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Poetry Speaks in American Democracy

  1. Introduction and Overview

Grade Level

Middle or High School

Overview

Poetry is “inescapably democratic” the poet Robert Pinsky writes. He calls it “massive and fundamental” as an art form. This lesson can be customized to student and classroom perspectives and time constraints. It starts with a discussion of poetry as an expressive art form accessible to all. There are suggested poems to read, compare, and discuss in terms of their authors’ contributing voices to American democracy. For something more expanded, there are instructions to have students complete their own blackout poems from larger texts, with examples that concern voting rights of Native Americans.

Time Needed

Variable, 30-90 minutes

Objectives

After this session, students will be able:

  • Identify culturally significant themes, including of law, justice, democracy, in poetry
  • Discuss how poetry reflects embodies and contributes to the idea of “voices” in American history, culture, and society
  • Create blackout or erasure poetry

Materials Needed 

Introduction

Ask students if they have a favorite poem.  

If students seem hesitant to share in the group, consider asking them to discuss what a poem is to them. Offer your own examples to spark discussion. For an excellent example of poetry as performative art in a recognizable and accessible setting, with captions, share Amanda Gorman’s recitation of “The Hill We Climb” at the January 20, 2021 inauguration of President Biden.

You could also use recordings from the America’s Favorite Poem Project: https://www.favoritepoem.org/

For your own background, consider this analysis from poet Robert Pinsky:

As an expression of individual voice, a poem implicitly allies itself with ideas about individual dignity that are democracy’s bedrock, far more than is mass participation. Yet poems also summon up communal life. Even the most inward-looking work imagines a reader. And in their rhythms and cadences poems carry in their very bones the illusion and dynamic of call and response. Poetry, Pinsky writes, cannot help but mediate between the inner consciousness of the individual reader and the outer world of other people. As part of the entertainment industry, he concludes, poetry will always be small and overlooked. As an art — and one that is inescapably democratic — it is massive and fundamental.

Probe students’ understanding of poetry as a literary genre and art form:

  • Do you like poetry? Reading? Writing? Why?
  • What makes poetry different from other types of writing?
  • Who might write poems? Anyone?
  • How does poetry highlight individual voices?
  • How is poetry often shared? Recited? How is it different than simply reading or speech?
  • What are poems about? Anything? How might poetry be used to express patriotism, love, pride, desires for change, feelings of repression, or other ideas common in a democracy?

At this point, there are a couple directions you might go as a facilitator with students, depending on their interests, abilities, and strengths.

Option 1 is a basic poetry analysis, with students closely reading existing poems and completing an analysis worksheet to discuss the poem’s meaning and significance.

Option 2 is a blackout poetry analysis and activity. There are texts that students read and use to create their own blackout poems. The completed poems could be shared with the rest of the class.

Option 1: Poetry Analysis (30-45 minutes)

Select one or several poems, have students read individually or in groups, and use the poetry analysis worksheet to consider the poem(s).

Poem Ideas for General Poetry Analysis

Still I Rise, Maya Angelou

When Fannie Lee Hamer Said, Mahogony Browne

The Gift Outright, Robert Frost

The Hill We Climb, Amanda Gorman

Let America be America Again, Langston Hughes

Calling All Silent Minorities, June Jordan

If, Rudyard Kipling

New Colossus, Emma Lazarus

One Vote, Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Liberty Needs Glasses, Tupac Shakur

Good Bones, Maggie Smith

Declaration, Tracy K. Smith

Poetry analysis worksheet: https://learning.hccs.edu/faculty/catherine.alexander/engl1302-1/poetry-essay-planning-page-one-only-for-students-who-did-not-receive-it-2

Option 2: Blackout Poetry (60-90 minutes)

Ask students if they know about blackout poetry and introduce or fill in gaps as needed.

An explanation of blackout poetry may be found here:
https://writers.com/what-is-blackout-poetry-examples-and-inspiration

Great examples of blackout poetry may be found:

Explain that blackout poetry starts with a text. In this example, we will use Section 1 of the March 7, 2021 Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting. The handout provided is a text only version for this activity, but the entire order may be found here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/03/07/executive-order-on-promoting-access-to-voting/

Distribute the Executive Order text to students and ask them to read or study it. Give them 10-15 minutes to do so, then help students understand what document they are looking at. This discussion could take different shapes depending on students’ background knowledge. Emphasize:

  • This is part of an executive order from the President of the United States, issued on March 7, 2021—might also include quick explanation of what executive orders are and how they are used
  • Content of the order concerns voting access
  • The text that offers examples of challenges voters face
  • Why voting is important

Follow step-by-step instructions for blackout poetry, which may be found here:

https://kirkwoodpubliclibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Blackout-Poetry-Instructions.pdf

Allow students time and space to work on their poems.

Debrief & Wrap-Up

Students may share their poems with the rest of the class, or display them in a gallery set up. They might discuss their process and what they learned.

  • What were some of the important words that you identified?
  • Was it difficult to cross out any words?
  • What message does your blackout poem send? Is it different or similar to the message in the original text?

Extension Activity: What do you know about voting in your state?

The Washington Post’s How to Vote Tool could be a useful resource for discussion or short answer assignment: https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/how-to-vote/

Students could use the tool to look up their state, individually or with a partner, and consider:

  • What steps are involved in voting in your state?
  • What kind of requirements are in place? Are these reasonable?
  • Do you think it is it easy to vote in your state?
  • Do you plan to vote when you are old enough? What do you look forward to about voting?