GRADE 12 (ELA) EXEMPLAR LESSON – Teacher Copy Quarter 3, Week 27-28: 03/04/13 – 03/15/13
Learning ObjectivesThe goal of this exemplar lesson is to give secondary students an opportunity to explore targeted passages of complex texts. Students will, through student and teacher reading and scaffolded discussion of text-dependent questions, recognize elements of Romantic poetry, as exemplified by Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias,” and John Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn”. Vocabulary is learned from context and writing aids deeper understanding of text. The lesson culminates in an evidentiary writing activity. Teachers may need to further scaffold the activities to address individual students’ needs depending on the intent of the lesson and specific learners’ needs.
Rationale: This lesson compares the poems of two Romantic poets: Ozymandias, by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), and Ode on a Grecian Urn, by John Keats (1795-1821). The two-week lesson will serve as an Exemplar Lesson for Quarter 3, Grade 12, British Literature. Through close study of the poems and examination of the language and literary devices, as well as interpretation of meaning, students will be able to identify two or more versions of the concept of immortality. Students will engage in close, analytic reading to trace elements of the implications of immortality and how these implications are enhanced through the artful use of poetic devices.
Text Title(s): “ Ozymandias,” by Percy Bysshe Shelley, p. 848, and “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” p. 866, by John KeatsGenre/Text Structure: : Literary Fiction & Nonfiction – Poetry
Targeted Text Selection –
Pages 848 and 866
Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
RL.11-12: 1-10; W.11-12: 1-6 ] LS. 11-12
http://www.corestandards.org
Lesson Sequence
PERFORMANCE TASK /CULIMINATING INDEPENDENT WRITING ASSESSMENT:
· Write a well-supported two-page expository essay in which you identify the views of immortality expressed by Shelley in “Ozymandias” and by Keats in “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” discussing how poetic devices and use of language contribute to their predominant themes.
GUIDING QUESTION(S):
· Ozymandias and “Ode on a Grecian Urn” may be played and/or read silently. Students will also independently read pages 848 and 867;
· Returning to the text, the teacher asks students a small set of guiding questions about the first poem. The targeted text should be in front of the students as they engage in their discussions
· What is the visual image that the poem evokes? If you were the set designer for this scene, what would it contain?
· In what way does the poet comment on immortality?
· Rereading is embedded in the text-dependent questions and the activities that follow.
· In groups or with a partner, identify the rhyme scheme and meter of the poem
· Graphic organizers or reader response journals serve as a means to organize thoughts for prewriting activities.
· Respond in writing.
· Repeat this sequence for “Ode on a Grecian Urn”
Targeted Text : “Ozymandias”
Lesson Sequence / Vocabulary / Teacher Activities and Techniques
Text-Dependent Questions
Ozymandias
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away. / Ozymandias=a Greek name for the Egyptian
pharaoh Ramses II, who reigned
from 1279 to 1213 B.C.
trunkless legs: legs separated from
the rest of the body
visage= face
sneer= a facial expression of scorn or hostility in which the upper lip may be raised
The expression lasts longer than the sculptor whose hand mocked those
passions and the king whose heart
fed those passions. / Activity 1:
· What is the visual image that the poem evokes? If you were the set designer for this scene, what would it contain?
· Create a picture or a collage representing the scene that the poet describes.
Possible answer: The massive head lies on the ground beside the body of the pharaoh. The face is still locked into an impervious frown.
Activity 2:
· In pairs or groups, make notes from the text which support the answer to this question:
In what way does the poet comment on immortality?
Be prepared to present your conclusions.
Possible answer: The enormous stone figure is in ruins. There is nothing but barren wasteland surrounding it, yet its inscription reads, “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
· Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” Even the most powerful kings are not immortal
Activity 3:
· In groups or with a partner, write a rubric for the following activity, with scores ranging from 1 through 4 (1 being the lowest score). Write descriptions for each numerical score.
.
