Poet, composer, and Teachers & Writers Collaborative teaching artist Janice Lowe brings historical context to this lesson on narrative—connecting the persona poem to the Civil War, slavery, and the amazing story of a formerly enslaved Union Soldier. This lesson does include intense content, and might be best dovetailed with Social Studies lessons on the Civil War and Slavery that come in 7^th and 8^th Grade.

Download:  PERSONA NON GRATA.

Genre(s) taught:  Poetry

Grade(s) taught: 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, & 5^th Grades.

Workshop Objective:

For students to write 1^st person narrative poems inspired by the experiences of a Union Army solider who escaped slavery in 1862.

Common Core State Standards:
(Refer to the Anchor Standards for Writing at www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/W)

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.3

Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.9
  Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
• There are also many Core Reading: Informational Text Standards associated with this lesson, including but not limited to: RIs 2.1, 2.2, 2.3; 3.1, 3.2, 3.3; 4.1, 4.2, 4.3; and 5.1, 5.2, 5.3.

Guiding Questions:

What is the Civil War? Why was it fought? What is slavery? What is abolitionism? What is sensory detail? What is first person? What is first person narrative?

  

LESSON

Introduction/warm-up activity (5-10 min):
After a discussion of sensory details, students read a Harper’s Weekly article from July 4, 1863 that recounts the experiences of “Gordon,” a formerly enslaved Union Army Soldier. The accompanying illustration showed Gordon’s bared back, which was horrifically scarred from punishment he received while enslaved on a Mississippi plantation.

Main activity (20-25 mins):

After taking some time to discuss the article and the picture, I ask students to write an “observation list” in sensory details based on the picture. Students then take that list and draw it out into a first person paragraph written in the voice of Gordon. Finally, they write poems based on their observation list and paragraph.

I demonstrate the end goal with my own model:

My back is a maze of tree branches
I run until my legs are numb
until my feet shout, “enough”
My bed is the ground,
my quilt a cover of leaves
I drink my own salty sweat
dream of finding my brother in Louisiana
I smell of onions and fear
Patrollers with dogs scurry through the woods
I want freedom more than they want to find me
My wish is stronger than any reward.

Closing (10 mins):

Students share their first person narrative poems. Discussions here can range from which sensory details students chose to highlight; to the feelings engendered by writing in someone else’s voice; to the kinds of situations this kind of empathic writing might be useful in today (e.g., Michael Brown or Trayvon Martin, Occupy Wall Street or NFL Concussions).

Student Examples:

Observation List
by Amanda, grade 2

Gordon’s Back
Cuts from a belt
A forest of trees
Goldfish swimming in a lake
Tiny little island
Someone scratched him
Little pools of water
Like 13 colonies
Looks like a map
Maybe he was burned in a fire
Someone hit him and blood came out
He was stung by a bee
Spiders put webs on his back.

Materials:

Copies of “A Typical Negro,” available here.

Vocabulary:

Sensory details, first person narrative, empathy, description
Multi-modal approaches: This lesson appeals to many intelligences: including spatial, through visual art and pictures; intrapersonal, through the opportunity for self reflection; interpersonal, through class discussion; and linguistic, through the use of words and reading aloud.