ELA GEE 21 FOCUSED LEARNING LESSON 16:
Identifying Irony and Theme in Poetry
Assessment Component: Reading and Responding
STANDARD ONE: Students read, comprehend, and respond to a range of
materials, using a variety of strategies for different purposes.
STANDARD SIX:
Students read, analyze, and respond to literature as a record of
life experiences.
PRIMARY BENCHMARKS ADDRESSED:
ELA-1-H2:
ELA-6-H3:
ELA-6-H4:
analyzing the effects of complex literary devices (e.g.,
figurative language, flashback, foreshadowing, dialogue,
irony) and complex elements (e.g., setting, plot, character,
theme, mood, style) on a selection.
identifying, analyzing and reponding to a variety
of classic and contemporary literature from many
genres (e.g., folktales, legends, myths, poetry,
fiction, biography, autobiography, nonfiction,
novels, drama, epic)
analyzing various genres as records of life experiences
GRADE 9 GLEs ADDRESSED:
2.
Identify and explain story elements, including:
• the author’s use of direct and indirect characterization
• the author’s pacing of action and use of plot development, subplots,
parallel episodes, and climax to impact the reader
• the revelation of character through dialect, dialogue, dramatic
monologues, and soliloquies (ELA-1-H2)
9.
Analyze in oral and written responses distinctive elements (including theme,
structure, characterization) of a variety of literary forms and types,
including:
• essays by early and modern writers
• epic poetry such as The Odyssey
• forms of lyric and narrative poetry such as ballads and sonnets
• drama, including ancient, Renaissance, and modern
• short stories and novels
• biographies and autobiographies (ELA-6-H3)
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Reading and Responding
10.
Identify and explain in oral and written responses ways in which particular
genres reflect life experiences, for example:
• an essay expresses a point of view
• a legend chronicles the life of a cultural hero
• a short story or novel provides a vicarious life experience (ELA-6-H4)
LESSON FOCUS: The student will relate a situation of historical
significance to a poem. The student will analyze
poetry for irony and theme.
I. Translating Standards Into Instruction
A. Have students research the bombing of the church in Birmingham,
Alabama in 1963 by using an Internet search engine (Yahoo, Google,
Ask).
B. Have students summarize information from two different sources in a onepage report. (An alternate would be to provide students with an
information page and discussion.) The report should give as much detail as
possible and include the web sites accessed.
C. Show photographs of scenes as described in the poem. (These can be
found on any Internet site or in Time photo book.)
D. Read “The Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall aloud as students
follow on their own copies. Then, have students complete the following.
1. Use complete sentences to summarize the poem stanza by stanza.
2. List and discuss figures of speech, sound devices and imagery.
[sacred place is metonymy for church, imagery- dogs…fierce,
wild, night-dark hair, small brown hands, “rose petal sweet]
3. Identify the poet’s tone. [reverent, alarmed, sad ]
4. Define the term ballad. [a narrative poem with a song-like
quality]
5. Explain why this poem is written as a ballad. [similar to hymns
sung in a church or a holy place]
E. Help students define the following terms and direct them in
completing the written responses.
1. Define the term situational irony. [The actual outcome is the
opposite of someone’s expectations.]
2. Writing sample: In 25-50 words or less, explain the situational
irony in this poem. [the mother sends the girl to church to keep
her from being harmed in the streets, but that is where she is
violently murdered]
3. Define theme. [central message that readers can apply to life]
4. Writing Sample: In 50-75 words, explain the theme that is
expressed in this poem. Use detail from the poem as support.
[As long as there is hatred, no place can be considered holy or
safe.]
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5. Writing Sample: In 50-75 words, explain how the poet uses
imagery in the poem to help create the mood or tone. Use
specific examples as support.
II.
Sources of Evidence of Student Learning
A. A one-page report based on research of the bombing in Birmingham
B. Summary of the poem, identifying figurative language, and identifying the
author’s tone.
C. Short answer responses on irony and theme of the poem.
D. Description of mood or tone with evidence from the poem to support.
III.
Attributes of Student Work at the “Got-It” Level
A. The student can communicate in written response those things he can also
discuss orally.
B. The student can offer opinions with support in discussion and writing.
C. The student can identify the mood or tone and explain how it is established
with specific detail from the poem to support.
D. The student can identify the irony and theme of the poem in a short
response.
IV.
GEE 21 Connection
The “ELA Assessment Framework” states that students will be given four
reading passages in Session 3 including fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.
Two or three of the passages will provide a basis for students to compare or
contrast them. Session 3 includes a variety of types of questions, including
multiple-choice, short-answer, and essay. For examples of questions using
poetry, see the “Sample Test Items,” page H-19.
V.
Recommended Materials
A. Copy of “Ballad of Birmingham,” by Dudley Randall
B. Connection to the Internet for research purposes
C. Alternate information page to provide students with background on the
situation.
D. Source of pictures such as Time photo book, Internet sites
E. Short answer response forms
References:
Randall, Dudley. “Ballad of Birmingham”
http://webinstituteforteachers.org/~vfjohnson/ballham.html
GEE 21 ELA Focused Learning Lessons 61
Reading and Responding