Module III: Poetry

1. BIOGRAPHY

Weatherford, Carole Boston. 2015. VOICES OF FREEDOM: FANNIE LOU HAMER SPIRIT OF CIVIL RIGHT MOVEMENT. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press. ISBN 978-0-7636-6531-9

2. PLOT DEVELOPMENT

Fannie Lou Hamer was the twentieth child born to a family of Mississippi sharecroppers.  She came into the world because a plantation owner paid her mother fifty dollars to produce another field hand.  Despite all the hardships in her life, like having her reproductive organs removed by a doctor without her knowledge of consent.  Fannie Lou Townsend never stopped fighting for her freedom and the freedom of many other black people.  Due to Fannie Lou being tired of how she and her ancestor had been treated for hundreds of years, she helped organize a civil rights movement.  Fannie Lou was humiliated, kicked around by the police for protesting.  Fannie Lou became a political activist and the leader of the 1964 Democratic National Convention to fight for the representation of black people.  She is remember for her strength, courage, hope and determination for injustices of black people.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The poems in this book describe the events and feelings throughout Fannie Lou Hamer's life.  The emotions and the first-person language of the poems are what moves the readers emotions.  The reader can visualize and feel the struggles of Hamer in her childhood.  Your heart aches for her as she fights for the right to vote, and your anger is ignited as you hear the awful ways she was treated.  The personal stories from these poems depict a tumultuous period in the life of many black people.  This book is quite moving, with poetry that creates an atmosphere of emotion and engages the reader in learning about the history of Hamer and the Civil Rights movement.

The illustrations portrayed in the this book celebrates the life of Fannie Lou Hamer from a young girl working in the fields to the political activist in the human right movement.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

2016 Caldecott Award

" This welcome biography brings to light one of the civil rights movement's most inspiring leaders.  The youngest of 20 children, Fannie Lou Hamer grew up in the family of sharecroppers in the Mississippi Delta.  Forced to leave school after sixth grade, she joined the rest of her family in the fields picking cotton.  Hamer still hungered for knowledge, however, and she found strength in the love of her family and through her Christian faith.  Weatherford describes the hardship that Hamer endured.  For instance, in 1961, while she was having a small tumor removed, a doctor performed a hysterectomy on her without her consent; at the time, Mississippi law allowed poor women to be sterilized without their knowledge.  Hamer was in her 40s when young activists spoke at her church; until that point, Hamer hadn't known that she could vote, and she volunteered to register.  Though she faced threats and in 1963 was brutally beaten, she spent the rest of her life rallying others.  Told in the first person from Hamer's own perspective, this lyrical text in verse emphasizes the activist's perseverance and courage, as she let her booming voice be heard.  Homes's beautiful, vibrant collage illustrations add detail and nuance, often depicting Hamer wearing yellow, which reflects her Sunflower County roots and her signature song,  "This Little Light of Mine."  Pair this title with Don Mitchell's The Freedom Summer Murders (Scholastic, 2014), which features a short chapter on Hamer,  for a well-rounded look at this tumultuous, turbulent era.  VERDICT Hamer's heroic life story should be widely known, and this well-crafted work should find a place in most libraries.-- Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA" -- School Library Journal starred reveiw

" Weatherford's latest picture- book biography (Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, rev. 11/06; I, Matthew Henson, rev. 3/08; among many others) chronicles the life of civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer, from her beginnings as the youngest child of Mississippi sharecropper, through the evolution of her political awareness, to her lasting impact on the civil rights movement.  Weatherford incorporates direct quotes (indicated by italics and sourced in the endnotes) into her free-verse text, using a conversational, colloquial voice that makes the transitions seamless.  The book tackles complex ans little-addressed aspects of life under Jim Crow (such as Hamer's forced sterilization under a Mississippi law) and of the civil rights movement (such as the battle she waged at the 1964 Democratic convention against proposed compromises that would have weakened the movement).  Artist Holmes, in her children's literature debut, elevates an already excellent narrative with richly colored pages illustrations that layer meaning upon meaning with scraps of historical photos, newsprint's, maps, musical scores, and more.  Using shadows, patter, and alternative vast and intimate perspectives, she adds emotional heft to the contrast between Hamer's public stature and personal experiences.  This majestic biography offers a detailed, intelligible overview of Hamer's life while never losing the thread of her motivations, fears, and heroic triumphs, and places the civil rights movement in personal, local, national, and international contexts.  An extensively detailed timeline, and author's note, source notes, and a bibliography are appended. claire e. Gross"--Horn Book starred Review

