Rick Reads The Life's Work of an English Teacher

Poetry

Lesson Plans

A daily plan for each day of the AP poetry unit, from the first question of what poetry is to the editing of the final essay.

Daily lesson plans

Discussion questions with answers, keyed to the chapters of Perrine's Literature, in the order the unit teaches them.

What Is Poetry? Robert Hayden

Lesson plan for the first day of the poetry unit. How poetic language differs from ordinary language, read through Robert Hayden's "The Whipping."
Poetry Lesson plan Robert Hayden

What Is Poetry? Randall and Williams

Lesson plan on Dudley Randall's "Ballad of Birmingham" and William Carlos Williams's "The Red Wheelbarrow."
Poetry Lesson plan William Carlos Williams

Reading the Poem: Donne and Larkin

Lesson plan on the five steps of close reading, applied to Donne's "Break of Day" and Larkin's "A Study of Reading Habits."
Poetry Lesson plan Close reading John Donne

Reading the Poem: Rich and Dickinson

Lesson plan on analogy in poetry, with Adrienne Rich's "Storm Warnings" and a poem by Emily Dickinson.
Poetry Lesson plan Close reading Emily Dickinson

Denotation and Connotation

Lesson plan on sound, denotation, and connotation, with an exercise and poems by Langston Hughes and others.
Poetry Lesson plan Diction Langston Hughes

Wordsworth: "The World Is Too Much with Us"

Lesson plan for close reading Wordsworth's sonnet "The World Is Too Much with Us."
Poetry Lesson plan Close reading William Wordsworth

Imagery

Lesson plan on recognizing imagery and how it adds to a poem's meaning, beginning with Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays."
Poetry Lesson plan Imagery

Imagery: Hayden, Williams, and Dickinson

A longer lesson plan on imagery, with poems by Robert Hayden, William Carlos Williams, and Emily Dickinson.
Poetry Lesson plan Imagery Emily Dickinson

Keats: "To Autumn"

Lesson plan on the kinds of imagery in Keats's "To Autumn," with practice on multiple-choice questions.
Poetry Lesson plan Imagery John Keats AP exam

Figurative Language 1: Dickinson and Plath

Lesson plan on simile, metaphor, personification, apostrophe, and metonymy in poems by Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath.
Poetry Lesson plan Figurative language Emily Dickinson

In-Class Essay Techniques

Lesson plan on how to approach an in-class essay in the AP style.
Poetry Lesson plan AP exam Essay writing

Donne: "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning"

Lesson plan on the conceits of Donne's "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning."
Poetry Lesson plan Figurative language John Donne

AP In-Class Essay

Plan for the day students write a timed essay on "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning."
Poetry Lesson plan AP exam Essay writing John Donne

Collins: "Introduction to Poetry"

Lesson plan on Billy Collins's "Introduction to Poetry" and what it says about how students read poems.
Poetry Lesson plan Billy Collins

Figurative Language 2: Frost and Tennyson

Lesson plan on symbol and allegory, with controlled readings of poems by Robert Frost and Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
Poetry Lesson plan Figurative language Robert Frost Tennyson

Figurative Language 3: Shelley and Collins

Lesson plan on paradox, overstatement, understatement, irony, and satire, with Shelley's "Ozymandias" and a poem by Billy Collins.
Poetry Lesson plan Figurative language Irony Billy Collins

Darmok

Plan for viewing the Star Trek episode "Darmok" to see how allusion and metaphor shape communication.
Poetry Lesson plan Allusion Metaphor

Darmok Exercise

A follow-up exercise on "Darmok" that links allusion and metaphor to "My Last Duchess."
Poetry Lesson plan Allusion Metaphor

Browning: "My Last Duchess"

Lesson plan on the speaker, the listener, and the dramatic irony of Browning's "My Last Duchess."
Poetry Lesson plan Robert Browning Dramatic monologue

Allusion: Robinson and Cummings

Lesson plan on allusion and its function in poetry, with Robinson's "Miniver Cheevy" and Cummings's "in Just-."
Poetry Lesson plan Allusion

Musical Devices

Lesson plan on alliteration, assonance, consonance, and rime, with Brooks's "We Real Cool" and Hopkins's "God's Grandeur."
Poetry Lesson plan Sound devices

Rhythm and Meter

Lesson plan on rhythm, meter, and scansion, with a poem by John Donne.
Poetry Lesson plan Meter Scansion John Donne

Tennyson: "Break, Break, Break"

Lesson plan on scanning Tennyson's "Break, Break, Break" and how its meter shapes its meaning.
Poetry Lesson plan Meter Scansion Tennyson

Pattern

Lesson plan on poetic structure: continuous, stanzaic, and fixed forms, the limerick, the sonnet, and the villanelle.
Poetry Lesson plan Sonnet Poetic form

Analyzing the Prompt and the Poems

Lesson plan for analyzing the Yeats and Updike poems in the comparison essay prompt.
Poetry Lesson plan Essay writing AP exam

The Comparison-Contrast Pattern

Lesson plan on two ways to organize an essay that compares two poems.
Poetry Lesson plan Essay writing Comparison and contrast

Peer Review for Content and Style

Lesson plan for peer review of the comparison essay's first draft.
Poetry Lesson plan Essay writing Revision

Editing Checklist

Lesson plan for editing the comparison essay's second draft for grammar, usage, and mechanics.
Poetry Lesson plan Essay writing Revision