Narrative Poetry Assignment

YOUR MISSION: You will select and present a narrative poem to the class. Your analysis will cover narrative elements and historical elements.

Task A - Poem Selection

1. Select a narrative poem that refers to an actual historical event or a well-known legend. Since you will be examining the poem on a historical basis, be sure to choose one that lends itself to research. A list of suggestions is available from the teacher upon request.
   
   
2. Once you have selected your poem, obtain or produce a clear copy of the poem for use during your analysis and presentation. If you are using a song, you may wish to have a CD or taped version as well.

Task B - Introduction and Overview (Knowledge/Understanding/Communication)

Before you discuss any historical elements from your chosen poem, you will briefly introduce the poem and present some of its narrative elements to your classmates.

1. Introduce the title and, if possible, the author of your poem.
   
   
2. Provide a brief overview of the main characters in the poem. This may include details about appearance, age, personality, occupation, etc.
   
   
3. Summarize the key plot events in the poem for your classmates.
   CAUTION: If you are unable to do this, it may mean that you have not chosen a narrative poem! Check with the teacher for clarification.
   
   
4. Have an overhead transparency of the poem to present the "lyrics" to the class in some way. You may wish to read the poem aloud or play it on the CD player. You are free to use your imagination as long as the words come across clearly and with proper emphasis.

Task C - Historical Context and Bibliography (Thinking and Inquiry/Communication)

For this portion of the assignment you will conduct research in the library to discover the origins of your narrative poem. Find three or more 'historical sources' related to your poem. Use the GCI Library catalogue in the library folder in Desk Tools to access print materials. Use the library web page to access electronic data base sources (Electric Library, GaleNet, World Book Online, etc.). If your poem is a song, try a search engine like Google to search for the artist and/or the song.

Once you have found some information, complete the following steps:

1. Determine the setting in which the events from your poem reportedly occurred. Be as specific as possible. Look to your poem for clues as well (i.e.: the Edmund Fitzgerald sank during the "gales of November" on Lake Superior). Be sure to examine the time period and historical details as well. For the modern poems, it might be interesting to access a newspaper from the same year to discover other events, issues or social trends occurred at that time.
   
   
   • For your presentation, attempt to give the class a sense of the historical context of your poem. You may also refer to physical setting details if they are relevant. Using references to your research and the poem itself, take your classmates back to the origins of the poem's story. Try to give them a more complete historical perspective.
   
   
   
2. Determine whether there are any differences between the characters and events in your narrative poem versus the original story. Did you learn more about certain characters/people from the sotry? Are the characters and events portrayed accurately? Have any facts or events been left out? Are there different versions of what happened? Why might these differences exist?
   
   
   • For your presentation, discuss at least three (3) interesting "discoveries" made during your research. Use the above questions as a guide and have your research notes available to field any follow-up questions from classmates.
   
   
   
3. Finally, consider reasons why your narrative poem may continue to survive for generations to come.
   
   
   • For your presentation, describe at least three (3) ways in which your poem lends itself to the narrative or oral tradition (see your list of Narrative Poetry Characteristics). For each narrative element you discuss, refer to a specific example from your poem to illustrate your point.
   
   
   
4. You will need to produce a bibliography of sources used for this project. The teacher-librarian will explain and evaluate this portion of the assignment.

Assessment Rubric