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Art and Poetry English Language Arts and Visual Arts, Grade 9

This three-week unit focuses on writing prose and poetry in response to works of visual art. Students learn how to observe a painting closely and interpret it using an approach called Visual Teaching Strategies. Close observation of images resembles close reading of text, which students practice as they read several poems, including some that were inspired by works of visual art. For their performance assessment, students select a painting, drawing, photograph, or sculpture that shows at least one person and that represents a universal human experience. They complete three pieces of writing: an analysis of what they observe in the work, a poem written from the point of view of a character that is depicted in the work of art, and an analytical essay that compares their poem and the work of art. They share their writing in response to art during an exhibition at their school. These Model Curriculum Units are designed to exemplify the expectations outlined in the MA Curriculum Frameworks for English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics incorporating the Common Core State Standards, as well as all other MA Curriculum Frameworks. These units include lesson plans, Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessments, and resources. In using these units, it is important to consider the variability of learners in your class and make adaptations as necessary.


Table of Contents

Unit Plan ……………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………… 3 General Notes and Resources …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 6 Lesson 1 and 2…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…… 8 Lessons 3 and 4………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…….13 Lesson 5, 6, 7 and 8 …………………………………………………………………………………….………………………………….16 Lessons 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 …………………………………………………………………………………………………………..21 CEPA Teacher Instructions…………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………27 CEPA Student Instructions ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..28 CEPA Rubric ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….30 Appendix A: Student Process Journal………………………………………………………………………………………………32 Appendix B: Poems ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..48 Unit Resources……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….52

Stage 1 Desired Results


ESTABLISHED GOALS G CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9.7 Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus). Massachusetts Visual Arts Standard 5.8, for basic study in grades 9-12. Demonstrate the ability to compare two or more works of art, orally and in writing, using appropriate vocabulary. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9.4 Determine the meaning of words as they are used in the text, including figurative language and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2 Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes. MA.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3 Demonstrate understanding of the concept of point of view by writing short…poems…from a particular character’s point of view (e.g., the hero, anti-hero, or a minor character). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.4: Present

Transfer Students will be able to independently use their learning to… T • understand the power of words and images to transform lives and provide insight into

the experiences of others and understanding of cultures and historical periods • generate open ended questions and seek answers through critical analysis of text,

media, interviews, and/or observations. Meaning

UNDERSTANDINGS U Students will understand that… U1 We read a work of art by analyzing how its composition, lines, shapes, colors, and textures convey ideas and emotions. U2 We read poetry by analyzing how its sequence of thoughts, figurative language, sounds of words, and imagery convey ideas and emotions. U3 Artists working in different media emphasize different aspects of the same idea or concept.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS Q EQ1. How do we read works of visual art? EQ 2 How do we read poetry? EQ3 How does medium influence message?

Acquisition Students will know… K K1 Domain-specific academic vocabulary related to visual art and poetry, e.g., character, setting, foreground, background, medium, mood, tone, theme, analyze, perspective, point of view, composition, emphasis, realism, abstraction, etc. K2. A comparison of two works requires first a detailed analysis of each individual work, followed by an analysis of the shared

Students will be skilled at… S S1. Analyzing visual art and poetry using domain-specific vocabulary for each. S2. Comparing and contrasting the representation of a common topic or theme in two artistic media.


information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.

qualities and the differences of the two works.

Stage 2 - Evidence Evaluative Criteria Assessment Evidence • The thoroughness of the analysis of the

work of art, including use of evidence to support interpretation

• The degree to which the poem reflects the work of art, is original, and uses poetic devices

• The completeness of the analytic essay in comparing the poem and the work of art, using evidence from each to support interpretation.

• Proper spelling and grammar are used consistently throughout the analytical pieces of writing.

CURRICULUM EMBEDDED PERFOMANCE ASSESSMENT (PERFORMANCE TASKS) PT Works of visual art and poetry often represent universal human experiences, but they do so in different ways. Visual art is a composition of lines, colors, shapes, and textures, and poetry is a composition of figurative language, sound, and rhythm. In this unit, you have learned to describe paintings and poems individually and have read examples of poetry inspired by works of visual art. Now it is your turn to show what you have learned about how visual art and poetry communicate in different ways. Select a painting, drawing, photograph, or sculpture that shows at least one person and that represents a universal human experience. Then, complete three pieces of writing: • an analysis of what you see in the work and why you believe it conveys a universal

human experience, • a poem written from the point of view of a person who is depicted in the work of art,

and • an analytical essay that compares your poem and the work of art and that explains how

you transformed your understanding of the visual artwork into the poem.

Make sure to use precise language for describing visual art and the poem. Your written work will be displayed with the work of art that inspired it in a school exhibition.


Process Journals

OTHER EVIDENCE: OE OE1. Monitoring of ongoing student journaling that responds to, critiques, and analyzes works of art. OE2. Assessment of notes locating and citing poetic devices and figurative language in the poems and the inferences they make based on that evidence.

Stage 3 – Learning Plan Summary of Key Learning Events and Instruction

Lesson 1 and 2: Analyzing visual art. Students learn a means of interpreting a work of visual art. The teacher introduces students to various pieces of art and engages them in a scaffolded activity in which they delve deeper into their analysis of each piece. Lesson 3 and 4: Analyzing poetry. Students read poems and analyze their use of poetic devices and figurative language to create meaning and tone. The teacher walks students through an analysis of a selected poem using text-dependent questions. Then students work in pairs to analyze a poem of their choice. Lesson 5, 6, 7 and 8: Analyzing and writing poems inspired by visual art. Students read poems written in response to specific pieces of art. They learn how to make connections between common topics and themes represented in different media. The teacher introduces one piece of art and one poet’s response to that work. Then, through a think-aloud, the teacher models how to make topical/thematic connections between the two works. Students analyze paired poems and visual artworks together. Students choose a character from one of the works of art they have seen and write a poem from the character’s point of view. Lessons 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13: Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessment. These lessons focus on completing the CEPA, which involves three pieces of writing. Students select an artwork that depicts a universal human experience, analyze the artwork, and write a poem from the point of view of a character in the work of art. They write an analytical essay that compares the work of art with the poem and explains how the representation of an idea is the same and different in two different media. Adapted from Understanding by Design 2.0 © 2011 Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe Used with Permission July 2012


General Notes and Resources

This unit is designed to be taught by a teacher of visual arts or a teacher of English; it is ideal for collaboration between the two. Since this unit focuses on portrayals of human experience in art and poetry, the teacher will need a collection of figurative artworks that suggest a story (examples: The Runaway by Norman Rockwell, The Fog Warning by Winslow Homer, Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange, Cocktails by Archibald Motley). The unit includes examples of poems, including Robert Frost’s “An Old Man’s Winter Night” and “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” by William Carlos Williams. Specific Terms used in this Unit: • Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS): This is a process for teacher-facilitated discussions about artworks, including paintings and poetry. For more

information, see the website: http://www.vtshome.org/what-is-vts or Philip Yenawine, Visual Teaching Strategies (Cambridge: Harvard Education Press, 2013).

• Four Steps to Understanding Poetry: This is a process for questioning and deepening knowledge of texts. The process is: Step 1: Survey; Step 2: Paraphrase; Step 3: Identify; and Step 4: Theme.

• Process Journals: Each student will need a journal, called a Process Journal in this unit. Students write in the journals, using them as computer files or as paper copies.

