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| Overview |
 In these contemporary times, our lives are often driven by lists—to-do
lists, shopping lists, wish lists. In this activity, students use that structure
to write powerful poetry, modeled after Raymond Carver’s poem “Fear.” Working in small groups, students write a catalog poem based on such human emotions as anger, guilt, and happiness. These poems,
stripped down in the most minimalist fashion, allow students to concentrate on
important aspects of poetry, including word choice, phrasing and rhythm as well
as the all-important “heart” of
the poem.
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| From Theory to Practice |
Through their reading of Carver’s
work, students ultimately understand the true spirit of poetry. Carver
wrote, “Every poem is an act
of love, and faith” (McCaffery and Gregory 72), and any lover of poetry
would agree. But adolescents aren’t typically lovers of poetry, and often
they see the structure and substance of poetry as enigmatic and incomprehensible—and
not very interesting. Which . . . is just how Raymond Carver felt.
Rilke is quoted as saying, “Poetry is experience.” That’s partly it. In any event, one always recognizes the real article from the trumped-up ersatz product which is so often top-heavy with technique and intellection and struggling to “say” something. I’m tired of reading poems that are just well-made poems (qtd. in Stull, “Matters of Life and Death” 179).
Carver’s poetry offers readers something beyond the “well-made” poem.
His poetry often tells a story, and it treads the same fine line between truth
and imagination that one finds in his fiction. So too does it mimic Carver’s
fiction in its compression, its simplicity, and its precision. And always at
its center is the truth of human feeling, often expressed in quite mundane terms.
For these reasons, it’s poetry that students can readily read and comprehend.
When students understand, both on an intellectual and an emotional level, what
a poet is saying, they can respond to his poetry in a meaningful way.
(Excerpted and Adapted from Rubenstein
64-65)
Further Reading
Susanne Rubenstein. Raymond Carver in the Classroom: "A
Small, Good Thing." Urbana: NCTE, 2005.
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| Student Objectives |
Students will
- examine the design of the catalog/list poem.
- consider the characteristics of contemporary poetry.
- develop an awareness of the subtleties of language.
- learn to collaborate with others in creative efforts.
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| Instructional Plan |
Resources
Preparation
- Obtain copies of Raymond Carver’s poems “Fear,” which appears in his book All
of Us: The Collected Poems (NY: Vintage Contemporaries, 2000).
- Familiarize yourself with biographical information on Raymond Carver
in order to talk about the poem as a reflection of the poet’s life. Online
resources are listed in the Web Resources below. Also see
Chapter One “Where
Life and Art Intersect” in Raymond Carver in the Classroom “A Small, Good Thing” by
Susanne Rubenstein (NCTE, 2005).
- Make copies or overhead transparencies of the Checklist, Questions for Reflection, and the student-written catalog poems “Joy” and “Fear.”
- Test the ReadWriteThink
Printing Press on your computers to familiarize
yourself with the tool 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
- Begin by asking students why we make lists. Possible responses will likely
include the following: to remember things, to categorize things, to highlight
important things, to itemize or number—and to avoid having to write a
lot!
- Ask students to brainstorm types of lists (e.g., grocery lists, to-do
lists, wish lists, Christmas lists to Santa, class roster lists, homework
lists, mailing lists, waiting lists, guest lists, even David Letterman’s “Top
Ten” lists).
- Ask students to consider how we compose lists (i.e.,
by order of importance, chronologically, through linkage of ideas, etc.).
- Focus discussion on why the design of a list is such a contemporary
form. Students will likely note that ours is a fast-paced society, and
we’re
driven to shorten, speed up, and do everything quickly. (Note: Classes
who are studying the minimalist style of writing can make a strong connection
here.)
- Ask students to enumerate a class list of “human
emotions.” Record their responses on the board or on chart paper.
Encourage students to move beyond the most obvious (i.e., happiness,
sadness, fear, jealousy, etc.) toward some that are more complex (i.e.,
guilt, frustration, pride). Allow students to share comments about these
emotions as they are listed because this conversation will help to spur
ideas for the next part of the activity.
- When students have compiled a lengthy list, ask the class to choose
six to eight of the emotions. Write each of the emotions at the top of separate
piece of paper and circulate the papers around the room, asking students
to add their own more specific ideas to the list of emotions. If students
have trouble getting started, you can share some examples—Confusion about
growing up, pride in being class president, boredom with first period Spanish,
satisfaction with a hot fudge sundae.
- When the papers have finished
circulating, ask students to read each list aloud, and then let the class
pick the four or five (depending on the size of the class) lists they like
best to use in creating their group poems.
- Break the class into groups of four or five, and give each group a different
list.
- Ask each group to read through the material in the class-generated
lists and highlight those ideas they like. They should then come up with
additional lines and phrases that fit with the emotion.
- Tell students that
they will use this material in the next class session to collaborate on a
group poem.
Session Two
- In this second class session, introduce students to the design of the list/catalog
poem and give students the opportunity to write such poems.
- Begin by reading
Raymond Carver’s poem “Fear,” a list poem
in which the author enumerates the fears he confronts, among them, fear
of dogs and late night telephone calls, fear of poverty and of the police,
and ultimately fear of death.
