American Voices: Listening to Fiction, Poetry, and Prose

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 08.02.01

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction
  2. Objectives
  3. Strategies
  4. Classroom Activities
  5. Appendix A: Implementing District Standards
  6. Annotated Teacher Bibliography
  7. Annotated Student Bibliography
  8. Notes

Voice in Poetry: Dream a World with Langston Hughes

Octavia L. Utley

Published September 2008

Tools for this Unit:

Annotated Student Bibliography

Medina, Tony. Love to Langston. New York: Lee and Low Books, 2002.

The poems are written in the style of Langston Hughes. Each poem explores an important event or theme in Langston Hughes's life. There are also notes at the back of the book that elaborate on the poems and Hughes's life.

Hughes, Langston. Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. New York: Vintage, 1995.

This book offers a comprehensive collection of Hughes's poetry.

Pinkney, Brian. The Dream Keeper and Other Poems. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994.

This book contains poems by Langston Hughes that express these themes: dreams, life, hardship, love, pride, and aspiration.

Roessel, David and Arnold Rampersad. Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes. New York: Sterling Publishing, 2006.

This book contains illustrated collections of Hughes's poems, along with background information for each poem, and quotes from Hughes.

Comments:

Jonte Rollins

September 28, 2008 at 1:46 pm

Beyond the Classroom

This unit is amazingly put together. It presents opportunity for students to utilize reading and writing strategies through exploration of their own cultural experiences. When finished with this unit, students will not only gain literary skills, but develop a since of self-esteem, respect of culture, and family dynamics. The activities in this unit will expand students interest in reading and writing beyond the classroom.

Natalie Davis

November 5, 2008 at 12:06 pm

Voice in Poetry: Dream a World with Langston Hughes

This unit is dynamic! It is thoughtfully and masterfully put together. It supersedes the typical poetry unit and is extremely teacher and student friendly. Through this unit, students are empowered to use their “poetic license” to explore their inner self and cultural heritage. Varied student activities address critical literary standards and empower students to master skills essential for academic success, particularly on standardized test. This unit allows teachers to provide for their students a broader conception of poetry, cultivate a more favorable affective disposition to poetry, and gain an intuitive understanding of the main structural elements of a poem. Awesome job Mrs. Utley!!!

Alyson Harkins

April 8, 2012 at 11:29 am

Langston Hughes

Awesome work! I love your discussion of voice and how it shines through in poetry. Thank you.

Marisol Clark-ibáñez

June 17, 2014 at 5:43 pm

Dream Keeper

This is a great unit on voice, poetry and helping students understand the poetry of Langston Hughes.

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