This lesson includes practice that will be scanned into Illuminate. Please ensure you have printed bubble sheets before execution. You can find this assessment in Illuminate by typing “ELA.8.PP13.17-18” into the search assessment field with the “17-18” filter selected.PPCR13 Passage Practice- Little Rock Nine

Close Reading- “Musee des Beaux Arts”Bottom Line

Figurative Language Analysis, Theme

Objective

Analyze the imagery and structure of a poem and explain how they contribute to the theme (FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE ANALYSIS, STRUCTURE ANALYSIS, THEME)

At least 70% of students will achieve at least 70% success on a passage practice.Skill Focus

Analyze how the inclusion of an allusion in a text impacts the overall meaning .

Skill Application in Text

Understanding allusions is one of the greatest pleasures of being a reader. These rich references to other texts, people or history makes reading enjoyable and gives us a deeper understanding of literature. Allusions, however, are difficult to understand if you are not familiar with what is being alluded to.

Today students will analyze the use of the Icarus and determine its significance in “Musee des Beaux Arts.” By understanding Icarus’s plight, they will then gain deeper understanding of the theme of the poem in our close reading.

Aligned State-Test Prompt

Final Write and Student Exemplar

Do Now: Practice Passage (20 mins)/min 20

SW have 18 minutes to complete the practice passage. (18 mins)

TW aggressively monitor and review the question(s) that students struggled most with. (7 mins)

This lesson includes practice that will be scanned into

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Illuminate. Please ensure you have printed bubble sheets before execution. You can find this assessment in Illuminate by typing “ELA.8.PP13.17-18” into the search assessment field with the “17-18” filter selected.

Monitor questions

Question

Answer

Standard

1 C Central Idea2 A VIC3 D Structure4 D Key Lines5 D Retell

Practice Passage (5 mins to respond to data/min 25)

Anticipated

Error (in

order of

priority)

Prompts # of Studen

ts Making the Error

Question 1

Call on a correct and incorrect student to defend answers.

Great. Why is C the correct answer and not D?

Let’s look specifically at each subheading and the subclaims made. What do these all connect to? How do they build to the overall claim?

Based on this, why is C correct?

Question 3

Call on a correct and incorrect student to defend answers.

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Great. Why is D the correct answer and not A?

Let’s look specifically at the actions that are being described in the paragraph. Who are they referring to?

Based on this, why is D correct?

Name the Error, Close the Gapo Name the Error: What error did most of us

make on question ___?o Close the Gap: What did we do as readers to

close the gap?3

o Students record both takeaways.

Launch and Model:(30 mins/Minute 30)

Anticipatory Activity

Part #1: Examining BreughelBefore Reading: Painting Review (10 min) TW say: “You are close reading experts—so far

this year, you’ve been successful in tackling a number of different texts from various genres. Today, we’re going to apply our close reading skills to a new genre: fine art. We’re going to close read a classical painting. “Read” the painting by marking it up, digging into small details and determining the “painter’s purpose” for including them. What message is being sent?”

(You Do—5 min) SW analyze the painting independently then record what they see in the box on the first page of the worksheet. After 5 min, SW share their findings with their partner.

CW discuss. TW ask: What do you see in this painting? What do you think we should be focusing on? CC 2-3 students

TW say: “You’ve hit on some really interesting ideas. I want to zoom in—literally—on a key detail of this painting. Your job is to consider how you think they might add up to a larger theme.”

TW display painting detail (attached in materials) on doc cam, providing the title for the painting, “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus.”

SW T&T: With this small detail added, how might this add up to a larger

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theme? CW share out responses. Students should

be able to identify the following: Someone is drowning This is probably Icarus (based on the

title) No one seems to care

TW say: “Keep the ideas we’ve discussed about this painting in the back of your mind as we complete our close reading today.”

