Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Today, we began our unit on poetry. We determined that the unit exams would be on March 18 (essay) and March 22 (m.c.). The students were given the poem "Cyclops", by Margaret Atwood. With this as our example, I explained the steps to reading poetry (which they then did using the poem). the steps are as follows:

1, Look at the title; intepret what you think it means and write this on the page.
2. Count the stanzas and lines in each and write both down.
3. Do an end rhyme scheme on the page and determine if there is a shape to it as well as poetry type.
4. Read the poem through for the first time. Highlight unfamiliar words, look up the definition for them, and write it down in your own words.
5. Read the poem again and highlight literary devices used (and define and/or interpret on the page).
6 Read the poem again and then paraphrase it and summarize it.

That is your homework for tomorrow. If you were not here and can't access this poem, find another one to do instead.