FINAL

”A Lesson Plan on Pastoral Poetry”

by Ms. Wynzyleen L. Lee
Grade/Year Level/School: Grade 9
Time Allotment: 1 hour

I. Objectives
By the end of the class, students should be able to…
A. Understand that expressions of love can be expressed in many ways by:
1. Analysing the shepherd’s idea of love by listing down the promises made
2. Contrasting the nymph’s response against the shepherd’s by listing down her responses
3. Summarising the exchange between the shepherd and the nymph in a text simulation
B. Understand that love may lead people to think irrationally/romantically by discussing the Shepherd’s
motivations for making excessive promises.
C. Understand the nature of pastoral poetry by:
1. Discussing the salient features of the two poems
2. Weighing the pros and cons of the urbanisation and ruralisation of society through an activity

II. Subject Matter

A. Language/Literature Focus: Pastoral Poetry
B. Other Topics: Expressions of love

III. Materials
A. Text
1. “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” by Christopher Marlowe
2. “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd” by Sir Walter Raleigh
B. Materials/Equipment
1. PPT presentation
2. Manila paper with the following information:
a) Vocabulary words
b) Vocabulary definitions
3. Paper hearts
4. Paper arrows
5. Both poems written on Manila Paper
6. (6) Cartolinas
C. References

IV. Procedure
A. Pre-Reading
1. Unlocking of Difficulties (10 mins.)
ACTIVITY (Group): Word Match
a) Two Manila papers will be posted on the board. One Manila paper will contain a list of definitions
written at a random order. The other Manila paper will contain the full list of vocabulary words
b) At every round, the teacher will flash a sample sentence using one of the vocabulary words.
c) (especially his surroundings and profession)
d) The groups will need to match the correct definition to the word used.
e) The first group to raise their hands will get a chance to answer.

! of 8
1 !
 f) A line will be drawn to match the vocabulary word to the definition
g) The first group to raise their hand and correctly match the definition on the board to the sentence
will win a gold coin
Words to Unlock: dale, madrigals, kirtle, myrtle, swains, fold, reckoning, gall, Philomel, dumb

VOCABULARY DEFINITION SAMPLE SENTENCE

I’ve always thought dales to be

A valley, especially in Northern especially prone to flooding because of
1 dale
England its unfortunate nature of existing
between two mountains

A secular vocal music composition of The Philippine Madrigal Singers is a

2 madrigal the Renaissance and early Baroque source of pride and joy to both the
eras. country and the University.

Take care that you gently raise your kirtle

3 kirtle A woman's gown or outer underskirt.
over that puddle, Cynthia

A genus of flowering plants in the

Myrtle was said to be sacred to Venus
4 myrtle family Myrtaceae. The leaves and
and used as an emblem of love.
branches are used to make medicine

That no good swain broke my heart and

5 swain A country youth
a dozen other maidens’!

A pen or enclosure in a field where Father always insists to go out and check
6 fold livestock, especially sheep, can be if the folds are locked securely before
kept. going to bed.

The avenging or punishing of past After all this is done, we will feel the full
7 reckoning
mistakes or misdeeds wrath of mother’s terrible reckoning.

You have the gall to ask me for the pain

8 gall Bold and impudent behaviour
you’ve caused me?

Philomel’s story is a story the tells just

The name of a Greek goddess who was
9 Philomel one example of the grave injustices done
turned into a nightingale
against women.

Temporarily unable or unwilling to She became dumb with shock after

10 dumb
speak discovering the death of her child.

TEACHER TALK STUDENT TALK

In today’s text, we will be discussing pastoral poems written by

two famous writers from the Renaissance Period - Christopher
Marlowe and Sir Walter Raleigh.

Flashes photos of Christopher Marlow and Sir Walter Raleigh

! of 8
2 !
Christopher Marlowe is especially important to English
Literature because he introduced the blank verse - unrhymed
iambic pentameter. Some of his popular works is the tragedy
“Doctor Faustus,” which I encourage everyone to read or, at
least, research on when you go home.

Sir Walter Raleigh, on the other hand, was famous for being
one of Queen Elizabeth I’s favorites, before he was discovered
having a relationship with one of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting,
causing him to fall out of favour.

2. Motivation (3 mins.)
If you like someone, what would you do to let him or her know Personal Answer
your feelings?

3. Motive Question (1 min.)

How did the Shepherd let the person he loved know how he felt?

B. During Reading (3 mins.)

- Volunteers from the class will be asked to read Christopher Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd to His
Love”

C. Post Reading
1. Discussion & Engagement Activities (20 mins.)
How did the Shepherd let the person he loved know how he He wrote her a poem promising her all the things
felt? he’d do for her

What are some of the promises that the Shepherd gave?

ACTIVITY (Class): Shepherd’s Promises (5 mins.)

a) For every answer that’s given by the students, a paper heart will be handed to them by the teacher.
b) The student must write their answer on the paper and post it on the board
Shepherd’s Promises Lines Nymph’s Reply Lines

Experience pleasure in nature 2-4 If you weren’t a liar, I’d believe you 2

Sit on rocks and watch shepherds and birds 5-8 There are no sheep and birds 5-8

Make bed of roses and posies 9-10

Flowers fade
Make cap of flowers 11 9, 10
Winter comes
Make skirt of myrtle 12

Make gown of wool 13 Your gifts will break 13-15

! of 8
3 !
 Make nice slippers w/ gold buckles 15
Your gifts mean nothing to me 17-19
Make a belt of straw and ivy-buds 17

If time stopped and all that you said

Shepherd will dance and sing for her every
21 were actually possible, maybe I could 21-24
morning
love you

As a whole, in what way does the Shepherd plan to express his With gifts
love?

