Poems in Action
In a seminar led by Dr. Paul Fry, we discussed how to interpret poetry and other works of art. Both poems and other works of art want to be understood and taken for truth. When we interpret each, we are making sense of it as we understand it. In order for poem and works of art to be interpreted, they need to be looked at carefully and multiple times. During seminar, when I would begin to believe that I had exhausted the work of art with my own interpretation of it, Professor Fry would pull me back into the work of art by posing another thought, another perspective or by providing more context that would make me inquire more. The important factor here is for time is to be allotted for students to also arrive at appropriate and extensive interpretations. Along with seminar leader Fry, my peers also made me interpret the work of art in different ways. The importance of interpreting works of art in the classroom is the discussion. The goal that I will achieve with my students is deep, meaningful, and authentic discussion about poetry and other works of art.
Early Sunday Morning by Dan Masterson: Three Reads
In this unit, I will introduce ekphrastic poetry using the poem by Dan Masterson titled “Early Sunday Morning,” which reflects artist Edward Hopper’s “Early Sunday Morning” oil on canvas painting. This unit is about focuses on neighborhoods which is why I chose this ekphrastic poem Also, due to students’ ability to relate to both the poem. I would first expose students to the poem, which can be found in the book Heart to Heart edited by Jan Greenberg, in isolation to build on their background knowledge of poetry and identify this as a free verse poem. As a whole group, we will then interpret this poem using the strategy “Three Reads” followed by the strategy “Three Looks” in turning to the painting, to get a better understanding of both the poem and the painting before we compare and contrast the two. To make sure students stay organized with their thoughts when interpreting the poem and painting, a graphic organizer will be provided for them to fill out.
During first read of the poem we will be focused on basic comprehension, the main idea of the poem, so I will begin by reading it aloud in whole group. Once finished, we will begin to interpret the poem by identifying the characters and setting. Looking at the first line, “My big brother & I grew up behind,” the “I” tells us that this poem is written in first person and that there are two characters, the narrator and their older brother. I would point out to my class that the narrator mentions three friends in the second stanza, but the poem is mainly about the narrator and their brother. Next, we will identify the setting of the poem by circling clue words that signify both time and place. We will first focus on place and then time. In the first stanza the narrator mentions the phrases, “grew up,” and “over our father’s barber shop.” I would model to my class how this tell me the setting of the poem is the narrator’s childhood neighborhood. Because the narrator said in lines two and three, “over our father’s barber shop,” this tells me that the narrator grew up in an apartment or condo that was above their father’s barber shop. The setting changes from inside the apartment to outside on the street in stanza two. We see this with words like “cobblestones,” “fireplug” and “schoolyard,” which describe a neighborhood. In the last stanza, “on the bubbly tar roof” indicate that the poem also takes place on a roof, their roof to be more specific. We also see in the sixth and seventh line of the stanza the mention of the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean. This leads me to believe that the narrator’s apartment is in New York. We now know where the story takes place, in the narrator’s childhood neighborhood, most likely New York, and more specifically in the narrator’s apartment, on the street outside the apartment and on the roof of the apartment. The second component of setting is time, what time of day or what time period does the poem take place in? The first stanza gives no time specifics except that this poem takes place in the past. We know this because the words “grew up” indicate that this poem is about a past memory. In the second stanza we read, “cobblestone,” “iceman” and “fireplug” which all indicate time. I would tell my students that cobblestone was what early streets were made out of, an iceman was someone who delivered ice for people’s iceboxes before refrigerators were invented and a fireplug is known today as a fire hydrant. I would provide pictures of each and let students come to the conclusion that this poem takes place quite some time ago. This conclusion will become more solidified in the third stanza when the narrator talks about feeding the horse that had pulled the ice man’s cart. It is also to be mentioned that the narrator is playing outside barefoot. My students are from the Midwest, so they might interpret this as a seasonal description of either summer or spring. If we are supposing that this poem most likely takes place in New York, we would be correct. The last stanza provides details that can help us narrow down the specific time of the poem. In the last three lines the narrator says that his brother will soon to be sailing off to war down the Atlantic. I would first ask students if they knew which war the narrator was talking about, reminding them to keep in mind that streets were made of cobblestone and horses were a form of transportation. Students can rule out the most recent war in Iraq, but will need help narrowing down that the war being discussed is WW1, beginning in 1914 and ending in 1918. Now that we know the setting of the poem, I would have a student summarize it for the whole class. Before we begin our second read, I want to make sure students comprehend the poem. I will have them summarize the poem by identifying the beginning, middle and end. In the beginning, stanza one, the narrator is remembering their childhood with their brother in their apartment. In the middle, stanzas two and three, the character is remembering games they would play outside their apartment and the shops around. At the end of the poem, stanza four, the narrator is remembering a talk he had with his brother about going off to WW1. Now that students understand the character and setting and can summarize the poem, we are ready for our second read.
