The Truth - A poem by Randall Jarrell
"The memory of those days, the faces and the names, will always remain with me, as they remain with every adult who was victimized as a child ." Richard Lindberg
"The Truth"- A Poem by Randall Jarrell : A deceptively simple lesson. There is a single poem - "The Truth", written by American poet Randall Jarrell about a small boy who survives a horrific bombing during the London Blitz of World War 2. We began the school year by talking about "What is Truth?" and it has remained popping its head out every once in a while - in the background for pretty much everything that we've done. In this lesson, the students will first work by themselves trying to figure out what the poem is about. Then they will have the same amount of time to work with a partner - throw ideas around - see what each of them came up with. Finally - we will go over it as a class. I love the progression of this lesson - and it really fits in so well with this mini-unit. We can figure a lot more out - when we are working and helping each other.
Lesson Overview
First they tackle the poem on their own
For the first 10 minutes or so of class - the students will tackle the poem on their own. Here are those directions from the handout (found below): For the first 10 minutes of the class, look at the poem yourself. WRITE COMMENTS DIRECTLY ON YOUR SHEETS. Write anything that occurs to you, if you don’t know the meaning of words look them up. Remember, before you look for anything deeper, make sure you understand what is taking place literally in the poem. Use all the knowledge and skills you’ve learned about close readings.
Next, they find a partner
Now, the students will find a partner and see what each of them came up with - and what they can come up with together. Here are those directions from the handout (found below): · For the next 10 minutes of class choose a partner and discuss the poem. Ask each other questions. First, make sure that you have a grasp of what’s taking place (plot wise), then discuss your opinions of larger issues and ideas. Make sure you keep coming back to the actual words of the poem; if you describe an idea, issue, or understanding — go to the part of the poem that supports what you are saying.
Consider the following ideas (among whatever else you wish to) - How does the poem fit in with what we’ve talked about so far in this class? Who is the persona (the speaker of the poem)? Do they change in the story? Why this title? Who changes the most, the persona or the mother? How does this fit in with our lives – right now – in the past?
REMEMBER: 1) Literal before figurative 2) know the meaning of every word
3) know the antecedent of every pronoun.
Those last three rules are something we've gone over a number of times in class (as with all the poems we read before each novel).
The Discussion - (the last part of class)
I have included below two versions of my Lesson Notes (one much earlier than the other) and an Annotated PDF of the poem with my lesson notes in the form of comments. Please note: sometimes my notes will be in the form of questions - sometimes in comments. However, you should always try to put these ideas forward as questions - and sometimes you won't need to because students will come up with them before you get the chance to say anything.
A good way to begin the discussion is to ask students to state what they think literally takes place in the poem as a whole - and then move to a stanza by stanza discussion.
"The Truth" Lesson Notes
This version has the notes in the forms of comments on a PDF. It may not be as complete has my handwritten notes on the lesson - but sure is a lot easier to read.
This version was my most recent version of the lesson - more the notes that I took on the poem to facilitate a classroom discussion - AFTER students first worked alone and then with a partner.
"The Truth" poem & student instructions handout
"The Truth" poem and student instructions handout Docx PDF
There is plenty of room for the students to take notes - first by themselves and later with their partner. There are also instructions for the time they get to read and examine the poem and a reminder of Scotese's Three Rules for Understanding Poetry.
truthdiscussion20170113.m4a"The Truth" by Randall Jarrell - a class discussion
We come together with this poem (make sure you have the poem in front of you as you listen) after students first looked at it by themselves - and then with a partner. We discover - as the little boy discovers.
Remote Enhancements
I actually did this remotely and I do believe it held the classes attention. You do have to arrange for the students to join a room so they can work with partners on the second part.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi: A new novel to begin the new year. Sometimes I do this before my Dante unit - sometimes after. The graphic novel tells the story of a young woman growing up in Revolutionary Iran - and all of the troubles, heartache, and maturing that that experience entails. Though far removed (mostly in locale and culture) it is a book that my students could totally identify with, while at the same time catching a glimpse of life half a world away.
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Thoughts on the Lesson
This is such a great lesson to see how far students have come from the beginning of the year - in how they approach poetry. They are not only "better" at it - but they have so much more confidence. And of course, they are happy to see the parts they didn't get - especially since it comes from their classmates.