Module 4 Lessons: Poetry About People

3. Poetry About People

Lesson 49

Poetry About People

ï¿½Corel Corporation

In this lesson, you'll be introduced to a number of unforgettable people. Their stories capture both the pain and the triumph of being human. By reading about such people, you can learn more about yourself and the people closest to you.

Most of the poems in this lesson will require a personal response. If you're a sensitive reader, you won't be able to stop yourself from reacting strongly to what you read

Responding to Poetry

Listen as the class discusses ways that you can approach and react to a poem.

Mr. Haas: How did you feel when you heard that we'd be studying poetry?

Lin: I panicked. I've always hated studying poetry in school—yet I like writing and reading poems.

Mr. Haas: Why do you dread studying poetry?

Lin: I just don't like the idea of taking things apart. Poems are like delicate butterflies. They're beautiful to look at, but you know what you get when you start dissecting a butterfly—body parts.

Mr. Haas: Teachers may get carried away, but why do they ask their students to dissect poetry?

Dominic: By taking something apart, you can learn how it works and what its true function is.

Chelsea: You can get more out of a poem and get its fuller meaning.

Dominic: My interpretation is always different from everyone else's. I can never see what the class sees. I don't get it.

Mr. Haas: But you do get it. When a poem is discussed in class, we do not try to arrive at a definitive interpretation. We are merely exploring different ways of looking at a work. Your interpretation is as good as anybody else's—as long as you can back it up with supportive details from the poem.

The frustration expressed by Dominic is a common one among students of poetry. But don't let that stop you from expressing what you think. Just be prepared to support your opinion with details from the poem.

Ambiguity

It can be said that the power of poetry comes from its purposeful ambiguity. If a poem could be interpreted in only one way, it would not have that much audience appeal. Interesting and lively discussions result precisely because words can have more than one meaning or association.

As you read poems, look for words and phrases that can mean more than one thing. By asking yourself how else a word or phrase can be interpreted, you open up a world of possibilities and meanings.

You're about to read a poem that contains ambiguous words and phrases. As you explore the poem, remember that you're not expected to be searching for one definitive interpretation. Instead, you should be reading the poem with an open mind and an open heart. This will enable you to respond to the poem on a variety of levels.

Before you read "The Streets of Purple Cloth" by Karen Connelly on page 240 of Sightlines 10, read the biographical note on page 393. Then read the following feature.

Did You Know?

Karen Connelly

Did you know that Calgary-born Karen Connelly (b. 1969) has spent much of her adult life travelling in Asia? She lived in Thailand for a number of years, and she recorded her experiences in a book entitled Touch the Dragon: A Thai Journal. She has also travelled through Spain, France, and Greece.

Now read the poem "The Streets of Purple Cloth." Read it at least twice. If you had not read the biographical note on the author in Sightlines 10 or the "Did You Know?" box above, you might have been confused by the opening lines. This confusion, however, would have cleared up after reading the poem several times.

But since you know that the author has travelled extensively in Thailand, you can conclude that the poem is set in an exotic country. This may explain the phrase "purple cloth and copper skin" in the second line.

Mr. Haas: What did you think of this poem? Were you able to relate to it?

Lin: Not at first, but then I connected and it all made sense. At first, I took the poem literally about a woman who was lost in a strange city. Then I looked again at the first and last lines and realized this poem was about me!

Dominic: How can that be?

Lin: I had a similar experience in downtown Toronto. It was like another world. There were so many people. The buildings were so tall. I walked and walked.

I realized I was lost, and I didn't know what to do. Eventually, I found a big park and felt more in control. I was able to ask for directions and find my way back. That is what the poem is about, isn't it?

Mr. Haas: Yes, and so much more. It all depends on the reader's personal experiences.

Self-Discovery

By the end of "The Streets of Purple Cloth," the woman finds out something very important about herself.

What do you think enabled her to make this discovery? This question is a natural one to ask after reading the poem.

The answers to this question will be as varied as the people who respond. The question is important to explore.

1. In your opinion, what enabled the woman to discover something important about herself?

Advice to the Young and Old

Many poems offer advice. When the advice is explicit and excessive, the poem is considered to be didactic. Usually, didactic poems are not highly regarded, because they're too obvious and too "preachy."

