Aly Caudle

Meg Goldner-Rabinowitz
English Methods Spring
February 9th, 2016

Grief Calls Us to the Things of This World

BY SHERMAN ALEXIE

The morning air is all awash with angels

Richard Wilbur, Love Calls Us to the Things of This World
The eyes open to a blue telephone
In the bathroom of this five-star hotel.
I wonder whom I should call? A plumber,
Proctologist, urologist, or priest?
Who is blessed among us and most deserves
The first call? I choose my father because
Hes astounded by bathroom telephones.
I dial home. My mother answers. Hey, Ma,
I say, Can I talk to Poppa? She gasps,
And then I remember that my father
Has been dead for nearly a year. Shit, Mom,
I say. I forgot hes dead. Im sorry
How did I forget? Its okay, she says.
I made him a cup of instant coffee
This morning and left it on the table
Like I have for, what, twenty-seven years

And I didnt realize my mistake

Until this afternoon. My mother laughs
At the angels who wait for us to pause
During the most ordinary of days
And sing our praise to forgetfulness
Before they slap our souls with their cold wings.
Those angels burden and unbalance us.
Those fucking angels ride us piggyback.
Those angels, forever falling, snare us
And haul us, prey and praying, into dust.
How I would Teach It:
I would teach this poem while reading Sounder by William Armstrong with my
ninth grade Special Education English class. Sounder is about an African American
boy living in the south during the American Civil War. His father is arrested by the
man who he works for, for stealing a ham to feed his family. Upon arresting his
father, the sheriff also shoots his dog, who, second his father, is the most important
being in the world to him. There is a period in which the boy believes his dog is
dead, but is essentially haunted by the sounds, identical to those his dog made, that
he hears outside of his home. He questions daily whether or not the dog is actually
dead. This is at the same time that he wonders if he will ever see his father again. I
would bring this in as a supplemental text and ask students to relate this both to the
loss of the boys father and his illusions about his dogs death.

So Long
by Fruit Bats
She couldn't dance but she wanted to
She couldn't sing but for a sigh
They all said slip out on the side if you like
There's no way that you ain't earned the right
She was always up before the light
So she could gather herself before then
Besides things were so much quieter at that time
Before the hum and the buzz and the whine
She should dance if she wants to dance

She considers the rising of the sun

She considers what may happen should she run
Would the world fall apart as we know it
Would she really be able to make a go of it
She just wanted to have her own song
Just to leave just to go, say so long
She should dance if she wants to dance
How I Would Teach It:
I would bring these song lyrics in as a supplemental text/music for the short story,
The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst, which is about a boy with a crippled brother
who he is determined to teach to walk. The boy, Doodle, eager to please his brother,
forces himself to learn. I would play this song and provide a printout of the lyrics. I
would then scaffold a series of questions to ask them about the song lyrics
themselves, inevitably leading to their discovery of the lyrics theme. I would then
ask them to compare it to the theme of the story. How are they similar and how are
they different?

The Rose That Grew From Concrete

Tupac Shakur
Did you hear about the rose that grew
from a crack in the concrete?
Proving nature's law is wrong it
learned to walk with out having feet.
Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams,
it learned to breathe fresh air.
Long live the rose that grew from concrete
when no one else ever cared.

How I Would Teach It:

Because the theme of this poem is fairly simple to understand upon a first read, I would
push students to look more closely at the figurative language used within it. I would ask
them to interrogate the metaphor of the rose, concrete, the image of learning to walk
with no feet. After figurative language had been fully interrogated, I would ask them to
identify the speaker, the intended audience, the theme, and the purpose of this poem. I
would then relate it to The Scarlet Ibis. Could Doodle, the crippled boy whose brother

forced him to learn to walk, also symbolize the rose? Did he grow from concrete, or did
he experience something different? I would ask students to pick one side of the
argument, and would create a debate setting in which students could argue whether or
not Doodle grew from concrete. This would both beg them to use and analyze
metaphor, dig deeply into a text, and build concrete arguments using text-based
evidence.

Phenomenal Woman
BY MAYA ANGELOU

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.

Im not cute or built to suit a fashion models size
But when I start to tell them,
They think Im telling lies.
I say,
Its in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
Im a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
Thats me.
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
Its the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,

The swing in my waist,

And the joy in my feet.
Im a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
Thats me.
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they cant touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still cant see.
I say,
Its in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
Im a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
Thats me.
Now you understand
Just why my heads not bowed.
I dont shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
Its in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need for my care.