• Exit Ticket: This is an assignment that students complete at the end of a class. Teachers should estimate the time for this task and plan accordingly.

Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessment (CEPA): This is the culminating work of the unit and is completed in class. Because the unit relies on close observation of works of art and poetry, it provides the ideal reason a class trip to an art museum. Many museum educators use the Visual Thinking Strategies in gallery walks with students and some have programs in which visiting artists or poets respond to works in the collection. If a museum experience is out of the question, a teacher can borrow a variety of art books or magazines from the town or school library, use reproductions (prints) of artworks, or give students time to search websites of museums. Selected museum websites are listed below in Resources. Resources Writing About Visual Arts • Specific painting-poem pairs have been suggested for these lessons. On the website that is cited,

http://valerie6.myweb.uga.edu/ekphrasticpoetry.html, many more poem painting pairs may be found as possible substitutes or to be consulted by students. A similar website is http://www.english.emory.edu/classes/paintings&poems/titlepage.html.


• An example of a painting along with a description and opinions of the artwork may be found in The Raft of the Medusa, by Theodore Gericault, 1819: http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/raft-medusa. There are many more examples available at the Louvre website (in English).

• The Toledo Museum of Art has a useful guide for teachers on the parallels between visual and verbal art, Art Tells a Story, http://www.toledomuseum.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Art-Tells-a-Story.pdf. It deals with the concepts of theme, character, setting, plot, and point of view in visual arts and literature.

• Summaries of short articles that describe individual works of art in New England museums by the Boston Globe’s art critic, Sebastian Smee, are on the Internet at http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/framebyframe/. These articles may be purchased individually. A collection of the articles is also available as an app for tablets.

A Massachusetts Museums that students might visit in person: • Boston Museum of Fine Arts www.mfa.org • Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum http://www.gardnermuseum.org/ • Norman Rockwell Museum http://www.nrm.org • Springfield Museum of Art http://www.springfieldart.museum/joomla/ • Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute http://clarkart.edu/museum/content.cfm?ID=75 • Williams College Museum of Art, http://wcma.williams.edu • Worcester Museum of Art http://www.worcesterart.org/

A Sampling of Museums Beyond Massachusetts:

• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York http://www.metmuseum.org • Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ • Metropolitan Museum of Art Video Series (82nd and 5th) Curators talk about works in the collection. http://82nd-and-fifth.metmuseum.org/ National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (online gallery) http://www.museumsyndicate.com/owner.php?owner=7 Chicago Art Institute http://www.artic.edu/ • Explore “Art Access” http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/exhibitions/ArtAccess Poetry • University of Illinois: Modern American Poets site http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/index.htm • Open-source anthologies of poetry, prose, and criticism: http://bartleby.com • Poetry collections and resources from the Academy of American Poets: http://poets.org


Art and Poetry English Language Arts and Visual Arts, Grade 9

Lessons 1 and 2

Brief Overview of Lessons: Students learn a way to approach, interpret, and analyze visual artwork through close observation leading to inferences supported by evidence. The teacher introduces various works of art and engages students in a scaffolded discussion. Students will use descriptive words orally and in writing to share their observations of a work of art. Teachers should consider the variability of learners in their class and make adaptations as necessary. Prior Knowledge Required: Students should be familiar with participating in classroom discussions and using journals for writing. Estimated Time (minutes): up to 90 minutes, over two days Resources for Lessons 1 and 2: For the Teacher: • A computer and projector • Suggested artwork:

o The Runaway by Norman Rockwell: http://www.artchive.com/artchive/R/rockwell/rockwell_runaway.jpg.html o The Fog Warning by Winslow Homer http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/the-fog-warning-31042


o Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8b29516/ o Cocktails by Archibald Motley http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/cocktails-35646 o To select alternate artworks, choose figurative pieces that suggest a story, and that are age- appropriate and

engaging. Teachers may consider including works of art that are representative of the cultural diversity of the community and school. Good examples could be found at museum websites listed in the General Resource Section.

• An example of a painting with a description and interpretation: The Raft of the Medusa, by Theodore Gericault: http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/raft-medusa (The Louvre, Paris). Many other examples (in English) are available at this website.

Background materials • “Basic VTS at a Glance” sheet (Visual Thinking Strategies). Find it and other resources at

http://www.vtshome.org/research/articles-other-readings

For students • A class set of: Appendix A, Process Journal, which can be used either as a computer file or as paper copies. The journal

includes a selected glossary of domain-specific terms in visual arts and poetry


Unit: Art and Poetry Content Area/Course: English Language Arts and Visual Art, Grade 9 Lessons 1 and 2: Examining and Analyzing Art Time: approximately 90 minutes (one or two sessions) By the end of this lesson students will know and be able to: • look critically at a work of art and interpret its content. • cite specific visual elements of the work as evidence to support

interpretation • transfer their ideas from discussion into writing. Essential Question addressed in this lesson: EQ1 How do we read works of art? Standard(s)/Unit Goal(s) to be addressed in this lesson CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task. Instructional Tips/Strategies/Suggestions: • Teachers should familiarize themselves with “Basic VTS at a Glance”

by Abigail Hausen and Philip Yenawine (see Resources for Lesson above) before teaching this lesson. Visual Teaching Strategies (VTS) is a teaching technique widely used by arts educators in schools and museums.

• Teachers may also want to practice leading a discussion with their adult colleagues in order to be familiar with the VTS protocol.

• Preview the examples of visual art. Teachers can select different figurative pieces of art that suggest a story.

• Many students would benefit from being introduced to what an interpretation of a painting might be like. The Louvre Museum website has a number of paintings with commentary (in English) on its website (listed above in Resources).

• The Process Journal (Appendix A) is designed to guide students through the unit with selected vocabulary and short writing exercises that build to the longer Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessment (CEPA). o Teachers can have students download Appendix A (if the

journals are to be completed on a computer or tablet) or the teacher can print out and copy the pages for students to use for handwritten answers.

o All exit ticket writing is done in this journal, so check students’ Journals frequently as formative assessments. Consider keeping the journals in the classroom and assessing a few each day.

• During discussions, the teacher should function as facilitator, asking open-ended questions and paraphrasing student responses. Accept all responses and do not give your own opinions.

• When a student makes an inference about what is happening in an artwork, teacher immediately asks what elements in the artwork led the student to that conclusion.

• For students who are unfamiliar with visual arts terms, some explicit pre-teaching may be required; the glossary in the Process Journal defines many of the terms students would use in an analysis of artwork.

• Accommodations: Determine how individual students will share their interpretations (orally, in writing, or both).


Anticipated Student Preconceptions/Misconceptions • Students might lack confidence in their ability to analyze and

interpret art. What students need to know and are able to do coming into this lesson (including language needs) • Students need to know how to engage in class discussion that

involves listening to and responding to the viewpoints of others, including turn-taking and demonstrating active listening and respectful disagreement.

• Students should be able to describe their observations and analyses orally and in writing. For some students, a sentence starter can be added to the Process Journal (“I see___________________,” “In this painting I notice __________________”).

Lesson Sequence Lesson 1 Before the Lesson • Project one of the paintings listed in the Resources for Lessons

above. Post on chart paper or write on the board: o “What’s going on in this picture? o What do you see that makes you say that?”

Lesson Opening • Tell students that they are about to begin a three-week unit in which

they will be analyzing and comparing works of visual art and poetry. Explain that they will be doing this because they will be looking for different ways in which visual artists and poets express their ideas about human experiences. Today students will start analyzing visual

art, and thinking about the essential question: How do we read works of art?

