Aim: How can we use the poem, “This is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams as inspiration for our own poems?
Do now:
To start off our lesson, we were asked to describe a time where we did something we knew was wrong and were supposed to feel sorry for doing, but didn’t. By looking at the aim, it was sort of confusing how this do-now played into the lesson. Nevertheless, I recalled a time where I stole a snack from my younger brother’s goodie bag and I didn’t regret it because it turned out to be delicious. After recalling our own, the class began to share their own personal experiences, including Ms.Peterson. We came to a conclusion that everyone at some point did not feel sorry for a mistake they’ve made because the outcome was worth it.
Moving on, students were introduced to a poem called “This is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams. This poem was basically about someone who ate a plum that wasn’t theirs and tries to justify it by saying it was delicious. It turned out that Williams wrote this poem right at the moment when he ate his wife’s plum. This soon came to be one of his most famous poems, as it is short and a free verse.
We see a variation of Williams’s theme in other poems such as one by Kenneth Koch, which is essentially a collection of situations where one does something and offers a “but” statement right after.
Activity:
Next, the class was asked to create as many poems similar to “This is Just to Say” in just five minutes. The most someone got was six poems, which were all about eating someone else’s food.
Imagery:
To begin the discussion of imagery, we first watched a video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
The application of imagery in poems is meant to awaken our five senses, sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch. It is so important when writing because it adds depth and helps the reader envision what is going on. For example, saying “I’m upset” doesn’t help the reader visualize much. Rather, saying “her eyes were flooded with tears” gives more of a feeling.
Then, students read three short stanzas that evoked feelings of hopelessness, joyfulness and melancholy with the use of imagery. For instance, to create feelings of joy, the author described the rays of a morning sun.
The next poem we read and annotated was called “Fast Break” by Edward Hirsch. The author uses lots of imagery and descriptive language to help the reader envision the basketball game.
After reading this poem, students had to fill out the TWIST (tone, word choice, imagery, style, and theme) chart which will ultimately help us create a final thesis. I thought that the tone of the poem was suspenseful and that the word choice was quite advanced. A lot of imagery was used to cultivate the vision of players moving through the game. The style was evocative and the theme was that even though it may seem all hope is lost, there is always still a chance for revival.
Reflection:
Through today’s lesson, I was introduced to Williams’s poem “This is Just to Say” which was a simple, yet important poem for the development of free verse, which holds no bounds. Additionally, I learned the importance of imagery in not only poems, but any sort of literature. It brings the reader into the experience within the words, because someone would most likely want to read something interesting and expressive rather than something bland. I will apply the knowledge I gained today for anytime in the future where I am asked to write anything graphic.
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