STANZA PROUD:
Examining the Life and Times of America's Poet Laureates

Grades:  6-8, 9-12

Subjects:  American History, Language Arts

Related New York Times Article
"Versus Verses, Interview by REGAN GOOD", February 24, 2003

Overview of Lesson Plan:: In this lesson, students will examine different decades in American history, finding connections between the historical events and the poetry written during these time periods. Students then write their own poetry based on current world events.

SUGGESTED TIME ALLOWANCE:
1 hour

OBJECTIVES:
Students will:

1. Examine a poem by Walt Whitman for historical and expressionistic references.
2. Learn about the tensions between politicians and poets by reading and discussing the article, “Versus Verses.”
3. Research decades in American history, their corresponding Poet Laureates and poems to create historical and emotional timelines accompanied by a poem that reflects the timeline.
4. Write poems reflecting their emotional reaction to the current state of affairs.

RESOURCES / MATERIALS:

• student journals
• pens/pencils
• paper
• classroom blackboard
• copies of “Versus Verses” (one per student)
• resources about twentieth century American history, poets and poetry (American history textbooks, poetry anthologies, computers with Internet access)
• copies of “Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night” ( http://www.poetry-archive.com/w/vigil_strange_i_kept.html) (one per student)

ACTIVITIES / PROCEDURES:

1. WARM-UP/DO-NOW: Hand out copies of “Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night” by Walt Whitman. Ask students to listen while the teacher reads the poem aloud two times. After reading the poem through a second time, discuss the following questions:
   • What is this poem about?
   • What ideas or emotions does the poet convey in this poem?
   • How did you feel while listening to the poem?
   • What do you think was the poet’s purpose for writing this poem?
2. As a class, read and discuss the article “Versus Verses,” focusing on the following questions:
   1. Who is Billy Collins?
   2. Why was the recent poetry symposium at the White House cancelled?
   3. According to Mr. Collins, what do the actions of poets Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson represent about the times in which they wrote?
   4. Why doesn’t Mr. Collins believe the United States will have a poet for a president?
   5. Who does he suggest will be president first?
   6. According to Mr. Collins, what is the problem with being a poet?
   7. According to Mr. Collins, which poems recently “spoke” to the American people?
   8. Why doesn’t Mr. Collins think President Bush should be reading poetry?
   9. According to Mr. Collins, what experiences lead to good poetry writing?
   10. What poets have recently had these experiences, according to Mr. Collins?
3. Divide students into six groups. Assign each group to one of the following time periods in American history and a corresponding Poet Laureate: 1940s (Robert Penn Warren, 1944-1945), 1950s (Conrad Aiken, 1950-1952), 1960s (James Dickey, 1966-1968), 1970’s (William Stafford, 1970-1971), 1980’s (Gwendolyn Brooks, 1985-1986) and 1990’s (Joseph Brodsky, 1991-1992).
   Explain to the students that they will be creating timelines that illustrate the historical events, as well as the sentiments the Poet Laureate might have experienced. The timelines will be presented to the class, along with a poem that embodies the history of the poet’s life during the group’s assigned decade. Within their groups, students will divide up the into three areas of research(written on the board or copied in a handout for easier access):
   HISTORICAL: Research the history of the United States during your assigned decade, beginning at the World Almanac for Kids web site ( http://www.worldalmanacforkids.com/explore/timeline4.html) and focusing on the following questions:
   • What major political, social or economic events took place during your assigned decade?
   • What major political, social or economic changes took place during your assigned decade?
   • Who were the personalities or parties involved in these events or changes?
   BIOGRAPHICAL: Research the history of your assigned poet’s life, beginning at the Academy of American Poetry’s web site (www.poets.org) and answering the following questions:
   • Where was this poet born? Where did he or she grow up?
   • When was this poet born? If applicable, when did this poet die?
   • What effect did the events and changes researched about your assigned decade have on the poet? Describe his or her living conditions, education, social interactions and career as a poet or as another working professional.
   POETRY: Research the poems written by your assigned poet. Locate poems that have been inspired by the political, social or economic events or changes during the time period you have been assigned. Consult with group members researching the historical and biographical portions of this activity to keep your research for poetry relevant.
   After gathering the historical and biographical information, students should come together as a group to create an historical and emotional timeline. First, students should calculate the scale needed to create a timeline that encompasses the poet’s life. Second, students will create a color code that represents different emotions and impressions the poet might have had during the different historical events or changes in their homeland, such as blue for sad, green for content or yellow for free. Then, students will analyze both the historical and biographical information to determine what color would most accurately represent how the poet felt about the events taking place, and record both the events and the color code on timelines.
   Once the timeline is completed, students should consider the poems chosen by the students who researched the poetry during class, and choose the poem that best reflects the emotional connection of the poet to this time period.
   Ask students to present their timelines to the class and to read the selected poem that reflects the time period.
4. WRAP-UP/HOMEWORK: Individually, students will write their own poems that reflect the current political, social or economic events or changes affecting their own lives. Poems can be shared in a future class.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• How does a poet become a Poet Laureate?
• What is the purpose of Project 180?
• What does it mean to be expressionistic? How is this different than being emotional?
• What is Laura Bush’s literacy program?
• What happens in the West Wing of the White House? What happens in the East Wing of the White House?