• Provide Process Journals in electronic or paper form for all students. • Ask them to read the posted questions and write for 10 minutes in

response to the projected work of art. • Circulate around the room to monitor students’ work. Encourage

students to keep writing, by posing questions such as “What else can you see/find?”

• Students set aside their Process Journals. During the Lesson • Begin a teacher-facilitated whole class analysis of the work. This

discussion is modeled on the Visual Thinking Strategy (VTS) found at www.vtshome.org. To ensure that all voices are heard, remind the class to use pre-established class discussion rules (or establish those now if needed).

• Ask the students to re-examine the image and ask: “What’s going on in this picture?” (or other variations of this question). As students respond, follow up by asking the student what he/she sees that makes him/her say that.

• To encourage students to make further inferences, call on certain individuals with the questions, “What else can you find?” or “What else do you think is happening?”

Lesson Closing • The students take out their Process Journals and spend about five

minutes re-reading their initial observations, adding further details, and commenting/reflecting on how their views have changed based on class discussion. Preview the next lesson: Tomorrow we will look at some other paintings and think and write about what they tell us.


Lesson 2 Lesson Opening • Today, students will continue their analysis of artwork. • In order to give students a better understanding of different forms

an analysis of a painting can take, or to provide a model of what commentary on a painting looks like, project an example of a painting such as The Raft of the Medusa by Theodore Gericault, 1819: http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/raft-medusa, or find another from that webpage.

• Ask students to read the commentary as you scroll down the webpage slowly. (Or, print out the text from the webpage and copy and distribute to students.)

• Ask students how the commentary they wrote yesterday is different from the commentary on the Louvre website. (The student examples described what they saw and inferred; the Louvre example includes some historical background on the incident depicted, the painter, and the cultural history of the period.)

• Tell students that people who write about art are called “art critics” or “art historians” and their writing is often a blend of personal commentary and historical background on the artist or the period.

During the Lesson • Project another painting listed in the Resources for Lessons above.

Plan to leave at least 10 minutes for the final activity. • Repeat the process used yesterday to discuss one or two more works

of art: o Facilitate a class analysis of the projected artwork. This

discussion is modeled on the VTS (see Lesson 1) so that all voices are heard. Remind the class to use pre-established class discussion rules.

o Ask the students to re-examine the image and ask: “What’s going on in this picture?” and/or “What do you see?” (or other variations of this question).

o As each student responds, follow up by asking the student what he/she sees that makes him/her say that.

o To encourage students to make further inferences, call on certain individuals with the questions, “What else can you find?” or “What else do you think is happening?”

o Ask students what questions they might have if they were going to research the history of this work or this artist.

Lesson Closing • Project one final work. For the last 10 minutes of class, students

write in their Process Journals in response to that work, detailing what they observe to be going on in the picture and what they see that supports their inferences.

• Preview outcomes for the next lesson: In the following lesson, students begin to analyze a poem by reading it, re-reading it and answering text-dependent questions. Students will be given a purpose for each reading as they work toward deeper meanings and uncover the tone and theme.

Formative assessment: • To monitor and assess student progress in speaking and listening,

the teacher may use observation and/or a participation rubric. • Review student writings, looking for their ability to describe what

they see in the work of art, what they infer, and the evidence for their inferences.


Art and Poetry English Language Arts and Visual Art, Grade 9

Lessons 3 and 4

Brief Overview of Lesson: Students read poems closely to learn how to interpret and analyze a poem, including how a poet uses figurative language and other poetic devices to evoke emotional responses in a reader. Teachers should consider the variability of learners in their class and make adaptations as necessary. Prior Knowledge Required: Students must be able to describe their observations and analyses orally and in writing. Estimated Time: 90-120 minutes, divided into 2 lessons each lesson Resources for Lessons 3 and 4 For the Teacher • “An Old Man’s Winter Night” by Robert Frost (http://bartleby.com/119/3.html, reprinted in Appendix B) • Notes on the poem at: Modern American Poetry, http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/frost/oldman.htm. • Access to poetry anthologies or websites such as http://bartleby.com or http://poets.org for choosing an additional

3-10 poems of similar length and complexity as “An Old Man’s Winter Night” for students to analyze. For the Students • Class sets of copies for students:

o Appendix B “An Old Man’s Winter Night” by Robert Frost o Process Journals


Unit: Art and Poetry Content Area/Course: English Language Arts and Visual Art, Grade 9 Time: 45 to 60 minutes per lesson Lesson 3 and 4: Closely Reading and Analyzing Poems By the end of this lesson students will know and be able to: • critically read a poem and interpret the content, citing specific poetic

devices that the poet uses to convey meaning and tone. Essential Question addressed in this lesson: Q2 How do we read poetry? Standard(s)/Unit Goal(s) to be addressed in this lesson CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of words as they are used in the text, including figurative language and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g. how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2 Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes.

Instructional Tips/Strategies/Suggestions: • For Lesson 3, Robert Frost’s “An Old Man’s Winter Night” is

provided; the teacher may select a different poem, if desired. • For Lesson 4, the teacher must select poems of approximately the

same length and complexity as the Frost poem for students to analyze. It is helpful to have a collection of 5-10 poems so that students are working with different examples.

• For students who are unfamiliar with literary terms, some explicit pre-teaching may be required; the glossary in the Process Journal defines many of the terms students would use in an analysis of poetry.

• When students make inferences about what is happening in a poem, the teacher should immediately ask for evidence: what words or groups of words from the poem led students to the inference.

• Accommodation: The teacher can determine how individual students will share their interpretations: orally, in writing, or both.

Anticipated Student Preconceptions/Misconceptions: • Students might lack confidence in their ability to analyze and

interpret poems. What students need to know and are able to do coming into this lesson (including language needs): • Students should be able to describe their interpretations and

analyses orally.


Lesson 3 Lesson Opening • Tell students that they will spend the next two classes analyzing

poetry, just as they spent the last two classes analyzing works of visual art. In the next two lessons, they will examine the second essential question of the unit: How do we read poetry?

• Project the poem, “An Old Man’s Winter Night” by Robert Frost (reprinted in Appendix B). Read the poem aloud to the students.

During the Lesson: Close Reading • First reading: Ask students to identify and write down in their

Process Journals the words or groups of words that signal the setting in the poem (e.g., thin frost, empty rooms, cellar, trees, snow, icicles, night). Then students share out their answers.

• Second reading: Ask students to identify and write in their Journals the word(s) that signal anything about the character in the poem. (e.g., he, him, one aged man). Students then share their answers.

• Third reading: Ask students to identify and write down words that signal the mood or tone (e.g., darkly, quiet night). Then, students share their answers.

• Fourth reading: Ask students to locate and write in their Process Journals the phrase or clause that sums up the theme. Have them write down the theme (e.g., one aged man- one man- can’t fill a house.)

• Fifth reading: Ask students to locate additional poetic devices in the poem and describe how they add meaning. Students can use the Poetic Devices Graphic Organizer (Appendix D) and refer to the Poetic Devices resource sheet (Appendix A).

