Ruth W. Wilson
OBJECTIVES
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1. To see how writers put their feelings into language; 2) To identify words of emotion and imagery; and 3) To see their experience as an important base for language use and writing skills.
Phase two of the unit will deal with the introduction of poetry written by two specific people: Maya Angelou and Julia Alverez, Black and Hispanic respectively. Ms. Alverez and Ms. Angelou were chosen because their poetry depicts the common ordinary work-a-day world that the students exists in and the injustices that minorities endure. One poem in particular, Bump d’bump, shows the stamina and resiliency of minorities who keep bouncing back despite the system. The poems of Ms. Angelou include: “Bump d’bump,” “Woman’s Work,” “On Aging,” “No Loser, No Weeper.” First, I will ask the students to read the following five verses of “Bump d ’bump,” reprinted here by permission of the author:
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Play me a game like Blind Man’s dance
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And blind my eyes with ignorance
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Bump d’bump, bump d’bump.
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Tell my life with a liquor sign
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Or cooking spoon from the five and dime
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And Junkie reel in two/four time
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Bump d’bump, bump d bump.
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Call me a name from an ugly south
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Like liver lips and scratch mouth
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Bump d’bump, bump d’bump.
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I’ll play possum and close my eyes
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To your greater sins and lesser lies
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That way I share my nations prize
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Bump d’bump, bump d’bump.
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I may be last in the welfare line
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Below the rim where the sun don’t shine
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But getting up stays on my mind
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Bum-p d’bump, bump d’bump.
The lesson planned around this poem could be entitled “Thinking About What You’ve Read.” The purpose of this lesson is to enable my Hispanic and Black students to be more aware of what’s going on in their lives and to be able to express their feelings about these experiences. Before they begin to move from the discussion stage, I will ask them to think about and discuss the following groups of questions. These questions then lead right into the writing activity.
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1. Have you experienced anything like this?
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What are these experiences about?
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Can you give them a name?
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2. Once you’ve experienced prejudice, what keeps you going?
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How do you initially feel?
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What do you do when you feel like this?
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3. Depending on who you are, is there an uplifting or downbeat mood to the poem?
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Who is doing the talking?
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How do you know?
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4. If you wanted to write about your own experiences, which ones would you use?
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What words would you use to create these experiences?
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What images would take these experiences strong to the reader?
With the last set of questions, the class will do a joint clustering activity based on one experience or image of the class’s choosing. Then each student will cluster one of his own experiences independently. After that, I will ask them to write a short, but detailed, poem about the experience chosen.
The remainder of the lesson will entail some class discussion about poetic appreciation—after they have written their own poems, so as not to freeze up their expression. I will ask them to discuss the mood, tone, and imagery of the poem. Then I will have the class write a short paragraph telling why they liked or disliked the poem. This written exercise will begin with the following sentence. They are to fill in the blanks with words of their own choosing, and then elaborate on this position sentence.
I did/did not like the _____ in the poem because . . . . The blank could be filled in with such choices as: the refrain, the sadness, the happiness, the prejudicial names, the depressing mood, or whatever. Such an exercise will give them a very directed method of writing a brief exposition. Thus, an expository paragraph should be manageable, and they will not become so frustrated by trying to write one.
THis same lesson strategy can be followed when reading any poem. We will continue by reading the poetry of Julia Alverez, whose poetry deals with the daily existence of ordinary people. The selection of poems includes: “Homecoming,” “How I learned to Sweep,” “Washing the Windows,” “Dusting,” “What Could It Be?” (Xerox copies of these poems are on file at the Institute Library, 53 Wall Street.) Ms. Alvarez’s poems are ones of the everyday work world and this is the world in which my students exists. As a follow up exercise, students can write their own experience about some type of work which they have engaged in, or how they feel about certain chores. This type of writing will show the students that what they feel and what they experience are important.