Read-annotate-write instructions (read for gist): TW provide context for the lesson: “Today

we’re going to read a poem that is based on the painting you just analyzed. We’re going to read this poem out loud once first. Then you’ll read it a second time independently, creating four paraphrases, one for each set of 5 lines.”

TW Model: TW read the poem aloud one time to demonstrate

fluency TW then reread the first five lines and model

scripting a paraphrase. As we know from our difficult passage

bursts, the first thing I need to do is identify my subject and predicate (verb). In the first line, I see “they.” Who is “they?” When I continue on to the second line, I see “old masters.” Draw a line connecting “old Masters” to “they.” By who

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are the “old Masters?” This term is footnoted, so let me look at

the bottom of the page. The old Masters were European paints before 1800. Write “European painters” by “they.” Okay. I think I’ve found that my subject is classical painters from history.

And what are they doing? Well, it’s not clear, but if I read on a bit, Auden writes “about suffering they’re never wrong.” Before I write a marginal note, I want to gather a little more information. The next part says, “how well they understood its human position.”

TW ask: What does “its” refer to? T&T. TW circulate and look for 2 answers: “suffering” and something else. The correct answer is “suffering,” but allow students to debate for 1 minute.

Okay. We’ve come to the consensus that the old Masters understand suffering’s human position. But what does that mean? Let’s read the last part here before taking a marginal note. It looks like this last part captures every day activities of humans. So could this mean that classical painters understand the role of suffering in everyday human life? I think so. I’m going to capture this in my first paraphrase marginal note. TW write: Classical European painters thoroughly understood human suffering and its place in everyday life.

TW ask: What steps did I take to paraphrase poetry?

Identified subjects and predicates (verbs) Broke down text into smaller chunks Clarified language and put it in own words

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Wrote a final paraphrase TW say: “It’s now your turn to try this out on

your own. You have 10 minutes to finish rereading the poem, creating 3 paraphrases in the margin. I’ll be circulating to collect the best paraphrases for each section and I will show call the top work so that the class can learn from you.”

(You Do—10 min) SW independently reread the poem, paraphrasing key lines and recording a summary in the box on page 2 of the worksheet. TW aggressively monitor for the following paraphrases:

Lap 1: Lines 5-8: When old people wait for something as amazing as the birth of the savior, some people, children for example, ignore what surrounds them, either by accident or by choice.

Lap 2: Lines 9-13: The painters recognize that people ignore what is happening around them: while soldiers die in battle, dogs don’t look beyond their immediate lives and horses continue to scratch their behinds. They are solely invested in their immediate needs.

Script aggressive monitoring direction here.o Who will you monitor first?

Fastest students to get a pulse on trends

o How will you code student work? Check if correct, X if wrong. Circle key parts that need revisions.

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o What will you do if: Most have it: Stamp and

move on. About 50% of students

are correct: Show call exemplar student work and have students articulate what piece they were missing.

Most are stuck: Model paraphrasing lines 9-13. Record your model script below.

Lap 3: Lines 14-21: In Brueghel’s painting, “Icarus,” no one pays attention to Icarus falling into the water. The ploughman chooses to ignore it, the sun continues shining, and a ship continues on its way.

After 6 minutes, TW aggressively monitor for summary:

Anticipated Error

PromptsStudents don’t realize that the poet is claiming what causes emotion for one person may be ignored by another person.

o Key Line: “How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting for the miraculous birth, there always must be children who did not specially want it to happen, skating on a pond at the edge of the wood”o What are the aged people doing?

Reverently, passionately waiting for the birth of Jesus

o Is everyone excited about this event?No, the children are off ice skating.

o BID: 8

o What are the children doing? Ice skating.

o What is the connotation of ice skating? If the children are skating, how do they feel? Ice skating is fun and leisurely. If they are skating, they are not waiting for Jesus to come.

o What message is being sent about humans and emotions then? When people suffer or celebrate, others go on with their lives.

o If you were suffering and someone else was having fun, how would you feel?Frustrated, sad

o What does this say about how people treat each other? They aren’t considerate about how others are feeling

o Why though? Does this mean people are cruel and evil? Not necessarily.

o What is the statement about suffering?When does it occur? It is a part of everyday life, that is why other people can go on with their life and ignore when others suffer.

