Date: Week of February 03, 2020

Subject: English B
Form: 4th
Time: 5 sessions
Topic: Analysing Poetry
Focus Poems: “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes & “Dreaming Black Boy” by
James Berry

General Objectives
By the end of the lesson, students should:
1. Further develop their appreciation for poetry.
2. Have an increased understanding of poetry.
3. Recognize how poets use poetry to raise awareness and as commentary on salient social
issues in society.

Specific Objectives:
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. Summarize the focused poems.

2. Analyze the effectiveness of poetic devices.
3. Identify the form and structure of the poems.
4. Identify the tone and mood of the poems.
5. Respond to thematic questions based on EACH poem.
6. Respond to Comprehension questions on poem #1.
7. Complete speech presentation.

Summary of Content

The lesson should take the form of:

 Active discussions

 Question
Visualize
Connect
Predict
Respond

Focus poem: “Theme for English B”

Summary: The instructor tells the speaker to go home and write a page; this page should
come from himself and be true. The speaker wonders if it is that simple. He begins with
autobiographical details that he is “twenty-two”, “colored,” and born and schooled in
Winston-Salem, Durham, and currently attends college in Harlem. He writes that he is the
“only colored” student in his class. He walks down a hill into Harlem, crossing streets
before arriving at the Harlem branch of the Y. He takes the elevator up to his room, which
is where he is writing this page.
The speaker writes that at his young age, it is hard to know what is true for “you or me.”
He believes that the truth is what he hears, feels and sees in Harlem – “hear you, hear me –
we two – you, me, talk on this page.” He hears New York. He likes to eat, drink, sleep, be in
love, work, read, learn, and understand life. He likes receiving pipes and records (Bessie
Smith, Bach or Bop) as Christmas presents. Just because he is colored does not mean he
does not like the same things that people of other races like. He wonders if his page will be
“colored” because it is his and he is not white. [Gradesaver]

The title: “Theme for English B” – It alludes to the task to be done.

Annotations:
See: https://prezi.com/mz-nekeakwab/langston-hughes-theme-for-english-b-analysis/

Structure/Style and form:

 The poem is told from a first person perspective.
 Written in free verse
 Stream of Consciousness:
“Theme for English B” is written in a stream-of-consciousness style, a narrative technique
meant to mirror the passage of thoughts through the mind. Hughes uses this technique to
reflect the speaker’s train of thought as he writes his paper. Throughout the poem, the
speaker moves from describing his past to his present journey to class each day to the
activities and interests that defines him. This free-writing style eventually leads him to
address the similarities and differences between him and his teacher and open
communication about their differing views of “truth.”
 “Theme for English B” is a lyric poem, which means that it is fairly brief, that it
contains the thoughts of one speaker who speaks in the first person throughout the
poem, and, rather than relying on action and plot to convey its point as a narrative
poem would do, it largely reflects on the speaker’s experiences and feelings about
those experiences.

Rhyme and rhythm: “Theme for English B” is certainly a “sharp and impudent
interjection” in the collection [Montage of a Dream Deferred], if only because it adopts a voice
not marked by an African-American folk vernacular. Its rhythms are fairly straightforward;
it sounds like a letter someone might write, or an account you might receive from a friend
over dinner. But despite this apparently simple exterior, the poem does use rhyme and
rhythm in interesting ways in order to stress some of its central points.
In the first stanza, Hughes’ speaker quotes the instructor’s directions for this assignment.
Lines 2 through 5 embody that quote and each of these lines consist of a basic iambic
pattern—one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. “Home” and “write” are
stressed in line 2, “page” and “-night” in line 3, “let,” “page,” “out,” and “you” in line 4,
and, save for the single stress of “Then” at the beginning of the line, “will” and “true” in
line 5. However, after this fairly reliable rhythmic opening, Hughes sheds this pattern and
follows no strict form whatsoever for the rest of the poem, until the final line when he
returns—ironically, given what he’s illustrated within the piece—to the nursery rhyme-
sounding pattern with which he began: “This is my page for English B,” he concludes,
stressing “is,” “page,” the first syllable of “English,” and “B.” This format alone signifies
the complexities the speaker will address within the piece, but of which the professor
appears unaware. The rhythms’ complexities mirror those of the subjects covered.
Hughes uses internal rhyme in a similar way here. In stanza 3, lines 16 through 20, the
student explores the interconnectedness of his sensual experiences (out of which he argues
his identity is in part composed) with the things that spur those experiences, all of which
indicate how layered his identity must be. Hughes underscores this idea by internally
rhyming many of these words—“you,” “me,” “two,” “we,” “too,” and “who.” The rhymes
mix these words up until it becomes difficult to clearly separate them, an effect Hughes also
creates by employing tricky repetition. “Harlem, I hear you: / hear you, hear me—we two
—you, me talk on this page. / (I hear New York, too.) Me—who?” the student finally asks,
interweaving these pronouns to the point that no one can be sure to whom—or what—they
refer; this is precisely the point Hughes seems to be trying to make elsewhere in the poem.
By rhyming these key pronouns—and doing so very simply—Hughes indicates their
inseparability on the level of sound. All of these words—and others, such as “white,”
“write,” “true,” and “free”—are fundamental to the poem’s larger argument regarding
identity and American racial awareness.