5. CONNECTION

Fighting for injustices

* Ada, Krull, Morales. 2003. HARVESTING HOPE: THE STORY OF CESAR CHAVEZ. ISBN0152014373

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1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sidman, Joyce. 2007. THIS IS JUST TO SAY. Ill Zagarenski, Pamela. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN-13:978-0-618-61680-2

2. PLOT DEVELOPMENT

Mrs. Merz asked her class to write poems of apology and forgiveness.  Since the students enjoyed and liked the poems they decided to put them into a book.  Students wrote to people they felt they owed an apology and forgiveness for something they thought they had done.  Not only did her students were able to write poems, but also they person they wrote to responded with their own poem.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The theme Forgiveness in Joyce Sidman's  book and the creation of heartfelt apologies written by 6th graders has engaged many readers in the ability to visualize the heartfelt "sorry" expressed in these poems.  The poems convey varied student perspectives all around asking for an apology from a parent, sibling, friends, teachers.... In the book, the poems are largely free-versed and feature poetic in visualizing the written words expressed in the poems and create stronger relationships and a powerful connections among parents, friends, teachers, and others.

The illustrations created in this book made the book fun to read.  The pictures truly resemble what a middle school students will draw in their journals. This poems is a great way to motivate young readers to express their feeling and thoughts with this type of writing and illustrations.

4.REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

" Providing a surprisingly effective story arc, this series of poems was inspired by William Carlos William's famous poem of the same title regarding a theft of plums.  Anthony, one of the students in Mrs. Merz's class, becomes the editor because it was his idea to make the poems into a book and to include any responses they get to their apologies.  There's range of topics and ability in the poems, from the "Roses are red / Violets are blue / I'm still really / pissed off at you" in the responses section to the difficult form of a pantoum in "Spelling Bomb."  A collage-like look and to the illustrations captures the child-like quality in sprightly composition, but the conceit that these are the artwork of one the students doesn't quite ring true.  At one point, Anthony claims to have edited for language, bu other poems have some words that are realistically uncensored.  Despite a slight uneven quality or perhaps because of it the whole is far more captivating than expected.  Packed with the intensity of everyday pain and sorrow, kids and adults exchanged the words that convey grief, delight, love, and acceptance of themselves and others. (Poetry. 8-12)--Kirkus Review

"Sidman's ear is keen, capturing many voices.  Her skill as a poet accessible to young people is unmatched... This is an important book both for its creativity and for its wisdom. " School of Library Journal starred reveiw

" The concepts of Sidman's book is an original entertaining, using a fictional classroom to bring to group of poems and their elementary school authors to life... a fabulous book to show students the many forms that poetry can take and to inspire them to write their own "sorry poems." -- Book page

5. CONNECTION

* This is a great lesson activity to teach students  about Apology and Forgiveness

*Whitman, Walt. 2019. OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN. ISBN 9781419733581

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1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Grimes, Nikki. 2017. ONE LAST WORD. Ill by Cabrera, Cozbi. New York: Bloomsbury USA Children. ISBN 1619635542

2. PLOT DEVELOPMENT

Nikki Grimes uses words from other famous poets of the Harlem Renaissance to express her words through poetry.  She does this by combining their work with her own original poetry.  Through her poems, Grimes message to young black adults is to never lose faith, work hard, and always be yourself.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Grimes' poems are depicted from the early Renaissance poets.  She uses her poems to express the injustices she her people endured.  But she also uses poetry to encourage young black people to stay strong and never lose faith despite struggles they are faced with.

Some of the  illustrations are part of the original artwork in full-color by many know African american illustrators.  The pictures represented in each page are bold and beautiful pieces of artwork that truly represents each poem that is included in the book. 

