Do Now:
Sept. 11 and the War on Terror Political Commentary via Slam Poetry Watch Mike Rosen's slam poem, "When God Happens." It presents a poetic take on a historical event. While integrating important facts and concrete images from the politically-charged tragedy, Rosen focuses more on emotion, commenting on the event through imagery, figurative language, and an implied "you" more than through direct, explicit fact. This is a good model to go back to as you write your own slam poems. |
MIKE ROSEN: When God Happens
#underthatrumble |
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Don't Be Intimidated: Some Useful Tips! Watch the video to the left. While this is an over-simplified exaggeration, the clip from does capture an important point about writing slam poetry for this final assignment. Don't stress. Don't worry about rhyme. Don't get wrapped up in testing if it "sounds good." Content comes first. Rather than your public speaking ability, your grade will be based on your ability to integrate literary elements into your writing purposefully and your ability to analyze the effect of literary elements in student-generated texts. Secondly, when composing your slam poem's "Promotional Tweet," look to the advice of David Truss's tweet. |
Write-Your-Own Slam Poem
Assignment Requirements
Assignment Requirements
In your history class, you are researching various key events and Supreme Court cases from the African-American Civil Rights Movement, ultimately presenting them in a "Fishbowl Discussion." Working in groups of four, you have been assigned a major event to research by your social studies teacher.
In those same groups, you will collaborate on your final English assignment for our poetry unit. You will be writing your own slam poem on an assigned modern-day racism topic that relates to your chosen historical topic. You will ultimately perform the slam poem at the beginning of your social studies "Fishbowl Discussion." Then, after uploading them to a blog, you will spend two days analyzing your peers' slam poems. Therefore, while you must present an informative, research-based poem to educate your peers on modern-day racism, you must also purposefully and effectively use literary elements in your own poem to support and enhance the historical content and be able to analyze the effect and purpose of the literary elements in your peers’ work. Please note that you are to approach your classmates’ work with an analytical – not critical – eye, assessing your peers’ poems in terms of the literary elements, NOT on whether or not you liked or disliked the poem.
You have three in-class days to write your slam poem. Two in your English class, and one in your social studies class. Use this time appropriately and constructively. And use the teacher as a resource, so consider focusing your writing accordingly (i.e. work on literary element integration the first two days and refine your historical facts on the last day). Any work not completed in class will have to done outside of class time. You are welcome to attend extra help after school.
A rubric will be provided to guide your writing, performing, and analyzing. For this final ELA assignment, there are three stages, which are elaborated below. Write. Tweet. Perform. Analyze.
Topic Correlations:
1. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896):
President Barack Obama and the Tea Party
2. Jim Crow South:
New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina
3. Brown v. Board of Education & Little Rock Nine (1954)
Celebrities: Paula Deen, Jonathon Martin & Richie Incognito, and Don Imus
4. Nonviolence and Civil Disobedience (Protests, Sit-Ins, Freedom Rides):
Howard University "Am I Suspicious?" Campaign
5. Fifteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (Poll taxes, Literacy tests, Grandfather clause):
North Carolina Racist End-of-Early-Voting Law
1.
Write Your Own Slam Poem on a Modern-Day Racism Topic
As your own social commentary, write a slam poem on a topic about modern-day racism. The topic will be assigned to you, and it will loosely relate to the historical topic you chose to research for your "Fishbowl Discussion" in your social studies class. Think of this as a modern-day extension activity that allows you to inject voice and emotion into societal and political events to make a point. See above for the topic correlations. Research time for the topic will be provided in your social studies classroom in the days set aside for your "Fishbowl Discussion" research. However, you have three in-class days to write your slam poem (two days in English, one day in social studies). See below for the formal poem requirements. |
Requirements:
- At least twenty-five (25) lines. - Address an unidentified, but implied, "you." - Purposefully integrate at least three other literary elements we have discussed: - Allusion - Imagery - Metaphor - Simile - Symbolism - Be informative. Make sure your audience will gain a general understanding of your topic by listening to your slam poem. - Use pathos. Appeal to your reader/audience's emotions. Don't just write a succession of facts. The emotion of your slam poem is what should differentiate your modern-day topic presentation from your discussion on the associated historical event for your "Fishbowl Discussion." - Have a point. Say something in your slam poem. Integrate a "bigger picture" message about racism. Helpful Hint: Break up the 25 lines into equal-length stanzas and assign each a specific message/point. This will help ensure that your poem is cohesive and makes the best use of all its lines. Refer back to each's main point and purpose when revising or if you get stuck or lost when writing. |
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2.