Cause Im a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
Thats me.
How I would Teach It:
Because this is a poem of self-celebration, which is something that the majority of my
students need to master in their own lives for their well-being, I would take a
different approach to this. I would first project an image of Maya Angelou on the
whiteboard and ask them to describe her. Is she pretty, ugly, something else? I
would then watch the film Dark Girls with them, and provide a series of questions
asking them to question whether or not they see biases toward skin tones and body
types within their school. After letting my students openly discuss the questions they
have answered, I would then provide them with this poem and project the image of
Maya Angelou alongside it. I would ask them what the purpose of the poem was,
and after thoroughly discussing it, would ask students to write their own
Phenomenal Me poem, celebrating themselves.

Risk
-Anais Nin
And then the day came,
when the risk
to remain tight
in a bud
was more painful
than the risk
it took
to Blossom.
How I Would Teach It:
I would teach this poem alongside Langston Hughess poem Dreams, which
I have included below because their themes are so similar. I would ask them
to choose which of these poems reflects their feelings about growing or
attaining goals. Again, I would ask students to unpack the metaphors in each

of the poems here, because they are simple poems to understand upon a first
read. I would also ask them to interrogate the idea of pain here. I would ask
their opinions: which is more painful, trying to stay true to yourself or trying
to grow out of your shell? I would then ask them to choose a new image.
Instead of using the image of a bud or flower, they would need to come up
with a new image or metaphor that evoked the same feeling and theme: that
of opening up and growing. Upon producing their own image, students would
be prompted to write their own version of Risk, describing a different
emotionpain or otherwise.
Dreams
LangstonHughes
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
How I Would Teach it:
As I said above, I would teach Dreams by Langston Hughes and Risk by Anais
Nin alongside one another. I would ask students to create a Venn diagram
comparing and contrasting these poems, with the goal of them acknowledging that
both poems depict the risks of not growing and/or attaining goals. These Venn
diagrams would need to reflect differences in imagery and mood. Students would
also be asked to draw an image of each poem, exacting and clarifying their
understanding of imagery. Risk by Anais Nin describes both growth and lack of
growth as painful, whereas Dreams by Langston Hughes describes only the lack
of growth as painful and thwarting. I would ask students why Anais Nin may have
believed that even growing could be painful so that both poems could be thoroughly
unpacked. Students would then choose which of the poems they agreed with most
and re-create it using their own imagery and metaphors. This would also require an
illustration.

Design
Robert Frost
I found a dimpled spider, fat and white, On a white heal-all, holding up a moth Like a
white piece of rigid satin cloth-- Assorted characters of death and blight Mixed ready to
begin the morning right, Like the ingredients of a witches broth-- A snow-drop spider, a
flower like a froth, And dead wings carried like a paper kite.

What had that flower to do with being white, The wayside blue and innocent heal-all?
What brought the kindred spider to that height, Then steered the white moth thither in the
night? What but design of darkness to appall?-- If design govern in a thing so small.
How I Would Teach It:
I would provide a visual aide when teaching this poem because of its theme of
natural chaos vs. organized, designed aesthetics. I could contrast a photo of a
colorful forest with an image of a fence, or a cloudy sky against a city skyline. I
would also relate this poem to the book Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas
Adams, specifically referring to an excerpt from the beginning of the book which
questions immaculate design and asks, Who is this god fellow anyway? I would
ask students to choose which appeals to them or catches their eyes morean image
which is organic in composition and appears to have manifested itself naturally, or
an image of something that has clearly been organized and designed?
Still I Rise-Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
How I Would Teach It:
Teaching this poem provides the perfect opportunity to stress to students the
importance of briefly researching authors and poets before reading their work in
order to better understand the pieces they have written. Before teaching this, I

