|
|
|
|
| Overview |
 The popular saying “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” coined
by Charles Caleb Colton, is the basis for this lesson, which asks students to
analyze the features of a poet’s work then create their own poems based
on the original model. By exploring sample poems and their parodies, students
focus on the language and style of the original writer, all in the process of
playing with poetry.
|
| From Theory to Practice |
In Accent on Meter: A Handbook for Readers of Poetry, Joseph Powell and
Mark Halperin define
parody
as “The
deliberate
mocking
of a
serious composition by imitating its style or tone” (140). Though such
mockery can seem made at the expense of the original text, Powell and Halperin
remind us that “these parodies often come out of respect for the original” (140).
Parody, as Maureen McMahon explains, “involves an in-depth study of a writer’s
style . . . [thus] it is a useful way to familiarize students with literary devices” (72).
Further Reading
McMahon, Maureen. “Are
We Having Fun Yet? Humor in the English Class.” English
Journal 88.4 (March 1999): 70-72.
Powell, Joseph, and Mark Halperin.
Accent on Meter:
A Handbook for Readers of Poetry. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 2004.
|
| Student Objectives |
Students will
- read and analyze poems and their parodies.
- explore the techniques of parodies.
- imitate a published poem to write their own parodies.
- reflect on the connections between original poems and their parodies.
|
| Instructional Plan |
Resources
Preparation
- Choose a set of poems from the list above to explore with your class, checking
the poems to ensure that they are appropriate for your students. Additional
literary
parodies
are available in Poetry
for Cats: The Definitive Anthology of Distinguished Feline Verse by Howard
Beard (Villard, 1994), and in Pitiless Parodies and Other Outrageous Verse by
Frank Jacobs (Dover Books, 1994).
- Make copies or overhead transparencies of the poems that you have chosen
so that students will be able to see the text of the poems as you discuss them.
- If desired, make copies of the transcript of the Guy
Noir Episode from November 30, 2002.
- Make copies or an overhead transparency of the “This Is Just To
Say” Parody
Form, or create a form for the poem that you have chosen.
- Make copies or an overhead transparency of the Literary Parodies Assessment checklists. Alternately, you might copy the checklists to chart paper,
or design your own checklists based on criteria that the class identifies
during the sessions.
- Test the Two-Circle
Venn Diagram Interactive or Three-Circle
Venn Diagram Interactive on
your computers to familiarize yourself with the tools and ensure that you have
the Flash plug-in installed. You can download the plug-in
from the technical support page.
Instruction and Activities
Session One
- Pass out or display “This
is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams or the first of the
poems that you have chosen (e.g., the original rather than the parody).
- Read the poem aloud to the class.
- Ask students what stands out to them about
the poem. Ask them what they remember, feel, question, and see when they read
and hear the poem. Stress that there are no wrong answers.
- Ask students to share personal experiences, emotions, and beliefs that influenced
their reaction. Ask students if the poem recalls memories and how it connects
to their own attitudes or perceptions.
- Note the key ideas that students share on the board or on chart paper.
- Ask students to point to specific words and lines in the poem that triggered
their reactions. Work to shift students’ attention to the details and
features of the poem by asking them what word, phrase, image, or idea was
important to their reactions.
- Continue to note the key ideas that students share on the board or on chart
paper.
- If students have not mentioned any of the poetic elements of the poem as
they have responded, turn their attention to these features now. Ask students
to point out the features that they notice.
- Once students have identified the key characteristics of the poem, pass out
or display “Variations
on a Theme by William Carlos Williams” by Kenneth Koch or the parody
for the poem that you’ve chosen.
- Explain that the second poem is a parody: a text that deliberately
mocks (or makes fun of)
a
serious composition by imitating its style or tone.
- If students are familiar with the literary genre, explain that parody is
a technique of satire.
- Read the poem aloud to the class, and invite students to respond freely
for a few minutes.
- Ask students how the parody compares to the original poem, noting their comments
on the board or on chart paper.
- Ask students to point to specific words and lines in the poem that support
their comparisons.
- Once you have compiled a list of features for the parody, display the Two-Circle
Venn Diagram Interactive (or the Three-Circle
Venn Diagram Interactive if you are comparing 3 poems), labeling one circle
for William Carlos Williams and the other for Kenneth Koch (or for the poets
you have chosen).
- Using the characteristics gathered as the class talked about the two poems,
fill out the Venn Diagram. This process will quickly demonstrate how the parody
relates to the original poem and help students identify what makes the parody
successful.