What sort of future does the Shepherd paint for his love? A very peaceful and idyllic life

How about you? How would you express your love to your Personal answer
partner?

If you were the recipient of this poem, in what way would you Personal answer
feel? Is the Shepherd’s offer enticing? Yes*

What makes the Shepherd’s offer enticing? He promises a break from fast-paced life
He promises a very peaceful life

How will the Shepherd deliver his promises? He will make use of his environment as a
Shepherd

What can we say about the Shepherd’s idea of love? He believes that it is enough to shower his loved
one with presents; materialistic

Alright. For the next text, we'll read a poem made out as a
response to Marlowe’s poem. It was written by Raleigh. I want
you to analyse stanza per stanza, the Nymph’s reply to the
Shepherd’s promises.

ACTIVITY (Class): Reading & Nymph’s Reply (5 mins.)

a) Groups will be assigned stanzas to read. The assignments of the stanzas will follow the order of the
group numbers.
b) As one group reads a stanza of the poem, a different group will write down highlights of the
Nymph’s reply in paper arrows provided by the teacher. The assignments of the stanzas for analysis
will be as follows:

(1) Group 4: Lines 1-4 (4) Group 1: Lines 13-16
(2) Group 5: Lines 5-8 (5) Group 2: Lines 17-20
(3) Group 6: Lines 9-12 (6) Group 3: Lines 21-24

c) Answers will be posted on the board afterwards.

In what way would you describe the Nymph’s reply to the Cold. She rejected him on all accounts
Shepherd?

For what reasons did the Nymph reject the Shepherd? The Shepherd is a liar

! of 8
4 !
In what way was the Shepherd a liar, according to the Nymph? His promises and proofs of love are all temporary,
they die with the seasons

If the Shepherd’s love is represented by his gifts and, His love for her won’t last.
according to the Nymph, his gifts won’t last, what does this
say about the Shepherd’s love?

Do you think this was a deliberate attempt by the Shepherd to He’s irrational, no longer thinking; He earnestly
lie/trick the Nymph? What reasons could the Shepherd have believes he can do it
for exaggerating?

What do the Shepherd’s actions as a lover tell us about the Love can make you irrational and impractical
nature of love?

2. Language and Skills Development

a) Presentation (1 min.)
- The two poems will be posted on the board

b) Elicitation/Language Awareness (15 mins.)

In the two poems, how do the characters express their They use images of nature
proposal or rejection?

Based on our analysis of the text, nature is referenced quite a Very peaceful and nice
lot. Focusing on the Shepherd’s poem, in what way is nature
portrayed?

For what reason does the Shepherd use images of nature in Because that is what he’s most familiar with
his poem?

For what reason is he most familiar with nature? What is a He takes care of sheep
shepherd’s job?

What is the Shepherd most likely describing? The countryside where he works.

According to him, what sort of activities can be done in the Singing, dancing, gazing across fields
countryside?

Have any of you ever been to the countryside? Yes

In your opinion, is the Shepherd’s description of the No

countryside and all that you can do there complete?

What are some other things that can be expected when living
in the countryside? Both the good and the bad?

How is the countryside different from city life? What are their
pros and cons? And if you had a choice, would you rather stay
here and live in the city or move to the country?

! of 8
5 !
 ACTIVITY (Group): Urban vs. Rural (5 mins.)
(1) Students will vote on where they’d rather live (in a rural or urban space) while simultaneously
indicating on the paper their favourite feature/quality of their chosen locale.
(2) Each student will be asked to come forward and pick a coloured paper: yellow for country and
blue for city.
(3) Answers will be posted on the board.

c) Generalization

Based on our discussion and the way these poems were made, The countryside; nature
what are pastoral poems about?

In what way do these poems want us to think about rural life? It is perfect

In the end, in what way does this affect how we view rural life? We envy it.

d) Guided/Controlled Practice & Enrichment Activity (15 mins.)

ACTIVITY (Individual): Express Your Love
(1) Students will situate themselves in the Shepherd’s position and try to replicate his charm
(utilising especially his surroundings and profession) in creating a series of “love texts” all trying
to convince the person to live with them/spend time with them
(2) Students may choose anyone to be the recipient of their text message.

(3) Outputs will be expected to answer the following things (whether explicitly or implicitly):
(a) What activities or features unique to the countryside would you highlight in order to
convince the target person to move to you?
(b) How would you manipulate the surroundings in your favor?
(c) Highlight at least 3 features/activities.
(4) The text simulation must contain at least five appeals all coming from the sender. No reply is
expected from the other party.
(5) Answers will be written on the provided worksheet.
(6) Answers will be graded using the following rubric:

RUBRIC (10 pts.)

1 Name of Recipient 1 pt.

2 Relationship to Sender 1 pt.

3 (3) Countryside features 3 pts.

4 (5) Appeals 5 pts.

3. Recapitulation/Summary

How can love be expressed? In many ways through many forms and media

Does anyone have any questions? Personal answer

! of 8
6 !
 APPENDIX
Photo of Sir Walter Raleigh Photo of Christopher Marlowe

! of 8
7 !
! of 8
8 !