Poetry Unit Section 2: Ballad & Narrative Poetry: “The Highwayman”
Lesson 2
7th Grade On-Level English Language Arts
Approximate Time: 2 days, total of approximately 120 Minutes (1 80 minute block + 1 40 minute
period)
State & Content Standards
Reading: 1. Develop and apply vocabulary through exposure to a variety of texts. 2. Apply a
conceptual understanding of new words. E. GENERAL READING COMPREHENSION:
Students will use a variety of strategies to understand what they read (construct meaning).
Listening: 1. Apply and demonstrate listening skills appropriately in a variety of settings and for
a variety of purposes.
Literary: 3. Analyze elements of narrative texts to facilitate understanding and interpretation; a.
Distinguish among types of grade-appropriate narrative (narrative poetry)
County Language & Literacy Objectives
3. Apply reading skills to: Ask questions to draw conclusions; reread and restate to paraphrase.
4. Analyze literary elements: a. Forms of poetry; b. Figurative language; c. sound devices.
7. Develop listening and speaking skills: b. Poetry reading.
Vocabulary & Essential Questions
Vocab: Narrative poetry, ballad poetry, metaphor, simile, onomatopoeia, symbol.
Questions: Based on the title of the story, what do you think this poem is about? What role does
Tim the Ostler play? Is what Bess does inspiring or stupid? What makes this poem a ballad and
a narrative? What types of poetic elements do we see in this poem and where?
Materials & Resources
Class journals
Board for vocabulary
Sticky Notes
Textbooks (pg. 663, “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes)
Supplementary materials (PowerPoint/Active Inspire presentation including -Audio reading of
The Highwayman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99UH0JB7m5A)
-Song rendition of The Highwayman by Lorenna McKennitt
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teq2m0BN-Wo)
-Video adaptation of The Highwayman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1OVqAANwJE)
Lesson
Introduction
Class discussion, Mini-Lecture (~5-7 minutes):
Introduce concept of Highwaymen during the 18th centuries. Ask students if they’ve heard of
them before. Ask for synonyms of highwaymen once introduced. [UDL: Put keywords on board
(see vocabulary above) and have students look at the worksheet they’ve been working on for
poetry terms throughout the unit. This customizes the display of information and gives several
approaches.]
Review Terms (~5 minutes):
Remind them of ballad poetry and narrative poetry and highlight key poetic elements that we
have discussed in the past several weeks.
Activities
Note: Use PowerPoint slides to display key discussion questions. Other probing questions will be asked
aloud, with clarification and repetition as needed. Vocabulary words are constantly displayed in chalk on
chalkboard (in this case, metaphor, simile, onomatopoeia, and symbol).
Class discussion and lesson preparation (~7-10 minutes):
I will ask questions – students answer.
Ask: “Based on the title, what do we think the story is going to be about?”
Add the question on the board: “How far would you go to save the one you love?”
“Now what do you think the story might be about?”
Sticky notes are handed out so that students can identify poetic elements of the poem and put
these notes in their text books. “While reading the text, look for examples of metaphor,
simile, and onomatopoeia in the poem. Write these examples down on your sticky. You
will be given two times going through the poem.”
Listening activity (7 minutes):
We then: Listen to a recording of The Highwayman read aloud (see youtube link). Students
follow along in their book and use sticky notes to identify elements.
Pause for discussion (10 minutes):
Have students re-summarize the story, one event at a time. Check for overall understanding.
Get initial opinions. “What did you think of this poem so far? What did you think of the
reading?” “What role does Tim the Ostler play?”
Listening Activity (11 minutes):
We then: Listen to a song version of The Highwayman (see youtube link). Students continue to
take notes on their stickies.
Class Discussion (~5-7 minutes):
Pause for discussion: Have students discuss which way between the reading and the song they
liked better (show of hands). Ask them to clarify why. “Which one was more emotional?
Which was easier to understand?” “What do you think of the story now?”
Viewing Activity (6 minutes):
We then: Watch the visual presentation of The Highwayman. Students are specifically asked to
watch (there are no words) and look for symbols in the video. They should jot these down on
their stickies.
Class Discussion (~10-15 minutes):
Pause for discussion: “What symbols did you see in the video?” (Informal assessment here
of understanding of symbol. Each student should give an example of what they thought was the
most powerful image/symbol in the video and why).
LIKELY END OF 80 MINUTE BLOCK --- Next part of lesson likely on 2nd day. - Review
summary if new day.
Pair and Share (5 minutes):
“What types of poetic elements do we see in this poem and where? Turn to a person next
to you and share what you found as far as metaphor, simile, and onomatopoeia in the
poem. Be prepared to share an example with the class. Make sure you can explain how
they demonstrate each poetic element.”
-Walk around to monitor and check for understanding of the terms (informal assessment).
Gauge student learning somewhat here. Students should be sharing with a partner.
Class Share (~7 minutes):
Students will share the elements they’ve found with class (common metaphors, similes, and
onomatopoeia in the term). I will point out the best examples or most salient examples.
