Poetry

"Oranges" by Gary Soto - students review the elements of poetry -
Literary Focus - metaphor, simile, symbolism, imagery.
Speaking focus - prosody/fluency.

"On Aging" by Maya Angelou - students listen to the poem and learn to annotate by listening to the verse rather than reading it.
Listening Strategies - note taking and attention to intonation.
Literary Focus - speaker/audience.

"O What Is That Sound" by W.H. Auden (Textbook p.141) - a ballad is a poem that tells a story. It is meant to be recited or sung.
Literary Focus - form, rhyme, and rhythm.
Reading Focus - making inferences (Q/A).
Music - "Are There Any More Real Cowbows?" by the incomparable balladist - Willie Nelson.

"Incident in a Rose Garden" by Donald Justice (Textbook p.147) - author's purposeful deceit by a title. Do Now: What might the story/poem with this title be about?
Literary Focus: Figurative Language - metaphor, simile, personification.
Reading Focus: Visualization of setting, character, and events.

"Young" by Anne Sexton ( p.344) vs. "Hanging Fire" by Audre Lorde (p.345)
Literary Focus - finding a unifying theme in two poems through speaker/character analysis.
Reading Focus - Navigating through the syntax of Free Verse. Students learn to break up stanzas into smalfler sentences to better understand the poems.

Class Project - "The Seven Ages of Man" by what's-his-name who, we all agree, wrote fairly well.
This Dramatic Monologue from "As You Like It" will be annotated and performed as a class.