Students do not have the exemplar theme

o Exemplar Theme: People are indifferent in the face of great human drama, whether suffering or celebration

o BID: o What does this poem say about

peoples’ response to suffering?o How do people in the poem respond to

the fall of Icarus?o Reread liens 15-17: Why wasn’t this an

“important failure” to the ploughman?

Launch and Model

Establish the purpose for the lesson with the

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- Analysis (5 mins)

class: TW say: “At the beginning of class, we looked

at Breughel’s painting, “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus.” We’ve been looking at poetry that includes allusions. Just to refresh our memories from last week…”o TW CFU:

What is an allusion? A reference to a historical figure, event, work of literature or the Bible.

Why would an author use an allusion? Allusions enrich meaning through the connotations they carry. They make a text deeper and more interesting.

Who was Icarus? How did he die? Icarus was the son of Daedalus. He died by flying too close to the sun after his father gave him wax wings.

TW say: “We’ve just established the literal meaning of this poem. Now we’re ready to deep-dive into Auden’s work. We’re going to crack open this famous text, investigating how it uses imagery and its very structure to build a very powerful work of literature and send a strong message. As you’ll see, this poem has a few secrets to reveal if we read it closely!”

Have students unpack the final write and annotation focusPrompt “Exemplar response” – Teacher

scriptWhat is the key question

The prompt is asking us to determine how Auden uses structure and imagery to convey the theme.

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asking?How can I annotate the text to help me answer this question?

Annotations should focus on rhyme scheme, sensory words used to paint a picture, and determine how all of these connect to the overall theme.

Everybody Writes 1(5 mins)

Everybody Writes question and answer :(with evidence):How does the imagery in Auden’s poem lead to the theme?

Guide Discourse for Everybody Writes 1(10-25 mins)

As soon as 4 students make the same error, stop the show.o State trend: I’m noticing we are having some trouble

_______________o Narrow the Focus: You’ve successfully ______. Here’s my next

question: ______.o Use prompts in the chart below to push

sophistication or close a gap.o Name the Task: Then revise your argument.Anticipated Gap (in

order of

priority)

Prompts

E- Students have not

Let’s gather some evidence that describes the key images in the text.o “eating or opening a window or just

walking dully along”11

IDed the proper quotes in the text that display key images in the poem.

o “children who did not specially want it to happen, skating on a pond at the edge of the wood”

o “where the dogs go on with their doggy life”

o “the torturer’s horse scratches its innocent behind on a tree”

o “ploughman may have heard the splash”o “sun shone as it had to on the white legs

disappearing into the green water”o “expensive delicate ship that must have

seen something amazing, a boy falling from the sky”

ZI/ ZO- Students do not understand the significance of the key phrases in the text

Let’s dive in on some of the images we’ve been presented with. Which ones did you find? birth, ice skating, eating, opening a window, Icarus falling, a ship sailing

You’ve identified some great images from the poem. [Have students list these] Let’s start by zooming in on line 4 – what are the images we see? eating, opening a window, walking What’s the connotation here – how would you characterize these things? Dull, ordinary

But we know from the first line that this poem is about suffering. Why might Auden talk about ordinary things if the poem is about suffering? People go about and do these ordinary things even as suffering occurs

Hmm – let’s test that theory elsewhere in the poem: lines 11-12. What’s the

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image here? dogs going on with their lives and a horse scratching its butt

Zoom in! Take me deeper into the language – why would dogs’ lives be described as “doggy”? That’s not even a real word – what does it suggest about the dog’s life! It probably suggests it’s an ordinary life. How about the horse’s butt? Why is it an “innocent” behind? Why add that diction? The horse is innocent, but it’s owner isn’t – he’s a torturer.

