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Desert Flowers - Thomas Gray's
"Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air."
Desert Flowers - Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard Group Work: This is very subversive lesson. Many people love this poem - but I am not one of them. Gray is considered a preRomantic for a reason - his language is flowery, and though the poem is about "the simple people" (as he would say) - it is definitely not from their perspective. In fact, I find it downright patronizing. HIs central thesis is that there many wonderful people who live and die in the country (away from London) but because of their location - their lives go unnoticed (like flowers blooming in the desert). What nonsense! These people's lives are just as full and fruitful as the learned in their city. Rather than preaching my disdain to the students - I try to have them discover the patronizing attitude of Gray on their own through a close examination of the text and a notable comparison to a similar construct (Uncle Remus) - closer to our own time and place. I should note that on the last page of the student handout I include a rebuttal to my thesis with an academic's prose ode to Gray's poem - and an argument for why it IS important.
I very recently found a Power Point and accompanying questions that allowed this lesson to be taught as a Class Discussion. I still prefer the Group Work version - but I know that I did this Power Point and Discussion during the Pandemic and Remote Learning - and it too worked very well.
Group Work Lesson Overview
Group Work Lesson Overview
Quiz
Quiz
No Quiz (yes, you read right). I want the students to read this poem cold - and I want them to read it without the benefit (and bias) of their textbook's footnotes. The poem is short enough that it can be read and analyzed all in the same period. No quiz for either the Group Work or the Discussion
Group Work
Group Work
Part 1
Part 1
First the students must choose someone to lead the Group (for Parts 2 & 3). Here are the directions (taken directly from their handout):
Before you even begin, make sure that everyone in your group remembers the 3 rules of understanding poetry that we’ve gone over in this class. Select a group leader who lead the group and that will ask the questions found in part 4 of this assignment and that will keep the reading moving along. Next, remember how we went through the Shakespeare sonnets: line by line (the method that most groups felt gave them the best understanding of the poem).
Part 2
Part 2
Before they begin reading the poem aloud and answering very specific questions, the Group Work asks them one very specific question. It wants them to take a close look at what is perhaps the poem's most famous line - the one about Desert Flowers blooming unnoticed. It has them look back at Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock" (the quote from that poem is included in their handout). Pope uses the same metaphor - but is making fun of its banality and patronizing attitude. The students will draw their own conclusions.
Part 3
Part 3
Now with the help of their Group Leader (see Part 1) they will, as a group (but with everyone writing notes on their poems and notes) answer a series of questions as the students are reading the poem aloud.
Here is the first question:
4.1 (stanza 1) Where and when is the setting? How does that contribute to the mood? Be specific.
Poem Excerpts to help them with their answers.
Poem Excerpts to help them with their answers.
Some of the questions reference other poems that we've read in class. These include the already aforementioned, "The Rape of the Lock" - but also the two Shepherd poems from the early Renaissance - "The Passionate Shepherd to his Nymph" by Marlowe and Sir Walter Raleigh's "The Nymph's Reply". These poems are key - Raliegh satirizes the same, unrealistic, patronizing attitude in Marlowe's poem that is employed by Thomas Gray in his verse.
A rebuttal
A rebuttal
I've give the students a rebuttal and the end of their handout, by scholar Carol Rumens - who argues for the worth and beauty of "Elegy in a Country Churchyard". I always want the students to make up their own minds after carefully weighing the facts for themselves.
Class Discussion Lesson Overview
Class Discussion Lesson Overview
Prologue
Prologue
The first slides go over briefly the idea of the Uncle Remus stories - to plant a seed in the students' heads.
Biographical Material
Biographical Material
Next we read through the biographical material that is found in their text books. Note this discussion can be done "cold" - without the students having read the background and poem beforehand.
The Poem & Discussion
The Poem & Discussion
If done as a discussion, the poem is given in the Power Point and students can read line aloud (in turn - see my page on reading texts in the classroom). I have a set of questions to for this reading that the teacher can consult as the reading continues. See the example below (the entire set of questions is given below).
Handout - Gray's "Elegy" & related texts
Handout - Gray's "Elegy" & related texts
See above for a detailed explanation of the Group Work. There is no quiz, so get started right away - you can even pass out the handout at the door as they come in.
Again - the Lesson Overview above gives detailed instructions. The Handout contains the Group Work, related texts, and a short rebuttal to the thesis of this lesson. A short article by Carol Rumens where she argues for this poem's worth.
Power Point and Questions for a Discussion
Power Point and Questions for a Discussion
See above for anexplanation of this Power Point. I only used this Power Point once - during Remote Learning (during the Pandemic). I really think this is best done as Group Work in order to make the creator of this lesson (the teacher) less omnipresent. The students need to discover and decide things for themselves.
Remote Enhancements
Remote Enhancements
The Power Point found above was designed for remote learning. Also all of this can all be done remotely of course - I've actually had great success with Group Work remotely - it does take some planning though. The trickiest part with these types of Group Works where the poem is read aloud - you really want to make sure they are actually reading through the poem and not just getting to the questions.
Another one of my "big" lessons. In fact, the poem (or song) "To a Mouse" is referenced in one of our very early classes (Grendel - Chapter 5) and at one point in my career - I had considered opening the entire year with this incredible text. It also happens to (like Donne's tolling bell) one of the most misunderstood and quotes texts in English. Everyone remembers (and quotes) about the "best laid plans of mice and men, going astray" but it is what follows that is so very important and special. The mouse - though his home is destroyed by the farmer - is blessed compared to humankind - for while the mouse in that moment is distressed - they soon will forget and move on, while we, on the other hand, are doomed to worry about what came before (earlier home destructions) and the future (plows that will someday demolish our home & hearth). This lesson tries to get that depth across - it is obviously something that everyone can identify with - but especially our anxiety, stress-riddled students of today.
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Thoughts on the Lesson
Thoughts on the Lesson
There is so much going on this time of year in class. Back when we were allowed to have expectations, and students were allowed to do homework - the Research Paper would be commencing. With that in mind - it was always great to have lessons, like this one, that took a break from research - to get back to Literature - and yet at the same time did not require any homework. I should also say that I love giving students a different perspective on Gray's poem. I know my cooperating teacher loved it (I really don't) - but I think it's a good thing to have different views of literature from your teachers.
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