Sandra K. Friday
Objective: When students have read the five poems beginning with "Locked In" and concluding with "The Journey," and listened to the voices of the five protagonists in these poems, they will complete a chart comparing the degree to which each protagonist expresses his/her sense of freedom. To do this, they will consider words and phrases the protagonists have chosen to describe whether they feel caught or free, physically, intellectually, and, perhaps, spiritually. They will identify how the protagonists' voices express their feelings and attitudes.
The purpose of this lesson, ultimately, is to make the students aware of ways in which they themselves have feelings of being caught and/or liberated in some of these same ways.
Once students have completed the chart, they will answer part of the CAPT question number three: "With which character, or event or situation in the poems can you most closely relate? When have you had a similar realization or made a similar decision? Connect your own experiences with those of one or more protagonists."