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Lesson 4

We will compare and contrast two narrative poems that offer differing pictures of belonging in a community. We will compare how the speakers in each poem learn both the spoken and unspoken rules of their communities.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I gather and organize relevant and sufficient evidence to demonstrate an understanding of the rules of the communities portrayed in “Stoop Sitting” and “If They Should Come for Us"?

  • Can I interpret and analyze the impact of the relations among the characters and their settings in “Stoop Sitting” and “If They Should Come for Us?”

  • Can I analyze the structure of “Where I’m From,” “If They Should Come for Us,” and “Stoop Sitting” to determine how the authors’ choices regarding structure impact meaning?

  • Can I analyze how Acevedo and Asghar use dialogue and description to develop the characters and themes in their poems?

  • Can I recognize points of connection among the poems, textual elements, and authors’ perspectives to make logical, objective comparisons?

Texts

Core

  • Digital Access
    • “If They Should Come for Us,” Fatimah Asghar, Poetry, March 2017
    • “‘Where I’m From’: A Crowdsourced Poem That Collects Your Memories of Home,” Casey Noenickx, Kwame Alexander, and Rachel Martin, National Public Radio, August 28, 2019

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss

We will share our personal “Where I’m From” poems and review “If They Should Come For Us.” we will then discuss our own communities.

We previously listened to "Where I’m From," as featured on a radio show from National Public Radio. Share what you recall about the communities in that poem.

With a partner or in a small group, share the personal "Where I’m From" poem that you wrote for homework or a favorite stanza from it.

Discuss values, traditions, or other characteristics that your communities share, as well as characteristics that are different.

Activity 2: Discuss – Read – Write

We will work together to determine the theme of “If They Should Come For Us.”

Step 1

With a partner, read "If They Should Come for Us" aloud.

Assign each partner one of the questions below. For your assigned question, use an Attending to Details Tool.

  1. How did the people in the narrator’s community come to belong to this community?

  2. What does this community do?

Step 2

Discuss your Attending to Details Tools. Share your understanding about the narrator’s community. Then, revise your statement to include details you might have missed or misinterpreted.

Step 3

Discuss the following questions:

  1. In Lines 15-19, the speaker describes two Muslim men who she has claimed. In what ways are these men similar and in what ways are they different? What can you infer about the rules for belonging in this community from this section?

  2. In Lines 33, 36, and 37, the speaker starts to use collective nouns to describe the people in her community. What are these words, and what do they indicate about the speaker’s attitude toward her community and toward others?

  3. According to the text, how does this community function within the larger setting? What lines or phrases can you find that reinforce that idea?

  4. What is the theme of the poem? What lines could you point to that would summarize the theme of "If They Should Come for Us"?

Activity 3: Read – Write – Discuss

We will compare and contrast two different poems to determine how each author writes about community.

Reread "Where I’m From." Respond to the following questions in your Learning Log about how the way it was organized aided in your understanding of its meaning:

  1. How would you describe the structure of the poem? What do you notice, and why is that important?

  2. You will notice enjambment—the lack of rhyme, or lines of a variety of lengths with no definite meter. What is the effect of enjambment on the poem’s meaning?

  3. How do the narrators take different approaches to engaging with their communities? What evidence do you find in the text to support your thoughts?

Share your responses with the class, and chart responses in order to notice trends among them.

Use the discussion to write down a new entry in the “Writer’s Rhetorical Toolbox” section of your Learning Log.