The second reading of the poem is focused on craft and structure as well as word choice. We will determine that there are four stanzas and the number of line varies in each. We will then do a close reading of each stanza focusing on the poet’s word choices. In the first stanza, we already know that the narrator is reminiscing about a memory with his brother that takes place in in his childhood apartment. We want to take a closer look at the description of the apartment by looking at the author’s word choices. From the second line, we understand that his apartment had three windows that were right over their father’s barber shop. The poet describes the how the light was shining in through the shades in the following line. In last line of the stanza, we can get a better glimpse of the apartment. We know there is a corduroy sofa with one worn side and that there is a sink and mirror in the apartment. In the second stanza, the narrator talks about how they used to play barefoot in the cobblestone street with friends and if it got too hot, one of their friend’s dad would open the fire plug to cool down the cobblestone. I would ask students to interpret why the poet used the detail of “played barefoot.” Students might infer that the narrator couldn’t afford shoes or perhaps that they were just being kids and running around with no shoes on. I would then point out that the poem also refers to the narrator and friends playing stickball. I would tell students that stick ball is like baseball but it uses a stick, typically a broom, rather than a bat and a rubber ball and that stick ball is still played today. I would allow students time to infer that someone who doesn’t have money for baseball equipment would play stickball. Thus, we can conclude that the narrator lived in poverty as a child. Continuing on to the description of the water from the fire hydrant flowing down the street, the water passes a candy store and a diner and ends in the schoolyard. I want students to interpret what this says about the narrator’s neighborhood. They might decide that this means his neighborhood is small since the narrator is outside their apartment, next to their father’s business, and when the water from the hydrant flows, it ends up at their school. In the third stanza, the narrator begins by admitting that they do not know why the ice man came early on Sunday morning. Students can wonder why the poet uses this line this by talking with a classmate and sharing responses aloud. They might decide that the author can’t remember or there were just things the narrator never questioned as a child. In other words, when the narrator was a kid, things just were. The description of the iceman’s journey is somethings I would focus on in this stanza. The poet describes this journey with words like, “hauling 50-pound blocks of ice,” and “25-pounders.” Students might interpret that this means it was hard work, but then I would point out that it says that the iceman “danced” up the stairs with it for the neighbors and emphasize the poet makes here. The stanza concludes with the narrator and his brother feeding chips off the ice blocks to the very thirsty horse which caused the horse to dance. I want students to interpret the connection between the ice man dancing and the horse dancing. I might ask them, why did both the iceman and horse dance, what does this say about them? Students might decide that they both enjoy serving members of the community. In the fourth and final stanza of the poem, the setting changes. In this stanza the poem returns to the apartment as in the first stanza, rather than remaining on the street as in stanzas two and three. The narrator and his brother begin in the apartment, then go out onto the roof to watch the stars as they talk. I would ask my students why the narrator brings newspaper to lie on and not a blanket. Does this connect with the narrator not wearing shoes? Students may say they used newspaper so they wouldn’t get a blanket dirty or because perhaps they didn’t have a blanket. Finally, I would ask students to consider why the poet chose to end with the memory of his brother promising to return after the war. Students might say that promises create special memories and mean something or they might guess that his brother never returned. I would then focus students to reread the last line, “He even crossed his heart & hoped to die.” I want students to interpret this promise as the narrator having a close relationship with his brother.