What contrast is being set up here? Ordinary events with terrible events (a horse’s butt-scratch with torture) So does this support or challenge our theory?supports it.

Review the final two lines of the poem. How does Auden set up contrasting imagery, and why does he keep doing that over and over? The ship sails “calmly” past the “amazing” moment of Icarus falling from the sky. Once again, people are indifferent or oblivious to suffering.

Name the Error, Close the Gapo Stamp the content: Over and over again, the

imagery shows that people don’t care whether others are suffering or celebrating. They simply ignore others and go on with the day.

o Name the Error: Where did we need to improve our analysis today?

o Close the Gap: What did we do as readers to close the gap?

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Rewrite(5 min)

Rewrite: SW will close the gap at the point of error and then continue writing the remainder of their written response.

Everybody Writes 2(5 mins)

Everybody Writes question and answer ( with evidence):

Guide Discourse for Everybody Writes 2(10-25 mins)

As soon as 4 students make the same error, stop the show.o State trend: I’m noticing we are having some trouble

_______________o Narrow the Focus: You’ve successfully ______. Here’s my next

question: ______.o Use prompts in the chart below to push

sophistication or close a gap.o Name the Task: Then revise your argument.

Anticipated Gap

(in order of priority)

Prompts

Students cannot ID the rhyme scheme and overall meaning of each

What is the overall organization of the poem? What is each stanza about? Stanza 1 talks about suffering; the second stanza talks about Breughel’s painting

Poetry usually builds to its big ideas, but this one gives it to us right away. Why might Auden have done this? Answers will vary; allow students to respond and then ask –

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stanza We said this poem was about people not noticing big things happening around them while they focused on their day-to-day lives. Let’s see if there is anything “big” happening in Auden’s work that we missed. If we just look at the first two lines, what would we predict about the structure of the poem? Short lines (students might say iambic pentameter, but they don’t need to—we’ll return to it later this year)

How does this pattern change during the poem? Does it maintain a structure? Students will almost certainly say it does not.

Let’s map the rhyme scheme here. With a partner, write it out. ABCADEDFGHGHE

So there is a rhyme scheme! Why might Auden create a hard-to-detect pattern in this poem? How does using a structure that is hard to notice connect to his theme? The rhyme is happening right before our eyes, but we miss it—just as the people in his poem miss the suffering around them.

o BID: Do you notice the rhyme as

you read the poem? How is this similar to the

people in the poem? What commentary might

Auden be making?

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Name the Error, Close the Gapo Stamp the content: Auden uses structure to

convey the theme of his poem because his hidden rhyme scheme mirrors the hidden message in the poem. He shows us that even if something is right under our eyes, we cannot see it if we are indifferent.

o Name the Error: Where did we need to improve our analysis today?

o Close the Gap: What did we do as readers to close the gap?

Rewrite(5 min)

Rewrite: SW will close the gap at the point of error and then continue writing the remainder of their written response.

Final Prompt (18 mins)

SW complete the class’s final writing prompt. [see above]

HW Assignment

FD Schema

Name: _________________________________ Date: ____________________________

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PPCR13 Team:____________________________

PASSAGE PRACTICEDirections: Actively read the article, taking marginal notes on central idea and recording an author’s claim statement at the end of the passage. Then answer the questions that follow using legit POE.

from “The Little Rock Nine”from The National Park Service

Who Are the Little Rock Nine?1 In 1957, nine ordinary teenagers walked out of their homes and stepped up to the front lines in the battle for civil rights for all Americans. The media coined the name “Little Rock Nine,” to identify the first African-American students to desegregate Little Rock Central High School.

The End of Legal Segregation2 In 1954, the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Supreme Court decision outlawed segregation in public education. Little Rock School District Superintendent Virgil Blossom devised a plan of gradual integration that would begin at Central High School in 1957. The school board called for volunteers from all-black Dunbar Junior High and Horace Mann High School to attend Central.3 Prospective students were told they would not be able to participate in extracurricular activities if they transferred to Central—such as football, basketball, or choir. Many of their parents were threatened with losing their jobs, and some students decided to stay at their own schools.