· In groups or with a partner, identify the rhyme scheme and meter of the poem. Are there exceptions in rhyme, and/or meter? What is the effect of the exceptions?
Possible Answer: The poem is written in fairly regular iambic pentameter. The exceptions in the meter add emphasis:
Stand in the desert
Look on my works
Nothing beside remains
The rhyme scheme a,b,a,b, is consistent throughout
“Ode on a
Grecian Urn”
Thou still unravish’d bride of quietness,
Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fring’d legend haunts about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
What men or gods are these? What maidens loath?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?
Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;
Bold lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal—yet, do not grieve;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair! e
Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed
Your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu;
And, happy melodist, unweariéd,
For ever piping songs for ever new;
More happy love! more happy, happy love!
For ever warm and still to be enjoyed,
For ever panting, and for ever young;
All breathing human passion far above,
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy’d,
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.
Who are these coming to the sacrifice?
To what green altar, O mysterious priest,
Lead’st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,
And all her silken flanks with garlands drest? f
What little town by river or sea shore,
Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,
Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn?
And, little town, thy streets for evermore
Will silent be; and not a soul to tell
Why thou art desolate, can e’er return.
O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say’st,
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,”—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. / Unravished -Untouched
haunts about: surrounds.
Sylvan: pertaining to trees or woods
Tempe. . . Arcady:
two places in Greece that
became traditional literary settings
for an idealized rustic life.
Tempe is a beautiful valley; Arcady (Arcadia)
is a mountainous region.
loath: unwilling; reluctant.
pipe-play the flute
timbrels: tambourines.
Ditties of no tone-songs without melody
cloy’d: having had too much
of something; oversatisfied.
Citadel-castle, place of refuge
Attic: pure and classical; in the
style of Attica, the part of Greece
where Athens is located;
brede-
interwoven (braided) design.
Pastoral -an artistic work that portrays rural life in an idealized way. / Activity 4:
Close Read: Divide class into 5 groups. Each group does close reading of one stanza of the poem. The group must analyze vocabulary and language choice, figures of speech, classical allusions, content meaning, rhyme scheme and meter (rhythm). Each group will translate their stanza into modern English, and present their conclusions to the full group.
Ode: A classical Greek lyrical verse in three parts- strophe, antistrophe, and epode, sung or spoken in tribute to a person or thing.
Possible Answers: Rhyme scheme: ababcdedce; ababcdeced,
ababcdecde, ababcdecde, ababcdedce
Stanza 1 opens with the strophe, a tribute to the pastoral life depicted on the urn. The pristine bride and attendants, pursued vehemently by men and gods, to the music of minstrels and pipers(flutists), and the entire scene on the urn surrounded by a decoration of leaves and flowers.
Stanza 2, the antistrophe, compares real tunes to imagined ones, and concludes that “those unheard are sweeter”. The poet comments that the musicians in the scene can never leave their song, the leaves on the trees will never fall, the nearly successful lover will never kiss his bride, yet he should not grieve, because he will always love her, and she will always be beautiful.
Stanza 3 continues the antistrophe. The trees will always be fresh and green, the young lovers will never have to say goodbye to spring, the piper will never get tired, his songs will always be new, and love will be always fresh and expectant. In contrast, true human passion outside the urn leaves the heart sad and sated, with a fever and a thirst.
Stanza 4 further extends the antistrophe. The poet describes another scene on the urn, in which a priest leads a calf decorated with garlands to the altar to be sacrificed. Townspeople follow to the sacrifice. The little town and its castle beside a river or a seashore, are empty and silent forever; the pictured folks will never return.
Stanza 5 is the Epode. Here, the poet returns to praise the beautiful, decorated urn, with a braid of marble men and maidens, branches and grasses. He says the urn, like eternity, takes us away from our daily concerns; when his generation is old, the urn and its pastoral scene will remain, “a friend to man”, and reminding us that “Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” the only thing we mortals know, and the only thing we need to know.