You're about to read two poems that offer advice to different age groups. As you read these poems, ask yourself if they're didactic or if they attempt to offer observations and wisdom about life without an explicit lesson added on.

The first poem is found on page 100 of Sightlines 10. It's called "To a Sad Daughter" and was written by Michael Ondaatje.

Before reading the poem, answer the following question.

2. Based on the title alone, what do you predict the poem will be about? Write at least two sentences in which you record your predictions.

In 1984, Michael Ondaatje was going through a painful marriage break-up. Rather than just suffer in despair, he wrote a collection of poems entitled Secular Love, which captured the rollercoaster of emotions he was riding. The poem you're about to read comes from that collection. In it, he expressed his deep love for his daughter, fully realizing that she might very well reject the advice he offers.

Michael Ondaatje is also the author of the novel The English Patient. In 1996, his book was turned into the Oscar-winning movie with the same title.

Alfred A. Knopf/Peter Patterson

Now read the poem several times, and then respond to the questions that follow.

3. Why does the author address the poem to "a sad daughter"?

4. What does the poem suggest to you about parents and their developing children?

Journal Entry

In your journal, explore your thoughts and feelings for the father in this poem. If you could offer him advice, what would it be?

You may complete this journal entry in the form of a personal letter to the father. To make the letter more realistic, you should decide on a persona for yourself. Are you a close friend, neighbour, or family member? Once you've decided on a persona, you can then offer advice that would be appropriate from that person.

Going Further

ï¿½2002 www.clipart.com

The poem makes reference to two black-and-white movies, Creature from the Black Lagoon and Casablanca. Using online or print resources, research these two movies. Determine when they were made, who they starred, and what they were about.

Based on this information, choose one or both to view. Write a brief review of the movie you watched.

Movie reviews can be found on the Internet at this address:

www.imdb.com

The next poem you'll read is by one of most beloved poets of the twentieth century. Kahlil Gibran was born in Lebanon but eventually moved to the United States. His masterpiece The Prophet was a labour of love that he began when he was 15 years old! The book consists of a series of lessons about life delivered by the prophet as he is preparing to leave his people. Each lesson comes in response to a question that his people have asked him. This poem is one of the lessons from this book.

ï¿½EyeWire Collection/Getty Images

The poem "On Children" is found on page 98 of Sightlines 10. Read the poem several times. Be sure to respond personally as you're reading.

Journal Entry

Explore the impact the poem had on you by asking yourself the following questions. You can use these questions to explore your connection with any literary text.

Do I like or dislike what I am reading?

What specifically do I like or dislike? Style? Rhythm? Vocabulary? Images? Ideas? Characters? Dramatic situation?

Do I agree or disagree with the ideas being developed?

Can I identify with any of the characters?

What strong images does this poem enable me to visualize in my mind?

Does the poem bring back any memories of my previous experiences?

Does the poem remind me of anything else that I have seen or read?

Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.
—Kahlil Gibran

Mr. Haas: What was your response when the Prophet said this:

"Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you."

Lin: I was shocked by the first line, "Your children are not your children." I read on quickly to see if Gibran would explain himself. At first, I didn't know what he meant by "Life's longing for itself." After reading the poem several times, it became a little clearer.

Dominic: I really liked this poem for the ideas and the vocabulary and the rhythm. It was easy to follow, and I could hear it in my mind.

Mr. Haas: It's important to determine the intended audience of a work. For whom was this poem written? Who would enjoy or benefit most from reading it?

Dominic: I think it was written for parents, telling them to give their children a break. The children don't really belong to them, so parents shouldn't be so possessive.

Brandon: I agree. My parents should read this poem. Maybe they would let me stay out later at night and they wouldn't bug me so much about homework.

Chelsea: But the speaker isn't saying that. It's still the parents' job to steer children in the right direction. That's what the last part of the poem is all about. It's not about letting children be free to do what they want.

Mr. Haas: Good point. Let's look at the extended metaphor in the last verse.

Dominic: What is an extended metaphor?

Metaphors

A simple metaphor is an implied comparison between two quite dissimilar things.

For example, you might walk into a classroom and notice that people are acting wildly. You might then refer to the classroom as a zoo.

Other examples include the following.

