This unit uses devices to strengthen critical analysis of poetry. Students are also given the opportunity to create new works as they become engaged in the message, sounds, and meanings of words in the context of lines of verse. More importantly, students will be guided in writing symphonic selections of poetry citing specific voices for particular verses and stanzas, this strategy will be explored to give way for students to express their feelings, make known their opinions, and tell their points of view in a more effective mode of communication in a public forum. The unit will activate a foreground for choral reading of poetry and other literary texts. This unit's goal is to invite students to become a community that harbors less conflict and more bonding through poetic writing and sound. We will study the depth of lyrical poetry of rap masters who have been given acclaim for their writing skills, sense of sound, and attention to current and past cultural dilemmas, social issues, and world/community events. This unit can be used in a high school English Language Arts setting on all academic levels. It can be altered to suit a framework for an after school poets' club, too.

(Developed for English Language Arts, grades 9 and 12; recommended for High School grades)