In the third and final reading, students are going to synthesize interpretations made thus far and identify the tone and mood of the poem. This can be completed as whole group, although I prefer to have students work in pairs or small groups and then reconvene as whole group for discussion. First I would ask students to make personal connections to the poem, how does their experience compare and contrast what goes on in the poem. I would ask students to be as specific as possible. Students might relate to playing outside in summer just like the narrator. However, they might also resist the thought of playing outside where the narrator does because most of my students don’t find it safe to play outside their home. I would then ask students to compare and contrast stanzas, focusing on the last two specifically. I want students to decide why the poet chose to end with the repetition of reminiscing about memories shared with their older brother. I would ask how this affects the overall mood of the poem. In the beginning of the poem, there was a melancholy nostalgic mood, then the mood shifts to a more saddened nostalgia that enforces acceptance that these memories belong to a past that is over. Nonetheless, the final two stanza solidifies the importance of the narrator's relationship with his brother. I would conclude by asking students to reread the poem independently and allow time for students to share any final interpretations. Once students feel that they have exhausted all interpretations of poem, I will tell students that this free verse poem is written about a work of art, making it an ekphrastic poem and that we are going to interpret the work of art this poem accompanies and use a strategy similar to this called “Three Looks.”
Early Sunday Morning by Edward Hopper: Three Looks
Similar to the strategy students previously completed, “Three Reads,” students will take three looks at the painting in order to make appropriate and extensive interpretation, just as they have done with the poem. When we interpret this painting, the first look is going to focus on the work as a whole. We want to examine what we notice first and what stands out. I will begin by telling students what I notice first. I would explain that I first notice the building. I notice three shops. I notice that above the shops there are ten windows. I would ask students what they infer from these observations. Students will be eager to connect the painting to the poem we previously read, but I am going to ask them to hold off on comparing and contrasting the two until we interpret the work of art on its own. Students might say that the windows above the shops are where people live and that there are apartments above the shops. I would then ask students what they notice in the painting. They might point out the fire hydrant, the barber shop pole, and/or the sun. I would ask students what interpretations they make of these objects.
On our second look, we are zeroing in on the painting, looking at different parts, size or objects and colors used. I will ask students to use a piece of copy paper and put it over the copy of the painting, slowly sliding the copy paper off the painting and pausing at certain parts to analyze more closely. For instance, students might slide the copy paper to the right and pause when they arrive at the first shop. They might notice that you can’t make out the name of the shop. I would ask them to interpret this. Students might say it’s because it’s a painting or maybe these shops are no longer in business and the names are faded off. I would ask students what they make about the shades in the apartment windows and why some are yellow and others not. Students might bring light into the interpretation at this point. I would ask them what time of day does the sun tell us it is. Students can see this as early morning or late evening, but not day time or nighttime because the sunlight is coming from one side of the painting. I would ask students what colors they see in the painting and why the artist chose the colors they did.
For our third and final look, students are to connect to the work of art personally or relate it to something else they’ve seen. Students may be reminded of their own neighborhood where there are also apartments above stores. They can also relate the desolation of the neighborhood painted with their own neighborhood, where a lot of stores have closed down. I would ask students what mood they gather from the painting, considering prior discussion as well taking account of color. Students can interpret the mood as calming, relaxing, peaceful, etc. I would ask students to be specific in providing evidence for their interpretations.
Finally, I would provide context for the painting and tell them Hopper painted this in 1930. Having grown up in New York City, he painted “Early Sunday Morning” to resemble Seventh Avenue, even though his work is a more simplified rendering than one would imagine. Hopper said that he painted a person in a second floor window, but decided it didn’t fit so he removed the person. I would want student to decide why the painting is so empty and whether the emptiness affects the mood of the painting. I would ask students to take a final look and allow time for everyone to discuss any other interpretations and ask whether some of their interpretations have changed now having more context.
Once students have completed an extensive interpretation of both the painting and the ekphrastic poem, students will be ready to compare and contrast the two. For students who want to be challenged, they can read another ekphrastic poem on this Hopper painting and compare and contrast each poem with the painting. This strategy will only promote further authentic interpretations from students. Students can discuss what they would add or take out and what they would change about each or both, which will further encourage discussion. I will provide students with different kinds of graphic organizers to use for them to compare and contrast the works of art. They can complete the graphic organizer independently and then share with whole group or small group or they can complete them with a partner and then share. Since this is the introduction to the part of the unit on ekphrastic poetry, I will have students pair up and complete together and then sharing in small group. Once all students have had enough time, we will reconvene as a whole group for a final discussion.
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