Situation	Metaphor
John eats noisily and in large quantities.	John is a pig.
Cassandra found the last math exam to be very easy.	Cassandra breezed through the math exam.
A bright moon is behind some thin clouds.	"The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas." ("The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes)

Try locating simple metaphors in the poem "David" by Earle Birney. Reread the first two sections of the poem on page 118 of Sightlines 10. Find as many examples of a metaphor as you can. Ignore for now the examples of personification. Focus only on good examples of a metaphor.
personification.

Extended Metaphors

An extended metaphor begins with a simple metaphor but then is sustained for a number of lines. This enables the simple metaphor to become the dominant or controlling image of the entire text.

If, when you described the noisy classroom as a zoo, you then went on to say that the teacher was a zookeeper, the classroom itself was a cage, and the students were a variety of boisterous animals, this would be considered an extended metaphor.
extended metaphor

5. Returning to Gibran's "On Children" on page 98 of Sightlines 10, the extended metaphor in the last verse is the controlling image of the poem. Who or what are the various elements in the extended metaphor? Use a chart similar to the one that follows to complete your work. The first one is done for you.

Elements	Explanation
the bow	The bow is the parents because it's their role to release the children into the world, pointing them toward success and providing the force and the guidance to enable them to succeed.
the arrows
the archer.
the mark

6. In your own words, summarize what the poem suggests about the roles of parents and children.

Did You Know?

Did you know that Kahlil Gibran's writing inspired one of the most famous lines spoken by a politician in the twentieth century?

U.S. President John F. Kennedy in his inaugural address in 1961 challenged the American people with the following words:

Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.

Almost 60 years earlier, Gibran wrote an essay entitled "The New Frontier." In that essay are the following words:

Are you a politician asking what your country can do for you or a zealous one asking what you can do for your country?

Poems About Survivors

The next two poems in this lesson focus on survivors. These two brave individuals endured difficult situations and demonstrated an undefeatable will to survive. Their stories continue to inspire people today.

The First Survivor

The first survivor is considered to be the last of her people. Her name was Shanawdithit. She was a member of the Beothuk tribe, which lived in Newfoundland.

Shanawdithit/National Archives of Canada/C-038862

The story of the annihilation of the Beothuk nation is not a pretty one. When Europeans first set foot in Newfoundland in 1497, there were approximately 600 aboriginal inhabitants on the island. Within 300 years, there were no Beothuk people remaining.

During the 1820s, people began to realize the enormity of what had occurred—the extinction of a people. When they found Shanawdithit, they believed her to be the last surviving member of her people. In 1822, she was taken to St. John's, Newfoundland, where she spent the last seven years of her life. In an attempt to save some of the history and traditions of her people, she was interviewed extensively and encouraged to draw sketches. Most of these sketches still exist. Here is one of them, which depicts a dancing Beothuk woman.

Shanawdithit/National Archives of Canada/C-028544

You can find more of her sketches on the Internet at this address:

http://www.mun.ca/rels/native/beothuk/beo2gifs/texts/shana2.html

Going Further

If you would like to learn more about the story of Shanawdithit, you can do so by using library print resources or by searching the Internet. You could also read the novel Riverrun by Peter Such.

Chelsea: I read about the Beothuk. Many starved to death because settlers moved into their hunting and fishing grounds. Then more died because of tuberculosis.

Dominic: That's tragic.

Mr. Haas: It's not a pleasant chapter in North American history, but it happened. If you research the topic, you'll find much information. There have been poems, novels, plays, and a musical entitled Shanawdithit produced.

Now that you know some background to this poem, it's time to read it. Turn to Rita Joe's poem "Shanawdithit" on page 228 of Sightlines 10.

Did You Know?

Barry Bernard photo

Did you know that Rita Joe (b. 1931) has led a difficult but eventful life? Her mother died when Rita Joe was five, and she was moved from one foster home to the next. She also attended a residential school for several years. Her poems and other writings deal with what it's like to be aboriginal within a predominantly white society. What is remarkable about her work is the positive tone. There is no note of bitterness or anger. Her mission is to promote tolerance and understanding. Her work presents positive images of Aboriginal people.

Rita Joe has been honoured for her work with a number of awards, including the Order of Canada. There is no greater official honour that can be bestowed on a Canadian than this award.