- Ask students to point out their favorite lines
and discuss why these are their favorites.
- Guide students to recognize
that the cool, stripped-down structure of the poem is in sharp contrast to
the intense emotion it expresses.
- Ask students to reflect on why the poet
chose to list things in the order that he did, and help them focus on the
importance of word choice and on the use of phrasing in order to establish
a rhythm that makes the poem flow. Emphasize especially the ending, the line
that offers a “twist” which
breaks the pattern and the rhythm, and, in doing so, establishes the heart
of the poem.
- At this point, you may want to discuss aspects of Carver’s
life that inspired lines in the poem. This discussion can help students
reach into their own experience for powerful ideas to include in their own
poems.
- After
the discussion of “Fear,” ask students to return to the
groups they established in the previous class to begin creating their own
list poems based on the “emotion list” each group was working
with.
- Point out to students that although this writing might seem easy at
first, as easy as compiling a grocery list, they need to do two important
things:
- Decide on a plan, a rationale for the organization of the poem.
- Work hard
to choose just the right words because the poem is composed of so few
words.
- Offer as a model the poem “Joy,” written by a group of
students.
- Ask students to discuss its organization and word choice.
- Pass out copies of the Checklist, which outlines the vital features of a good list poem, and go over the characteristics as a group.
- Compare the items on the checklist to Carver’s “Fear” and the collaborative student poem “Joy.”
- Allow the rest of the session for groups to compose a first draft of their poems.
Session Three
- During this session, focus students’ attention on revision and rewriting,
leading to publication of the poems through class presentation.
- Ask students
to share the drafts of their list poem with another group. Each group
should offer positive feedback as well as suggestions for improvement. Comments
that encourage good revision should focus particularly on lines that are
confusing, words that could be more powerful or more precise, ideas that might
be added, and the relative strength of the ending.
- Ask each response group to
answer this question: “What is the essence of the poem?” In
considering the response, the writers should reflect on whether they have
communicated the message they intended to communicate.
- Using
the feedback from their classmates, ask each group to continue to revise
its poem.
- Remind students to return to the Checklist to verify that their final piece includes the specific features of a list poem.
- When final drafts are complete, ask students to write their poems on
poster paper. If time and/or inclination allow, students can also
illustrate their poems with artwork. Alternately, students can use the ReadWriteThink
Printing Press to publish their poems in brochure or booklet format.
- Have each group then presents its poem to
the class. The presentation includes an oral reading (this might include
a choral reading or a dramatic performance) as well as a short explanation
of “how
the poem came to be” in
terms of decisions the group made regarding organization, word
choice, and so forth.
- Finally, hang the poems in the classroom for other students
to enjoy!
Extensions
- Follow this lesson with Put That on the List: Independently Writing a Catalog Poem, which uses Carver’s poem “The Car” as the model for catalog poems students write individually.
- In another variation on the “emotion poem,” students can work alone or in groups to create a poem that focuses the emotion on a specific experience which evokes that emotion. Although this is somewhat harder to do, the writing is often very moving. A group of my students who loved skateboarding created a
poem on fear.
- Poetry deserves publication. Possible publishing options include:
- list poems displayed in the classroom with accompanying artwork.
- a class publication with all of the “possession poems” collected in a booklet, brochure
or binder. Read as a group, this collection can be seen as a commentary on the adolescent experience
in our times. Students can use the booklet format in the
ReadWriteThink
Printing Press if desired.
- submissions to print and on line publications that seek poetry.
- For a connection to popular culture, follow this lesson with the ReadWriteThink lesson plan You’re the Top! Pop Culture Then and Now.
- You can also introduce or extend this lesson by using picture books as models for additional poems. “Something
Beautiful: Reading Picture Books, Writing Poetry” by
Dean Schneider, from Book Links, April/May 2001 (v.10 no.5), provides
a book list of picture books using list poem format.
Web Resources
- Carver: The Raymond Carver Web Site
http://www.whitman.edu/english/carver/carver.cgi
- This site offers a wealth of information on Raymond Carver’s life and his writing.
- Audio Interviews with Raymond Carver
http://wiredforbooks.org/raymondcarver/
- In this 1983 interview with Don Swaim, Carver discusses his writing and his life, including his struggles with alcoholism.
- Carversite
http://www.carversite.com/
- This site provides a variety of resources related to Carver, including audio and video, samples of Carver's poems and short stories, a bibliography, and biographical information.
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| Student Assessment/Reflections |
If desired, grade the poem as a complete writing assignment, using the Checklist to guide your evaluation and feedback.
Students can also assess their own work and learning by completing a Reflection Sheet. Either pass out the sheet and ask students to choose four to five questions to respond to, or customize a sheet for your class, drawing from the options listed. Focus on asking questions that encourage writers to really think about their pieces and the processes that led to their creation. Each student can write a separate reflection sheet and then share their comments with other group members before all reflections are handed in to the teacher.
If the class agrees to share their poems with an outside reader(s), the teacher might ask two or three of his/her colleagues to read the class poems and decide which is their favorite.
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1 - Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
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).
4 - Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
5 - Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
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.
8 - Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
9 - Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.
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).
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