Students’ age range: 12-14

Topic: Literature Poetry - Night of the Scorpion by Nissim Ezekiel

 

Description: 4. Development:Teacher Identifies the criteria for analyzing a poem at BJC level. You must always keep in mind An awareness or appreciation of: Content, Language, Style, Tone, Structure 5. Teacher Instructs students to read the poem night of the scorpion. First line by line. Secondly sentence by sentence following stanza by stanza. 6. Teacher -In 4 groups students are instructed to find the figurative devices used. Indicate and quote the line. (Personification, Simile, Metaphor, Alliteration, Onomatopoeia) 7. Student find indicate and quote the line (written). 8. Teacher instructs 3 groups student to locate from computer/ internet brief information on Hindu belief of reincarnation and discusses religions in the Bahamas and superstitions of Bahamians.. Students Each group report their findings. 10. Teacher Instruct students to watch power point which gives information on the poet and analyses the poem almost line by line. 11. Students at this time will be able to see if their group predictions and quotes were correct. 12. Teacher instructs student to complete the Compass Point (Active Learning Strategy) the poet has made use of various types of imagery: Visual imagery • scorpion crawling beneath a sack of rice • peasants came like swarms of flies Smell imagery • smell of candles • smell of burning oil in the lanterns Tactile experience • scorpion biting the mother • father pouring paraffin on the toe. Internal sensation • fear • pain Sound imagery • buzzed the name of god a hundred times • they clicked their tongues 13. Student Excitement – I can detect the images created by the poet to bring the characters in the poem to life. I can identify figurative language used in poetry. Needs – Need to be clear on what imagery is and the different types of figurative language used in poetry. Stance/Steps – Research the use of imagery and figurative language in poetry in order to analyze the poem. Worries - Not being able to identify the images and figurative language used in the poem. Development Days 2 go to three if needed 3 14. Teacher Instructs students to now arrange themselves into a Fish Bowl (Active Learning Strategy) to discuss the full analysis of a poem. Content - Subject matter of the poem or what it is about; • Also includes the message of the poem and its tone. (The poem is about the night when a woman (the poet's mother) in a poor village in India is stung by a scorpion. Concerned neighbours pour into her hut to offer advice and help. All sorts of cures are tried by the neighbours, her husband and the local holy man, but time proves to be the best healer - 'After twenty hours / it lost its sting.') Language • The poet’s choice of vocabulary; • Must comment on choice of words and how effective they are. (The poem is written in first person, should be able to pick out clue words that awake diction) Style • How the poet chooses to write; • The devices that they use. (The poem is written in first person, using lots of figurative language) Tone • The mood or voice of the poem; • How it conveys a certain atmosphere. Students should be able to give. (The poem is written in two major sections the first the mood is anxious, hectic, chaotic frightening etc. for the mother the son the pheasants and the father The second and and final section the mood shifts displaying the mothers relief, selflessness, and love for her children)
Structure •?The division of the poem into stanzas; •?Rhyme scheme •?Rhythm •?Punctuation Students should be able to give. (The poem is written in two stanzas the first very long. The second shot just three lines. The poet uses enjambment and repetition to create a mood of chanting. The poem is a free verse it has no rhyme but it does have rhythm because of the constant use of alliteration.