7. Knowing what you know about the fate of the Beothuk people, you might expect that a First Nations writer like Rita Joe could show some signs of bitterness or anger. Reread the poem, carefully looking for details that suggest a negative tone toward the European settlers. What did you notice?

8. In the third-last line of the poem, the speaker refers to "the everland of red ochre." What do you think is meant by this phrase? Explain.

9. Why does the speaker refer to Shanawdithit as a "martyr" in the last line of the poem?

10. The media often feature interviews with individuals who have shown great courage or strength in the face of adversity. The questions asked of such people frequently focus on what enabled them to survive their struggle.

If your job were to interview Shanawdithit, what questions would you ask her? Create a series of at least ten questions that you think a reading or viewing audience would want answered.

Be prepared to submit these interview questions as part of your Assignment Booklet.

Another Survivor

During the last 100 years or so, there have been many world events that have tested people's ability to survive. Recent history has been marked by wide-ranging wars, revolutions, natural disasters, famine, disease, and terrorism. Now, more than ever, society needs heroes to inspire people and to demonstrate that it's possible to survive and endure whatever circumstance puts in your way.

The subject of Katherine Gallagher's poem "The Survivor" is one such hero.

Who Was Anna Akhmatova?

Casa Dana

Anna Akhmatova is considered to be Russia's greatest lyric poet. She was born in 1889, and during her 77 years of life she witnessed some of the bloodiest and most difficult years of Russian history. She survived the Bolshevik Revolution, which began in 1917. She lived through the Stalinist Terror and Purges. She suffered through two World Wars and the Siege of Leningrad. That she survived all this is testimony to her strength.

Akhmatova began writing at an early age. Her father had no liking for poets, and he forced her to use a pen name so as not to shame the family name. By the start of the Russian Revolution in 1917, she had published four books of poetry and was universally recognized as a great voice of literature.

Her troubles began in earnest with the communist takeover of Russia. Because Akhmatova was associated with pre-revolutionary Russia, the new government persecuted her and banned her books. During the bloody Stalinist era, countless people were executed, including many of Akhmatova's friends and fellow poets. Her son was arrested on more than one occasion.

St. Basil's Cathedral, Red Square, Moscow

In an attempt to make Akhmatova quit writing, her second husband burned her books. You'll see a reference to this in Gallagher's poem. But Akhmatova didn't quit, though her persecution continued. Part of this hardship involved taking away her ration card. If it wasn't for the help and generosity of her friends, she would have starved to death. After the death of Stalin in 1953, Akhmatova began to regain her voice as Russia's foremost poet. She died peacefully in her sleep in 1966. Today, Anna Akhmatova is recognized as a heroic survivor—a symbol of truth and integrity.

Note: During times of war or economic turmoil, governments sometimes ration scarce resources, such as food and fuel, by issuing ration cards to citizens.

"The Survivor: For Anna Akhmatova, 1889_1966" by Katherine Gallagher is found on page 340 of Sightlines 10. Read it at least twice.

11. From what point of view is the story in this poem told? What would be lost or gained if the poem were written from another point of view?

12. Why does the speaker suggest in the third verse that the woman is working on a poem and that the work "will go on for twenty years"? In other words, why "the poem," singular, rather than poems, plural?

13. The last three lines make reference to the woman's "hermit's cry." What do you think the "hermit's cry" is? Explain how you arrived at this interpretation.

If you want to know more about Anna Ahkmatova or read more of her poems, follow the links at this address:

http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/anna-akhmatova

In this lesson, you explored poems that focus on people. You learned that ambiguity can cause confusion or open up possibilities in the interpretation and appreciation of poetry. You practised responding personally to poetry, and you learned about extended metaphors.

You were also introduced to great writers and heroic survivors. Hopefully, these individuals have left a lasting impression on you.

Lesson Glossary

ambiguity: a possibility of two or more meanings
didactic: instructive, especially excessively
extended metaphor: a comparison between two unlike things that is sustained for a number of lines
metaphor: an implied comparison between two unlike things without using the words like or as
persona: a character through whom an author reveals his or her thoughts and feelings
personification: a type of metaphor in which human qualities are given to non-human things