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"Our memory is a more perfect world than the universe: it gives back life to those who no longer exist."
Guy de Maupassant
A More Perfect World - Poems Before The Things They Carried :This was tricky. Because this was a newer text (for my classroom), there already was a whole set of poems before another war book that we do - All Quiet on the Western Front. With that in mind, I set out to find poems (and songs) that were not only about war - but were about Vietnam as much as possible I also wanted poems that were about memory - about catharsis (I could write a book about the need for catharsis in our classrooms) and I wanted as many songs as we could fit in - especially since many of my students would be familiar with songs of that era.
Lesson Overview (see also poems with notes)
Lesson Overview (see also poems with notes)
No quiz today and you need to get started right away. I usually stand at the door (with one of today's song's playing) and give the handout with the poems to the students as they enter (and tell them to start looking at it right away). For more specifics on the actual poems - see the notes below next to the Poems & Songs handout.
As soon as the bell rings, you want to get them into groups (2-3) right away. This is NOT group work - you want to put them into small groups or partners based on their geography of sitting (to save time) and put a number of people in the analysis group based on the length and to a lesser extent the difficulty of the poem. The poems are also about the same the length (and difficulty). There are 9 (we listen to the songs together - usually without comment - though while the songs are playing you want to have the students take notes as they listen, tying it to the poems we are discussing) poems. So that means in a typical class of 23-30 students you will put either 2 or 3 students together. For this first time - you will have to eye it - you want them started on the poem analysis right away (in fact - tell them to start reading it right away - don't wait for everyone to be in a group).
Since this is the third time they have done this - there are not specific directions, Tell them to read the poem aloud without stopping. Next - go through it line by line and try and figure out what it means. Remind them - they can look up words or names BUT NOT the poem. I've never had students do that - hurray! Tell them - and mean it - there are no wrong interpretations. I tell them I don't care about SYMBOLISM (boo!), themes, etc. Just try and figure out what is happening in the poem. What is the story? What are the cool words - ideas. If they have time they can look at the poem as a metaphor - for what? That's up to them. The AP version has them look at methodology as well (they're going to be tested on it).
Give the students about 6-8 minutes (in a 50 minute period) to look at their poem. You can't give more than that - because you want to come together as a class to discuss them.
After that time- tell students they need to now listen (and take notes) on what their classmates came up with. REMIND them to take copious notes - and tell them - if they haven't figured it out - that the ideas in these poems will help them and give depth to the reading of the novel they are about to embark on. The teacher has to be very cognisant of time here - spend as much time on each poem as you can - and still get through all of them. The notes on my version of the handout (see below) form the basis of the questions and ideas that I will present about the poems BUT remember it is always better to hear from the students - if it is a matter of time - let what they have to say be the final word.
Go through each poem (and play the songs in-between) and AS YOU DO make sure students are taking notes. Have the students read the poem aloud - either one of them or taking turns or in a creative way - and remind the class before the poem is read aloud that the rest of the students should at that time TAKE NOTES on what they think the poem means BEFORE the small group gives their interpretation. The bookmark for this novel has lines from the poems on it - so it will bring this class - these ideas to the forefront as they are doing their reading. At the end of class, remind them of what is due - there will be a quiz - and to follow their bookmarks (which have excerpts from the poems on them) and read ahead. The prose quotes - like the songs - you can do as a class. Ask for a volunteer to read.
The songs are so important to this lesson - I've included the Spotify Playlist (you'll need a premium account) - but I'm sure you can find them on YouTube as well. The lyrics are found on the handout.
The Poems (and songs) with my notes see below for student handout
The Poems (and songs) with my notes see below for student handout
The Poems with my Notes: PDF - Obviously, every teacher, just as every student will have a different take on these poems and songs (just as I would expect them to add and subtract their own verse). But, I also must say that I found after years of teaching the book that this was a really good - really effective mix that got the students thinking about the ideas that they would soon encounter in O'Brien's novel.
Handout - Poems & Songs (most recent)
Handout - Poems & Songs (most recent)
Poems & Songs before The Things They Carried: Docx PDF
One thing that I found important in this packet was to have poems from the North Vietnamese. Just as O'Brien gives the "other side's" perspective - and just as they will see when we read All Quiet on the Western Front (the narrator is a German soldier). For more on the actual poems - you'll need to take a look at them - I do believe they cover many of the areas they will encounter - the ambiguity, the weight of what the men carry, the effect the war had on them.
In most of my handouts that have text to be analyzed - I make sure to leave a wide margin for the students to write notes (both as they're reading and as we talk about the texts as a class). These are the most recent poems (andlots of songs) given out. I will usually have these on a desk by the door and students will grab or be given one as they enter the room. These poems are given plenty of room for students to take notes on.
Bookmark with Poem Excerpts on the Back Docx PDF
The Songs we play today
The Songs we play today
Here is the playlist for the songs we play today in class - though as I've said you can also the songs if you search on YouTube (you'll probably want to get these versions though). The songs are:
"Waist Deep in The Big Muddy" (by Pete Seeger)
"Who'll Stop the Rain" (by Creedence Clearwater Revival) - the opening notes to this song appear in a song in Brit Lit & later in this class by John Fogerty ("I Saw it on TV).
"Draft Morning" by The Birds
"Lemon Tree" by Peter, Paul, and Mary - This song is actually referenced and is key in the novel
"Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty - a sentiment felt many times in the book
"Those Were the Days" by Mary Hopkin - another song referenced in the novel
"At Mail Call Today" by Gene Autry - a song included for its irony and for a chapter about a soldier who loses his girl friend in a letter
"Forever Young" by Bob Dylan - included for the ending of the novel...for Timmy
Remote Enhancements
Remote Enhancements
This is a Power Point that I used in Remote Learning that actually has all the poems and songs and quotes on it - to make following along with what the students came up with a lot easier.
Links
Links
The students did their end of the year project on this short story one year - when I find it , I will put it here.
Class Recordings (for registered members)
Class Recordings (for registered members)
Audio
Audio
Video
Video
The Things They Carried Day 2 - "Soldier's Home" for so many years, we read "Soldier's Home" by Ernest Hemingway as a prelude to beginning All Quiet on the Western Front. When The Things They Carried was added to our class - it made so much more sense to put it here. Like so many of the soldier's described in O'Brien's Vietnam era novel - Harold Krebs (from "Soldier's Home") is dealing with and feeling the weight of the things that he has brought back with him from the war - many of these having to do with his own lies about the conflict.
Thoughts on the Lesson
Thoughts on the Lesson
This book still feels new to me, and I thought it was a great opportunity to find some new - not so familiar poems and songs. There is never enough time to play all the songs - I concentrate and making sure we get through all the poems and short little quote boxes - but for those we don't get to hear - I will play them on subsequent days of this unit - usually as the students are entering the classroom.
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