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

" Timely and thought-provoking, Grimes collection transports young readers through the enduring expressiveness of the Harlem Renaissance, juxtaposing classic poems of the era with her own original work and full-color art by contemporary African-American illustrators.  Grime's choice of from, the Golden shovel poem\, does the magic of weaving generations of black verbal artistry into a useful, thematic, golden thread.  A challenge indeed, the structure demands taking either a short poem in its entirety or a line from that poem, known as a "striking line," in order to serve as the foundation for a new poem in which each line ends with one word from the original.  With this , the classic opening line of Jean Toomer's "Storm Ending" (Thunder blossoms gorgeously above our heads") is reinvigorating within new verse as Grimes reminds young readers that  "The truth is, every day we rise is like thunder__/ a clap of surprise.  Could be echoes of trouble, or blossoms / of blessings."  Grimes joins the work of historic black wordsmiths such as Georgia Douglas Johnson, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, plus the less-anthologized yet incredibly insightful Gwendolyn Bennett and Clara Ann Thompson, with her contemporary characters and thematic entanglements to bring forth a Harlem Renaissance that is as close to the present as the with of injustice and unfulfilled promise that they spoke through.  This striking, passionate anthology reminds young readers and adults fans of poetry alike that while black life remains "no crystal stair," there remains reason to hope and reserve of courage from which to draw.---Kirkus Reveiw, starred review

"Between the covers of this compact volume lies artistic, literary, social cultural, and curricular gold. Taking Inspiration from the poets of the Harlem Renaissance and her poetic form from a method first developed to honor Gwendolyn Brooks, Grimes offers an introduction and a homage to these strong African -American voices.  After providing brief author's notes on the Harlem Renaissance and its role in inspiring her own work, she describes and demonstrates the Golden Shovel form, wherein a poet takes the words form a line or several lines of an existing poem, places them vertically against the right margin, and crafts anew poem around them.  Working with powerful yet child-friendly poems by the luminaries of  of the period as well as lesser-known poets such as Gwendolyn Bennett and Clara Ann Thompson, Grimes then organizer her own poems, alongside the originals, into thematic strands that remain hauntingly relevant to contemporary experiences.  Her riffs not only honor but also interpret the poems she has chosen, building stories and drawing thematic and internationalization connections through the creation of narrative voices of different ages.  Mothers and elders exhort and reflect while young boys and girls plead and dream, reimagining the sorrows and dreams of the legendary wordsmiths into scenarios involving superheroes, bullies, peer pressure, poverty, and prom dates that young readers will relate to.  This is simply essential for both personal and classroom collection.---Bulletin for the Center of Children Books, starred review

5. CONNECTION

Message of hope

* Angelo, Maya. 1978. AND STILL I RISE. ISBN0394502523

*Dickenson, Emily. 2019. HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS. ISBN9781423650980

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1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Garcia McCall, Guadalupe. 2011. UNDER THE MESQUITE. Lee & Low Books Inc. ISBN9781600604294

2. PLOT DEVELOPMENT

At a young age, Lupita and her family arrive to Eagle Pass, Texas from Mexico.  Being the eldest of eight children, Lupita is faced with the challenge of taking care of her family when her mother is stricken with cancer and absent from the responsibilities of raising children.  Knowing that her mother has cancer and the possibility of death is there, Lupita and her mother do not speak of their worries out loud; Lupita has be bear her worries alone.  Poetry help Lupita deal with the chaos and challenges of providing care for her family and the possibility of losing her mother.  While dealing with the family struggles, Lupita confides in her drama teacher.  It is he who encourages Lupita to use her pain in her acting class.  In her senior year of high school, Lupita mother succumbs to cancer; Lupita is by her side during the final moments.

2. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The theme in this book is maintaining family bonds in spite of adversity.  Lupita is high school junior, when her mother is diagnosed with cancer.  She has to step up and take care of her family while her mother is going though treatment. Lupita is resilient and family minded as she works hard to keep her family together.  The mesquite tree in this story symbolizes strength, resilience, and overcoming obstacles.  Lupita sits many days under the mesquite tree to write about her thoughts and feelings.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

" His autobiographical novel in verse chronicles Lupita's coming of age set against the backdrop of her mother's cancer diagnosis.  I love the way the author begins with the diagnosis, and then follows up with the section of poems about her memories go growing up.  She then returns to the present, and the final section deals tenderly with the loss of her mother, and the way her father helps the family through the crisis with quiet strength.  I particularly appreciate the glossary of names, Spanish words, and cultural references, which ties readers to the world of South Texas and the Latino culture that is so prevalent in that region."---School Library Journal

"The close-knit family relationship, especially Mami and Lupita's are vividly portrayed, as is the healing comfort Lupita finds in words, whether written in her notebooks or performed on stage."--Booklist Reveiws

5. CONNECTION

Staying strong despite unfortunate circumstances after losing a loved one.

*Miyazawa, Kenji. 2008. STRONG IN THE WIND: SELECTED POEMS. ISBN10:1852247819