Unit Five: Creating Meaning Through Poetry

Unit Syllabus

MARCH POETRY MADNESS TOURNAMENT

March Madness of Poetry 

Four teams: East, West, North, and South

Round One- 16 to 8

Each group will receive 16 poems– select the best poems based on the criteria provided.

  • In the group, read each pair of poems aloud and compare them to decide which is best. 
  • You have two class periods to read all 16 poems. 
  • Use the hint provided to help you compare the two, discuss them and then vote which poem is better than the other. 
  • You should have 8 poems remaining.

40 points: BRACKET of 8 poems is due on 

Round Two- 8 to 4

  • Transfer the winning 8 poems to another group. (East to North) (West to South)
  • Read each of the new poems aloud.
  • The task is to once again decide which poems will make it to the next round. This time, the winner will be decided by answering 5 questions about the poems. 
  •  For each of the poems, answer the following questions and use complete sentences:
    1. What is the poem about? (State the poem’s SUBJECT and briefly paraphrase it). 
    2. Why did you CHOOSE this poem over the others? 
    3. What is the speaker (or poet’s) attitude toward the subject of the poem? In other words, what is the TONE of the poem? 
    4. What IMAGES does the poet use? (What do you see, smell, hear, taste, and feel?) 
    5. What is the EMOTIONAL effect of these images? 
  • You will have two class periods to answer the questions.
  • After answering the questions, decide which 4 poems you liked better.

10 points: Answers to questions for the 4 winning poems due on 

Round Three- 4-2  

  • Transfer the winning 4 poems to another group. (East to West) (North to South)
  • Read them aloud together.
  • For each of the poems, answer the following questions and use complete sentences:
    1. What is the poem about? (State the poem’s SUBJECT and briefly paraphrase it). 2. Why did you CHOOSE this poem over the others? 
    2. What is the speaker (or poet’s) attitude toward the subject of the poem? In other words, what is the TONE of the poem? 
    3. What IMAGES does the poet use? (What do you see, smell, hear, taste, and feel?) 
    4. What is the EMOTIONAL effect of these images?
  • Rank and select the final 2 poems.

10 points: Answers to questions for the 2 winning poems by

Round Four: 2 to 1

  1. Use SOAPSTone and analyze/explicate the “surviving” 2 poems. 
  2. Based on your analysis, which of the two poems is the best one?

20 points: 2 explications from SOAPSTone by 

The Final Four: 

The final four poems are determined by each group’s best poem selection.

  • East will go against West (North vs. South) 
  • If there are duplicate poems, use an alternate poem(second place poem)
  • Argue the reasons why your poem is better than your opponent’s poem. 
  • Use the criteria(5 questions and SOAPSTone) to support your argument successfully.
  • The entire class will vote by secret ballot to decide the remaining 2 poems.

Championship Round of Two:

The winning groups will follow the same discussion and ranking guidelines as before and cut the two poems to one. 

Final Assessment:

40 points: Use SOAPSTone and analyze/explicate the “surviving” poem in class on 

East

Poems Discussion Point

1. Sympathy

2. Hope is the thing with feathers

Both poems use an extended metaphor to explore an idea.

3. The Raven 

4. Home

Center around an unexpected visitor appearing on a gloomy night.

5. The moon was but a chin of gold 

6. The Moon 

Based on descriptions of the moon.

7. Fifth Grade Autobiography

8 Nikki-Rosa 

Emphasize the importance of family love, childhood memories, both happy and sad.

9. Jazz Fantasia

10. The Weary Blues

Both bring music into the poems.

11. Sea Fever

12. Crossing the Bar

The lure of the ocean is the topic but on a deeper level, both deal with death. 

13. We Real Cool 

14 Nothing Gold Can Stay

The message of how fleeting life, and its marvels, can be. 

15. Ex-Basketball Player

16. Harlem 

The idea of the unfulfilled dream.

West

Poems Discussion Point

1. Boy at the Window

2. Snowman

The snowman as a symbol of childhood in winter

3. Same Song 

4. Mirror

Mirrors and the displeasure of looking at oneself in one.

5. I am Offering This Poem

6. Things

Poems are things to be treasured.

7. The Summer I Was Sixteen

8. Because it looked hotter that way

coming of age and experiencing the rush of being young and beautiful. 

9. Introduction to Poetry

10. How to Eat a Poem

A tasty look at poetry.

11. Mother to Son

12. Women

Both poems describe the struggle of African American women. 

13. Musee des Beaux-Arts

14. Landscape with the Fall of Icarus

two very stylistically different poems detailing the fall of Icarus.

15. Utopia

16. Utopian

Emphasize the impossibility of the existence of a perfect place.

North

Poems Discussion Point

1. America 

2. I, Too

the pain of being excluded in one’s own country.

3. When You Are Old

4. At The End

a touching tribute to aging and emphasize the happiness of a life well-lived. 

5. The Secret Heart

6. Those Winter Sundays

A son’s admiration for his father encourages us to show appreciation to those who love us now rather than later.

7. The Base Stealer

8. Casey at the Bat

two poems about baseball. 

9. Mama, Come Back

10. Hanging Fire

Both of these poems dwell on the distance between mother and daughter. 

11. My Papa’s Waltz

12. Listening to Grownups Quarreling

Both poems reveal their parents’ flaws. 

 

13. Because I could not stop for death

14. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Death is the subject of these two classics.

15. The Wind

16. Who Has Seen The Wind?

the effects of the wind, since the wind itself, cannot be seen.

South

Poems Discussion Point

1. I Hear America Singing

2. America

Both poets share their love for America despite its flaws. 

3. To My Dear and Loving Husband

4. Sonnet 18

These two love letters hope that their love will live on forever

5. My Shadow

6. Shadow Wash

The poets playfully describe their shadows. 

7. Mr. Nobody

8. One Art

starts off light but turns serious.

9. Phenomenal Woman

10. Ego-Tripping (there may be a reason) 

These two poems are a celebration and encourage all women to feel empowered.

11. sisters 

12. The Sisters

Both of these poems touch on the special bond between sisters

13. We Wear the Mask

14. Richard Cory

It is clear that appearances are deceiving

15. To Helen

16. Helen

Helen of Troy is depicted very differently in these two poems.

 

 

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