poetry in motion

I am currently having my 7th and 8th graders working on some of my favorite assignments for them in poetry. The seventh graders are entering the wonderful world of modern poetry through e. e. cummings, studying “next to of course god america i.” In groups they are coming up with arguments on the side that the poem is pro-America and pro-war and then the flip side, that it is anti-America and anti-war. The next step is a debate. They don’t know what side they are arguing til the day of. Last year it was one of the most memorable and engaging classes we had all year, which is much to the credit of the caliber of student I am privileged to teach. I’m excited for it again this year. My 8th graders just studied Langston Hughes’ “Theme for English B.” We talked about his life, how this poem is autobiographical, and what it means to define oneself. Today, they are actually dealing with that question on paper. Last year I got some amazing papers in terms of honesty, thoughtfulness, and fair dealing with the question. I have read some of this year’s answers already and am equally impressed. One irony is that some of the students are asking each other to help define themselves. Telling, I think. That most of these students are willing to deal thoughtfully with such a hard question in middle school is, to me, hope for the future. I hope they don’t lose the willingness to be introspective and honest, and I hope that other people challenge them to rise to what I know they are capable of.

e.e. cummings

"next to of course god america i
love you land of the pilgrims' and so forth oh
say can you see by the dawn's early my
country tis of centuries come and go
and are no more what of it we should worry
in every language even deafanddumb
thy sons acclaim your glorious name by gorry
by jingo by gee by gosh by gum
why talk of beauty what could be more beaut-
iful than these heroic happy dead
who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter
they did not stop to think they died instead
then shall the voice of liberty be mute?"

He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water


THEME FOR ENGLISH B

By Langston Hughes

The instructor said,
Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you---
Then, it will be true.
I wonder if it's that simple?
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
I went to school there, then Durham, then here
to this college on the hill above Harlem.
I am the only colored student in my class.
The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem
through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas,
Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y,
the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator
up to my room, sit down, and write this page:
It's not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I'm what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me---we two---you, me, talk on this page.
(I hear New York too.) Me---who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records---Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn't make me NOT like
the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?
Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white---
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
That's American.
Sometimes perhaps you don't want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that's true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me---
although you're older---and white---
and somewhat more free.

This is my page for English B.