Allusions in American Pie

We spent two classes listening to, and reading over, Don McLean's song "American Pie" in order to gain understanding of and appreciation for allusion in literature.  I presented a powerpoint slide show of images to assist with understanding of some of the allusions, as well as a CD of songs mentioned in "American Pie."  We talked through each reference, and I shared the stories that are linked to different allusions in the song.

The song is basically an allusive history of music from the 60s and 70s, and it is focused on "the day the music died," which was a day in 1959 when Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper, three very famous musicians, were killed in a plane crash.  Don McLean mourns the loss of these three artists, as well as the evolution of music over the two decades after the crash, in his song.

Poems of Love and Death

After spending Valentine's Day choosing a love poem for "Steve and Edie's wedding," we shifted gears today and read "Holy Sonnet 10" by John Donne.  We spent the class working through the poem, talking about the poetic devices Donne uses (apostrophe, personification, metaphor, paradox...) and developing an understanding of the effect these devices have on our understanding of the poet's stance about death.

We then created an outline for a paragraph, and began writing the paragraph together.  We will continue writing the paragraph next day.

A reminder that "Autowreck" annotations are due now.  Please get these in to me ASAP.

"The Detroit State Poems: Marking"

We began today's class by reflecting on a scenario from three different perspectives: student, parent and teacher.  The scenario I presented was receiving an essay back with red marks, negative comments and a low grade.  I asked students to consider how they feel when this happens, how their parents might feel, and how a teacher might feel.

Then, we read a poem by Tom Wayman, entitled "The Detroit State Poems: Marking."  Students were asked to annotate the poem with a partner, making note of poetic devices used, as well as what they understood of each stanza.

We concluded class by watching a short clip from "Mr.D" on assessment.  I promise this is not really how teachers mark essays.  Promise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fn_vAhu_Lw

"A Little Bit of Everything"

We spent today's class reviewing strategies for annotating a poem.  I modeled my own thinking about the song, "A Little Bit of Everything."  We discussed the importance of making detailed, comprehensive notes, both about poetic devices and meaning. 
Then, students wrote a paragraph, discussing the theme of the song.  The purpose of this paragraph is to inform me of students' strengths, and areas for future attention, with respect to writing about poetry.  Paragraphs will be returned early next week. 

Narratives and Intro to Poetry

Last class, everyone wrote a narrative from a prompt.  I will be evaluating these using the Ministry of Education Assessment Rubric for Composition, taken from the Provincial Exam.  Please see me to write if you missed this class.

Today we began our poetry unit.  The goal of today's class was for students to access background knowledge of poetic terms and to practice annotating a poem.  We worked on recalling definitions and/or examples for various poetic devices (alone, and then with a small group), and then handed this list in.  Then, we listened to a song called, "A Little Bit of Everything" and students were asked to annotate the lyrics.  Annotating basically means that you put your thinking on the page.  Any questions you have, observations you make, devices you notice...all this gets written on the page.  There is a link on the sidebar to the lyrics page if you missed today.  Annotated lyrics are due next class.

Listen to the song here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqhRK_g7WJc