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American Odyssey
A Poetry Unit
Odyssey: an extended wandering or journey
--Webster's New College Dictionary
Join your classmates to go on a journey around America,
learning about its poets and their poems
Introduction
Welcome to American Odyssey, an opportunity
to study 6 American poets in depth. For this unit, you will work
with 3 or 4 students in your class and form an imaginary traveling team who will
explore America learning about these poets. Your group will stop to make 6 small group
presentations along the journey's way to share with classmates what
you are learning.
Task
- Your team should first look through your
American literature books and select one poet of interest to you. Each
of the other 5 groups in class will do the same. This list of 6 poets
will become the foundation of the rest of the unit. You will compile
research on the "5 P's" on your group's chosen poet:
- the poems written by the poet
- the personality of the poet
- the places of the poet--how did
his/her settings or
environments, both time and place, influence each of
the poet ?
- the passions of the poet's
lives--subjects? hobbies? jobs
held? or was poetry the only passion?
- the people of the poet's lives--was a poet
inspired by someone
else's work? Who did the poet interact with? Many
poets share their work with a community of other
writers or significant people in their lives.
Procedures
1. Once your small group is formed,
choose your personas--how your group will travel through the United States to
study about your poets. Your group may decide to travel as train hobos ala
Steinbeck or in a unique car, truck, or van suited to your group's tastes.
Consider some of the following American vehicles for your group's use:
1959 pink Cadillac convertible with fins
an ice cream truck that plays "My Favorite Things" when it
turns a corner
a black
hearse, most recently used as a Godfather's Pizza delivery
vehicle
steel
gray truck formerly used as a Brinks security vehicle
2 tone
Chevy Bel-Air with fuzzy dice hanging from the rear-view mirror
Bookmobile on the lam from the Jefferson County Library
Oscar
Mayer Weinermobile
double-decker bus last used for giving tours of New Orleans
yellow
Checkered Cab
Batmobile
Partridge Family bus
1996
Chevy S-10 pick-up splashed with mud
Hummer
orange
Plymouth Duster
1955
white Thunderbird with candy apple red interior
1980
full-size station wagon with faux wood panels
a set
of Harleys with sidecars
cab
from an 18-wheeler
reconditioned US Postal Service local delivery truck with steering
wheel on the right side of the vehicle
Amphicar (half car/half boat)
a set
of COWasaki motorcycles
You might
choose to travel in an old by-plane (well, the seating would be tight) or a
World War I fighter plane. Your transportation mode needs to have a
uniquely American flavor to it and reflect your group's personalities
somehow. Find a picture in a book, magazine, or on the internet of your
group's vehicle.
2. Make a flag or pennant to take
along on your odyssey. Each group
chooses its favorite poet and makes a pennant with the poet's name and
at least six symbols of his or her life. Since this pennant will be seen
in public, take time to make it look professional: clip art, very neat printing,
color, photos, your poet's name in large, clear letters. These pennants will
reside on the classroom wall.
3. In
class, check the presentation chart to find out which days your group will
present and about the presentation requirements each day.
4. Make a map of the places you'll
visit on your American Odyssey. Starting from Birmingham, calculate how
your group would get to the hometown or primary city of residence for your
poet. If your poet moved or traveled a great deal, you may have several
places to map out. On some
white space on your map, add the drawing or photo of your team's vehicle and a picture of your group,
dressed for the journey. See Mrs. Adams for a camera.
Check the internet and try to find out information
about the primary city of residence. Does the town have a special library
or museum in featuring the poet's work? If so, send request some materials
be sent to you to share with the class. Some folks actually take time out on
vacations to visits the homes and museums of poets and writers.
5. Before you begin your journey
across America learning about your poet, be ready to present your pennant, your
map, and a group-written poem about your team and their unusual vehicle.
Warming up your sharp-as-an-eagle poetic eyesight, please write your poem in
ballad form and include alliteration, personification, a rhyming couplet, and a
metaphor in your poem. Check out the
class web page on ballads and how to write them.
5. You will be teaching the class
about the poet and his/her poems. Each group member should read about the
poet's life from a different source and report their findings on the front
and back of a 5" x 7" card. Include bibliographic information about
the sources.
6. On 6 days agreed upon by the
class, each group will "teach" a poem to the class. Each day's
presentations will require a different type of effort on the group's
part.
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