Lesson Closing • Review the lesson by asking students questions. • Preview the next lesson: Pairs of students will analyze another

poem. Lesson 4 Lesson Opening • Today students will choose a poem (from some pre-selected by the

teacher) to read closely with a partner. • Introduce students to the Four Steps to Analyzing Poetry, in their

Journals. During the Lesson • Using the Four Steps to Analyzing Poetry page, students read a poem

several times and answer the questions. • Pairs share their analyses of the poem and its theme with the class. Lesson Closing • Preview outcomes for the next lesson: In the next lesson, you will

begin to identify and analyze the representation of a subject, theme, or emotion in two media, poetry and visual art.

Formative assessment: • Use observation and/or a participation rubric to provide

individualized feedback as needed. • Writing in the Process Journals


Art and Poetry English Language Arts and Visual Art, Grade 9

Lessons 5, 6, 7 and 8

Brief Overview of Lessons: Students use the knowledge gathered from the previous lessons to engage in a close reading of selected poems inspired by works of visual art, identifying how the poet uses figurative language and other poetic devices to convey meaning and depict theme. Teachers should consider the variability of learners in their class and make adaptations as necessary. Estimated Time: About 180 minutes, 45 minutes each over 4 days Resources for Lessons For the Teacher: Computer and projector; access to http://www.pieter-bruegel-the-elder.org/ http://valerie6.myweb.uga.edu/ekphrasticpoetry.html For the Students: • Class sets of:

o Process Journals o Poems selected from the website above, with text-dependent questions (Appendix B) o Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessment, Student Instructions


Content Area/Course: English Language Arts and Visual Art, Grade 9 Unit: Art and Poetry Time: 180 minutes, approximately 45 minutes for each of 4 days Lessons: 5, 6, 7 and 8 By the end of this lesson students will know and be able to: • analyze both a painting and a poem inspired by it in order to

understand how both artists express similar emotions and/or ideas. Essential questions addressed in this lesson: EQ1 How do we read works of visual art? EQ2. How do we read poetry? EQ3. How does medium influence message? Standard(s)/Unit Goal(s) to be addressed in this lesson: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.7: Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each. Massachusetts Visual Arts Standard 5.8, for basic study in grades 9-12: Demonstrate the ability to compare two or more works of art, orally and in writing, using appropriate vocabulary. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2 Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes. Instructional Tips/Strategies/Suggestions • This is a lesson that combines close reading of a poem with close

observation of a painting.

• Students answer text-dependent questions for each poem. • With students in small groups, the teacher may review terms for

visual art and poetry, using the glossary in their Journals and the Four Steps to Understanding Poetry used in the previous lesson.

What students need to know and are able to do coming into this lesson (including language needs): • Students should have prior learning about some poetic devices. Anticipated Student Preconceptions/Misconceptions • Students may feel that poetry is boring, too difficult to understand,

or that it does not relate to them. Lesson Sequence Lesson 5 Lesson Opening • Tell students that today they will compare a painting and a poem

written in response to the painting. In the next four lessons, they will examine the third essential question: How does the medium affect the message?

• Explain that the word medium in this context means the means of communication: a poem, a sculpture, and a drawing are all different artistic media. The message refers to the overall meaning of the work.

• Project a copy of Vincent Van Gogh’s Bedroom in Arles. (There are several versions of the painting; the one from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam can be found at http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/vgm/index.jsp?page=2796&lang=e


n. On this site the viewer can adjust the view to see details; the painting and its accompanying poem are available at http://valerie6.myweb.uga.edu/ekphrasticpoetry.html.

During the Lesson • Follow the Visual Teaching Strategies (VTS) procedure outlined in

Lesson 1: o Ask students to examine the painting for a few minutes, and then

ask, “What is going on in this picture?” o Follow up with “What in the picture makes you think that?”

and/or “What else can you find/see?” • Ask the students to create a list in their Process Journals of the

feelings that the painting evokes in them and share with a partner. • Hand out copies of the poem “Van Gogh's Bed" by Jane Flanders

(Appendix B) with its text-dependent questions. Read the poem aloud all the way through the first time.

• Take the students through a close reading of the poem stanza by stanza using the text-dependent questions to spark discussion. Ask students to paraphrase every stanza, explaining the meaning in their own words.

• Ask students to identify the poetic devices/terms used in the poem and explain how they contribute to the overall theme and meaning.

Lesson Closing • Exit Ticket: This is a Process Journal entry with the questions: What

do the poem and the painting represent? How do they convey an idea about human experience? What is emphasized in the painting? In the poem? Cite specific evidence from the painting and the poem to support your answer.

Lesson 6 Lesson Opening • Distribute to students the Curriculum Embedded Performance

Assessment Student Instructions and preview them briefly. Let students know that in the final performance assessment they will be responsible for writing about a work of art of their choice, writing a poem about it, and writing an essay that compares the poem and the work of art. The work that they are doing in the four days this week will prepare them to complete the performance assessment.

• Tell students that they will look today at a painting created in the mid-1500s. Project a copy of Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s The Fall of Icarus, c.1558, but do not tell students the title of the painting at the outset. (The painting and a detail are available at http://www.pieter-bruegel-the-elder.org/. Commentary on the painting can be found at http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/philolog/2005/11/ekphrasis_ovid_in_pieter_breug.html see also http://valerie6.myweb.uga.edu/ekphrasticpoetry.html.)

During the Lesson • Follow the procedure outlined in Lesson 1:

o Have students examine the painting for a few minutes and ask, “What is going on in this picture?” Follow up with “What in the picture makes you think that?”

o Show the detail of the lower right of the painting from http://www.pieter-bruegel-the-elder.org/. Ask “What else can you find/see?” “What does this detail of the painting suggest?”

• Ask the students to describe in their Process Journals what each of the characters in the painting is doing and share with a partner or as a whole class.


• Tell students that the painting is called The Fall of Icarus. Ask students if they know who Icarus is. (Some may remember, from Greek and Roman mythology, that Icarus is the young man whose artist father, Daedalus, created a pair of wings made of feathers and wax. Wearing the wings, Icarus flew too close to the Sun and the wax melted, causing him to plummet to Earth. If students cannot remember the myth, review it with them; a version of the myth can be found at http://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/myth-of-daedalus-and-icarus/.)

• Ask students what they think the painter is conveying about the importance of Icarus by his use of color and composition. What characters stand out in the painting?

• Hand out copies of the poem “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" by William Carlos Williams (1962) with text-dependent questions (Appendix B). Read the poem aloud all the way through.

• Take the students through a close reading of the poem using the text-dependent questions to spark discussion. Ask students to paraphrase every stanza, explaining the meaning in their own words.

• Ask students to identify the poetic devices/terms used in the poem and explain how they contribute to the overall theme and meaning.

• Ask a student to read the poem aloud a second time. • Does William Carlos Williams’ poem convey a meaning similar to the

painting? Why are why not? Lesson Closing • Preview the next lesson: Tomorrow we will continue comparing

poems and paintings. • Exit Ticket: Complete the questions in the Process Journal.

Lesson 7:

Lesson Opening • Tell students that the work of art for today is by American artist

Grant Wood. Project a copy of Grant Wood’s American Gothic (http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/6565).

During the Lesson • By now students should be familiar with the Visual Teaching

Strategies procedure and questions outlined in Lesson 1. Ask a student to lead the class in an examination of the painting.

• Read the poem, “American Gothic” by John Stone aloud. • Pair up students. Pass out copies of Stone’s poem with text-

dependent questions (Appendix B) and have student pairs re-read the poem several times and work together to answer the text-dependent questions.

