Objective
Students will identify grief expressed by the poet and express how the poet is dealing with it. Students will also examine death in their community as well as experiences in their own personal lives.
For this section, I have chosen poems titled “Poem” by Langston Hughes and “Sonnet For My Father” by Donald Justice. Before reading poems about death, I would discuss death with students in a group. This, I feel, is the appropriate place for the field trips to the crematory and funeral home. The wealth of knowledge that was given to us first hand by the professionals at both the funeral home and crematory who deal directly with the bodies and the families, gave us an excellent basis for discussion. The terms that students should be aware of were discussed in lesson one.
“Sonnet For My Father” by Donald Justice expressed how he remembers struggling for his father’s hand at the time of his death. He continues on realizing that as long as he is alive, his father still lives on within the son. The poet expresses a feeling of uneasiness being around his father while he was dying and ends the poem on a more spiritual note filled with hope.
The second poem by Langston Hughes is called simply “Poem”, which talks about his friend going away and how he loved his friend. This poem expresses grief in a concrete and simple way. It expresses loss felt when a person dies or leaves.
Children must discuss the concept of unfinished business. A good example is relatives that have a disagreement and take that disagreement to their graves. The survivor is left to deal with the guilt of unspoken words. Students should be aware that this doesn’t have to be if they are truthful about their feelings with family and loved ones.
Ditto for students concerning death
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A. Do you feel uncomfortable around a dying person?
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B. How do you think you should treat someone who is dying?
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C. How old do you think you will be when you die?
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D. Have you ever felt guilty when someone died? If so, why?
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E. What is one memory that is a nice memory of someone who died that was close to you?
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F. Is it okay to think about someone who is dead?
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G. How can someone remember someone who has died?
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H. Have you ever had any bad experiences at a funeral home?
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I. How is a funeral for a young person different from a funeral for an old person?
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J. Describe a funeral you have been to.
