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Grief and Renewal Through Poetry
By Ann Gann

Overview

"It is, in the full sense, poetry....The language of the book, at once luminous and discreet...remains in the mind."--New Republic

The lyrical language found in A Death in the Family stirs the hearts and minds of those who read it. The story captures a world from a child's point of view: the dreamlike description of his environment, his love and trust in his parents, his sense of time, and his sense of loss. Our students have deep-felt emotions, too. This poetry lesson is an attempt to help students, especially struggling ones, express their emotions about important events in their lives. The loss of a loved one is tragic, but coming to terms with the loss may be more difficult for a young person. Expressing the memories associated with a lost loved can bring comfort and peace to those who are left behind. Reflecting on a tragic event can bring understanding. In this lesson students may use a diamante, a memory poem, or a listing poem to share, as Rufus does, those strong emotions associated with grief and confusion.

Objectives

Student will:

• Write using proper essay format
• Identify "loaded" words
• Write a poem in formats provided
• Illustrate his/her poem
• Orally present the poem

• Close text reading
• Expansion of vocabulary
• Poetry writing
• Oral presentation skills

Lesson Outline

I. Introduction and Preparation

In preparation for writing poetry, students should be exposed to other poems or pose that reflect a remembering of a person or time in the past. If your students are viewing the film and not reading A Death in the Family, share with them the opening to the novel, "Knoxville, 1915" or several paragraphs in which Rufus remembers his father. Help students locate strong, vivid, specific words in the poem or prose you are sharing with them.

II. The Process

1. Have students write a paragraph describing a loved one who has past away or ann important event in their lives.

2. Next, have students circle words and phrases which they especially like or are colorful, vivid, or expressive.

3. Now use the circled words and phrases to compose a short poem. Be sure to give your poem a title.

4. Finally, using construction paper, markers, pictures, etc., illustrate the poem.

5. Allow those who are willing to share their poem with the class.

6.  Post poems in the room or create a poetry notebook or scan and place on the Internet

1. A Memory Poem
2. Diamante
3. A Listing Poem

Assessment

Use the rubric below to grade the assignment, or use it as a guide for your own criteria.

This lesson was submitted by Ann Gann, an English teacher in Tennessee.

Diamante

A diamante is an effective means of helping students contrast two things, events or people while writing a poem. The strict structure of each line forces the students to carefully consider each word choice. A Death in the Family provides students with many opportunities to contrast characters, events, and settings. Also, students could contrast themselves or their family members with one of the characters, or they could contrast their grieving over a lost one with the grieving of Rufus.

Diamante structure:

Line 1: a noun
Line 2: 2 adjectives associated with line 1
Line 3: 3 participles associated with line 1
Line 4: 2 words associated with line 1. 2 words associated with line 7
Line 5: 3 participles associated with line 7
Line 6: 2 adjectives associated with line 7
Line 7: a noun that is the opposite of line 1

A Listing Poem
Example

After reading "Knoxville, Tennessee," write a paragraph about a special childhood memory or about a special person.  Next, have students highlight words and phrases which they especially like or are colorful, vivid, or expressive.  Finally, arrange the words and phrases from the paragraph into a poem similar to "Knoxville, Tennessee."

Knoxville, Tennessee

I always liked summer
best
you can eat fresh corn
from daddy's garden
and okra
and greens
and cabbage
and lots of
barbecue
and buttermilk
and homemade ice-cream
at the church picnic
and listen to
gospel music
outside
at the church
homecoming
and go to the mountains with
your grandmother
and go barefooted
and be warm
all the time
not only when you go to bed
and sleep

by Nikki Giovanni

A Memory Poem
Example

 When I was about nine years old, my only living great-grandmother died.  She was about eighty, and I loved her so much.  I miss her now.

 My great-grandmother, Alice, was very stubborn.  She lived in a retirement home in Cedar Falls for about fifteen years.  She hated everyone at the home.  She wanted to be treated like a normal person, but everyone treated her like she was old and could do nothing for herself.

 Once when we visited, the nurse came in to give great-grandmother her medicine, and she sent the nurse away, yelling, "Can't you see I have company."

 My grandmother did not want to share her room with anyone, but she always had to.  She would swear at her roommates and try to kick them out.

 I loved my great-grandmother.  I wish she were still there for me.  Why did you leave, Grandma?

Memory Poem:

Grandma Come Back

Great-grandmother Alice,
love.
tubborn
retirement home,
hated
swore at them
kicked out nurses,
wish she were here
Grandma

This memory poem was presented in a workshop by Judy Warren—Kingsbury Junior High