Major themes to be explored: commonalities that exist in spite of differences/prejudices;

race and racism; perceived differences between whites and blacks; the fear of acceptance,
self-actualization; power and privilege.

“Theme for English B” addresses the commonalities that exist in spite of

differences/prejudices. The speaker states that regardless of race, both he and his white
instructor are Americans -- even if they do not always want to recognize their similar
identity. In spite of their gap in age, race and economic status, however, the speaker wants
to learn from the instructor, but also believes the instructor can learn a lot from him.
Indeed, one could argue that the poem shows that cultural differences often keep people
from discovering how similar they are. [Kori Morgan]

Race and Racism

Although the poem builds on the individual themes of identity and race or racism, in some
sense it is both unrealistic and disingenuous to separate these issues, given that Hughes’
poem seems so poignantly to argue for their interconnectedness. Nevertheless, it is clear
that Hughes would not want his readers to see “Theme for English B” as a poem only about
the complications of identity and understanding who we are, but to also be made aware of
the role race plays in the life of this young student at this time in America. This is the voice
of the “only colored student in the class” at Columbia, a detail that highlights--for the
reader just—who, in New York City, are receiving the best education. The poem also
introduces the reader to the dilemma of this student attempting to understand what sets
him apart from his white peers: surely, he is not different in any essential way; he is human,
he has likes, he wants to “work, read, learn, and understand life” just like anyone else. Yet,
as lines 38 through 40 indicate, something divides him from his white professor, who is
“somewhat more free” than he. Published in 1951, “Theme for English B” appears on the
brink of the Civil Rights Movement when students like the one in the poem will begin to
take direct action against the segregation that divides (and to some extent still divides)
America’s white and black communities. In this way, Hughes’s poem is prophetic. In just a
couple of years, students like the one in “Theme for English B” will be using nonviolent
techniques to open lunch counters and the fronts of buses to African Americans; they will
also be using them to register African-Americans voters so that they can take their rightful
places in a national political community.

Poetic Devices:
Allusions

■ Johann Sebastian Bach (German composer and musician)

■ BeBop Jazz (“Bop”) (a style of American Jazz)

■ Bessie Smith (Jazz and Blues singer)

■ The Y/YMCA (A significant landmark of New York City African-American culture,

the Harlem YMCA is sometimes referred to as the "living room of the Harlem
Renaissance." Established in 1901, the Harlem YMCA has remained a cultural
steward of Northern Manhattan and continues to serve the area's multicultural
neighbourhoods and communities with innovative programs and services that meet
the unique needs of the individuals and families that call Harlem home).

Metaphor: “and let the page come out of you”

Repetition: “…a part of you…/a part of me…/a part of you…/a part of me…”

Anaphora: the repetition of “I” throughout the poem.

Alliteration: “Bessie, Bop, Bach”

Apostrophe: “but it will be a part of you, instructor.”

Enjambment: “hear you, hear me –we two-you, me…”

Tone: Contemplative/concerned.

Mood: Reflective
Previous Knowledge:

Students have been introduced to the elements of Poetry.

Students have analysed poems.
Instructional Materials
White board
Markers
Speakers
Multimedia projector
YouTube Videos
Prezi
CSEC English Syllabus

DAY 1--“Theme for English B”

Teacher’s Tasks Students’ Tasks
Teacher will: Students will:

ENGAGE
Engage students in a discussion about the Harlem Watch video/Participate in
Renaissance. Show the video: discussion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Z3ozfYC9CZE

PLAY THE GAME “WHO AM I?” Complete task.