Promotional Tweet
As a sneak preview/overview for your peers, summarize your slam poem in a 140 character (including spaces) tweet. Be straight-to-the-point and informative. But also be creative and catchy. Think of the tweet as a brief advertisement for your slam poem presentation. You must come up with a "catch phrase" hashtag. In other words, you must pinpoint and extract an especially poignant and important line/phrase from your slam poem, and include it as a hashtag at the end of your tweet. Send out your promotional tweet ("tweet it") the day before your "Fishbowl Discussion" day. The teacher will "retweet" it onto our history class's Twitter account (https://twitter.com/gainingequality). It is your responsibility to read your peer's promotional tweets as homework the night before the two Fishbowl Discussion days. There will be a total of five, including your own. |
Be sure to:
- Summarize your slam poem.
- Create a "Catch Phrase Hashtag" by identifying a poignant/important line or phrase from your poem.
- Bookend your tweet:
Tag "@gainingequality" at the beginning.
Include the "Catch Phrase Hashtag" at the end.
Helpful Hint: Create your "Catch Phrase Hashtag" first, so you can factor in the length of the bookends prior to composing your summary. They will reduce the number of characters you have for the summary.
- Summarize your slam poem.
- Create a "Catch Phrase Hashtag" by identifying a poignant/important line or phrase from your poem.
- Bookend your tweet:
Tag "@gainingequality" at the beginning.
Include the "Catch Phrase Hashtag" at the end.
Helpful Hint: Create your "Catch Phrase Hashtag" first, so you can factor in the length of the bookends prior to composing your summary. They will reduce the number of characters you have for the summary.
3.
Oral Presentation of Slam Poem at Social Studies's "Fishbowl Discussion"
During your assigned "Fishbowl Discussion" time, you will read aloud your slam poem as the beginning hook of your discussion. You can do this in multiple ways. Choose which best fits your group dynamic. The options are provided below. During the days provided to write your slam poem, be sure to practice your oral performance of it. Practice will help with fluency and confidence. In real-time, your peers will comment on your slam poem by using your Promotional Tweet's "Catch Phrase Hashtag" to tweet their comments and opinions. They will be retweeted on the S.S. class Twitter account, so you can review your peers' feedback. You must make at least one tweeted comment for each of the four other slam poems. |
Read-Aloud Options:
- Switch off speakers between stanzas.
- Have a primary speaker. Group members speak predetermined lines/phrases in unison.
- Audio-Recoding. All group members must speak.
Be sure to:
- Practice, practice, practice!
- Use inflection. Avoid a monotone performance.
- Speak clearly and slowly. Adhere to punctuation marks. Do not rush.
- Switch off speakers between stanzas.
- Have a primary speaker. Group members speak predetermined lines/phrases in unison.
- Audio-Recoding. All group members must speak.
Be sure to:
- Practice, practice, practice!
- Use inflection. Avoid a monotone performance.
- Speak clearly and slowly. Adhere to punctuation marks. Do not rush.
4.
Blog Analysis of Slam Poems
After your social studies "Fishbowl Discussion," upload your group's slam poem to the ELA blog (http://gainingequality.edublogs.org/). For two days in class, you will read and analyze your peers' slam poems. This will be similar to the practice blog activity you complete with the Historical Biopoems. In your written analyses, focus on the effect of literary elements on the poem's theme and overall poignancy. You are to approach your classmates’ work with an analytical – not critical – eye, assessing your peers’ poems in terms of the literary elements, NOT on whether or not you liked or disliked the poem. |
Requirements:
Day 1: In-Class Essay Analysis of 1 Peer Slam Poem
- Pick one group's poem (not your own).
- In a four paragraph essay, include an introduction, conclusion, and two body paragraphs.
- The introduction should include a brief summary of the slam poem.
- Each body paragraph should focus on the effect of a specific literary element.
- Type your essay on a Microsoft Word Document. When finished, paste it into the comment section of the slam poem.
Day 2: In-Class Comments on 2 Peer Slam Poem Essay Analyses
- Read your peers' responses to your group's slam poem. Comment on one of them.
- Chose two other essay slam poem analyses to comment on. Add your own insights and comment on what has already been said about the poem. These extension analyses can be more informal than the first day's assignment, so an explicit introduction and conclusion is unnecessary.
Day 1: In-Class Essay Analysis of 1 Peer Slam Poem
- Pick one group's poem (not your own).
- In a four paragraph essay, include an introduction, conclusion, and two body paragraphs.
- The introduction should include a brief summary of the slam poem.
- Each body paragraph should focus on the effect of a specific literary element.
- Type your essay on a Microsoft Word Document. When finished, paste it into the comment section of the slam poem.
Day 2: In-Class Comments on 2 Peer Slam Poem Essay Analyses
- Read your peers' responses to your group's slam poem. Comment on one of them.
- Chose two other essay slam poem analyses to comment on. Add your own insights and comment on what has already been said about the poem. These extension analyses can be more informal than the first day's assignment, so an explicit introduction and conclusion is unnecessary.