The First Day of School4 On September 3, 1957, the Little Rock Nine arrived to enter Central High School, but they were turned away by the Arkansas National Guard. Governor Orval Faubus called out the Arkansas National Guard the night before to, as he put it, “maintain and restore order…” The soldiers barred the African-American students from entering. 5 The students arrived at Central alone on the first day. By prior arrangement, they gathered at the 16th Street entrance with several local ministers who accompanied them. Elizabeth Eckford arrived at the other end of the block by herself. She was met by a mob screaming obscenities and threats, chanting, “Two, four six, eight, we ain’t gonna integrate!”6 More than two weeks went by before the Little Rock Nine again attempted to enter Central High School. On September 23, 1957, the Little Rock Nine entered the school. Outside, rioting broke out and the Little Rock police removed the Nine for their safety.

The President Becomes Involved7 On September 24, 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered units of the U. S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division—the “Screaming Eagles”—into Little Rock and federalized the Arkansas National Guard. In a televised speech delivered to the nation, President Eisenhower stated, “Mob rule cannot be allowed to override the decisions of the courts.”8 On September 25, 1957, under federal troop escort, the Little Rock Nine made it inside for their first full day of school. The 101st Airborne left in October and the federalized Arkansas National Guard troops remained throughout the year.

Inside the School17

9 The Little Rock Nine had assigned guards to walk them from class to class. The guards could not accompany the students inside the classrooms, bathrooms, or locker rooms. They would stand outside the classrooms during class time. In spite of this, the Little Rock Nine endured verbal and physical attacks from some of their classmates throughout the school year. Although some white students tried to help, few white students befriended any of the Nine. Those who did received similar treatment as the Nine, such as hate mail and threats.10 One of the Little Rock Nine, Minnijean Brown, was suspended in December for dropping chili on some boys after they refused to let her pass to her seat in the cafeteria. She was later expelled in February 1958 for calling a girl who had hit her with a purse “white trash.”11 After Brown’s expulsion, students passed around cards that read, “One Down, Eight to Go.” Brown finished high school at New Lincoln School in New York City, while living with Drs. Kenneth and Mamie Clark. The Clarks were the social psychologists whose “doll test” work demonstrated for the Supreme Court in Brown that racial prejudice and segregation caused African-American children to develop a sense of inferiority.12 The remaining eight students completed the school year at Central. Senior Ernest Green was the first African-American student to graduate from Central High School.

The Aftermath13 The following year, the city’s high schools were closed to prevent further desegregation while the NAACP continued to purse the legal case to integrate Little Rock’s schools.14 When the schools reopened, Carlotta Walls and Jefferson Thomas returned to Central and graduated in 1960. Thelma Mothershed received her diploma from Central High School by taking correspondence courses to complete her studies. The rest of the Little Rock Nine completed their high school educations at different schools.15 The Little Rock Nine have received numerous accolades and awards, from the renowned NAACP Spingarn Medal to the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal.

1. Which of the following sentences represents the central idea of this passage? (CENTRAL IDEA)

a. The Little Rock Nine are heroes who should be celebrated today.b. All schools had a difficult time integrating after the Brown v. Board of Education

Decision.c. The end of legal segregation was just one step in a larger journey toward racial equality.d. Southern whites treated the Little Rock Nine unkindly despite the fact that they had done

nothing wrong.

2. Read the following sentence from paragraph 5.“She was met by a mob screaming obscenities and threats, chanting, ‘Two, four six, eight, we ain’t gonna integrate!’”

In this sentence, the word obscenities most closely means…(VIC)a. Vulgaritiesb. Oathsc. Protestsd. Requests

3. How do the sentences in paragraph 3 help to develop the key concept of that paragraph? (STRUCTURE)

a. by describing parents who were unwilling to send their children to Central High School.

