Teacher Page Unit: Goal: Students will be able to interpret the literary language used in poetry. Common Core State Standards (CCSS): 6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade RL.6.9. Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics. Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Materials List/Setup Station 1: Extended Metaphor Poem (Activity); O Captain! My Captain! (Handout) Station 2: Poems: Compare and Contrast (Activity); O Captain! My Captain! (Handout); The Martyr (Handout) Station 3: Citing Textual Evidence (Activity); O Captain! My Captain! (Handout) Station 4: Literary Devices (Activity); O Captain! My Captain! (Handout) Activity: one copy per student Handout: one copy per each student in a group Opening Activity and Discussion Questions (Teacher-Directed) 1. What do you know about the American Civil War? 2. What do you know about the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln? 3. What is an extended metaphor poem? Student Instructions for Learning Stations At the learning stations, you will analyze two poems with the same theme. Discuss your answers with other team members after completing each activity. Closure: Reflection RL.7.9. Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a historical account of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history. RL.8.9. Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new. The following questions can be used to stimulate discussion or as a journaling activity. 1. How can you tell the poem O Captain! My Captain is an example of an extended metaphor poem? 2. What is the difference between reading Walt Whitman s poem about Abraham Lincoln and reading about Lincoln in a textbook? 37
Station One: Extended Metaphor Poem A metaphor is a comparison of two like or unlike things. Example: The snow is a blanket covering the countryside. Snow and a blanket are being compared. They are alike because they both cover something. An extended metaphor poem takes a metaphor and compares it throughout the poem. O Captain! My Captain! is an extended metaphor poem. Walt Whitman wrote this poem as a tribute to President Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated just before the end of the Civil War. Directions: Read the poem O Captain! My Captain! and complete the chart below. Extended Metaphor Meaning the captain the trip the vessel the ship has weathered every rack the prize we sought is won 38
Station Two: Compare and Contrast Walt Whitman wrote the poem O Captain! My Captain! after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Herman Melville also wrote a poem about President Lincoln s death. The name of Melville s poem is The Martyr. Directions: Use the Venn diagram to compare and contrast the tone of the poem O Captain! My Captain! to the tone of the poem The Martyr. Tone O Captain! My Captain! The Martyr Both 39
Station Three: Citing Textual Evidence Directions: Read O Captain! My Captain! and answer the questions below. 1. What is the theme of the poem? 2. Who is the intended audience for the poem? 3. Describe the attitude of the poem s narrator toward President Lincoln. Cite evidence from the poem to support your answer. 4. Which side is the narrator most likely to have supported during the Civil War: the Union or Confederacy? Cite evidence from the poem to support your answer. 5. What can you infer about the Union victory from stanza two of the poem? Cite textual evidence to support your answer. 40
Station Four: Literary Devices Directions: Read the poem O Captain! My Captain! and complete the chart. Mood is how the poet makes you feel when you read his or her poems. Examples of words that describe mood are frightening, mysterious, happy, sorrowful, and joyful. What is the mood of the poem? Cite textual evidence. What is the tone of the poem? Cite textual evidence. Tone is how the poet feels toward the topic. Examples of words that describe tone are amused, angry, sad, serious, gloomy, and playful. Imagery is created by the words and phrases that appeal to the five senses. Give two examples of imagery used in the poem. Cite textual evidence. Author s Purpose is the reason an author writes on a specific topic. What is the author s purpose for writing the poem? Cite textual evidence. 41
O Captain! My Captain! Walt Whitman wrote the poem O Captain! My Captain! following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Whitman revised his poem several times. On February 9, 1888, Whitman wrote to a publisher about the errors to his poem that appeared in their anthology. He sent a correction sheet to the publisher. The poem below reflects Whitman s 1888 revisions. To view the primary source and read more about this story, go online to: The Library of Congress American Memory Collection. O Captain! My Captain! O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done; The ship has weather d every rack, the prize we sought is won; The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring. But O heart! heart! heart! O the bleeding drops of red! Where on the deck my captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; Rise up for you the flag is flung for you the bugle trills: For you bouquets and ribbon d wreaths for you the shores a-crowding: For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; Here Captain! dear father! This arm beneath your head; It is some dream that on the deck You ve fallen cold and dead. My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still: My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will. The ship is anchor d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done: From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won; Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells! But I, with silent tread, Walk the deck my Captain lies Fallen cold and dead. Walt Whitman 42
The Martyr THE MARTYR Indicative of the passion of the people on the 15th of April, 1865. Good Friday was the day Of the prodigy and crime, When they killed him in his pity, When they killed him in his prime Of clemency and calm When with yearning he was filled To redeem the evil-willed, And, though conqueror, be kind; But they killed him in his kindness, In their madness and their blindness, And they killed him from behind. There is sobbing of the strong, And a pall upon the land; But the People in their weeping Bare the iron hand: Beware the People weeping When they bare the iron hand. He lieth in his blood The father in his face; They have killed him, the Forgiver The Avenger takes his place, The Avenger wisely stern, Who in righteousness shall do What the heavens call him to, And the parricides remand; For they killed him in his kindness, In their madness and their blindness, And his blood is on their hand. There is sobbing of the strong, And a pall upon the land; But the People in their weeping Bare the iron hand: Beware the People weeping When they bare the iron hand. Herman Melville 43