POETRY and NON-Print text research project
Standard 2: The student will analyze and evaluate a variety of print, non-print and electronic texts, and other media
Indicator 2.1: The student will analyze & evaluate…poetry….
Objective 2.1.3: The student will analyze connections between and among themes, ideas, and/or styles of two or more texts
OBJECTIVE: Students will write a 3-4 page research paper examining how the poetry and art work of a given country
demonstrates the cultural elements of that country, such as Africa, Dominican Republic, Greece, Germany, or India.
The poet may be from one of those countries or the poetry may be about one of those countries from an outside
author. The poetry and non-print text will be examined to reflect the cultural elements that are demonstrated in each
work.
Task 1:
Select the country (any country in Africa: such as Nigeria, Dominican Republic, India,
Germany/countries taken over by Germany during WWII, or Greece).
Task 2:
Find a source of info about that country and its culture (World Book on the school databases is a good
place)
Task 3:
Find two poems and one non-print text (pictures, art work) from an author who is either FROM your
chosen country or who writes about your chosen country.
Task 4:
Copy and paste the two poems and an image of the art work into Microsoft Word, and save it to the
Adelman folder in the shared drive or email it to me at asingle@bcps.org if you’re working at home
Task 5:
Analyze how these 3 works demonstrate cultural elements from your chosen country.
Task 6:
Turn this into an essay that meets the following requirements:
Paper length: 3-4 pages (Works Cited counts as a page)
MLA Requirements: 12-point, Times New Roman font, double-spaced, proper heading, proper header with last name
and page number
Research Requirements: Minimums – 4 sources, 4 notes per source, and at least 8 in-text citations in the finished paper
(wikipedia is okay to find poets , but not as a source)
World Book on the BCPS database:
http://www.worldbookonline.com/student/home
Using it at home? Username and password is on a page on the wiki.
Culture Grams on the BCPS database may also help
http://online.culturegrams.com/index.php?login=130&orgid=1785
Site that shares a list of poets from Germany:
http://www.germanforspalding.org/id56.html
You’re just using the list for possible authors to then search for poems
Site that lists poets of WWII (make sure they are NOT American before you begin):
http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2nd_WW.html
Site that links to some Hispanic poets:
http://www.latina.com/entertainment/buzz/national-poetry-month-latino-poets
Site that links to some African poets/poetry:
http://www.poetropical.co.uk/africa.htm
Suggested Nigerian Poets:
Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Christopher Okigbo, Gabriel Okara, Mamman Jiya Vatsa, J.P. Clark, Niyi
Osundare, Tubal Rabbi Cain, Chris Abani, Toyin Adewale-Gabriel, Nnorom Azuonye, Amatoritsero Ede
Wikipedia links to Greek poets:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_modern_Greek_poets
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ancient_Greek_poets
Site that links to some Italian poets:
http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Italian/FiveItalianPoets.htm
Site that links to some French poets:
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/country/France/French_poets.html
Links to find artwork:
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/
http://worldpaintings.tumblr.com/
http://www.oldworldprintsltd.com/
Research work:
1. Pick a country
2. Find some general info about it.
3. Find two poems from that country or about that country
4. Find an image: photo/painting/sculpture from that country or about that country
Dress, food, traditions, dance, art, etc.
5. Take their web addresses and put them into easybib.com to create citations.
Write these down OR copy & paste them into a word document you can save.
6. For the general info about the country, take at least four notes from it, focusing on their culture.
7. For the image, take at least four notes from it. Descriptive comments are ok.
If you need help analyzing art, see this link:
http://www.powayusd.com/teachers/kopstad/Art%20Analysis/default.htm
8. For each of the poems, take at least four notes from each of them (eight notes total, ok?). These
should be more analysis based; how does the poem show something regarding the country?
Paper Rough Outline
I.
Intro:
a. Describe your country
b. Describe significant elements of its culture
c. Make a connection about how art & poetry can describe the culture of a country, directly and/or
indirectly
II.
Body 1:
a. Describe your image
b. Relate the image back to the country and how it demonstrates something of cultural significance
III.
Body 2:
a. Describe your poem
b. Summarize
c. Give a few key lines if they are especially strong
d. Relate the poem back to the country and how it demonstrates something of cultural significance
IV.
Body 3:
a. Describe your poem
b. Summarize
c. Give a few key lines if they are especially strong
d. Relate the poem back to the country and how it demonstrates something of cultural significance
V.
Conclusion:
a. Tie all of the pieces together
b. How do these three pieces (image and two poems) further describe your country’s culture
c. Why are art & literature so important to creating the identity of a culture?