For this game, students are expected to produce a
biography of their classmates without mentioning
the name of the student. At the end of the
‘biography/description’ the class should be able
to guess whose biography was read.
[do as many as you can accommodate]

EXPLORATION
1. Prompt students to think about the importance Reflect and respond.
of ‘self-discovery’.

2. Instruct students to reflect on the man they

have become and share philosophical
thoughts about who they are.
3. Have students explore the concept of
“society and self”.
4. They can explore the following questions:
What makes it possible for us to connect to
others? What gets in the way? How do we
connect with those who are different from
us? How do we learn to have dialogue
across cultures? Is being different a
liability or opportunity? How have your
past and heritage shaped you? How do we
define who we are? What is the value of
uncertainty? How do we know or identify
privilege? How does race affect our
relations to others?
 EXPLAIN

1. Share information on the poet.

2. Explain the impact of the Renaissance period on Listen and partake in discussion
the lives of Blacks in America.
3. Re-visit the concept ‘society and self’ and
explain the difference between one’s expectations
of him/herself and that of society.

ELABORATE
1. The classroom setting is the perfect place for the Read poem.
poem to be read. Have students read the poem at
least twice.
3. Ask students if they can relate to the tedious Respond.
nature/task of writing about one’s self.
4. Divide the class into six small groups. Assign Complete activity.
each group one of the following tasks: Provide oral feedback.
A) Summarize the poem and
deconstruct/analyze Stanza one.
B) Focus on the poem’s structure, form, tone
and mood; deconstruct/analyze Stanza
two.
C) Explore the themes: Society and self;
perceived differences between whites and
blacks; and deconstruct/analyze Stanza
three.
D) Explore the themes: race and racism; the
fear of acceptance and deconstruct/analyze
Stanza four.
E) Focus on the Poetic devices: metaphor,
alliteration and repetition;
deconstruct/analyze Stanza five.
F) Focus on the poetic devices: allusion,
anaphora, apostrophe and enjambment.
*see summary of content for the above tasks.
[can be emailed to students]

EVALUATE
Instruct students to complete the following
comprehension questions:
1. What are the differences between the first Complete task.
stanza, representing the speaker’s thoughts
to himself as he thinks about doing the
assignment, and the subsequent stanzas,
 which express how he presents himself to
an audience- in this case his instructor?

2. List at least five things the speaker includes

in his self-presentation.

3. What does the word “true” in line 5 mean?

4. What does the speaker mean when he says

“I hear you/hear you, hear me-we two-
you, me…”?

5. The relationship between “you” and “me”,

“me” and “you” is charged with racial
tension. The speaker in the poem is Black,
while the instructor is White. Think about
Hughes’ relationship with that ‘unseen’
audience: readers of his poem. What do
you make of these shifting relationships?
What is the poet’s intention?

6. What assumptions about writing does the

instructor make? Does the speaker of the
poem agree with the instructor’s
assumptions?

7. What’s the significance of the word,

“colored,” in the poem?

8. What’s his attitude toward his instructor?

9. Identify the allusions in the poem- What do

they reveal about the speaker?

10. Identify a major poetic device used in the

poem and comment on its effectiveness.

11. “You are white-/Yet a part of me, as I am a

part of you/That’s American.” What do
these lines mean? How would the
instructor react to these words?

DAY 2--“Dreaming Black Boy”

GRADED ASSIGNMENT #2

Project: Oral Presentation on “Dreaming Black Boy”.

In groups of five, prepare and present a 10 min. speech that achieves the following:
A brief biography of the Poet. (5 marks)
The historical context of the poem.(5 marks)
The prominent issues (no more than two) faced by the persona. (8 marks)
The poem’s reception by the public. (2 marks)
A comparative anaylsis (thematically) of “Theme for English B” and
“Dreaming Black Boy”. (10 marks)

Rubric
Content – 30 marks
Expression- 10 marks
Delivery (poise, articulation, eye contact…) – 10 marks
Preparedness and adherence to due date (given by teacher) - 5 marks.
Group effort- 5 marks.
Total 60 marks

GRADED ASSIGNMENT #3--Essay 1: (please note that I have made changes to the essay,
therefore, it is important for you to make the changes to the course outline).

With reference to the poems “Once Upon a Time” and “The Woman Speaks to the Man who has
Employed her Son”:

Write an essay in which you outline what EACH poem is about. In this essay, you must comment on
a major issue that the speaking persona grapples with in EACH poem, and comment on the poets’
use of ONE poetic device that effectively portrays a major theme in EACH poem.

Due: Week 5; Feb. 03- Feb. 07, 2020 (be flexible where necessary).