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b. by describing the daily routine of African-American students who were already attending Central High School.

c. by describing how officials tried to calm parents of African-American students at Central High School.

d. by describing efforts to discourage African-American students from wanting to attend Central High School.

4. Which sentence from paragraph 5 best helps to develop the idea that the Little Rock Nine had trouble even entering the school? (KEY LINES)

a. “The students arrived at Central alone on the first day.”b. “By prior arrangement, they gathered at the 16th Street entrance…”c. “Elizabeth Eckford arrived at the other end of the block by herself.”d. “She was met by a mob screaming obscenities and threats.”

5. **Which detail from the text would be LEAST important to include in a summary of this text? (RETELL)

a. In 1954, the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Supreme Court decision outlawed segregation in public education.

b. On September 24, 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered units of the U. S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division—the “Screaming Eagles”—into Little Rock and federalized the Arkansas National Guard.

c. In spite of this, the Little Rock Nine endured verbal and physical attacks from some of their classmates throughout the school year.

d. The Clarks were the social psychologists whose “doll test” work demonstrated for the Supreme Court in Brown that racial prejudice and segregation caused African-American children to develop a sense of inferiority.

Name__________________________________ Date___________________________

Classwork (PPCR13) Team__________________________

Close Reading: “Musee Des Beaux Arts”

Focus: Today we will be reading a poem by W. H. Auden entitled “Musee des Beaux Arts.” As you read, your task is to analyze the imagery and structure of the poem and determine how it contributes to the theme.

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Part #1: Examining Breughel

Directions: Before we dive deep into our close reading, we will examine a painting by an artist named Breughel. After you view the painting, describe what you see in the space below.

Above is a famous painting by Dutch Master Pieter Breughel. Describe what you see.

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Part #2: “Musee de Beaux Arts” Close Reading

Directions: Actively read “Musee de Beaux Arts” determining the literal meaning the first time around. Record marginal notes for central idea as you read then write a summary and thee statement at the end of the poem.

“Musee des Beaux Arts” by W. H. Auden

About suffering they were never wrong,

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The old Masters1: how well they understood

Its human position: how it takes place

While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;

How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting 5

For the miraculous birth2, there always must be

Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating

On a pond at the edge of the wood:

They never forgot

That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course 10

Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot

Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horse

Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.

In Breughel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away

Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may 15

Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,

But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone

As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green

Water, and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen

Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky, 20

Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.

Summary: Lap 4: Summary: Classical painters truly understand the natural of human suffering—and joy—in everyday life. It is largely a role of indifference: that while one man suffers, another man continues on with his life. While old people celebrate the birth of Jesus, children keep playing. While soldiers die on the field, animals carry on as animals. Breughel’s “Icarus” is a prime example of this idea: as Icarus disappears into the sea, the ploughman, sun and ship all ignore him, despite the possibility they may have witnessed the tragedy.Theme:

Part #3: Analysis

Directions: Read the Key Question below. Then reread the poem with the analysis focus in mind. Finally, respond to the Everybody Writes questions, using your understanding of the text to help you analyze deeply.

Key Question: How does the imagery and structure of Auden’s poem 1 Old Masters: European painters before 18002 Miraculous birth: Birth of Jesus

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help him to convey the theme?EVERYBODY WRITES DISCUSSION TRACKER

Everybody Writes #1: How does the imagery in Auden’s poem help convey theme?

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Notes from Class Discussion

Everybody Re-Writes #1: How does the imagery in Auden’s poem help convey theme?

The speaker lists a series of images that are relatively banal: eating, opening a window, walking along, a horse scratching its behind, a ship sailing. At the same time,

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the images are paired with extremely [positive and] negative scenes: people waiting for a “miraculous birth,” torture, Icarus drowning. (Note: Students need only focus on the negative images for this close reading—tell students you will move to the positive imagery if there is time. The positive is located in the push ahead at the end of this lesson). This contrast suggests that people are generally oblivious to the intense things happening around them.

