Narrative Poems - Learning English through Poems and Songs

S 50

S 51 Learning Activity 2

Reading and Discussion

A brief news item can give us the basic idea for a narrative poem. For example, the basic story of a news item “a housewife and mother of two won the Mark Six jackpot of 14 million dollars today”

could be developed into the narrative poem below.

Section A

In pairs or groups, read the poem and answer the questions that follow.

What a Day

It was an ordinary day Like any other.

Well, that’s what I thought.

I was washing clothes

And mopping floors, 5

Thinking about our dinner.

And I remember I was worrying About Ah Tai’s school-fees.

Then Mrs Tse

Across the way 10

Shouted, “Have you checked Mark 6?”

So I went and did.

It looked like my number.

I checked.

I checked again. It was my number. 15

Only one winner…

Could it be true?

Shaking hands Seeing bright colours

Confusion 20

Many thoughts All so fast:

Who could I tell?

Who should I hide it from?

Where would I put it? 25

How soon would I get it?

What would I do with it?

Then dreams, so many dreams, A moment of sheer happiness.

I had won 30

I had won I had won

14, 14, 14, 14, 14 Million dollars.

New clothes, 35

A new computer, A holiday maybe, Even a new home.

No more counting cents.

Ah Fei and Ah Tai well-dressed 40

Getting coaching, having iPods and mobile phones they liked.

S 52 Yes, all very materialistic.

But those were only first thoughts.

Then the preparation to tell the family.

How? I smiled. At once in a rush without a pause words pouring out? 45 Or slow. In the middle of dinner. “Oh, by the way,

It’s been a good day.

I have won Mark 6. 14 million dollars I believe.”

I won’t forget this day for a long long time.

1. Find examples in the first verse that reflect the ordinary life of the woman.

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2. What is meant by “So I went and did” in the last line of the first verse?

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3. Expressions such as “my number” and “I checked” are repeated in the second verse. What is the significance of these repetitions?

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4. Why do you think the woman asks so many questions in the third verse?

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5. What happens in the fourth verse?

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6. What does the fifth verse tell us about the woman?

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7. The last verse is longer, rather heavily punctuated and therefore slower than the other verses.

Why is this so?

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S 53 Section B

The writer has made certain decisions about how to present his poem, and these are reflected in the plan/outline below. Based on your reading of “What a Day”, complete the plan by filling in the blanks with the appropriate answers provided in the boxes below.

What?

description of what the mother is doing climax calm or excited how to break the good news different dreams tension

How?

love wonderful and uncommon ordinary

confusion woman’s/mother’s/housewife’s What?

Title: y What a Day!

Experience/Story: y Woman (housewife and mother of two children) winning Mark Six

Details to include: Basic structure

Beginning:

y Begins with a ______________________________, something which housewives in Hong Kong ordinarily do e.g. washing clothes, cooking…

What next:

y She gets to check Mark Six numbers Build _______ through:

y Her checking again, as she can’t believe she wins 14 million dollars

Lead to ______ by:

y Describing how confused she is about what to do with the ticket

y Highlighting her ________________ of how to spend the money

Bring poem to an end by:

y Considering __________________________ to the family

y Whether in a _______________ way, it doesn’t matter as it’s an unforgettable day

How?

Point of view from which story is told:

y The ___________________________ point of view; her thoughts are presented in the first person

Emotions to present: y _________, excitement, desires (greed), ____

Mood or atmosphere to create y begins with an atmosphere of ________, everyday life to prepare the reader for the _______________ event to come

S 54 Learning Activity 3

Writing

1. Look in the newspaper for a brief story that catches your interest and write a narrative poem of about 20 lines about it. You may also consider adopting some possible ideas below:

•

a sister finds her long lost brother

•

a star splits with her boyfriend/his girlfriend

•

two women have a fight in a market

•

there’s a gang fight

•

a jewellery shop robbery takes place

•

there’s a typhoon

2. Plan how you are going to achieve the effects you want. Look back at the decision making points in the plan for the poem in Learning Activity 1. Make your decisions using similar points.

3. Think about the poetic techniques you have learned in this module so far. What techniques do you think would be effective for this poem? Why?

4. Write your poem.

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S 55 Learning Activity 4

Speaking

Choral speaking (i.e. reciting a poem as a group) is an interesting way to perform as well as present your understanding and interpretation of a poem. Use the narrative poem you write in Learning Activity 3 or find another you like and prepare it for recitation.

You may wish to pay attention to the following aspects of the poem to help you to prepare for the performance:

y What is the theme of the poem?

y What is its overall mood and atmosphere? (e.g. Is it happy, sad, playful, ironic, exciting, terrifying or passionate?)

y What is the purpose of each verse? (e.g. Does it provide the setting, introduce the main character(s), describe the main incident or highlight the poet’s feeling?)

y What tone would you use for each verse? Would you change your tone anywhere?

y How are the rhymes organised?

y Where would you put the stresses in each line or verse?

y What is the most appropriate pace for reading each line or verse?

y What facial expressions or gestures would you use to help to convey the meanings of some lines?

Perform your poem to the class and ask them for comments using the “Performance Feedback Form”

that the teacher provides.

S 56

在文檔中 Learning English through Poems and Songs (頁 58-64)