20th Century Poetry Unit

Christie Goodwin
Dr. Stephens
April 23, 2015
TR 10:05 AM
I.

Introduction:
A. Title: This unit will cover a large amount of literature and many concepts surrounding
20th Century poetry. This unit will cover the following poets: the poets of WWI,
William Butler Yeats, T.S. Eliot, Langston Hughes, and Ezra Pound. This unit will use
the works of these writers to introduce the terminology used for poetry analysis as
well as poetic theory.
B. Grade Level: Honors English 11/ AP Literature
C. Duration: 12 Days (1 Introduction lesson, 9 regular lessons, 1 review day, 1 day for
the unit exam)
D. Context: This will be the third unit of the year, following our The Importance of
Being Earnest literature and impromptu writing unit.
II.
Content
A. Goals/ Objectives: Students will learn how to dissect and analyze poetry through the
study of the major poets of the 20th Century. The students will be able to utilize proper
terminology and identify literary devices in the poetry they read. The students will be
able to compare and contrast the work and perspectives of the poets they study. The
students will have the opportunity to write poetry in the style of specific poets or
schools, and will extensively study the aspects of a poem that make it distinctive to a
certain artist or era. The students will build good relationships with their peers
through collaboration and evaluation of each others work.
Standards:
1. CC.1.2.11-12.A: Determine and analyze the relationship between two or more central
ideas of a text, including the development and interaction of the central ideas; provide an
objective summary of the text.
Through the study of Langston Hughess work and the artistic output of the Harlem
Renaissance, students will be able to identify the central ideas presented in these different
forms.
2. CC.1.2.11-12.B: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what
the text says explicitly as well as inferences and conclusions based on and related to an
authors implicit and explicit assumptions and beliefs.
Through the Four Corners Debate, students will have the opportunity to support their
opinions on a statement or evaluation of a poets work.

CC.1.4.11-12.D: Organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so that each new
element builds on that which precedes it to create whole; use appropriate and varied
transitions and syntax to link the major sections of the text; provide a concluding
statement or section that supports the information presented; include formatting when
useful to aiding comprehension.
CC.1.4.11-12.E: Write with an awareness of the stylistic aspects of composition. Use
precise language, domain-specific vocabulary, and techniques such as metaphor, simile,
and analogy to manage the complexity of the topic. Establish and maintain a formal
style and objective tone while attending to the norms of the discipline in which they are
writing.
CC.1.2.11-12.D: Evaluate how an authors point of view or purpose shapes the content
and style of a text.
The final compare and contrast essay will allow the students to fulfill all of these
objectives, as they will have to think deeply about the poets perspective and artistic
output.
3. CC.1.2.11-12.F: Evaluate how words and phrases shape meaning and tone in texts.
CC.1.2.11-12.K: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning
words and phrases based on grade level reading and content, choosing flexibly from a
range of strategies and tools.
Students will have to identify vocabulary and pick out literary devices in their homework
assignments, two quizzes and the final exam.
4. 1.6.11.A:
Listen critically and respond to others in small and large group situations.
Respond with grade level appropriate questions, ideas, information or opinions.
The students will participate in many group discussions and contribute to multiple group
projects and activities.
1.1.11.D: Demonstrate comprehension / understanding of a wide variety of appropriate
literary works from different cultures and literary movements, including classic and
contemporary literature.
Students will write poetry in the style of certain poets and movements, recognizing the
proper devices and diction to use
B. Concepts
20th century literature
WWI poetry
Dissent/propaganda surrounding WWI
Modernist poetry

Jazz Poetry
Harlem Renaissance
Perspective of critics
Key Terms:
Alliteration
The repetition of the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words: What would the
world be, once bereft/Of wet and wildness? (Gerard Manley Hopkins, Inversnaid)
Allusion
A brief, intentional reference to a historical, mythic, or literary person, place, event, or
movement. The Waste Land, T. S. Eliots influential long poem is dense with allusions.
The title of Seamus Heaneys autobiographical poem Singing Schoolalludes to a line
from W.B. Yeatss Sailing to Byzantium (Nor is there singing school but studying
/Monuments of its own magnificence).
Anaphora
Often used in political speeches and occasionally in prose and poetry, anaphora is the
repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines to
create a sonic effect.
Ballad
A poem that tells a story similar to a folk tale or legend and often has a repeated refrain.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is an example of a
ballad.
Blank verse
Poetry that is written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. Shakespeare wrote most of his
plays in blank verse.
Carpe diem
A Latin expression that means seize the day. Carpe diem poems urge the reader (or the
person to whom they are addressed) to live for today and enjoy the pleasures of the
moment. A famous carpe diem poem by Robert Herrick begins Gather ye rosebuds while
ye may

Classicism
The principles and ideals of beauty that are characteristic of Greek and Roman art,
architecture, and literature. Examples of classicism in poetry can be found in the works of

John Dryden and Alexander Pope, which are characterized by their formality, simplicity,
and emotional restraint.
Conceit
A fanciful poetic image or metaphor that likens one thing to something else that is
seemingly very different. An example of a conceit can be found in Shakespeare's sonnet
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? and in Emily Dickinson's poem There is no
frigate like a book.