- With the Venn complete, ask students to draw conclusions about how the poem
imitates and makes fun of the original poem. Encourage the class to work toward
their own definition of parody.
- For homework, ask students to read or play the
archived Guy
Noir Episode from November 30, 2002, which parodies Williams’ poetry.
Session Two
- If desired, play the audio version of the Guy
Noir Episode for the class.
- Ask students to discuss
how the episode parodies Williams’ poetry—as well as the film
noir genre.
- Compare the observations to the lists of characteristics for the poems considered
during the previous session. Ask students to explore how the Prairie Home
Companion parody different from Koch’s parody.
- Once you’re certain that students understand the technique of parody,
ask them to write their own parodies of Williams’ poem.
- Pass out copies of the “This Is Just To Say” Parody
Form or
a form for the poems you’ve chosen for the class.
- Explain that students can change the verb and other words as necessary to
match the meaning of their poem (e.g., changing “which” to “that”).
- Pass
out copies of the Parody Poem Writing Checklist from Literary Parodies
Assessment reproducible, or display the checklist using an overhead projector.
Alternately, you can point to the criteria that students identified in the
previous session.
- Discuss the criteria for the parody poems.
- As a class, brainstorm sample first lines.
- Choose one of the lines, and as a class, compose a parody, to demonstrate
the process.
- Once you’re sure that students understand the activity, give students
5 to 10 minutes to write a first draft of their own parody poems.
- Circulate among students as they work, providing support and feedback.
- Arrange students in small groups, and have students exchange poems so
that every group member has a parody other than their own.
- Have students read through the parodies silently, to prepare to
read the poems aloud to the group.
- Once all group members are ready, have students read the parodies, one
by one, to the group. After each reading, ask students to pause and compare
the parody to the criteria on the checklist. Encourage students to offer
constructive feedback for each writer.
- Once students have worked through the poems of all group members, have
them work on revisions and creating a final draft of their poems. Encourage
group members to share changes and ask questions as they work.
- With 5–10
minutes left in class, ask student volunteers to share their parodies with
the whole class.
- Collect the parody poems for evaluation based on Parody Poem Writing Checklist.
Alternately, if students need additional time to create their polished
poems, allow them to work on their parodies for homework and prepare a draft
to submit
at the beginning of the next class.
Extensions
Web Resources
- Guy Noir Episode from November 30, 2002
http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/programs/20021130/noir.shtml
- In this Prairie Home Companion episode, private eye Guy Noir investigates
a poetic catastrophe with the help of the 2002 Poet Laureate of the United
States, Billy Collins, who shares parodies of Williams’s “This
Is Just to Say.” Both transcript and audio versions of the show are available.
- Raymond
Chandler’s Hamlet
http://www.magicdragon.com/EmeraldCity/Mystery/Chandler-Hamlet.html
- This short short story borrows its plot from Shakespeare’s Hamlet and
its style from the mystery novels of Raymond Chandler.
- Grendel’s Dog: A Fragment from Beocat
http://homepage.mac.com/mseffie/assignments/beowulf/beocat.html
- This parody of the English epic poem Beowulf is taken from
Henry Beard’s Poetry for Cats. The poem is attributed to “the Old
English Epic’s Unknown Author’s Cat.”
- William
Carlos Williams Birthday (September 17 Calendar Entry)
http://www.readwritethink.org/calendar/calendar_day.asp?id=597
- Access additional resources on Williams and his poetry from this ReadWriteThink
calendar entry.
|
| Student Assessment/Reflections |
As students discuss poems and their parodies, listen for
comments that indicate that students understand the style and other characteristics
of the poet who is being parodied. Provide supportive feedback for observations
that show students are making connections between the poet’s style and their
own writing. If desired, use the Discussion Checklist from the Literary Parodies
Assessment reproducible for more structured feedback on class discussion.
Informal feedback from student groups, as they read one another’s parodies,
provides students with the reactions of an audience of readers. For formal
assessment and peer review,
use the Parody Poem Writing Checklist from Literary Parodies Assessment reproducible.
After writing and class discussion about the poet’s style, ask students
to reflect on their exploration in their journals.
To help students get started, ask them to write on the following questions:
- What did you notice about the way that the poet (William Carlos Williams,
or the poet whom you chose for the lesson) uses language and the reasons for
the
poet’s choices?
- How did the parody’s style relate to the style of the original poem?
- What surprised you the most about the poet’s and the parodist’s language choices, and why?
Read the pieces and comment on the self-reflections,
noting important observations that students make and asking provoking questions
where they need to think more deeply.
|
2 - Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.
3 - Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
6 - Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
11 - Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
12 - Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
|
|
|
