come together and discuss. 90% or more of that discussion will be what the students came up with - the rest is covered in these notes - which are in turn, to a large part, the result of past student contributions. PLEASE NOTE - These poems may NOT be in the same order as the student handout below - but they do contain all of the poems (the choice of poem evolves over time). ALSO - ignore the Candide Reading Schedule - the poems were initially given at the end of The History of Love and before Candide.
Handout - Poems (most recent)
Poems before Candide: Docx PDF
In most of my handouts that have text to be analyzed - I make sure to leave a wide margin for the students to write notes (both as they're reading and as we talk about the texts as a class). These are the most recent poems (and one piece of prose) given out. I will usually have these on a desk by the door and students will grab or be given one as they enter the room. These poems are given plenty of room for students to take notes on.
Bookmark with Poem Excerpts on the Back Docx PDF
Audio Visual Content
Remote Enhancements
This is a Power Point that I used in Remote Learning and in the classroom to help get the students focused on their interpretations. In this case, the poems themselves are there and something super useful for Remote Learning - a slide to assign the poems to different remote meeting rooms.
Links
The students did their end of the year project on this short story one year - when I find it , I will put it here.
Class Recordings (for registered members)
Audio
Video
Thoughts on the Lesson
There are some very modern poems in this exercise. There are some very diverse poems here as well. All of these poems really set up what is to come next. I love the poem, "Cocoa Beans" which says rather than blaming the horrible companies that employ child labor - we first need to look at ourselves - the ones who buy the chocolate. This idea will come up again in Candide in a very big way.