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Everybody Writes #2: How does the poem’s structure help reinforce its theme?

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Notes from Class Discussion

Everybody Re-Writes #2: How does the poem’s structure help reinforce its theme?

How does this text’s structure help to reinforce its theme?The poem introduces some of its large ideas directly in the first stanza then uses the second to provide an example of it. By providing the “answer” right away, readers believe that perhaps something deeper is going on. This is not something reader expect from a poet.

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The text is undergirded by a deliberate rhyme scheme (the first stanza can be mapped—ABCADEDFGHGHE). By coding in a hard-to-detect scheme, Auden suggests that there is deeper meaning around us that perhaps we don’t notice right away.

Final Writing Prompt: How do the imagery and structure of Auden’s poem help him convey a theme?

Student Exemplar:(A/N) W.H. Auden’s poem “Musee des Beaux Arts” uses language and structure to underscore peoples’ capacity for indifference in the face of greater human drama. (E) Auden’s work presents a series of images: a person eating or opening a window, children ice skating or a horse scratching its rear and, in the second stanza, a depiction of Icarus’s fall in Breughel’s “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus.” (ZI) Auden states that someone walks “dully” as others wait “passionately” for birth, dogs “go on with their doggy life” while torture happens nearby and “something amazing” occurs, “a boy falling out of the sky” while a ship sails “calmly on” (5-6; 12; 20-21). (ZO) In describing each case, Auden uses intense and everyday language. This contrast suggests that people are unable to see the truly miraculous even when it is in front of them. Auden’s poem introduces some of its large ideas directly in the first stanza, then uses

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Open-Ended ResponseHow does the imagery and structure of Auden’s poem

help him convey the theme?Make sure to include key chunked quotes and a detailed analysis to strengthen your OER. Your analysis must be in NEZZ structure!

the second to provide an example of it. Iambic pentameter in the first two stanzas quickly gives way to what appears to be a free verse poem – with irregular line lengths and rhythms. By coding in a hard-to-detect scheme, Auden plays with the notion of the unobserved acts that occur all around us. (C) Ultimately, this text suggests that people are not just unaware of the tragedy around them, but of the triumph too, that there are many levels of meaning – both horrible and beautiful – that silently transpire in the unobserved spaces of our lives.

Teacher Exemplar:How do the imagery and structure of Auden’s poem help him convey a theme?(A/N) W.H. Auden’s poem “Musee des Beaux Arts” carefully manages both its language and structure to underscore peoples’ capacity for indifference in the face of greater human drama. (E) Auden’s work presents a series of images: a person eating or opening a window, children ice skating or a horse scratching its rear and, in the second stanza, a depiction of Icarus’s fall in Breughel’s “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus.” (ZI) In each instance, however Auden’s choice of diction presents a compelling contrast: someone walks “dully” as others wait “passionately” for birth, dogs “go on with their doggy life” while torture happens nearby and “something amazing” occurs, “a boy falling out of the sky” while a ship sails “calmly on” (5-6; 12; 20-21). (ZO) In describing each case, Auden uses both intense and banal diction. That contrast suggests that people are unable to see the truly

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miraculous even when it is in front of them. In fact, the inclusion of children ignoring the birth suggests that it is not just tragedy, but also miracles that are ignored by people in the shuffle of their day-to-day existence. Auden cleverly builds this revelation into the structure of his work as well. His poem introduces some of its large ideas directly in the first stanza, then uses the second to provide an example of it. Rather than building to its big take-away, it offers one right away. But, even as he does this, Auden suggests we remain blind to the larger meanings around us. Iambic pentameter in the first two stanzas quickly gives way to what appears to be a free verse poem – with irregular line lengths and rhythms. Closer inspection reveals that the text is undergirded by a deliberate rhyme scheme (the first stanza can be mapped: ABCADEDFGHGHE). By coding in a hard-to-detect scheme, Auden plays with the notion of the unobserved acts that occur all around us. (C) Ultimately, this text suggests that people are not just unaware of the tragedy around them, but of the triumph too, that there are many levels of meaning – both horrible and beautiful – that silently transpire in the unobserved spaces of our lives.