EVALUATION / ASSESSMENT:
Students will be evaluated based on thoughtful class discussion, thorough research of the history, biography or poems of their assigned decade and poet, completion of an historical and emotional timeline and its presentation, and the thoughtful completion of personal poems reflecting current events.

VOCABULARY:
laureate, symposium, pursuit, corpse

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

1. Prepare a poetry slam or individual poetry presentation by using the Poetry 180 program, which current poet Laureate Billy Collins helped to develop. First, choose a poem from Poetry 180's "List of Poems and Authors" ( http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/p180-list.html). Then, review the tips on how to read a poem ( http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/p180-howtoread.html) and practice reading the poem “like a professional.” Incorporate hand gestures or other physical movements if they will aid in your presentation of the poem.
2. Read the essay “Against National Poetry Month As Such” by Charles Bernstein ( http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/044106.html). Think about the value of having a cultural focus for each month of the year, such as Black History and Women’s History. What do these designated months say politically and culturally? Choose an issue or idea that you believe should have a month-long focus. Create a poetry anthology supporting this focus by researching poems that connect to your idea.
3. Using the format described in the main activity of this lesson, create an historical and emotional timeline for the Civil War and Walt Whitman’s involvement in the war, as well as his poetry during this time period.

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS:
Fine Arts- Create a collage illustrating the events and emotions described in the poem chosen by your group for the main activity. Write a brief artist’s statement explaining why you used particular images, colors, shapes, etc.

Global Studies- Research the political and poetic careers of Vaclav Havel. Create an historical and emotional timeline showing the connections between his two lines of work.

Journalism- In 2002, the White House symposium on poetry was cancelled because the meeting was going to be used by poets to protest war against Iraq. Consider this excerpt from Salvatore Quasimodo’s Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1959: “Can poet and politician cooperate? Perhaps they could in societies that are not yet fully developed, but never with complete freedom for both. In the contemporary world the politician may well take a variety of stands, but an accord between poet and politician will never be possible, because the one is concerned with the internal order of man, the other with the ordering of men. A quest for the internal order of man could, in a given epoch, coincide with the ordering and construction of a new society.” ( http://www.nobel.se/literature/Laureates/1959/quasimodo-lecture.html) Write an editorial comparing and contrasting the roles of a poet and a politician in American s ociety. Consider what happened with the White House symposium on poetry in your piece.

Media Studies- Watch “Dead Poets Society” and write an essay analyzing the effect poetry has on the professor and students portrayed in the movie.

Copyright 2003
The New York Times Company