would provide students with a brief biography about Maya Angelou so that they
could build a foundational understanding of her history in civil rights and poetry
and her renowned strength as an African American woman. I would have them
document their learnings through Cornell notes, which is a form of note-taking that
I have my students use in order to organize their notes and thoughts. I would then
have a student who reads poetry strongly read this poem aloud to the class. Then, I
would ask a serious of pointed questions to ensure that students understood this
poem. Based on her history in civil rights, I would build them up to the
understanding of the theme, intended audience, speaker, and purpose of this poem.
This could easily be related to the book Sounder which I am reading with my
seventh and ninth grade SPED English classes.
Propaganda
Dead Prez
"Let me now turn, to our program for the future."
"The economy right now, is extremely supportive of the president and
his policies."
"FBI scientists have found chemical traces, consistent with a bomb or a
missile, on a piece of wreckage."
"police using clubs and tear gas against demonstrators."
"they called me a mother -(bleeped out)-ing so-and-so... and a white
Fascist...like they said, 'you're getting some of your own medicine'..."
Telling lies, to our vision
Telling lies, to our children
Telling lies, to our babies
Only truth, can take us away
From here
You can't fool all the people all of the time
But if you fool the right ones, then the rest will fall behind
Tell me who's got control of your mind? your world view?
Is it the news or the movie you're taking your girl to?
Know what I'm saying cause Uncle Sam got a plan
If you examine what they telling us then you will understand
What they planting in the seeds of the next generation
Feeding our children miseducation
No one knows if there's UFOs or any life on Mars
Or what they do when they up in the stars
Because I don't believe a word of what the president said
He filling our head with lies got us hypnotized
When he be speaking in code words about crime and poverty
Drugs, welfare, prisons, guns and robbery

It really means us, there's no excuse for the slander

But what's good for the goose, is still good for the gander
See...
I don't believe Bob Marley died from cancer
31 years ago I would've been a Panther
They killed Huey cause they knew he had the answer
The views that you see in the news is propaganda
I don't want no computer chip in my arm
I don't wanna die by a nuclear bomb
I say we all rush the pentagon
Pull out guns and grab the intercom
My first words will be I believe
Man made god, outta ignorance and fear
If God made man, then why the hell would he put us here?
I thought he's supposed to be the all loving
The same God who let Hitler put the Jews in the oven
We don't fall for the regular shit, they try to feed us
All this half-ass leadership, flipping position
They turn politician and shut the hell up and follow tradition
For your TV screen, is telling lies to your vision
Every channel got some brainwashed cop shit to watch
Running up in niggas cribs claiming that they heard shots
It's a plot, but busta can you tell me who's greedier?
Big corporations, the pigs or the media?
Sign of the times, terrorism on the rise
Commercial airplanes, falling out the sky like flies
Make me wonder what secrets went down with Ron Brown
Who burnt churches to the ground with no evidence found?
It's not coincidence, it's been too many steady incidents
It could've been the Klan who put that bomb at the Olympics
But it probably was the FBI, deep at the core
Cause if they make us all panic then they can start martial law
The police is telling lies fooling millions
What are they teaching our kids in these school buildings?
Televised, enterprise making a killing
Controlling our lives, this ain't living
No this ain't living
FBI, CIA
ATF, KKK
IRS, TNT
CBS, NBC

"Uh, we view each other with a great love and a great understanding.
And that we try to expand this to the general Black population, and
also, people-- oppressed people all over the world. And, I think that we
differ from some other groups simply because we understand the
system better than most groups understand the system. And with this
realization, we attempt to form a strong political base based in the
community with the only strength that we have and that's the strength
of a potentially destructive force if we don't get freedom."
How I Would Teach It:
This is a set of song lyrics which can be easily related to 1984
by George Orwell. In order to understand how the two relate,
students need to understand that in 1984 the government, or
Big Brother, conceals information from the general public
and often lies about historical events and news stories. This
song can also be integrated with a Michael Moore article titled,
Ten Things They Wont Tell You About the Flint Water Crisis,
but I Will, which details the things that the media generally
does not about the Flint Water crisis (i.e. the fact that GM still
has fresh water, the fact that the whole crisis could have been
prevented by payments totaling merely $9,000, etc). The three
of these together make students question whether or not the
media tells the utmost truth about news events, or tells a
sugar-coated version in order to keep the public calm.
Be Nobody's Darling
Alice Walker
Be nobody's darling;
Be an outcast.
Take the contradictions
Of your life
And wrap around
You like a shawl,
To parry stones
To keep you warm.
Watch the people succumb
To madness
With ample cheer;
Let them look askance at you
And you askance reply.
Be an outcast;
Be pleased to walk alone
(Uncool)
Or line the crowded

River beds
With other impetuous
Fools.
Make a merry gathering
On the bank
Where thousands perished
For brave hurt words
They said.
But be nobody's darling;
Be an outcast.
Qualified to live
Among your dead.
How I Would Teach It:
This poem is another great opportunity to teach imagery. I
would ask students a series of questions dissecting each of the
most potent images within this poem. For instance, what
image or feeling does the idea of among your dead evoke?
What about the image of lin[ing] the crowded river beds with
other impetuous fools. I would provide visual aides that
match with the images that I would ask them to dissect. I
would relate this to the text The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar
Wao by Junot Diaz, which both celebrates and expresses grief
over the idea of being an outcast.