Entrance TicketKnowing that it’s called the “modern” period, what guesses can you make about the values, interests, or philosophies about the work of art and literature produced in the early to mid-twentieth century?

May 21st, 2014Essential Question: How does modern poetry reflect structural change?Agenda: 1) Entrance Ticket 2) Class Notes: Modern Poetry 3) Socratic Seminar: “13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” 4) Exit TicketHomework: Write your own version of “13 ways of looking at a ________”

Class Notes: Modern Poetry● Began around the early 1900s● One characteristic of modern poetry is that it is written in

a free verse form. ● Also, it is written in language that the common reader

would find accessible. ● Third, a modern poem lets the reader offer its own

conclusions and ideas.● New forms of poetry reflect the changes in society: the

rise of technology and industry, the migration to large cities from smaller towns, and the isolation that those changes brought.

Socratic Seminar Brainstorming

● Read the poem aloud● Read & annotate the poem● Write your own discussion Question● Answer one of the class’ discussion

questions

Discussion Rubric

● Review the discussion rubric● Grade your partner’s participation

○ This is an easy way to boost your grade!

Discussion Questions1. How is the form of this poem different from the other poems we’ve encountered?2. Why look at a Blackbird thirteen ways? What is the significance?3. What connects the 13 sections? Do any consistent themes or images emerge? What makes them different? 4. Do you have to look at a thing from many perspectives to understand it? Why? 5. What meaning -- if any -- is Wallace Stevens trying to impart with this poem? 6. Can imagination bridge the gap between the self and the world?7. Could each part exist on its own? Or does the poem have to be read as a whole? Why?8. Why write this poem about a blackbird rather than anything else? 9. Why does the poet ask the following in part 5: “I do not know which to prefer,/...The blackbird whistling / Or just after?”

Self Reflection

● How did you do?● What do you want to improve?● What did you do well?

Exit Ticket

● Write a paragraph response to one of the discussion questions! ○ Think of it as something you didn’t get to say in the

discussion!

Creative Writing