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Lesson 13

We will analyze “Parsley” and listen to an interview with Julia Alvarez, Rita Dove, and Edwidge Danticat.

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

  • Unit Reader
    • “Parsley,” Rita Dove, Carnegie Mellon University Press, 1983
  • Tradebook
    • In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2010
  • Digital Access
    • “Dominicans, Haitians Remember Parsley Massacre,” Celeste Headlee, Julia Alvarez, and Edwidge Danticat, Tell Me More, National Public Radio, 2012
    • “Remembering to Never Forget: Dominican Republic’s ‘Parsley Massacre’,” Mark Memmott, The Two Way, National Public Radio, 2012

Materials

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Listen – Write

We will listen to a short interview about the parsley massacre with Julia Alvarez and Edwidge Danticat, a haitian-American author.

Listen to Julia Alvarez and Edwidge Danticat pronounce perejil.

Respond to the following question:

  1. What do you understand better or differently about the poem "Parsley" after hearing from Julia Alvarez and Edwidge Danticat?

Activity 2: Discuss – Write

We will analyze “Parsley” by using a poetry analysis strategy called tp-castt.

Step 1

In your small group, analyze the poem by using the TP-CASTT framework. Discuss each element of TP-CASTT, and find examples in the text to support your interpretation. Answer the corresponding questions from the Section 4 Question Set:

  1. Title: Examine the title. What do you think it means? Why is the title important?

  2. Paraphrase: Rewrite the poem in your own words on a literal level. What is actually happening?

  3. Connotation: Examine the poem again for meaning beyond the literal meaning. Find 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 tone. Where does the poem shift, and what does the shift make you think of?

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

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

Step 2

When you are finished, respond to the question below:

  1. What is the poem "Parsley" about?

Step 3

Now, discuss the question as a whole class. Use your TP-CASTT responses to help you form and share your ideas.

Activity 3: Listen – Discuss

We will listen to an interview about the parsley massacre with Julia Alvarez, Rita Dove, and Edwidge Danticat.

Listen to the interview, "Dominicans, Haitians Remember Parsley Massacre." Respond to the following questions:

  1. What do you understand better or differently about the poem "Parsley" after hearing from Julia Alvarez, Rita Dove, and Edwidge Danticat?

  2. How does hearing about the Parsley Massacre deepen your understanding of In the Time of the Butterflies?

Share your responses with the class.

Activity 4: Discuss – Write

We will answer text-specific questions about “Parsley.”

Step 1

Discuss and answer the following text-specific questions from the Section 4 Question Set and answer them in your group. Write your answers in your Learning Log.

  1. What happens in the poem? Who are the characters, and what action occurs?

  2. What does the parrot imitating spring signify?

  3. Whom might the parrot be a metaphor for?

  4. The cane has at least two meanings. What is the cane?

  5. What do the lines, "It is fall, when thoughts turn to love and death" mean?

  6. Find the places where the author connects love and death. What do you notice?

  7. Consider the lines, "He hears the Haitians sing without R’s as they swing the great machetes: Katalina, they sing, Katalina, mi madle, mi amol en muelte." Why is it important that the Haitians sing?

  8. What is the theme of the poem?

Step 2

As a whole group, discuss the following question:

  1. Does the poem "Parsley" cause you to think differently about the Mirabal sisters?

Cite evidence from both texts to support your answer.