In order to fully grasp an author’s intent for their work, you as a reader must pick apart and deconstruct it until you know how every piece works together to create a unifying whole. In doing so, you then become an expert on the piece, and are able not only to talk about it, but also use the work to come to your own conclusions on the theme it presents.
Your task is to take a classic poem and create an annotated copy of it, using a variety of sources, media, and tools. In doing so, you will become experts on the poem, and will then conduct a Socratic Seminar in order to show your understanding.
Your group must choose one of the following poems:
Using Weebly, you will create a hyperlinked exploration of the poem. Your annotations must include (but not be limited to):
You will also be assessed during a Socratic Seminar.
How to Do It
Your task is to take a classic poem and create an annotated copy of it, using a variety of sources, media, and tools. In doing so, you will become experts on the poem, and will then conduct a Socratic Seminar in order to show your understanding.
Your group must choose one of the following poems:
- “The Waste Land,” by T.S. Eliot
- “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- Book One of “Paradise Lost,” by John Milton
- Book One of "The Iliad," by Homer
- Selections from “The Canterbury Tales,” by Geoffrey Chaucer
- "The Nun Priest's Tale"
- Prologue to "The Wife of Bath's Tale"
- "The Wife of Bath's Tale"
Using Weebly, you will create a hyperlinked exploration of the poem. Your annotations must include (but not be limited to):
- Home page, with at least 3 Essential Questions
- Biography of the poet
- Text of the poem
- Visuals to enhance the annotations. You should use a number of visuals on each page.
- An exploration of the poem in the form of:
- The essential questions it fosters
- Interpretations of stanzas
- Identification of technical devices (figurative language, structure, etc.) and their functions--minimum of 5 per group member.
- Identification of important imagery and its function--minimum of 5 per group member
- Reflections on the themes of the poems--minimum 3 per group member
- Select a song that addresses the same themes as the poem. Provide text, music, and 1-2 paragraph explanation. 1 per group member.
- Bibliography. Make sure you cite ALL of your sources (there should be quite a few!)
You will also be assessed during a Socratic Seminar.
How to Do It
- First things first: create a GoogleDoc to be shared by you and your group members. Share the document with me as well.
- Copy and paste the text of the poem onto the Document--this way, you'll be able to see and make notes as you go along.
- Each group member needs to choose a different color for their font. This way, you (and I) will be able to see just who has made what contributions to the project. Do not use Red as that'll be the color I'll use, should I want to leave any notes.
- Everyone needs to read and be familiar with the entire poem, but you may want to split up the initial note taking and research into individual sections.
- Keep track of your sources! This is extremely important, so don't forget! This includes citing any images that you may use.