Lesson Plan #: AELP-WCP0209
Art in Poetry: Teaching the Imagists
An Educator's Reference Desk Lesson Plan
Submitted by:
Rebecca Wenrich
Email:
rwenrich@wcpss.net
School/University/Affiliation:
Southeast Raleigh High School, Raleigh, NC
Date:
May 2, 2002
Grade Level:
9, 10, 11, 12
Subject(s):
-
Language Arts/Writing
-
Arts
Duration:
40 minutes plus independent work time
Description:
This lesson presents a study of Ezra Pound's poem, "In the Station of the Metro" and the Imagist perception of modern society. Students will be required to write an original two-line poem about modern society and incorporate the poem into a graphic illustration.
Goals:
-
To understand the philosophy of the Imagist movement and read and analyze poetry of prominent Imagist poets.
-
To experiment writing in a variety of poetic forms and styles.
Objectives:
-
Students will be able to read and discuss Ezra Pound's poem, "In a Station of the Metro" in a classroom setting, highlighting key images and thematic style of the poem.
-
Students will be able to write a two-line poem about their perception of modern society.
-
Students will be able to incorporate their poem into a graphic illustration.
Materials:
-
overhead projector
-
transparency of Ezra Pound's poem (see
Internet
sites below)
-
art materials (magazines for collages, glue, construction paper, markers, colored pencils, etc.)
-
Handout: The Image
-
Notes: The Imagists
Handouts in .pdf format; requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Click the icon to obtain the free Reader.
Procedure:
[Prior to this lesson, have students complete the handout entitled, "The Image" (see
Materials
). Also, have provide background information about the Imagists (see notes in
Materials
). Students should take notes on the information presented.]
Review the history and philosophy of Imagist poetry taught in the previous lesson. Introduce Ezra Pound as one of the foremost Imagist poets. Give each student a handout of Pound's poem, and place a transparency of the poem on the overhead. Read the poem aloud. Ask students if they have ever been on a metro or subway. (If so, how did that make students feel?) Discuss the importance of the image of the crowd on a subway as it relates to the petals on a flowering tree. Emphasize that Pound's poem moves from the visualization of the part to the whole, and that while society may seem like a large faceless mass, in actuality that mass is made up of distinctive individual faces. Emphasize how a simple image can inspire profound thought. After the discussion has ended, ask students to write a poem in two lines on their perception of modern society. Afterwards, students can use the art materials to incorporate their poem into a graphic illustration.
Assessment:
The assignment may be graded on thoughtfulness, visual appeal, and thematic interpretation. Grading creative writing projects can be difficult because it is so subjective. The teacher must know her students well enough to understand their ability level and "effort." A sample rubric that can be used is as follows:
-
25%
Required Elements
(Did the project include all of the basic requirements?)
-
25%
Content
(Was the content thoughtful and matched the ability level of the student?)
-
25%
Format
(Was the project readable, understandable, and neat? Do the graphics correlate well with the purpose of the poem?)
-
25%
Creativity
(Was the project original and striking, not a generic display?) This is where you can add extra points for those students who go above and beyond!
Useful Internet Resources:
*
In a Station of the Metro
http://eserver.org/poetry/in-a-station.txt
*
Ezra Loomis Pound - In a Station of the Metro
http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/rp/poems/pound3.html