Social Justice and
Figurative Language in
Latino Literature
Latino Identity in New York
Brence Pernell
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Unit Overview
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Unit focus on analyzing poetry through the lens of Latino poets
Particular focus on rebellion, revolution, or general reaction to indentified social
injustice or negative issue.
Selected literary works will include those by authors Pedro Pietri, Reinaldo
Arenas, Julia Alvarez, and Rhina Espaillait.
Final Assessment: 5-paragraph expository essay
– Prompt: What issues of social justice do 20th century Latin American poetry
address in their poetry? You must discuss at least three different authors. Be sure
to also discuss the various types of figurative language these authors used to
convey their message on a theme of social injustice.
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Corresponding Standards – Massachusetts
Reading Poetry - 14.5-poetry
ELL Benchmark-R.4
Identify, respond to, and analyze the effect of sound, form, figurative language, graphics, and dramatic structure of poems:
Sound (alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhyme scheme, consonance, assonance); Form (ballad, sonnet, heroic couplets);
Figurative language (personification, metaphor, simile, hyperbole, symbolism); And dramatic structure.
Writing Poetry -19.25-Writing
ELL Benchmark-W.4
Write poems using a range of poetic techniques, forms (sonnet, ballad), and figurative language.
Unit Sample Lesson
Objectives – SWBAT:
• Identify examples of personification,
metaphor, and simile in given poetic works.
(Classswork)
• Construct at least one written example of
personification, a metaphor, and a simile on a
selected theme of injustice.
Lesson Walkthrough
Agenda:
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Do Now: Poem General Analysis (Mercado’s Going to Work) and Figurative
Language “Survey” – What do students already know?
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Development: (Intro, Motivation/Essential Question, and Do-Now Whole-Class
Review)
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Mini-Lecture: Figurative Language Review and Modeling/Practice (Identifying
figurative language in Mercado’s Going to Work).
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Medial Summary: Check for Understanding
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Independent Practice and Whole-Class Review: Differentiation Ideas
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Lesson Closure: Summary, HW Intro, and Exit Ticket
Examples of Figurative Language
-Review NotesMetaphor
Figure of speech
in which a
comparison is
made between
two unlike things
that actually
have something
in common.
Frida Kahlo was a prolific Mexican-American
artist. What is a metaphor presented in this
image?
Examples of Figurative Language
-Review NotesSimile
Figure of speech in
which “like” or
“as” is used to
make a
comparison is
made between
two unlike things
that actually have
something in
common.
Describe this image using a simile.
Examples of Figurative Language
-Review NotesPersonification
Giving human
traits (qualities,
feelings, action, or
characteristics) to
non-living objects
(e.g., animals,
things, buildings)
What is being personified in this image?
Pedro Pietri: Puerto Rican Obituary
Lesson Walkthrough
Agenda:
•
Do Now: Poem General Analysis (Mercado’s Going to Work) and Figurative
Language “Survey” – What do students already know?
•
Development: (Intro, Motivation/Essential Question, and Do-Now Whole-Class
Review)
•
Mini-Lecture: Figurative Language Review and Modeling/Practice (Identifying
figurative language in Mercado’s Going to Work).
•
Medial Summary: Check for Understanding
•
Independent Practice and Whole-Class Review: Differentiation Ideas
•
Lesson Closure: Summary, HW Intro, and Exit Ticket
Differentiation, Technology, and/or
Potential Accommodations
Quizlet.com - This online tool might be used to allow students
to review literature, types and examples of figurative
language reviewed in class (e.g., metaphor, simile, Pedro
Pietri, etc.) before moving on to the challenge of identifying
examples in selected works.
Challenge “Row” – Students who find it simple to identify
figurative language might go on to explain how figurative
language adds to poem. By creating an “extra column row”
in their own notebooks, students might discuss the literal
meanings of the figurative language examples used (1-2
sentences) and the affect this use of figurative language
could have on the audience.
Citations
Pedro Pietri Biography. The Latino Poetry Community, 2011. Web. 29 July. 2011.
<http://www.latinopoetrycommunity.org/pedro-pietri-biography.php> Copyright 2011
Poems. Voices e/Magazine letras. Hunter College, 2011. Web. 29 July. 2011. Copyright 2010Web.
<http://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/voices/letras/nancy-mercadosbio>
Rhina P. Espaillait. Poems and Poets. The Poetry Foundation, 2011. Web. 29 July. 2011.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/rhina-p-espaillat
The Little Deer. Frida Kahlo: The Complete Works. The Frida Kahlo Foundationm, 2011. Web. 29 July. 2011.
<http://www.frida-kahlo-foundation.org/The-Little-Deer.html>