• Student pairs share their interpretations with the class. Lesson Closing • Exit Ticket: This is a Process Journal entry with the questions: What

do the poem and the painting represent? How do they convey an idea about human experience? What is emphasized in the painting? In the poem? Cite specific evidence from the painting and the poem to support your answer.

Lesson 8 Lesson Opening • Tell students that today they will be drafting a poem of their own,

writing from the point of view of a character that is seen, or implied, in one of the paintings they have viewed in the past three lessons. Tell them that this is practice for their final performance assessment.


• Review the meaning of point of view from the glossary in the Process Journal.

During the Lesson • Review the paintings they have seen and ask students to generate a

list of the characters they might choose. For example: o Bedroom in Arles: the absent resident of the bedroom o The Fall of Icarus: Icarus, the man with the plow, the shepherd,

the man by the sea, the people in the ship o American Gothic: the man or the woman.

• Allow students time to write and revise. Lesson Closing Ask students to share their poem with a partner for feedback. Formative assessment • Assess the students’ responses comparing poems and works of art

and writing poems. This will give you information about which students will need more support in completing the Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessment.


Art and Poetry English Language Arts, Grade 9

Lessons 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13

Brief Overview of Lesson: These lessons are dedicated to working on the Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessment (CEPA) that was initially introduced in Lesson 6. If it is feasible to take students to a museum to practice their discussion strategies and to look for works of art to write about, this is the time to do so. If not, allow students time to search on the Internet or in art books or art magazines for a painting, drawing, sculpture, or photograph that has at least one person in it and that suggests a story. They will analyze the piece in writing, using the Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) process and then write notes in response to the artwork, expressing the images, words, thoughts, emotions, or connections the piece evokes. Using these notes, they will write a poem from the point of view of one of the people portrayed in the visual work.

Their final piece of writing is an analytical essay that compares their poem and the work of art. In this essay students explain how they transformed their understanding of the visual artwork into the poem. Students work with a partner who acts as a critical friend to help them revise, edit, and polish their work to prepare it for an exhibition of student writing and art. Teachers should consider the variability of learners in their class and make adaptations as necessary.


Prior Knowledge Required: Ability to analyze a works of art and poetry; familiarity with a variety of free-verse poems read throughout the unit. Estimated Time: 225 minutes; this could be divided 3 to 5 sessions. Add an extra day for a museum visit. Resources for Lessons For the Teacher • Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessment, Teacher Instructions, Student Instructions, and Rubric • Access to a museum, the Internet, art books and magazines For the Students • Class sets of:

o Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessment, Student Instructions, and CEPA Rubric o Process Journals o Writing and notes from previous lessons o Access to a museum, the Internet, art books and magazines


Unit: Arts and Poetry Course: English Language Arts, Grade 9 Time 225 minutes total over 3 to 5 days Lessons: 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 By the end of the lessons, students will be able to: • Select a painting, drawing, sculpture, or photograph that suggests a

story. • Write and analysis of the artwork they selected • Write a poem from the point of view of a character depicted in a

work of visual art • Write a comparison of two works of art, one an image, one a poem. Essential Questions EQ1. How do we read works of visual art? EQ 2 How do we read poetry? EQ3 How does medium influence message? Standards CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9.7 Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus). MA.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3 Demonstrate understanding of the concept of point of view by writing short…poems…from a particular character’s point of view (e.g., the hero, anti-hero, or a minor character).

Massachusetts Visual Arts Standard 5.8, for basic study in grades 9-12: Demonstrate the ability to compare two or more works of art, orally and in writing, using appropriate vocabulary. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2 Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes. Instructional Tips and Strategies • The students will complete much of the work for these lessons in

their Process Journals, which will be part of the final assessment. • Students will have examined and discussed several works of art and

three poems related to specific paintings by the time they start this project. They may want to use art by the artists whose works they have already analyzed, or may want to explore other artists and time periods. There are several ways to offer them choices of artworks: o Take the students to an art museum. o Use print resources (art books from the town or school library

reproductions from the school art department). o Use the Internet. See recommended museum websites in the

General Resources section at the beginning of the unit. • The lessons are divided into five phases, approximately one phase

per day. When appropriate, teachers can have students complete some phases or parts of phases at home or in study periods at school.

• The final versions of students’ poems and essays should be typed on a computer and printed for display, along with a print of their chosen artwork, in a school exhibition.


Lesson Sequence Lesson 9: Phase 1 Choosing the Artwork • Recap for students what they have already learned in the unit.

Review the essential questions. Say something like: “You have examined and discussed seven paintings. You have closely analyzed how three different poets used poetic language to express their interpretations of three of the paintings.”

• “Now you will have a chance to choose an artwork that will be the basis for your own writing, in both poetry and prose. You must choose a work that has at least one person in it and that seems to suggest a story and a universal human experience. Discuss what a “universal human experience” might mean. There is, of course, no single right answer, but some experiences (that are often depicted in visual art) might be: o Experiencing joy or grief o Being young, growing up, or growing old o Working, playing, celebrating, or mourning o Feeling proud, angry, loving, sad, happy, or scared o Being creative, curious, or courageous o Being powerful or weak

• The work students choose may be by any artist, from any culture or historical period.

• Re-introduce the CEPA Student Instructions and CEPA Rubric (after Lesson 13).

• Select one of the methods for student research and choice of artwork described in the Instructional Tips/Strategies section above.

• Allow students 30-40 minutes to browse through the different sources and select the artwork they wish to respond to.

Lesson Closing • Exit Ticket in Process Journal: What work did you choose? (List

artist, title, date, medium (e.g., painting, sculpture, drawing, photograph). Identify the museum that owns the work, if possible. Why did you choose this piece? List five specific aspects of the work that you noticed.

Lesson 10: Phase 2 Exploring the Artwork • To start, have students write for 5-10 minutes in their Process

Journals about their chosen art work, using the three VTS discussion questions: o What is going on in this artwork? o What do you see that makes you think that? o What else can you find?

• Generate a list of ideas, emotions, words, images, impressions, connections, or thoughts about one of the people depicted in the work of art you chose.

• Then, in pairs, students share their art works and impressions. The recommended process for a peer conference is: o Student #1 talks uninterrupted for 2-3 minutes about his/her

chosen artwork. o Student #2 responds for 2-3 minutes, giving his/her own

impressions or asking questions about what Student #1 said. Student #1 takes notes.

o Student #2 talks uninterrupted for 2-3 minutes about his/her piece.


o Student #1 responds for 2-3 minutes, giving his/her own impressions or asking questions about what Student #2 said. Student #2 takes notes.

Lesson Closing • Exit ticket: Do the following steps in the Process Journal:

o Look over your notes and lists and circle the ideas, emotions, words, images, impressions, connections, or thoughts you feel best convey your interpretation of and/or feelings about the person you have chosen to write about in your artwork.

o Take the items you circled and group them in a way that makes sense. What ideas go with what images, what words with what thoughts?

Lesson 11: Phase 3 Drafting the Poem • Remind students that they have read a lot of free verse poems in the

course of this lesson. Free verse poems often use figurative language, such as metaphors, but they do not rely on rhyme or regular rhythms for their effects.

• Tell students they are going to write a free-verse poem from the point of view of a person depicted in their artwork. Students can start by using the ideas and groupings they wrote in their Process Journals as a starting point. Remind them that poets use poetic devices to express their ideas, and to use some in their poem. o Students can use the Four Steps to Understanding Poetry or any of

the other resources used in Lessons 1-10.