Elegy
A poem that laments the death of a person, or one that is simply sad and thoughtful. An
example of this type of poem is Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country
Churchyard.
Elison
The omission of unstressed syllables (e.g., ere for ever, tother for the other),
usually to fit a metrical scheme. What dire offence from amrous causes springs, goes
the first line of Alexander Popes The Rape of the Lock, in which amorous is elided to
amrous to establish the pentameter (five-foot) line.
Enjambment
The running-over of a sentence or phrase from one poetic line to the next, without
terminal punctuation; the opposite of end-stopped
Georgian Poetry
A variety of lyrical poetry typified as dreamy, escapist, and romantic. This is in sharp
contrast to the War Poets. Edward Thomas and Rupert Brooke are examples of Georgian
poets.

Lyric
A poem, such as a sonnet or an ode that expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet. A
lyric poem may resemble a song in form or style.
Metaphor
A figure of speech in which two things are compared, usually by saying one thing is
another, or by substituting a more descriptive word for the more common or usual word
that would be expected. Some examples of metaphors: the world's a stage, he was a lion
in battle, drowning in debt, and a sea of troubles.

Onomatopoeia
A figure of speech in which words are used to imitate sounds. Examples of onomatopoeic
words are buzz, hiss, zing, clippety-clop, and tick-tock. Keats's Ode to a Nightingale not
only uses onomatopoeia, but calls our attention to it: Forlorn! The very word is like a
bell/To toll me back from thee to my sole self! Another example of onomatopoeia is
found in this line from Tennyson's Come Down, O Maid: The moan of doves in
immemorial elms,/And murmuring of innumerable bees. The repeated m/n sounds
reinforce the idea of murmuring by imitating the hum of insects on a warm summer
day.
Simile
A figure of speech in which two things are compared using the word like or as. An
example of a simile using like occurs in Langston Hughes's poem Harlem: What
happens to a dream deferred?/ Does it dry up/ like a raisin in the sun?

Trope
A figure of speech, such as metaphor or metonymy, in which words are not used in their
literal (or actual) sense but in a figurative (or imaginative) sense.

C. Skills
Writing a compare and contrast essay
Dissecting and analyzing poetry
Forming opinion on topic or statement from multiple viewpoints
Contributing to discussion of large concepts and broad ideas
Writing poetry in the style of a specific poet or school
Visualizing and illustrating vivid description from poetry
Identifying literary terms
Answering comprehension questions about material provided in class and as
homework
Comparing different forms of art created in the same era or time period.
III.

Objectives
5. CC.1.2.11-12.A: Determine and analyze the relationship between two or more central
ideas of a text, including the development and interaction of the central ideas; provide an
objective summary of the text.

Through the study of Langston Hughess work and the artistic output of the Harlem
Renaissance, students will be able to identify the central ideas presented in these different
forms.
6. CC.1.2.11-12.B: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what
the text says explicitly as well as inferences and conclusions based on and related to an
authors implicit and explicit assumptions and beliefs.
Through the Four Corners Debate, students will have the opportunity to support their
opinions on a statement or evaluation of a poets work.
CC.1.4.11-12.D: Organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so that each new
element builds on that which precedes it to create whole; use appropriate and varied
transitions and syntax to link the major sections of the text; provide a concluding
statement or section that supports the information presented; include formatting when
useful to aiding comprehension.
CC.1.4.11-12.E: Write with an awareness of the stylistic aspects of composition. Use
precise language, domain-specific vocabulary, and techniques such as metaphor, simile,
and analogy to manage the complexity of the topic. Establish and maintain a formal
style and objective tone while attending to the norms of the discipline in which they are
writing.
CC.1.2.11-12.D: Evaluate how an authors point of view or purpose shapes the content
and style of a text.
The final compare and contrast essay will allow the students to fulfill all of these
objectives, as they will have to think deeply about the poets perspective and artistic
output.
7. CC.1.2.11-12.F: Evaluate how words and phrases shape meaning and tone in texts.
CC.1.2.11-12.K: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning
words and phrases based on grade level reading and content, choosing flexibly from a
range of strategies and tools.
Students will have to identify vocabulary and pick out literary devices in their homework
assignments, two quizzes and the final exam.
8. 1.6.11.A:
Listen critically and respond to others in small and large group situations.
Respond with grade level appropriate questions, ideas, information or opinions.
The students will participate in many group discussions and contribute to multiple group
projects and activities.

1.1.11.D: Demonstrate comprehension / understanding of a wide variety of appropriate

literary works from different cultures and literary movements, including classic and
contemporary literature.
Students will write poetry in the style of certain poets and movements, recognizing the
proper devices and diction to use