Francisco Castro

November 27, 2012

Engl 112B

Dr. Warner

Poetry and the Theme of Death

Benjamin Franklin once said �The only things certain in life are death and taxes�. Taxes probably wouldn�t make much of a theme for a series of stories, however death certainly does. Death is a universal theme because every person will at some point experience a death, whether it�s their own, a family member, friend, or pet. Death is something many people dread to experience.

Poetry is also something many people dread to experience. For many people�s experiences, learning about poetry was boring and uneventful. This is usually because poetry is often times taught as a unit rather than as a complimentary to a novel, as stated in Literature for Today�s Young Adults. So with this unit dealing with poetry and the theme of death, there should be a novel to read that compliments those two aspects.

The center piece that I have chosen is two poems written by Emily Dickinson. To be more specific, the poems that will be taught include Because I could not stop for death and I heard a fly buzz when I died. These as well as other poems will give an exposure of poetry to students. If the students are gradually exposed to poetry little by little, they will be more likely to like poetry. By introducing poetry early on at the start of the school year and helping students learn how to read and understand poetry, it allows the teacher to slowly introduce new poetry throughout the year rather than as a unit. This would help students become more enthusiastic to learn and study poetry.

Launching the Unit:

Not required but as a recommendation, I would start off this unit around early October and into November. This is because death and Halloween are usually related to one another.

1) Starting the unit off around Halloween will be able to expose the class to a Halloween poem. There are many poems online that one can choose from. I selected a user-submitted poem titled The Darkness by M. Sullivan. This poem contains a lot of imagery and little metaphors, which allows students to see a poem without having to think about abstract meanings.

2) Next, I would introduce the theme of death by doing something similar to an SSW. The prompt would be to:

A. Write about your experiences with death. What do you think about death? Do you think it should be celebrated? Mourned?

3) Next we would discuss the novel that we would be reading for the unit on death. I have chosen We Were Here by Matt De La Pena because it�s a story about a boy, who has killed his brother and learns how to deal with the death throughout the book. Other suggestions for a novel for this unit would The Diary of Anne Frank or Ordinary People by Judith Guest. Both of these novels deal with either facing possible death or coping with a death of a loved one.

4) Along with the novel, the students will be introduced to the center piece of the unit Emily Dickinson�s poems Because I could not stop for death and I heard a fly buzz when I died.

1. I heard a fly buzz when I died;

The stillness round my form

Was like the stillness in the air

Between the heaves of storm.

The eyes beside had wrung them dry,

And breaths were gathering sure

For that last onset, when the king

Be witnessed in his power.

I willed my keepsakes, signed away

What portion of me I

Could make assignable,-and then

There interposed a fly,

With blue, uncertain, stumbling buzz,

Between the light and me;

And then the windows failed, and then

I could not see to see.

2. Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

Or rather, he passed us;
The dews grew quivering and chill,
For only gossamer my gown,
My tippet only tulle.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.

I chose these two poems as the center piece for my unit because Emily Dickinson was fascinated with death. She gives great imagery and metaphors throughout her poems, including personifying death as a human being in Because I could not stop for death. To take the time with students to decipher the meanings in these poems, they will get a better understanding of how to read and understand a poem. Since I would take my time teaching each poem and not overexposing the students to poetry, it is quite possible that the students will slowly learn to develop an understanding and liking of poetry.

To close out the unit, I would expose the students to other titles dealing with poetry that I have put into the �Extending the unit� section. To end the unit, I would have students write their own poem dealing with death. It could be free verse and made up if the students wish. Then I would have students read them aloud in class. This is something similar to the 9/11 reader�s theatre we did in class.

Extending the Unit:

More poetry and novels to include in this unit could be:

A. The Diary of Anne Frank

-A diary entry of a young Jewish girl, faced with the possibility of being captured by the Nazis.

B. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

-The series of books about a young wizard, who learns about the death of his parents, as well as facing many encounters with death itself.

C. I Did Not Die by Mary Fry

-A poem about a person that has died and speaks to their mourner. The speaker says that they have lived on after death throughout nature in the snow and in the wind.

D. When Death Comes by Mary Oliver

- A poem written about how fast death can come and therefore, live each day to it�s fullest.

E. Ordinary People by Judith Guest

- A story about a boy, named Conrad, who loses his brother in boating accident. The story tells of how each family member copes with the death.

F. Death Poem by Alysia Harris

-A poem about love after death.

Work Cited

"Emily Dickinson: An Overview." Emily Dickinson: An Oerview. CUNY, Feb. 2009. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/dickinson.html>.

Frank, Anne. The Diary of Anne Frank. London: Pan, 1993. Print.

Fry, Mary. "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep." Poet Seers. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. <http://www.poetseers.org/poem-of-the-day-archive/do-not-stand-at-my-grave-and-weep/>.

Nilsen, Alleen Pace. Literature for Today's Young Adults. Chapter 5. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print.

Oliver, Mary. "When Death Comes." Poet Seers. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. <http://www.poetseers.org/contemporary-poets/mary-oliver/mary-oliver-poems/when-death-comes/>.

Peña, Matt De La. We Were Here. New York: Delacorte, 2009. Print.

Warner, Mary L. Adolescents in the Search for Meaning: Tapping the Powerful Resource of Story. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2006. Print.