• Some students may benefit from transferring their ideas and images to index cards or pieces of paper—one image, word, idea per card— then sorting them on their desks to begin to form their poem.

• Have students share their drafts with the same partner they worked with in Phase 2 in the same structured manner described in Lesson 10.

• Depending on the group, before the peer conferences, the teacher may want to model a peer conference. Select a self-assured student with a good start on his or her poem. Model the conference, with the student reading the poem aloud and the teacher responding. Be sure to display the artwork the student is writing about.

• As students work in pairs, hold brief conferences with students who need more guidance.

Lesson Closing • Exit ticket: Students answer the following questions in their Process

Journals: o Explain how your poem connects with the artwork. o Explain what changes you might make to make your

interpretation clearer. o Underline the poetic devices you have included. Why are they

important to your poem?


Lessons 12 and 13: Phases 4 and 5 Writing the Essay Comparing the Work of Art and the Poem • Students use their notes to draft an essay that compares the work of

art to the poem they have written about it. • Remind students that this essay will be exhibited with the work of

art and the poem. As a writer, they must explain to the visitor to the exhibition what the connections are between the pieces are.

• Ask students to think about what a good introduction would be—possibly the human experience that is depicted in both the poem and the artwork. Remind students that throughout the unit they have been examining three essential questions. Their essay should address these questions: o How do we read works of visual art? o How do we read poetry? o How does medium influence message?

• Ask students to think about how they will make the transition to writing about what they observed in the work of art, citing evidence from the piece. What does the visual art emphasize?

• How will they transition to writing about the creation of the poem? How will they describe how they used the work of visual art to shape their poem? Whose point of view is portrayed in the poem? What literary devices are used? Compare the two works – how is the poem the same, yet different from the work of art?

As they conclude, students should write about how they transformed their understanding of the work of art into a poem. What did they learn about how we read art and poetry? What did they learn about how the medium influences the message?

Critical Feedback, Revising, and Editing • Ask students to work with a partner to revise and edit their work. • Ask students to prepare their analyses, essays, and poems for

exhibition by copying them legibly by hand or printing out final copies. They should supply a color copy of the artwork that inspired them as well.

Closure for the unit • If possible, involve students in setting up the exhibition of their work

in a public space in the school, such as the library. The exhibition is the last part of the unit. If possible, have student artworks and writing on display for 2-4 weeks, with an opening reception for classmates and family.

• Thank students for their efforts. • Remind students that they can continue to explore artworks on

museum and gallery websites to decide for themselves what kind of art interests them. Remind them as well to continue to visit the poetry websites and that they can explore the work of individual poets if they found one that seemed interesting to them.


Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessment (CEPA) Art and Poetry

English Language Arts and Visual Art, Grade 9 Teacher Instructions

Students select a piece of figurative art that includes at least one person and that portrays a universal human experience. The work may be from any culture or time period and is the springboard for three pieces of writing: • an analysis of what the student sees in the work of art and why he or she believes it conveys a universal human experience, • a poem written from the point of view of a person who is depicted in the work of art, and • an analytical essay that compares the poem and the work of art and that explains how the student transformed his or her understanding of the visual

artwork into the poem. Taken together, these three pieces address the essential questions of the unit, How do we read a work of visual art? How do we read poetry? and How does medium influence message?

Standards Assessed CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9.7 Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus). MA.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3 Demonstrate understanding of the concept of point of view by writing short…poems…from a particular character’s point of view (e.g., the hero, anti-hero, or a minor character). Massachusetts Visual Arts Standard 5.8, for basic study in grades 9-12: Demonstrate the ability to compare two or more works of art, orally and in writing, using appropriate vocabulary. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2 Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes.


Criteria for Success: • The analysis of the painting is relevant to the piece chosen and clearly written, using appropriate and specific vocabulary for describing visual art. • The poem is written from the point of view of a character in the artwork. It is creative and original and uses figurative language and poetic devices.

The connection between the poem and the artwork is clear. • The analytic essay provides an interpretation of the work of visual art and the poem, and explains how each conveys an understanding about human

experience. The essay explains how the medium of the artist – poetry or visual arts – influences how the message is expressed. • Proper spelling and grammar are used consistently throughout the analytical pieces of writing. The poem uses correct spelling, but the rules of

grammar may be bent for the sake of effect.


CEPA Student Instructions Works of visual art and poetry often represent universal human experiences, but they do so in different ways. Visual art is a composition of lines, colors, shapes, and textures, and poetry is a composition of figurative language, sounds, and rhythms. In this unit, you have learned to describe paintings and poems individually and have read examples of poetry inspired by works of visual art. Now it is your turn to show what you have learned about how visual art and poetry communicate in different ways. Select a painting, drawing, photograph, or sculpture that shows at least one person and that represents a universal human experience. Then, complete three pieces of writing: • an analysis of what you see in the work of art and why you believe it conveys a universal human experience, • a poem written from the point of view of a person who is depicted in the work of art, and • an analytical essay that compares your poem and the work of art and that explains how you transformed your

understanding of the visual artwork into the poem.

Make sure to use precise language for describing visual art and the poem. Your written work will be displayed with the work of art that inspired it in a school exhibition.


CEPA Rubric for Art and Poetry 4 3 2 1 Analysis of Work of Art

The work is described thoroughly, using appropriate and relevant specific vocabulary for visual arts. There is a clear and relevant statement, based on evidence in the work, about how the work of art expresses a universal human experience.

The work is described well using some specific vocabulary for visual arts. There is a clear and relevant statement about how the work of art expresses a universal human experience.

The work is described generally without reference to specific details. General vocabulary is used. There is a general statement about how the work expresses a universal human experience.

The work is described incompletely or focuses on details that are not relevant.

Poem The poet uses figurative language and poetic devices throughout the poem to help understanding of the point of view of a character. Poem is creative, original, and thoughtful. Words convey ideas and emotions clearly. Connection to the artwork is clear. Grammar may be used for effect, rather than conventionally.

The poem uses figurative language and poetic devices 1-2 times to help understanding of the point of view of a character. Poem is thoughtful and creative. A few phrases or ideas might be revisited, but poem is carefully written and connected to the artwork

The poem rarely uses figurative language or poetic devices to convey a point of view. The poem is creative, but tenuously connected to the artwork.

The poem uses no figurative language or poetic devices. It shows little creativity, and has little or no connection to the artwork.

Analytical Essay

The essay compares the two works clearly and with insight, expressing the idea conveyed by both works, The essay explains how the representation of the idea is conveyed differently in words and in images. There is relevant evidence from the works to support the explanation.

The essay compares the two works and explains the similarities and differences, using some evidence from the artwork and the poem to support the explanation.

The essay is general and deals minimally with the idea of a comparison between how the poem and work of art express an idea.

The essay does not compare the poem and the artwork clearly or and does not address the question of expression in different media.

Standard English Conventions

Proper spelling and grammar are used consistently in the analysis and essay. Correct spelling is used in the poem, those the rules of grammar may be bent for effect.

1-2 spelling or grammar mistakes appear, but do not affect the meaning of the analysis or essay. Correct spelling is used in the poem.

3 or more spelling and/or grammar errors distract from the meaning in the three pieces of writing.

Numerous spelling or grammar errors make the analysis, poem, and essay difficult to understand.


