Lesson Four: The Dreaded Imagery Lesson
By Jeff Wasserman
English (High School)
Topic: Poetry as a description of place
Concept/Overview:
What makes a poem really effective, no matter its subject, is the poet’s skillful use of
imagery to convey his or her message. A poem must be able to muster the
maximum effect from the minimum number of words. Images help poets do just
that.
Time Allowance: 45 minutes
Lesson objectives/skills used: By the end of this lesson, students should have a
better understanding of how poets use images to convey complicated ideas. Also,
they will know how to use images when describing their own neighborhoods.
Materials: “Dulce Et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen; “Rising Sign” by M. Doughty;
copies of each poem for each student; chalkboard or large piece of paper.
Place (see unit overview):
As chalkboard: Once again, this lesson uses students’ specific knowledge of their
neighborhoods to teach the tools of creative poetry. In this case, the students
practice using imagery and figurative speech to describe elements of their local
areas.
Procedures: Start with a discussion of the term “image.” What do the students
think it means, from a literary or artistic standpoint? The following are definitions
from dictionary.com:
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A vivid description or representation.
A figure of speech, especially a metaphor or simile.
A concrete representation, as in art, literature, or music, that is expressive or
evocative of something else: night as an image of death.
If you have not discussed metaphors, similes, and other figures of speech with your
class, this would be an excellent time to do so. If you have, you can take a couple of
minutes here for a refresher on the concepts. In poetry, images are often
emotionally charged. Owen’s images in particular convey a sense of hopelessness
and impending doom.
Distribute the poems. Read the Owen poem aloud while the students read along.
Have them keep a tally of how many different images are in the poem (old beggars,
hags, man in fire or lime, green sea, drowning, a face like a devil’s). Write the
different images on the board as the students identify them (with guidance from you
until they get comfortable with what they’re looking for). Then have the students
parse each image (ie tell you what each image is “shorthand for”--the “old beggars”
are really young men bending over in the face of a crippling nerve gas attack,
shuffling forward, etc). Why does Owen use the images he uses? What is their
effect on the poem’s tone?
Now do the same with the Doughty piece. What do his images “do” for the poem’s
economy (its ability to say a lot in just a few words) and tone? Have the students
parse his images as they did Owen’s. Point out that all of Doughty’s images are
kitchen-related (coffee bowl eyes, various stove images). Are Owen’s images linked
as explicitly? (Thematic imagery is something the students might want to think
about using in their own poems; it is a difficult but highly effective way of linking all
the images to each other AND to the emotional tone of the poem, making it work on
more than one level.)
Briefly discuss: Which kinds of words convey different emotions?
Have the students look at their neighborhood maps. Tell them to pick out one
person or place from the map and, for about five minutes, come up with as many
image words or phrases as they can about that person or place. This should just be
a list, not anything formal.
Now the class is ready for the Big Assignment. Since this is the second to last day of
the unit, it is time for the students to write their poems. Explain that the poems do
not have to be long or about a lot of things; in fact, a successful poem will be one
about a very specific place and its relation to a person or event in their neighborhood
(but also one that gives the reader a sense of what the neighborhood is all about).
The poems must use the four techniques discussed in this and the previous lessons:
perception of place, description of place, description of character, and imagery. The
students will be graded on their successful use of all four in their poems.
The students can write ANY kind of poems--either “conventional” rhyming poems
(couplets, A-B-A-B-C-D-C-D-E-F-E-F rhyme schemes, sonnets, etc) or non-rhyming
verse (like most of the poems we’ve read in this unit). They can attempt limericks or
haiku if they’re feeling bold, but the limitations of those forms might make this
exercise near impossible. Still, it is the students’ choice.
The next lesson will be a reading and discussion/workshop of the students’ poems.
Be sure to prepare the students for this so they’re not surprised the next day.
Also, for homework, have each student pick a favorite song and bring in its lyrics and
a brief analysis of its use of imagery. This should be a paragraph or two or (your
choice) the lyrics, printed out, with notes and “parsing” (like the students did in class
with the Owen and Doughty pieces) notation in the margins. This will give the
students more practice with this highly important reading comprehension tool. If
you think you’ll have the time, you can ask the students to bring in recordings of
their songs; the next day in class (or the day after next) pick a few songs to play in
class and have the students pick the lyrics apart for imagery.