Discussion of Ballad & Narrative (~5-7 minutes):
“What makes this poem both a ballad and a narrative?” (This draws on prior knowledge, as
students will have received a lesson the previous day on narrative/ballad forms).
Debate activity (~20 minutes) –
“ Is what Bess does inspiring or stupid?” (Show of hands). General class discussion Break
class into two groups – stupid/inspiring groups. Students will have some time to discuss what
they think and then pick two representatives for a short “debate” where they will tell why, given
events in the text, they think Bess’s action is either stupid or inspiring. Each student should write
down two reasons on a sheet of paper, which will be collected to ensure each student’s
understanding can be gauged (scribe provided as necessary). (Informal assessment as I rotate
and see what the students thought of the text. Time to engage individual students and hear their
opinions as they contribute to the debate).
-Students have a brief debate. I will “judge.”
Closure
Review: We will briefly touch back upon the vocabulary and highlight narrative/ballad poetry
and any difference. Feedback will be given about the debates and the overall success of their
stickies (which will be collected during the previous activity). [Continues to touch upon
vocabulary and ensures that students get access to it one final time. Enhances relevance in
relation to overall unit. Feedback provides them with encouragement and highlights how they
used their tools successfully.]
Homework
Look for an example of professional ballad poetry (due in approx. 3 days). Begin brainstorming
ideas for your personal ballad poem.
Instructional Materials
Please see links under Materials and Resources for additional instructional materials. Otherwise
text used is “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes, seen below.
“The Highwayman”
By Alfred Noyes (1880-1958)
PART ONE
I
THE wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding—
Riding—riding—
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.
II
He'd a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,
A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin;
They fitted with never a wrinkle: his boots were up to the thigh!
And he rode with a jewelled twinkle,
His pistol butts a-twinkle,
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.
III
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.
IV
And dark in the dark old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked
Where Tim the ostler listened; his face was white and peaked;
His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy hay,
But he loved the landlord's daughter,
The landlord's red-lipped daughter,
Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say—
V
"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize to-night,
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;
Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,
Then look for me by moonlight,
Watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."
VI
He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand,
But she loosened her hair i' the casement! His face burnt like a brand
As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;
And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,
(Oh, sweet, black waves in the moonlight!)
Then he tugged at his rein in the moonliglt, and galloped away to the West.
PART TWO
I
He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon;
And out o' the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon,
When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,
A red-coat troop came marching—
Marching—marching—
King George's men came matching, up to the old inn-door.
II
They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead,
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed;
Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side!
There was death at every window;
And hell at one dark window;
For Bess could see, through her casement, the road that he would ride.
III
They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest;
They had bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!
"Now, keep good watch!" and they kissed her.
She heard the dead man say—
Look for me by moonlight;
Watch for me by moonlight;
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way!
IV
She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good!
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!
They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like years,
Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,
Cold, on the stroke of midnight,
The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!
V
The tip of one finger touched it; she strove no more for the rest!
Up, she stood up to attention, with the barrel beneath her breast,
She would not risk their hearing; she would not strive again;
For the road lay bare in the moonlight;
Blank and bare in the moonlight;
And the blood of her veins in the moonlight throbbed to her love's refrain .
VI
Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs ringing clear;
Tlot-tlot, tlot-tlot, in the distance? Were they deaf that they did not hear?
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,
The highwayman came riding,
Riding, riding!
The red-coats looked to their priming! She stood up, straight and still!
VII
Tlot-tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot-tlot, in the echoing night!
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!
Her eyes grew wide for a moment; she drew one last deep breath,
Then her finger moved in the moonlight,
Her musket shattered the moonlight,
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him—with her death.
VIII
He turned; he spurred to the West; he did not know who stood
Bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood!
Not till the dawn he heard it, his face grew grey to hear
How Bess, the landlord's daughter,
The landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.
IX
Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky,
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!
Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
When they shot him down on the highway,
Down like a dog on the highway,
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.
*
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X
And still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
A highwayman comes riding—
Riding—riding—
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.
XI
Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard;
He taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred;
He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.
Active Inspire Presentation for Media
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Assessment Tools / Procedures
There are no physical assessments for this lesson, other than written student responses during
debate.
Assessment will be based on the amount of classroom discussion, depth of ideas shared, and
participation in debate. Random calling may be used if the same students participate over and
over. Debate papers with thoughts will be collected. They will not be graded, but will be used as
a formative assessment of how students are responding to the text. Furthermore, show of hand
prompting will continue to assess who is paying attention, which is not forming opinions, and so
on. Students not participating may be asked to share an opinion (common procedure within
class for random calling is to draw named popsicle sticks from a basket and random call, but
this is not always used). Additionally, sticky notes will be looked at while students are listening,
with prompting provided when students are not working on the activity.
Adaptations
I will use purposeful grouping for those needing additional assistance for discussion. For those
who might need additional help during debate and organizing thoughts, I will allow peer aid and
make suggestions during the discussion activity, as well as giving verbal cues for what might be
relevant.
Extensions
Pose additional questions; i.e. How is this story relevant to the time period in which it was
written? Is the plot plausible?