Appendices A. Process Journal

• Glossary of Selected Terms for Visual Arts and Poetry • Pages for Lessons 1-13

B. Poems:

• “An Old Man’s Winter Night” by Robert Frost • Poems about Artworks with Text-dependent Questions • “Van Gogh’s Bed” by Jane Flanders • “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” by William Carlos Williams • “American Gothic” by John Stone


Art and Poetry Appendix A: Process Journal and Resources

Glossary of Selected Vocabulary Visual Arts Abstraction: art that is non-representational, or that converts forms observed in reality to patterns that are read by the viewer as independent relationships Colors, primary, secondary, complementary; chroma, hue, value, gradation: one conventional way of arranging color to show relationships is as a circle or wheel that presents the primary colors (those from which all other colors are derived — red, yellow, blue), and their combinations (the secondary colors orange, green, violet). Colors that fall opposite one another are complementary (red/green, yellow/violet, blue/orange). Chroma and hue refer to the degree of saturation, or vividness of a color, ranging from pure primary color to colors muted by mixture with their complements, black, or white. Value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color, or to gradations of black, greys, and white Composition: in visual arts, the combination and arrangement of shape, form, color, line, texture, and space so that they seem satisfactory to the artist. Elements and principles of visual arts: elements are generally considered to be line, color, shape or form, texture, space, and value; principles are generally considered to be unity, variety, harmony, balance, rhythm, and emphasis Foreground, middle ground, background: layers of implied space or planes in the picture space of a two-dimensional work. The foreground is closest to the viewer, then the middle ground, and, most distant, the background Perspective: a method of representing the illusion of volume in three-dimensional objects and depth of space on a two-dimensional surface Representational art: art that seeks to portray things seen in the visible world; sometimes called figurative art or realistic art Sculpture: any work carried out in three dimensions, as opposed to drawing, painting, flat collage, and printmaking, which are usually two-dimensional Relief sculpture refers to compositions in which parts project from a flat surface Symbol: something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance. Symmetry: natural or manmade forms that are balanced around a line or a point; bilateral symmetry (forms like leaves or the human body); radial symmetry (forms like snowflakes or composite flowers)


Texture, surface texture, visual texture: the nature of a surface of a painting, sculpture, or building: rough, smooth, patterned. Visual texture refers to the illusion of texture created on a flat surface through line or brush stroke Two-dimensional (2D), three-dimensional (3D): the physical characteristics of artwork that are either carried out primarily on a flat surface (2D, most drawing, painting, printmaking) or that have depth, width, height, and volume (3D, most sculpture) (Definitions adapted from the Massachusetts Arts Curriculum Framework, 1999, www.doe.masss.edu/frameworks/current.html)

Poetry Alliteration: repetition of a speech sound in a sequence of nearby words Allusion: passing reference, without explicit identification, to a literary person, place, or event Anaphora: the deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs; for example, “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills” (Winston S. Churchill). Antithesis: the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases Assonance: repetition of identical or similar vowels Audience: the person or people to whom the poem is addressed Characterization: how a character is described Consonance: repetition of a sequence of two or more consonants, but with a change in the intervening vowel, e.g., hearer to horror Hyperbole: an extravagant statement; the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect Imagery: figurative language, language that appeals to the senses Irony: the use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning; a statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea Metaphor: a comparison not using like or as when one thing is said to be another Meter: in poetry, the recurrence of a rhythmic pattern Mood: the feeling or atmosphere a writer creates for the reader Onomatopoeia: use of word(s) that imitate the sound it denotes Oxymoron: a figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side Paradox: a statement that seems to contradict itself, but, in fact reveals some element of truth


Personification: attribution of human motives or behaviors to impersonal agencies (things) Point of view: the vantage point from which a story or poem is told. Repetition: in poetry, the recurrence of words, phrases, or sounds to create a pattern or for emphasis Rhythm: the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry Rhyme: a pattern of words with the same ending sounds Setting: the time and place of the action in a story, poem, or drama Simile: a kind of metaphor that includes a comparison using “like” or “as” Speaker: the narrator of a poem or story Stanza: a recurring grouping of two or more verse lines of the same length, metrical form, and often, rhyme scheme Style: a writer’s unique way of communicating ideas Subject/topic: the primary event, person, phenomenon, or object written about Symbol: an object or action that means more than its literally meaning Synesthesia: description of one kind of sense impression by using words that normally describe another. Theme: the central idea or abstract concept that is made concrete through representation as a person, action, and image Tone: an expression of the writer’s attitude toward a subject (Adapted from the 2011 Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for English Language Arts and Literacy, http://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/current.html.)


Process Journal for Art and Poetry: Lesson 1 NAME and DATE__________________________________ Respond to the projected painting: • Look at the picture for a few minutes. • Write about the picture. Consider these questions: o What is going on in this picture? o What do you see that makes you think that? o What else can you find?

• After discussion: Write any new ideas you have.


Process Journal for Art and Poetry: Lesson 2 NAME and DATE Respond to the projected painting: • Look at the picture for a few minutes. • Write about the picture. Consider these questions:

o What is going on in this picture? o What do you see that makes you think that? o What else can you find?


Process Journal for Art and Poetry: Lesson 3: Analyzing “An Old Man’s Winter Night,” by Robert Frost NAME and DATE

Setting words/ phrases

Character words/ phrases

Mood or Tone words/phrases

Theme Phrases Poetic Devices


Process Journal for Art and Poetry: Lesson 4: Analyzing a Poem NAME and DATE

The Four Steps to Understanding Poetry First, you must read the poem actively if you want to understand it. Write anything want to remember to think about on the poem (or on a post-it). The following four steps provide a process for analyzing and understanding a poem. Step 1: SURVEY. After you number the lines of the poem, read the poem at least two times. Look up any words you don’t know in the dictionary. Step 2: PARAPHRASE every stanza (or line, if the poem is short) of the poem. Write what you think it means in your own words next to the poem. Write what is literally happening. Step 3: IDENTIFY at least ten of the terms below in the poem. Analyze what they mean. For example, find a metaphor and write a few notes explaining it. Be prepared to discuss what you found. Alliteration Anaphora Antithesis Assonance Audience

Characterization Form (patterns) Hyperbole Imagery Irony

Meaning of title Metaphor Meter Mood Oxymoron

Paradox Personification Point of view Onomatopoeia Repetition

Rhythm Rhyme Setting Simile Speaker

Stanza Style Subject/topic Symbol Tone

Step 4: THEME: Write a 1-2 sentence theme for the poem that sums up its meaning. What is the overall message of the speaker(s) and/or poet?


Process Journal for Art and Poetry: Lesson 5 NAME and DATE • Write about emotions, ideas, connections, thoughts inspired by the painting by Vincent Van Gogh, Bedroom in Arles Exit Ticket • What is the theme of the poem “Van Gogh’s Bed”? • What is the overall message of the speaker and/or poet? • How well does the poem connect to the painting? Cite specific figurative language and poetic devices used to support your answer.


Process Journal for Art and Poetry: Lesson 6 NAME and DATE • Write about emotions, ideas, connections, thoughts inspired by the painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Fall of Icarus Exit Ticket • What is the theme of the poem “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus”? • What is the overall message of the speaker and/or poet? How well does the poem connect to the painting? Cite specific figurative

language and poetic devices used to support your answer.


Process Journal for Art and Poetry: Lesson 7 NAME and DATE _______________ • What is the theme of the poem “American Gothic”? • What is the overall message of the speaker and/or poet? • How well does the poem connect to the painting by Grant Wood, American Gothic? Cite specific figurative language and poetic devices in the

poem and elements in the painting to support your answer.


