South Carolina ETV
Cluing into Symbols Robert Frost (Grades 9-10)
Master Teacher
Wendy LacombeTime Allotment
Two 45-minute class periods
Overview
Using the Internet and video, students will discover how to find evidence in poetry in order to discover the theme(s) of the poems. Poetic devices like symbols, simile, metaphor and repetition will be identified and applied to the theme.
Subject Matter
Language Arts (Poetry)
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Define poetic devices like simile, metaphor and repetition;
- Identify themes in poetry by analyzing those poetic devices.
South Carolina Standards
(These Standards are available online at http://www.myscschools.com/offices/cso/)
E1-R2.1: Begin showing how the cultural, philosophical, political, religious or ethical perspectives of a particular period influence the plots, characters, settings and themes of literary works written during that period.
E1-R2.2: Demonstrate the ability to evaluate an author’s use of stylistic elements such as tone, irony and figurative language.
E1-R2.4: Demonstrate the ability to compare and contrast authors’ styles on the basis of elements such as word choice and sentence structure.
Media Components
Video
Voices and Visions, Lesson 1: “Robert Frost,” looks at the poet and his work, and its influence on other poets.
Web Site
MysteryNet.com
This site specializes in online mysteries, games and other
resources. It will be used in the Introductory Activity.
Materials
One apple for demonstration
Per pair of students:
- highlighters
- photocopies of the poem “The Road Not Taken.” (Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” Elements of Literature Third Course. Ed. Kathleen Daniel. Austin: Holt, Rhinehart and Winston, 2000)
Per student:
- photocopies of the poem, “After Apple Picking.” Frost, Robert. “After Apple Picking.” Reading About the World, Volume 2. World Civilization course. 23 December 1998. Washington State University. 3 November 2003
Equipment
- VCR
- computer
Prep for Teachers
Bookmark the MysteryNet Web site on each computer. Prior to beginning lesson check Web site for monthly mystery and preview that mystery, concentrating on how you can use the clues as a comparison to looking for symbols in poetry.
Preview the video, looking at the Focus for Media Interaction points and check the START and STOP cues.
When using media, provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction, a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia elements.
Introductory Activity
(Note to Teacher: Depending on the number of computers available, you may need to divide the students into small groups. This activity will work either way.)
Step 1: Go to MysteryNet. Click the online mysteries icon at the top of the screen. Scroll down to Get a Clue. Click on Get a Clue. Scroll down to the bottom of the page. Click on See ‘n’ Solve.
Step 2: Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction by asking students to read the text and then look for clues in the crime scene. Ask them to write down the solution to the murder.
Step 3: Tell students to click on the See ‘n’ Solve mystery for the month. There will be text and then an icon to the right of the screen that says see the crime scene.
Step 4: Ask the students what solutions they wrote down. Discuss possible outcomes to the crime.
Step 5: Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction by telling them to look for additional clues if they still haven’t solved the mystery. Tell them to scroll down below the picture of the crime scene and look at the clues under “stumped” if they would like some help. However, if they think they know the solution, they should choose a suspect and see if their solution was correct. Tell students to keep their answers to themselves until everyone has had a chance to check their responses.
Step 6: Take a few minutes to discuss the experience with the students. Ask them what clues they used to guess the murderer.
Step 7: Explain to the students that reading and understanding poetry is much the same as looking for clues in a mystery. Many times, poets will use images and symbols to represent various themes in the poem. Explain that the students will be studying a poem by Robert Frost and they will be detectives searching for the theme of the poem.
Step 8: Students can return to their desks for the next activity.
Learning Activities
Step 1: Briefly describe the life and ideology of Robert Frost. Frost was a New Englander who spent most of his life in New Hampshire. He was unknown early in his career. He spent time in England and published two books there and then returned to the United States to establish himself as a poet. Eventually, he became one of the nations best loved poets and was named Poet Laureate by John F. Kennedy. Frost did not experiment with the new verse forms popular in his day. Instead, he used traditional patterns. He said, “He chose the old fashioned way to be new.”
