Lesson 4
“Hanging Fire”
2. Diction
~”This Is Just To Say”
HW: Write your own “This Is Just To Say” poem.
1.
OBJECTIVE: Students will identify audience and
analyze word choice appropriateness for said
audience.
“Hanging Fire”

Discuss the Message and Evidence
◦ “Hanging Fire,” a poem by Audre Lorde, is
about a teenager’s anxiety about growing up
and feelings of abandonment.
 In each of the stanzas, the speaker’s anxiety always
comes back to the sad refrain that her mother is in
the “bedroom with the door closed.”
 The narrator worries that her mother will not be
there for her for problems as minor as her “ashy”
knees and as major as whether she will “die before
morning comes.”

Collect homework
Think of a time you have apologized
What did you do?
 To whom did you apologize?
 How did you apologize?
 Did you mean it?

I’m Sorry





The Apology Project
Apologia Exhibit
The Apology Board
The Apology Line
Seinfeld "The
Apology"
“This is Just to Say”
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

This American Life – link to a reading of
“This Is Just to Say” as well as examples
of original poems modeled after “This is
Just to Say”

Original Text

Word Choice Matters
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
I have digested
the drupes
that were in
the refrigerator
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
and which
you were most likely
reserving
for the first meal of the day
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
Exempt me
they were toothsome
so sugary
and so frosty
Another Example Of An Apology Poem
A baby drama mama, don't like me
She doing things like havin her boys come from her neighborhood
To the studio tryin to fight me
She need to get a, piece of the american pie and take her bite out
That's my house, I disconnect the cable and turn the lights out
And let her know her grandchild is a baby, and not a paycheck
Private schools, daycare, medical bills, I'll pay that
I love your mom and everything, see I aint the one who laid down
She wanna rip you up, start a custody war, my lawyer stay down
She never got a chance to hear my side of the story we was divided
She had fifths out, cookouts, on my child's birthday I aint invited
Despite it, show her the utmost respect when I fall through
All you, do is defend that lady when I call you, yeah
I'm sorry Ms. Jackson [OOOH]
I am for real
Never meant to make your daughter cry
I apologize a trillion times
I'm sorry Ms. Jackson [OOOH]
I am for real
Never meant to make your daughter cry
I apologize a trillion times
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYxAiK6VnXw
Your Turn



Write your own Apology Poem
Then adapt your poem by substituting weak
and awkward words for the original words.
Follow these rules:
◦ work on replacing individual words, not full lines
◦ keep the poetic structure intact (same line
breaks, stanzas, etc.)
◦ if the poem has a rhyme scheme, try to keep it
I have dried
the shirt
made of 100% cotton
that was on your floor
I have dehydrated
the blouse
made of 100% filament
that was on your floor
and which
you were probably
planning
to air dry
and which
you were plausibly
scheduling
to air dry
Forgive me
if you had sorted
your own laundry
it would not be
so short
and so small
Absolve me
if you had arranged
your own washables
it would not be
so diminutive
and so miniscule