Process Journal for Art and Poetry: Lesson 8 NAME and DATE _______________ Choose a character from one of the paintings that you have viewed and write a poem from that character’s point of view. Share your work with a partner and get feedback on how well you captured the character in your poem, and how skillfully you used poetic devices such as figurative language.


Process Journal for Art and Poetry: Lesson 9: CEPA Phase 1 NAME and DATE _________________ Exit Ticket • What work did you choose? List the artist, title, date of the work, medium, museum. List five reasons you chose this work.


Process Journal for Art and Poetry: Lesson 10: CEPA Phase 2 NAME and DATE ______________________ • Write about the piece of art that you chose. Answer these questions:

o What is going on in this picture? o What do you see that makes you think that? o What else can you find?

• List or write about any words, images, emotions, ideas, connections, thoughts inspired by the painting. Exit Ticket • Look over your notes and lists, and then circle the ideas, emotions, words, images, impressions, connections, or thoughts that best convey

your interpretation of and/or feelings about the art work. • Take the items you circled and group them in a way that makes sense – what ideas go with what images, what words with what thoughts?

Write about the groupings.


Process Journal for Art and Poetry: Lesson 11: CEPA PHASE 3 NAME and DATE ________________________ Drafting the Poem • Draft your poem, writing from the point of view of a person depicted in your artwork Exit Ticket

o Explain in detail how your poem connects with the art work. o Explain what changes you might make to make your interpretation clearer. o Underline the poetic devices you have included in your poem. Could you use more?


Process Journal for Art and Poetry: Lessons 12 and 13: CEPA PHASE 4 and 5 NAME and DATE _____________

Drafting the Essay • Draft your essay comparing the poem and the work of art. What universal human experience does each represent? What does the work of art

emphasize? What does the poem emphasize? How is the poem the same, yet different from the work of art? When you have finished a draft, assess your work using the CEPA Rubric. Ask a critical friend to help you decide what revisions to make.


ALL out of doors looked darkly in at him Through the thin frost, almost in separate stars, That gathers on the pane in empty rooms. What kept his eyes from giving back the gaze Was the lamp tilted near them in his hand. 5 What kept him from remembering what it was That brought him to that creaking room was age. He stood with barrels round him—at a loss. And having scared the cellar under him In clomping there, he scared it once again 10 In clomping off;—and scared the outer night, Which has its sounds, familiar, like the roar Of trees and crack of branches, common things, But nothing so like beating on a box. A light he was to no one but himself 15 Where now he sat, concerned with he knew what, A quiet light, and then not even that. He consigned to the moon, such as she was, So late-arising, to the broken moon As better than the sun in any case 20 For such a charge, his snow upon the roof, His icicles along the wall to keep; And slept. The log that shifted with a jolt Once in the stove, disturbed him and he shifted, And eased his heavy breathing, but still slept. 25 One aged man—one man—can’t fill a house, A farm, a countryside, or if he can, It’s thus he does it of a winter night.

Appendix B: Poems “An Old Man’s Winter Night” by Robert Frost


Poems about Works of Art

“Van Gogh’s Bed,” by Jane Flanders

Stanzas Questions is orange, What part of the painting is being described in the first stanza? like Cinderella's coach, like What is being compared? What poetic devices are used? the sun when he looked it straight in the eye. is narrow, he sleeps alone, tossing between two pillows, while it carried him What is going on in the second stanza? What part of the painting is bumpily to the ball. being described? What poetic devices are used? is clumsy, but friendly. A peasant built the frame; and old wife beat the mattress till it rose like meringue. What part of the painting is being described in the third and fourth stanzas? is empty, What poetic devices are used? What is the tone? How does the poet convey tone? morning light pours in like wine, melody, fragrance, the memory of happiness.


“Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” by William Carlos Williams (1962) According to Brueghel when Icarus fell it was spring a farmer was ploughing his field the whole pageantry of the year was awake tingling near the edge of the sea concerned with itself sweating in the sun that melted the wings' wax unsignificantly off the coast there was a splash quite unnoticed this was Icarus drowning First Reading: What sensory words and figurative language does Williams use to describe images in the painting? Second Reading: How does the tone and meaning of the poem compare to the tone and meaning of the painting?


“American Gothic, after the painting by Grant Wood, 1930”

by John Stone

Just outside the frame First Reading: Why does the poet begin the poem with “Just outside the frame”? there has to be a dog What lines in the poem take the reader beyond the painting itself? chickens, cows and hay

and a smokehouse where a ham in hickory is also being preserved

Here for all time Second Reading: What figurative language and other poetic devices does the poet use the borders of the Gothic window to describe the people in the painting? In what sense are they “arrested in the name of art”? anticipate the ribs

of the house the tines of the pitchfork repeat the triumph

of his overalls and front and center the long faces, the sober lips above the upright spines Third Reading: Is there humor in the painting? In the poem? Cite evidence to support of this couple your answer. arrested in the name of art

These two by now the sun this high ought to be in mortal time about their businesses


(“American Gothic, after the painting by Grant Wood, 1930” continued)

Instead they linger here within the patient fabric of the lives they wove

he asking the artist silently how much longer and worrying about the crops

she no less concerned about the crops but more to the point just now whether she remembered

to turn off the stove.


Unit Resources: Art and Poetry Lessons 1 and 2 For the Teacher: • A computer and projector • Suggested artwork:

o The Runaway by Norman Rockwell: http://www.artchive.com/artchive/R/rockwell/rockwell_runaway.jpg.html o The Fog Warning by Winslow Homer http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/the-fog-warning-31042 o Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8b29516/ o Cocktails by Archibald Motley http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/cocktails-35646 o An example of a painting with a description and interpretation: The Raft of the Medusa, by Theodore Gericault: http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-

notices/raft-medusa (The Louvre, Paris). Many other examples (in English) are available at this website. Background materials • “Basic VTS at a Glance” sheet (Visual Thinking Strategies). Find it and other resources at http://www.vtshome.org/research/articles-other-readings For the Students • A class set of: Appendix A, Process Journal, which can be used either as a computer file or as paper copies. The journal includes a selected glossary of

domain-specific terms in visual arts and poetry. Lessons 3 and 4 For the Teacher • “An Old Man’s Winter Night” by Robert Frost (http://bartleby.com/119/3.html, reprinted in Appendix B) • Notes on the poem at: Modern American Poetry, http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/frost/oldman.htm. • Access to poetry anthologies or websites such as http://bartleby.com for choosing an additional 3-10 poems of similar length and complexity as “An

Old Man’s Winter Night” for students to analyze. For the Students • Class sets of copies of:


o Appendix B “An Old Man’s Winter Night” by Robert Frost o Process Journals

Lessons 5, 6, 7 and8 For the Teacher: • Computer and projector; access to http://www.pieter-bruegel-the-elder.org/ and http://valerie6.myweb.uga.edu/ekphrasticpoetry.html For the Students: • Class sets of:

o Process Journals o Poems selected from the website above, with text-dependent questions (Appendix B) o Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessment, Student Instructions

Lessons 9, 10, 11, 12 and13 For the Teacher • Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessment: Teacher Instructions and Student Instructions, and CEPA Rubric • Access to a museum, and/or the Internet, art books and magazines For the Students • Class sets of:

o Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessment, Student Instructions, and Rubric o Process Journals o Writing and notes from previous lessons o Access to a museum, the Internet, art books and magazines

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