Lesson Plans

Assignment to have been completed: Students should have read “What is Poetry?” pp. 633-641 of Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. In addition, they should have read “The Whipping” on pp. 642-643.

Objectives: To recognize how poetic language is different in form and function from conventional language

Activities:

• A. Have one of the students read “The Whipping,” pp. 642-643 aloud. Ask the students the following questions about the poem. You may use the responses in bold italics to help you gauge their answers.

  • 1. What similarities connect the old woman, the boy, and the speaker? Can you say that one of them is the main subject of the poem?

    All three have known the experience of physical whippings and of tongue-lashings.

    It seems that the three share so much that none of them is the principal subject.

  • 2. Does this poem express any beauty? What human truth does it embody? Could you argue against the claim that “it is over now, it is over” (19)?

    The subject is devoid of beauty. However, the poet’s crafting of precise images, his mastery of meter, and his quality of language all contribute to an appreciation of the beauty of skill.

    The poet asserts that physical punishment and abusive language are persistent conditions of life: the speaker recalls his own suffering as he describes that of the boy and speculates on the “hidings” suffered by the old woman.

    While the whipping is over, the cycle is not.

• B. After going quickly over the questions above, apply the following questions to “The Whipping” for discussion.

  • 1. Language can be used to inform the reader, to expand the reader’s experience, to persuade the reader, or to fulfill several of these purposes simultaneously. Which of these purposes applies to this poem? Explain.
  • 2. Poetic language is more intense and layered than ordinary language. Find examples of poetic language in this poem, and explain how it achieves more profound meaning and greater intensity than conventional language does.
  • 3. Poetry enables us to process our own experiences and the experiences of others more deeply and more fully. Does this poem reach deeper levels of the human experience? If so, in what way? If not, why not?
  • 4. “Poetry has at least four dimensions”: intellectual, sensory, emotional, imaginative. How are these dimensions represented in this poem? Identify a specific verse or phrase which serves each dimension. What effect does each have on you?
  • 5. Poetry should be like a tree: “an organism whose every part serves a useful purpose and cooperates with every other part to preserve and express the life that is within it.” Apply this wisdom to this poem. Pick out a verse which doesn’t seem to cooperate with the whole. Closely examine your chosen verse, exploring how it might enhance your understanding o the poem. (Note: the most difficult verses are often the most fruitful. Try to make sense of difficult verses without simplifying them;)
  • 6. Why do you think the writer chose to convey this message using poetry? How would the meaning and effect have been different had the writer used a different genre?

Assignment for next class meeting: Read “The Ballad of Birmingham,” pp. 645-646, and “The Red Wheelbarrow,” p. 647. Answer the questions that follow the first poem in fully developed sentences true to the rules of grammar, mechanics, and usage.