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Lesson 3

We will analyze “If They Should Come for Us” by Fatimah Asghar to determine what the poem tells us about community.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I read a poem with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension?

  • Can I express an accurate understanding of the central ideas of texts?

  • Can I analyze how an author’s perspective influences the position, purpose, and ideas of a text?

Texts

Core

  • Digital Access
    • “If They Should Come for Us,” Fatimah Asghar, Poetry, March 2017

Materials

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss – Write

We will analyze “If They Should Come For Us” by Fatimah Asghar by using a poetry analysis strategy called tp-castt.

Step 1

In small groups, analyze the poem by using the TP-CASTT framework. Discuss each element of TP-CASTT listed below and answer the associated questions. Find examples in the text to support your interpretation and write down your responses.

  1. Title: Examine the title. What do you think the title means, or why is the title important?

  2. Paraphrase: Rewrite the poem’s action using your own words. What is actually happening?

  3. Connotation: Examine the poem again, looking beyond the literal meaning. Identify and annotate figurative language and imagery. What ideas or feelings do the words in the poem invoke?

  4. Attitude: Determine the attitude. What is the speaker’s attitude and how does that help you understand the poem?

  5. Shifts: Look for any shifts or changes in the speaker’s attitude or the tone of the poem. Where does the poem shift, and what does the shift make you think about?

  6. Tone: What is the tone of the poem? Does it stay the same, or does it shift? How does knowing the poem’s tone help you understand the poem?

  7. Title: Reexamine the title, this time on an interpretive level. What does the title mean?

Step 2

As a class, discuss the following question, using the TP-CASTT framework to help form and share your ideas:

  1. What is the poem "If They Should Come For Us" about?

Activity 2: Read – Discuss

We will work together to analyze the vocabulary in “If They Should Come For Us” and its effects.

Step 1

Silently read the poem, and highlight any vocabulary that gives you clues about the speaker.

Step 2

Then compare your highlighted words with those of a partner. Discuss the following questions:

  1. What do the words you selected have in common?

  2. What community or communities is the speaker a part of? How do you know?

  3. In Lines 6-7, the speaker describes an old woman’s sari and the bindi as a new moon on her forehead. Later, in Line 21, she describes another woman who pairs her kurta with crocs. What can you infer about the speaker’s ethnic community based on these clues?

Activity 3: Discuss – Read – Write

We will answer text-specific questions about “If They Should Come For Us."

Step 1

In your small group, discuss and respond to the following text-specific questions, recording your answers in your Learning Log:

  1. What is happening in the poem? Who are the characters and what is the action?

  2. Who are "my people"?

  3. What does it mean to claim people in the poem?

  4. What meanings do you find in the lines "If they come for you they come for me too in the dead"?

  5. Identify the different people the author includes in her poem. What do you notice?

  6. What does the line "I follow you like constellations" mean?

  7. What do you think are the central ideas of the poem?

Step 2

As a class, discuss the following question:

  1. What does "If They Should Come for Us" illustrate about community?