Detailed Lesson Plan

Verdida, Daren Hazel Kate C.

I. Objectives: at the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:
1. Read the poem out loud
2. Identify the literary devices of the poem
3. Relate the poem in real life
II. Subject Matter/Content:
Poetry
Reference:

Materials:
Visual aids
III.
1. Motivation Questions:
Do you like reading poems?

What do you feel when you read a poem?

I prepared a poem here “People Equal” by James Berry. I will read the poem first then Please
read the poem out loud.

People Equal by James Berry

Some people shoot up tall.
Some hardly leave the ground at all.
Yet-people equal. Equal.

One voice is a sweet mango.

Another is a non-sugar tomato.
Yet-people equal. Equal.

Some people rush to the front.

Others hang back, feeling they can't.
Yet-people equal. Equal.

Hammer some people, you meet a wall.

Blow hard on others, they fall.
Yet-people equal. Equal.

One person will aim at a star.

For another, a hilltop is too far.
Yet-people equal. Equal.

Some people get on with their show.

Others never get on the go.
Yet-People equal. Equal.

2. Presentation:
James berry was one of the first black writers in Britain to achieve wider recognition, Berry
rose to prominence in 1981 when he won the National Poetry Competition. His five
collections of poetry and his stories and poems for children have been widely acclaimed.
1. What is the structure of the poem?
Q: The division of the poem into stanzas:
A: The division of the poem is 6 stanzas or six tercets

2. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?

A: AAB-CCB-DEB-AAB-FFB-GGB

3. What is the tone of the poem?

A: The tone of the poem is serious.

4. What are the refrain lines in the poem?

What is a refrain line?
A refrain (from Vulgar Latin refringere, "to repeat", and later from Old French refraindre)
is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry.
A: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 “Yet-people equal”

5. What figure of speech that is used in line 4?

“One voice is a sweet mango” calling a voice a sweet mango is a direct comparison. The
voice is so sweet
A: Metaphor

6. Are there any juxtapositions in the poem?

What is a juxtaposition?
Two unlike words or ideas next to one another.
A: Yes, in line 7 and 8 “Some people rush to the front” “The others rush to the back”
One is ahead the other is behind. (comparing side by side)

7. Are there any irony in the poem?

A: Yes, In line 13 and 14 “ One person will aim at the star” “For another, a hilltop is too far”
So, If you take the poem in a bad way, poet stresses how equality is not actual equality.

8. Are there any imagery in the poem?

A: Yes, in line 1 “ Some people shoot up tall” line 2 “ Some people hardly leave the ground at
all” (sight)

9. Subject matter of the poem or what it is about;

Q: What is the point of the poem?
Answer: People Equal by James Berry is a poem that expresses although different we are
considered equal. We have physical differences like if having different colour of skin or hair,
different struggles, different timeline in life, different pace, different definition of success- we
are still considered equal.

10. What is the diction of the poem?

The diction in the start of the first three stanzas of the poem is more suited for children, but as
the poem shifts to the next three stanzas, it develops success. From simple actions of success
to exaggerations of success. I believe the diction used, presents the poem to a wider audience
that at any age this lesson can be taught.

11. How can you relate the poem in real life?

A: I think that the poem says even if you are disabled we are still equal. We are the same. No
matter what we’ve been through we are all the equal, because in real life, no matter what path
or direction we are taking, we are all going through some tough problems and that makes us
equal and the same. We all go through and still going through some tough times. There is no
single person in this world who doesn’t encounter struggles in his whole life.