The Power of Poetry
In this series of activities, you will listen to, read, analyze, and reflect on different pieces of literature. You will look for and think about various rhetorical strategies used by authors to get their messages across to their audience. You will also create an original blackout poem using an excerpt from a historical document. Finally, you will compare and contrast your classmates’ creations.
Objectives and Goals
- Compare and contrast texts written on the same subject by different authors.
- Evaluate how one’s point of view may contribute to the meaning of a text.
Essential Question(s)
- How can poetry be a vehicle for change?
Lesson Format
This lesson is designed to take approximately 3 or 4 days/120-180 minutes and can be completed entirely online. This lesson includes open-ended questions, discussion opportunities, analysis of rhetorical strategies, composition of an original, creative writing piece, and a reflection on what you have learned.
Procedure
- First, you will watch a video and answer a couple of questions.
- After watching two more videos, you will analyze the rhetorical strategies used in those pieces of literature. You will then answer a question.
- Next, you will watch a Ted Talk video by Amanda Gorman and answer a question about what she presented.
- Then, using an excerpt from a speech by Abraham Lincoln, you will create a blackout poem.
- Finally, you will respond thoughtfully to your classmates’ poems.