Activity 5:
Shelly and Keats are both commenting on aspects of immortality. Consider the relationship between humans and works of art. Identify the aspect of immortality in each poem, making reference to specific lines and language. Take notes and be ready to share them with the class.
Formative Assessment/ Rubrics / Activity 3, above. Students create the rubric, prior to the assignment.
Evidentiary Writing Assignment / PERFORMANCE TASK /CULIMINATING INDEPENDENT WRITING ASSESSMENT:
Write a well-supported two-page expository essay in which you identify the views of immortality expressed by Shelley in “Ozymandias” and by Keats in “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” discussing how poetic devices and use of language contribute to their predominant themes.
Extension Activities/Further Resources
Interdisciplinary Connections, if applicable
Greek Mythology
Romanticism/English Romantic Poets / Technology:
www.discoveryeducation.com – (see links embedded in pacing guide)
www.classzone.com
Graphic Organizers at www.classzone.com
English Language Learner (ELL) Resources and Strategies
Build Background/Media Connections
Academic Vocabulary
Rhyme Scheme/Rhythm/Meter
Vocabulary: Related Vocabulary
Writing Task/Views of Immortality
Citation (APA)
Funk & Wagnalls, (2005). Immortality. [Encyclopedia Article]. Available from http://www.discoveryeducation.com/ / Have students watch the video segment from Discovery Education titled Ramses: Great Builder at: http://app.discoveryeducation.com/player/view/assetGuid/349F77C6-D1EE-4B7A-840E-C19E863B19DD. Discuss why Ramses II was considered one of the greatest pharaohs of Egypt. Encourage students to describe the statues and temples that still leave an imprint on Egypt today.
Explain the following literary terms using examples from the poem ‘Ozymandias’.
rhythm: pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry
meter: repetition of a regular rhythmic unit in poetry
foot: each unit of meter; consists of a combination of stressed and unstressed
rhyme: word pair or set whose accented vowel sounds are identical
rhyme scheme: a pattern of end rhyme in a poem
Complete Literature 20, Lesson 20 Rhythm and Meter Practice Worksheet A found in McDougal Littell Easy Planner use it to analyze the effects of rhythm and meter in a poem. Help students answer these two questions about poem ‘Ozymandias’:
1. How does the meter affect the rhythm of the poem?
2. How does the meter affect the mood of the poem?
Discuss these categories and terms with your ESOL students from the poem ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’. Use McDougal Littell Transparency E19 - Definition Mapping to analyze what they know about each key concept before reading and then, have the students take notes during reading.
· sacrifice (line 31), “an offering made to a god”;
· altar (line 32), “a raised area where religious ceremonies are performed”;
· priest (line 32), “religious holy person”;
· garlands (line 34), “chains of flowers”;
· pious (line 37), “devoutly religious.”
Help students analyze the following definition of Immortality. Ask them to write a paragraph explaining what Immortality means to them.
· IMMORTALITY, unending existence of the soul after physical death. The doctrine of immortality is common to many religions; in different cultures, however, it takes various forms, ranging from ultimate extinction of the soul to its final survival and the resurrection of the body. In Hinduism, the ultimate personal goal is considered absorption into the “universal spirit.” Buddhist doctrine promises nirvana, the state of complete bliss achieved through total extinction of the personality. In the religion of ancient Egypt, entrance to immortal life was dependent on the results of divine examination of the merits of an individual's life. Early Greek religion promised a shadowy continuation of life on earth in an underground region known as Hades. In Christianity and Islam, as well as in Judaism, the immortality promised is primarily of the spirit. The former two religions both differ from Judaism in holding that after the resurrection of the body and a general judgment of the entire human race, the body is to be reunited with the spirit to experience either reward or punishment. In Jewish eschatology, the resurrection of the soul will take place at the advent of the Messiah, although the reunion of body and spirit will endure only for the messianic age, when the spirit will return to heaven.
Student Copy