Marie P. Casey
Objective
To teach poetry while improving speaking and listening skills.
Strategies
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1. Use public speaking/reading poetry aloud.
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2. Listening/Discussing: Here students learn and practice informal talks about literature in groups.
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3. Individual oral interpretation. Students learn and practice the requirements for reading aloud for others to enjoy.
Day 1
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1. Have the class break into groups of three or four and appoint a recorder for the group. Allow 10 to 15 minutes for group discussion.
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2. Assign the poems “Tom Merritt” and “Mrs. Merritt” from Edgar Lee Masters
Spoon River Anthology
.
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Have a large sheet of paper and a marker pen for each group.
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3. Reconvene the class and allow each group to contribute their ideas for the class. Have each recorder write his group’s ideas on the sheet of paper.
Day 2
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1. Separate the class into groups again and assign the poem “Faith Matheny” and “John Ballard”. Answer these questions: What is the meaning? Who are these people in the poems?
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Proceed as on Day 1. Leave the group remarks on poster paper hanging in the room.
Day 3
Introduce
Afro American
folk poetry read aloud in class for credit. Ask for each poem:
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1. What is said? What is the sense?
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2. What are the emotions expressed?
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3. What is the writer’s attitude to his audience?
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4. What is the purpose or why has the author written the poem?
Afro American Folk Poetry
Oral Tradition
offers a wealth of spirituals such as:
Of The Sorrow Songs
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I walk through the churchyard
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To lay this body down;
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I know moon-rise, I know star-rise;
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I walk in the moonlight, I walk in the starlight;
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I’ll lie in the grave and stretch out my arms,
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I’ll go to judgment in the evening of the day,
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And my soul and thy soul shall meet that day,
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When I lay this body down.
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Negro Song
Folk Poems
The following Spiritual used by Martin Luther King in his famous mountaintop speech.
I Thank God I’m Free at Las’
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Free at las’, free at las’,
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I thank God I’m free at las’.
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Free at las’, free at las’,
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I thank God I’m free at las’.
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Way down yonder in de graveyard walk,
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I thank God I’m free at las’.
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Me an’ my Jesus gwineter meet an’ talk,
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I thank God I’m free at las’.
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On-a my knees when de light pass by,
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I thank God I’m free at las’.
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Thought my soul would arise and fly,
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I thank God I’m free at las’.
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Some o’ dese mornin’s bright and fair,
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I thank God I’m free at las’,
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Gwineter meet my Jesus in de middle of de air,
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I thank God I’m free at las’.
Folk Poem
Humor
That Hypocrite
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I tell you how dat hypocrite do,
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He come down to my house, an’ talk about you;
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He talk about me, an’ he talk about you;
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An’ dat’s de way dat hypocrite do.
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I tell you how dat hypocrite pray.
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He pray out loud in de hypocrite way.
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He pray out loud, got a heap to say;
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An’ dat’s de way dat hypocrite pray.
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I tell you how dat hypocrite ‘ten’,
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He ‘ten’ dat he love, an’ he don’t love men.
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He ‘ten dat he love, an’ he hate Br’er Ben;
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An’ dat’s de way dat hypocrite ‘ten’.
Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?
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Were you there, when they crucified my Lord?
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Were you there, when they crucified my Lord?
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Oh, sometimes, it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
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Were you there, when they crucified my Lord?
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Were you there, when they nailed him to the tree?
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Were you there, when they nailed him to the tree?
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Oh, sometimes, it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
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Were you there, when they nailed him to the tree?
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Were you there, when they pierced him in the side?
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Were you there, when they pierced him in the side?
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Oh, sometimes, it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
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Were you there, when they pierced him in the side?
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Were you there, when the sun refused to shine?
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Were you there, when the sun refused to shine?
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Oh, sometimes, it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
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Were you there, when the sun refused to shine?
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They pierced Him in the side, an’ He never said a mumbalin’word.
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They pierced Him in the side, an’ He never said a mumbalin’word.
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Not a word, not a word, not a word.
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The blood came twinklin’ down, an’ He never said a mumbalin’ word.
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The blood came twinklin’ down, an’ He never said a mumbalin’ word.
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Not a word, not a word, not a word.
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He bowed His head an’ died, an’ He never said a mumbalin’ word.
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He bowed His head an’ died, an’ He never said a mumbalin’ word.
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Not a word, not a word, not a word.
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Were you there, when they laid him in the tomb?
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Were you there, when they laid him in the tomb?
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Oh, sometimes, it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
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Were you there, when they laid him in the tomb?