Step 2: Ask the students what they know about apple picking. Talk about the time of year apples are harvested. (fall) Discuss the idea of sorting the apples into eating apples. (Possible answers: Those that are the prettiest, not bruised or pitted.) What do you look for in cooking apples? (Possible answers: Those that may be small, or sour or have small flaws.) What do you look for in cider apples? (You look for those apples with pits, bruises and which are unfit for either cooking or eating.)
Step 3: Explain that the apples need to be picked before the weather turns to cold or the crop will be lost. Show the students the apple. Ask them to tell where the stem end and blossom end are and why that is important to know. (The blossom end is at the bottom of the apple, however, the apple began at the blossom end.) Tell students you will come back to this thought a little later.
Step 4: Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction by asking them to listen and watch for symbols. On a sheet of notebook paper, have the students list the images that are repeated and are the most obvious. What images are repeated visually and orally? Ask them to pay attention to the time of year.
Step 5: Insert the Voices and Visions tape, Lesson 1: “Robert Frost,” into VCR. Cue tape past the written title After Apple Picking. FAST FORWARD on to where Seamus Heaney says, “It’s where Frost actually gives in to the woods.” Just after that, there is a foggy view of an apple orchard. This is where Frost begins to read this poem. Explain to the students that they are going to listen to a poem by Robert Frost called,” After Apple Picking.” You will stop the tape after Frost finishes reading the entire poem.
Step 6: Break students into groups of two. Hand out copies of the poem, “After Apple Picking.” Give each group a highlighter. Ask the students to highlight the repeated images in the written text. Students are to look for repeated words and visual images from the video that are repeated in the text.
Step 7: Ask the students to think of some common advertising symbols. (e.g., the tiger for Exxon or the wing for Nike, etc.) Discuss how these symbols represent an idea that the companies would like for us to associate with their product. (Exxon gas will make our cars faster, more aggressive. Nike shoes will make us faster.) Tell students that poets often use symbols to represent a major idea or theme in their poems. Ask the students to discuss the symbols they highlighted in the poem and discuss what themes or ideas these symbols might represent.
Step 8: REWIND the tape back to the title, After Apple Picking. Tell the students that you are going to listen to the ideas of two very famous poets. Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction by asking them to compare their ideas to the ideas of the poets in the clip.
Step 9: START after the title, After Apple Picking, when you see Seamus Heaney sitting at a desk. He says, “After Apple Picking.” STOP the tape when the camera shows the foggy orchard and Seamus Heaney says, “It’s the one place he does surrender to the woods.”
Step 10: Discuss the poem with the class. Some themes would be the idea that the apples represent all the things in life that we have done. Some good, some bad as represented by the types of apples harvested. The seasons represent the times of our lives and the apples are the things we hope to accomplish before we die. Of course, we may not pick all the apples before we die. Students may bring up several other ideas during the discussion.
Culminating Activity
Step 1: Tell the students to return to their partners. Hand out copies of “The Road Not Taken.”
Step 2: Have the students read the poem, and choose the strongest image they find in the poem. Tell students to highlight the lines that most vividly show this image.
Two roads diverged in yellow wood
Then took the other just as fair,
and having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear.
Two roads diverged in yellow wood,
and I took the one less traveled by
and that has made all the difference.
Step 3: Discuss the image that the students highlighted. (The road) Ask what the students noticed about the road(s)? (One was traveled and the other was not.)
Step 4: Tell the students to discuss what the road may be symbolizing and write a brief explanation of their interpretation of the poem.
Step 5: Collect the explanations. Have students share their answers. (The paths represent our choices in life and it is important that we each follow our own path. The importance and beauty of individuality.)
Cross-Curricular Extensions
Science: Write a paper or do a Power Point presentation on the conditions that are needed to grow apples, including climate, water, and time for maturation. Trace the growth pattern of an apple from seed to mature fruit.
Social Studies: Possible research topics: New England’s geography and climate. Research farming and its affect on society during the early 1900’s or what the loss of the farm in today’s world means.
Home Economics: Select a variety of bags of apples. Evaluate the quality of the apples and sort them into eating apples (best quality); cooking apples (those that are slightly bruised or cut); and cider apples (those that would only be good for making juice). Make applesauce with the cooking apples. If available, visit a cider press.
Community Connections
Invite someone in to discuss apples and the apple industry.
Student Materials
Handouts of poems
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