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LESSON PLAN #1 - I COULD BE A POET
I Could Be A Poet
by Taylor Mali
I think I could be a poet because I like to wear a lot of black.
And I can think of incongruous images like a Marxist with a trust fund.
A Porsche pulling a U-Haul, a lobsterman in Birkenstocks sipping a cappuccino,
with his pinkie pointing toward the sky.
I have studied the poets who sing song out their lines
for no other reason than that’s how it’s done,
in love with the sound of their own voices,
ending each line going up,
every single line going up,
as they read, and read, and . . . read?
See, declarative sentences that in prose would go down,
in poetry seem to go up
as if it adds some hidden meaning:
I know what I’m talking about and you should too.
And I am not afraid to get pissed off!
I am not afraid to use that ONE requisite swear word
to let you know I am serious, man!*
I’m not afraid to
SHOUT! WITH INTENSITY! AND LONG, DRAMATIC . . .
PAUSES
FRAUGHT WITH ANGST!
And still you can hear the lines going up.
And the words, the vocabulary words-
Glaconian, distemic, irrepscenteelia-
Thrown in to remind you
“I am a writer! Eat my Verbal dust!”
And then the end
Spoken softly, hauntingly tender,
Though not devoid of irony,
Ending abruptly as if there is more...
* Note: There was an inappropriate word in this line of the poem, so I simply erased it.
Class Plan
Read Taylor Mali’s poem “I Could Be A Poet” aloud to the class. Have the students listen carefully for lines that “jump out” to them. Discuss what lines they remember and the overall tone of the poem; discuss the comedy of the poem (a poem making fun of poets, written by a poet). Ask the students what else they could be- an artist? an actor? a singer? Get their minds working outside of the arts as well- a plumber? Or what about something they already are- a student? Encourage them to think of generalizations and types of people, not a specific person. Also be open to suggestions of something other than a type of person, like an animal or a machine, but be sure its still nonspecific.
Pick a subject and try a class poem. Ask the students what types of descriptions Taylor Mali uses in “I Could Be A Poet” for ideas. Create word pools on the board of different actions your chosen subject might do, how they might speak, what they look like. Be sure to jot down any metaphors students may offer, or write the words “like/as” / “_____ is a _____” on the board to get them thinking in similes and metaphors. Create a quick class poem together.
Have students write for several minutes on the prompt, coming up with their own subjects. Offer several different ideas on the board- subjects, starter lines (“I could be a ____ because I like to ____ / because I can ____ / because I’m not afraid to ____”), ways to describe this person/thing (colors, facial features, sounds, smell, actions). Share and collect.
LESSON PLAN #2 - AFTERNOON ROUTINES
The Cord
by Leanne O’Sullivan
I used to lie on the floor for hours after
school with the phone cradled between
my shoulder and my ear, a plate of cold
rice to my left, my school books to my right.
Twirling the cord between my fingers
I spoke to friends who recognized the
language of our realm. Throats and lungs
swollen, we talked into the heart of the night,
toying with the idea of hair dye and suicide,
about the boys who didn’t love us,
who we loved too much, the pang
of the nights. Each sentence was
new territory, like a door someone was
rushing into, the glass shattering
with delirium, with knowledge and fear.
My Mother never complained about the phone bill,
what it cost for her daughter to disappear
behind a door, watching the cord
stretching its muscle away from her.
Perhaps she thought it was the only way
she could reach me, sending me away
to speak in the underworld.
As long as I was speaking
she could put my ear to the tenuous earth
and allow me to listen, to decipher.
And these were the elements of my Mother,
the earthed wire, the burning cable,
as if she flowed into the room with
me to somehow say, Stay where I can reach you,
the dim room, the dark earth. Speak of this
and when you feel removed from it
I will pull the cord and take you
back towards me.
Class Plan
Tell students today they will be writing about their afternoons / after school activities. Discuss some things students might do after school- take a bus home, do homework, talk on the phone, go to work, etc. Read either Leanne O’Sullivan’s poem “The Cord” or Dave Etter’s “Marcus Millsap: School Day Afternoon” to the class and discuss how the poet approaches discussion of a normal afternoon. What kinds of things do they do, or say they’d like to do? What do they describe in the environment around them?
With the class, create word pools of different afternoon activities, places a high school student might go after school, people they may encounter, things they may see- generalities. If choosing to create a class poem, you may want to focus on the routine of being in that very class- something they can all relate to- rather than an afternoon routine. This will give them a sense of how to approach their individual afternoon routine poems, without using up what ideas they have in the class poem.
Have students write individually about either a specific afternoon, or their usual afternoon routine. They are also free to write about the night time, but it should be about something that happens after school. Encourage plenty of detailed imagery and bring their attention back to the word pools for ideas.
Questions students may want to consider while writing:
- Where are you coming from? Where are you going? (if not stationary)
- Where were you before you were here?
- What happened earlier that day to effect you that afternoon?
- What are you doing? Why are you doing it?
- Who are you talking to or who do you talk to, if anyone?
- What do you see? Colors, objects, shapes, etc.
- What do you hear, smell, taste, feel?
Share and collect.