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“Breaking the Chains of Psychological Slavery”

Directions: Na’im Akbar is a distinguished African-American scholar, public speaker, and author. His major works deal with the psychological effects that hundreds of years of slavery and oppression have produced.

Personal Inferiority

1 Let us consider another one of the most destructive characteristics

from slavery. This characteristic is a sense of our inferiority as African-

American people. This characteristic has been discussed by psychologists

more than any other. It has been used as an explanation for nearly every

aspect of African-American behavior. The self-hatred or low self-esteem

of African American people has certainly been overworked but is worthy

of our consideration in this discussion.

2 The shrewd slavemakers were fully aware that people who still

respected themselves as human beings would resist to the death the

dehumanizing process of slavery. Therefore, a systematic process of

creating a sense of inferiority in the proud African was necessary in order

to maintain them as slaves. This was done by humiliating and

dehumanizing acts such as public beating, parading them on slave blocks

unclothed, and inspecting them as though they were cattle or horses. They

were forbidden to communicate with other slaves which would have been a basis for maintaining self-

respect. Many historians and slave narratives report how young children were separated from their

mothers because the mother’s love might cultivate some self-respect in the child.

3 Cleanliness and personal effectiveness are fairly essential in the maintenance of self-respect. The

slaves were kept filthy and the very nature of physical restraints over long period of time began to

develop in the people a sense of helplessness. The loss of the ability to even clean one’s body and to

shield oneself from a blow began to teach the slaves that they should have no self-respect.

4 These things, combined with the insults, the loss of cultural traditions, rituals, family life,

religion, and even names, served to cement the loss of self-respect. As the slave master exalted himself

and enforced respect of himself, he was increasingly viewed as superior to the slaves. The slave was

forced to bow and bend to the slave owner and treat him as God. With the image of a Caucasian man even

as God, and with all kinds of images of Africans as dirty and only half human, it was inevitable that a

sense of inferiority would grow into the African American personality.

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5 This sense of inferiority still affects us in many ways. Our inability to respect African American

leadership, our persistent and futile efforts to look like and act like Caucasian people, is based upon this

sense of inferiority. The persistent tendency to think of dark skin as unattractive, kinky hair as “bad” hair,

and African features as less appealing than Caucasian people, come from this sense of inferiority. Our

lack of respect for African American expertise and irresponsibility of many African American experts

comes from this sense of inferiority. It is a simple fact that people who love themselves seek to preserve

their lives—not to destroy them.

6 The fact that we remain as consumers and laborers, rather than manufacturers, planners, and

managers, has a lot to do with the sense of inferiority. The limited number of powerful and dignified

images of African Americans in the media and the community as a whole, reduces our sense of self-

respect. This is a continuation of the slavery patterns. Only those persons who looked like, acted like, and

thought in the frame of reference of African self-affirmation.

7 We can reverse the destructive effects of slavery by looking to strengths in our past and

beginning to make plans for our future. If we begin to pay attention to strong images like themselves, they

will grow in self-respect. We must honor and exalt our own heroes and those heroes must be people who

have done the most to dignify us as a people. We must seek to overcome the plantation ghost by

identifying the forces which lead to enslavement and self-abasement. We must definitely avoid the

psychologically destructive representation of God in a Caucasian form. We must built and maintain

strong, clean, and safe communities. The ability to influence our environments in some small way is the

first step towards building or restoring self-respect.

** Na’im Akbar argues “we must seek to overcome the plantation ghost.” What does he mean by this and how can it be overcome?

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