Lesson Overview 

Quiz / Test

Because this lesson takes so much time (40 to 50 minutes) I rarely gave the quiz (or test, because it is worth 200 points as it is a longer nonfiction reading) on the day we did the lesson.  I would usually work it in to the class before (preferred - which then means the reading of the Introduction to the Romantics needs to be the class before) or the class after (not a great option - you'll want to have a discussion about what makes something a romantic text - and that is best done if the students have read the intro.  In any case, I've included the test below.  See my handwritten Lesson Notes for more details on what follows.

Power Point for Focus

Please note that I did create a Power Point to go along with this to help with focus.  It follows the lesson as both described below and in my hand-written Lesson Notes (also below).

The Demonstration

Before you begin this demonstration, it is imperative that you CLOSE THE SHADES OR CURTAINS  of your classroom windows.  The tough part is remembering to do this for every class.  This is a great - what my college education teacher used to call a discrepant event (my first department head when I gave him that name called it "decrepit event").  As I said in the intro at the top of the page - students would come visit 20 years after they graduated and they'd remember this...  BTW - I would kiddingly tell the students that what follows was the quiz for the day...

1. Turn off the lights and ask the students, "What AGE is this?"  (wait a second - someone will get it):  THE DARK AGES

2. Now turn on the lights - pause - then ask, "What AGE or ERA is this?" - Again - it might take a second but someone will get shout out: THE ENLIGHTENMENT

3. Turn the lights back off - go to your window - and as quickly as possible (sometimes I've arranged to have students help me) open the curtains (blinds) and ask "Now what era is it?"  The wait for this may be the longest - but I guarentee you, if students are doing their reading - and this is WHY you want students to read on their own - someone will put it all together and say: THE ROMANTIC ERA.

You should never have to explain this - in fact, I believe that if you did it would diminish it.  The Enlightenment uses the artificial, scientifically constructed lights - while the Romantic Era relies on Nature for its illumination.

Who are the Romantics?

You can either pass the handouts out now - or better yet,  have them on the desks when the students come in (you'll need every second today.).  The students (and you can reference that handout as you do this section).  

Begin with a nod to the previous era - have a student read Alexander Pope's quote about "a blade of grass" In other words - if you want to study man - study man - don't go pussyfooting about with other areas of nature.  

• The Romantics are DIFFERENT.  If you want to know MAN do look at a blade of grass.  We are reflected in Nature.

• Ask the students what the name of the book that is credited with beginning the Romantic Age: "Lyrical Ballads"
  When was it published?  (1798) - Remind them this is an inversion of 1789 - the year of the French Revolotion which had an enormous impact on the Romantics...

• What was the motto of the French Revolution?  liberte, egalite, fraternite.... Liberty, Equality, Fraternity - this too has a huge effect on the Romantics' philosophy.

• What were the four big precepts of the Romantics?

1. Nature  2. Everyday Language  3. Everyday Life  4. Imagination  (for this last one stress this is so much more Coleridge than Wordswoth - and they will see that when we get to his verse.

• Read the excerpt by Wordsworth found on the handout: "incidents and situations from common life, and to relate or describe them througout, as far as was possible, in a selection of language really used by men, and, at the same time, to throw over them a certain colouring of imagination, whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual aspect [imagination]"

• On the handout (the last page) there is an extended quote from "A Child's Christmas in Wales" about the books that answered all the questions except "WHY?".  This is great to bring up in the lesson as it shows that difference from the previous time period, "The Enlightenment" when there was so much focus on the HOW - and very little on the WHY ("a blade of grass is a blade of grass..."

My Heart Leaps Up

Read the poem, "My Heart Leaps Up" by Wordsworth.  Go through each line - one by one asking the students what they think the lines LITERALLY (rule #1 of understanding Poetry) mean.  (He still gets excited by rainbows and hopes to till he dies.  Make sure they understand what "The Child is the father of the man" means.  Ask until you get the correct answer - there will be lots of possible answers - but only one correct one - and getting that correct answer is crucial to not only understanding the Romantics - but for the rest of the year as well (in fact, the line appears in a a Grendel Group Work that the students did many many months ago).  The answer is: the things that happens to us when we are young - beget or form ("father") what we become when we are older.

A Child Went Forth - Part 1

Have the students look at the pictures on the handout - What picture goes with the acorn?  (an oak tree).  Why the baby and two grown men?  Because the baby - depending on what happens to them, can become a Pope (picture of John Paul 2) or a killer (the Unabomber).  Again - the students will come up with this on their own and it's important that you let them.  

A Child Went Forth - Part 2

Now have the students stand up and grab their handouts.  Have them look at Walt Whitman's poem, "A Child Went Forth" - explain that YES Walt Whitman is not a Romantic - in fact, he's not even British.... BUT.....  Divide the poem up - about every 8 lines or where there is a stanza break.  Ask for volunteers - tell them they will have to read quickly, loudly, and while you are all walking.  And then do that!  Walk through  your hallways - observing all around you and outside the windows as you read this poem - go through each of the students and remind students to look about them and to listen.

A personal story 1: The mother is the father of the teacher...

I tell the students a very personal (but appropriate) story about how - when I was a little 5 year old - I witnessed my mother telling a neighborhood racist off, and how that had even had a lifelong effect on who I am as a person ("The child is the father of the man").  You can hear the story in the class recording below. 

"Cats in the Cradle" - a song about "the child is the father of the man"

Next - I play the song "Cats in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin.  The students have the lyrics on their handout (found below).  Again, I don't like hitting students over the head - the best part of teaching (in my opinion) is letting them make these very serious, very deep connections on their own.

A personal story 2:  my heart leaps up when I behold a rainbow in the sky

Another personal story.  This time about a bike ride long ago with a very dear friend where we both  unexepectedly witnessed a young child seeing their very first rainbow.  You can listen to the complete story on the Class Recording below.

Somewhere over that Rainbow: Eva Cassidy & her rainbow

Finally, I quickly tell the students about the bitter-sweet short life of Eva Cassidy - and her finding that rainbow, and then having to too soon leave it all behind.  I then play her incredible version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" to end the class.