Unit Two: Poetry Analysis
Pre-AP English 2 A – Mrs. Micki Clark – Four Weeks
Skill Focus Chart
The Skills Progression Chart below is directly adapted from the Laying the Foundation materials.
Highlighted are the skills that LTF suggests are new to sophomores.
Levels of Thinking
Remember
Understand
Apply
Analyze
Evaluate
Create
Close Reading
Grammar
Composition
Reading Strategies
Usage
Types (modes)
Annotation
Pronoun/Antecedent Agr.
Descriptive
Determining Main Idea
Use of Subjective and
Expository
Generalization
Objective Pronouns
Analytical
Inference
Phrases
Comparison/Contrast
Paraphrase
Gerund
Definition
Seminar/Discussion
Participial
Research-Based
Summary
Clauses
Documentation
Literary Elements
Dependent/Subordinate
Expressive
Archetype
Independent
Imaginative
Character
Sentences
The Process of Composition
Journey of the Hero
Structure
Prewriting
Setting
Balanced
Determination of
Detail
Loose/cumulative
purpose
Diction
Periodic
Generation of ideas
Connotation
Syntax Techniques
Organization of ideas
Denotation
Omission
Selection of topic
Idiom
Asyndeton
Drafting
Vocabulary
Ellipsis
Extended time
Imagery
Parallelism
Timed
Point of View
Polysyndeton
Revision of Multiple Drafts
Person
Repetition
Organization
Perspective
Anadiplosis
Precise diction
Rhetorical Shift
Anaphora
Sentence variety
Style
Epanalepsis
Unity
Theme
Epistrophe
Editing
Tone
Reversal
Mechanics
Tone determined
Antimetabole
Sentence Structure
through imagery, detail,
Inverted order
Usage
point of view and syntax
(inversion)
Structural Elements
Tone shift
Meaning and Effect related
Introduction
Multiple tones
to parts of speech,
Thesis
Vocabulary associated
phrases, clauses,
Body
with tone
sentences, and syntax
Incorporation of quotes
Apostrophe
Topic sentence
Metaphor
Use of commentary
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Extended/controlling
Metonymy
Oxymoron
Paradox
Personification
Simile
Synecdoche
Epic (Homeric)
Sound Devices
Alliteration
Assonance
Consonance
Meter
Onomatopoeia
Rhyme
Rhythm
Literary Techniques
Allusion
Literary
Mythological
Hyperbole
Irony
Dramatic
Situational
Verbal
Sarcasm
Symbolism
Understatement
Literary Forms
Verse
Elements of Research
Ethics of Research
Evaluation of Sources
Reading of Literary Criticism
Use of Print Sources
Use of the Internet
Use of evidence
Conclusion
Organization
Patterns
Style/Voice
Active/Passive Voice
Conscious Manipulation of
Sentence Structures
Experimentation with
Original Forms and
Structures
Imitation of Stylistic Models
Selection of Detail
Selection of Vocabulary
Use of Figures of Speech
Use of Sound Devices
Use of Technology
Unit Overview
In this four-week unit, students continue working with the skill sets introduced at the beginning of the
year. In particular, students will begin focusing on close reading of texts and will begin to produce short
analysis essays demonstrating their understanding of literary techniques and elements.
Texts Studied
Excerpts from The Odyssey, by Homer, translated by Robert Fitzgerald (including Books 1, 9, 10, 12, 21,
22, 23)
Arthurian Legends (including “The Crowning of King Arthur” and “Sir Launcelot du Lake”)
Excerpts from Yvain, the Knight of the Lion by Chrétien de Troyes
“The Lady of Shalott” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Unit 2 - Page 2 of 5 – Pre-AP English 2 A
“Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood
“Circe” by Olga Broumas
“Odysseus” by W.S. Merwin
“Penelope” by Dorothy Parker
“The Suitor” by Linda Pastan
“Ulysses” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
“Odysseus: 20 Years Later” by Peter Ulisse
“A Blessing” by James Wright
“Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley
“The Word” by Kumin
Activities, Assignments, and Assessments
Week One
M September 6 – NO SCHOOL
T September 7
1. Daily Oral Language & Vocabulary
2. Introduce Archetypes
3. Personal Archetype Project
W September 8
1. Daily Oral Language & Vocabulary
2. Introduce myth: Odysseus/Ulysses
3. Distribute Odyssey packets
4. Introduce the Hero’s Journey
5. Homework: Reading/Journaling from “Odyssey” packet
R September 9
1. Daily Oral Language & Vocabulary
2. Share dialectical journals, discuss reading from “Odyssey”
3. Extension of Personal Archetype Project: “Archetypal Odysseus”
4. Homework: Reading/journaling from “Odyssey” packet
F September 10
1. Daily Oral Language & Vocabulary
2. Share dialectical journals, discuss reading from “Odyssey”
3. Extension of Hero’s Journey: “Mapping Odysseus”
4. Homework: Reading/journaling from “Odyssey” packet
Week Two
M September 13
1. Daily Oral Language & Vocabulary
2. Poetry Analysis: James Wright’s “A Blessing” (LTF “Peeling Back the Layers” activities)
3. Homework: Complete “A Blessing” packet – including analysis essay.
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T September 14
1. Daily Oral Language & Vocabulary
2. Groups – Each group will be given a poem (“Siren Song,” “Odysseus,” or “Circe”). Groups will
annotate each poem.
3. Groups – Each group will also identify allusions to The Odyssey.
4. Groups will repeat for each remaining poem.
5. Class share of annotations
6. Homework: Allusion notebook entries for poems
W September 15
1. Daily Oral Language & Vocabulary
2. LTF: “Active vs. Passive Voice”
3. Class share & conferencing activities, analysis essay of “A Blessing”
R September 16
1. Daily Oral Language & Vocabulary
2. LTF: Three Levels of Reading: The Odyssey
3. AP-style multiple choice: The Odyssey
F September 17
1. Daily Oral Language & Vocabulary
2. In-class timed essay, The Odyssey
3. Introduce Odyssey project packet
Week Three
M September 20
1. Daily Oral Language & Vocabulary
2. Introduction (Romance, Arthurian legend, Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, Chrétien de
Troyes’ Yvain)
3. Review 9/17’s in-class essay
4. Homework: Read “The Crowning of King Arthur” and “Sir Launcelot du Lake”
T September 21
1. Daily Oral Language & Vocabulary
2. Discussion, Le Morte d’Arthur excerpts – (Hero’s journey, romance)
3. Homework: Read “The Lady of Shalott” (annotate assigned section)
W September 22
1. Daily Oral Language & Vocabulary
2. As a class, read “The Lady of Shalott”
3. As a class, annotate & discuss
R September 23
1. Daily Oral Language & Vocabulary
2. Chrétien de Troyes: Read excerpts from Yvain; discuss contrast of Arthur with Sir Thomas
Malory’s interpretation of the character
F September 24
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1. Daily Oral Language & Vocabulary
2. Understanding “Syntax”
Week Four
M September 27
1. Daily Oral Language & Vocabulary
2. Midterm Preparation: Dialectical Journals
T September 28
1. Daily Oral Language & Vocabulary
2. “Putting it All Together” – “Ozymandias”
W September 29
1. Daily Oral Language & Vocabulary
2. Continue “Putting it All Together”
3. Conclude Midterm Review
R September 30
1. Midterm (Part 1: Multiple Choice)
F October 1
2. Midterm (Part 2: Timed Writing)
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