Lesson Plan

Grade/Subject: 9/ELA Unit: Poetry Lesson Duration: 80 minutes

OUTCOMES FROM ALBERTA PROGRAM OF STUDIES

General Learning Outcomes:

GeneralOutcome#2:Studentswilllisten,speak,read,write,viewandrepresenttocomprehendand
respondpersonallyandcriticallytooral,printandothermediatexts.

Specific Learning Outcomes:

2.2 Respond to Texts

2.2.1 Experience various texts
2.2.2 Construct meaning from texts
2.2.3 Appreciate the artistry of texts

2.3 Understand Forms, Elements, and Techniques

2.3.1 Understand forms and genres
2.3.2 Understand techniques and elements

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will:
1. discover the form of epic poetry and the heroic cycle
2. write a black-out poem with an epic poem passage

ASSESSMENTS
Observations: Key Questions:
Watch for engagement throughout the activities How is the heroic cycle still used in modern art forms
today?
Can we create our own poetic forms? Whats an Epic
Blackout Poem?

Written/Performance Assessments: Epic Blackout Poem; Work on poetry portfolio (due Thursday March
23, 2017)

LEARNING RESOURCES CONSULTED

Resource #1: Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
Resource #2: Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing (5th ed.)

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

Epic Poetry PowerPoint
Blackout Poem examples (PowerPoint)
Epic Poem passage
20 black Sharpies

PROCEDURE
Introduction (3 min.):
Hook/Attention Grabber:
SAY: Today we are going to be learning about epic poetry. Some of the most famous pieces of literature are
written as epic poems. Some of the ones you might recognize are Beowulf (anonymous), Paradise Lost
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(John Milton), The Odyssey (Homer), lliad (Homer), The Canterbury Tales (Geoffrey Chaucer)

DO: Bring up PowerPoint examples and discuss

Body (70 min.):
Learning Activity #1: Elements of Epic Poetry (15 min)

DISCUSS: Epic poetry originated as long stories shared orally with younger members of the community the
way we might tell stories around the campfire today.

They often told of:

Events that have an impact on culture
Heroic deeds, quests and battles
Reference to Gods and supernatural worlds
A hero with certain qualities, many strengths, a super weapon, one weakness eg Achilles heal

DISCUSS: Originally bards shared these tales, sharing with music and verse, but as they were so lengthy
they followed a similar structure. Most epics hold true to the structural rules of the epic hero cycle.
Some well-known modern stories also follow this structure. (see PowerPoint)

DO: In small groups have students come up with a modern-day plot line (movies, books, etc.) that follows
the epic hero cycle. Share.

Learning Activity #2: Blackout Poetry (30 min)

SAY: Because epic poems come in the form of long stories, were not going to read an entire one, but I
wanted to show you a passage from one of the famous epic poems I mentioned earlier. Then were going to
take that passage and combine it with another poetry form to create a new poem! Well be using the
beginning passage of Homers epic poem, The Odyssey.

DO: Give brief overview of the poem. (see PowerPoint)

ASK: Who knows what blackout poetry is?

SAY: Were going to be combining epic poetry with blackout poetry an Epic Blackout Poem!
DO: Show poetry examples, pass out passages and sharpies, and have them create their own blackout poem
with the passage.

(Sponge) Learning Activity #3: Poetry Portfolio Writing (25 min)

DO: Give them the remainder of the class period to finish their blackout poetry, or write other types weve
been discussing.

Closure (2 min.):
Consolidation/Assessment of Learning: Today we learned about epic poetry, the heroic cycle, and blackout
poetry. I hope you had fun creating your own poems with Homers The Odyssey.

Work on your poetry portfolioswrite a lot, then youll be able to pick and choose from your poems and
present your best work in your portfolio.

Transition To Next Lesson:

SAY: Tomorrow we will be sharing some of what weve written. Ill be giving you time in class to work on
your portfolios. They are due on Wed. April 5One week from tomorrow.

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Notes:

The epic hero cycle:

1. The main character is a hero, who is often possessed of supernatural abilities or qualities.

2. The hero is charged with a quest.

3. The hero is tested, often to prove the worthiness of himself and his quest.

4. The presence of numerous mythical beings, magical and helpful animals, and human helpers
and companions

5. The hero's travels take him to a supernatural world, often one that normal human beings are
barred from entering.

6. The cycle must reach a low point where the hero nearly gives up his quest or appears defeated.

7. A resurrection.

8. Restitution. Often this takes the form of the hero regaining his rightful place on the throne.

(Foley, 2004)

The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a
sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The Odyssey is fundamental to the modern
Western canon, and is the second-oldest extant work of Western literature; the Iliad is the oldest.
Scholars believe the Odyssey was composed near the end of the 8th century BC, somewhere in Greece.

The poem mainly focuses on the Greek hero Odysseus (known as Ulysses in Roman myths), king of
Ithaca, and his journey home after the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the
ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is assumed Odysseus has died, and his wife Penelope and son
Telemachus must deal with a group of unruly suitors, the Mnesteres (Greek: ) or Proci, who
compete for Penelope's hand in marriage.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey

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The Odyssey: Book One
Homer

Tell me, O Muse, of the man of many devices, who wandered full many
ways after he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy. Many were the men
whose cities he saw and whose mind he learned, aye, and many the woes
he suffered in his heart upon the sea, [5] seeking to win his own life and
the return of his comrades. Yet even so he saved not his comrades, though
he desired it sore, for through their own blind folly they perishedfools,
who devoured the kine of Helios Hyperion; but he took from them the day
of their returning. [10] Of these things, goddess, daughter of Zeus,
beginning where thou wilt, tell thou even unto us. Now all the rest, as
many as had escaped sheer destruction, were at home, safe from both war
and sea, but Odysseus alone, filled with longing for his return and for his
wife, did the queenly nymph Calypso, that bright goddess, [15] keep back
in her hollow caves, yearning that he should be her husband. But when, as
the seasons revolved, the year came in which the gods had ordained that he
should return home to Ithaca, not even there was he free from toils, even
among his own folk. And all the gods pitied him [20] save Poseidon; but he
continued to rage unceasingly against godlike Odysseus until at length he
reached his own land. Howbeit Poseidon had gone among the far-off
Ethiopiansthe Ethiopians who dwell sundered in twain, the farthermost
of men, some where Hyperion sets and some where he rises, [25] there to
receive a hecatomb of bulls and rams, and there he was taking his joy,
sitting at the feast; but the other gods were gathered together in the halls of
Olympian Zeus. Among them the father of gods and men was first to speak,
for in his heart he thought of noble Aegisthus, [30] whom far-famed
Orestes, Agamemnon's son, had slain. Thinking on him he spoke among
the immortals, and said: Look you now, how ready mortals are to blame
the gods. It is from us, they say, that evils come, but they even of
themselves, through their own blind folly, have sorrows beyond that which
is ordained. [35] Even as now Aegisthus, beyond that which was ordained,
took to himself the wedded wife of the son of Atreus, and slew him on his
return, though well he knew of sheer destruction, seeing that we spake to
him before, sending Hermes, the keen-sighted Argeiphontes, 1 that he
should neither slay the man nor woo his wife; [40] for from Orestes shall
come vengeance for the son of Atreus when once he has come to manhood
and longs for his own land. So Hermes spoke, but for all his good intent he

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prevailed not upon the heart of Aegisthus; and now he has paid the full
price of all.