The Raven Text Set
For my text set, I created a list of texts and multimedia outlets to help discuss my anchor text, The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe. I imagine using these texts to assist in either a Poe unit or a general unit on Poetry. Most of my text sets will be discussing Poe's background and general information regarding The Raven. I have also selected a few texts that will help explain Figurative Language after we have read and analyzed the poem. The Raven is a very popular classic novel, and I think it's important, but can be very difficult to read. I think having all these texts, videos, and info-graphics, will ultimately help students understand the meaning behind The Raven, and how to accurately analyze and understand the poem. I would plan on using this poem for a 9th or 10th grade English class! The texts are as follows:
Link to the Poem: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48860/the-raven
Poe, Edgar A. "The Raven." Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales and Poems. Poetry Foundations. www.poetryfoundations.org.
The Raven is one of Poe's popular poems. It centers around a man sitting alone in his office, grieving the death of a loved one, when a knocking sound is heard on his door. He ultimately finds a raven who perches on a statue and continuously quotes the word "nevermore". The poem's mood is very mysterious and ominous, which creates a dark and eerie tone. It is filled with figurative language and the rhyme and rhythm of the poem, can be enjoyed by many.
Qualitative: This would be a great way to explore a famous poem/author. Since the language may be more complex, it would be important to go through each stanza and understand what words the students may or may not know, so that they can better understand the meaning behind the poem.
The purpose of using The Raven would be to help increase awareness of famous poets. I think it would be important to use this poem for learning more about Figurative Language and how rhyme and rhythm are important elements to poetry.
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"Edgar Allen Poe: Buried Alive Biography" American Masters. PBS, 1 June, 2006.<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/edgar-allan-poe-about-edgar-allan-poe/681/>.
Qualitative: Even though the score is rated higher than where my student's would be at, I would make sure that they have some background knowledge on who Poe is and why he writes the stories that he does.
The purpose of this text is to provide some background information on Poe himself. I think understanding who the author was as a person, can help some of the students relate and understand more about why Poe wrote the poems and stories that he did. I would use this before reading The Raven so we can talk more about the author before getting into the anchor text.
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Qualitative: I think the use of the visuals within the video is a great way to keep the viewer engaged and learning about the content. It provides background information about Poe as well as some of the things behind the poems that he wrote to help us transition into reading the story.
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American Masters PBS. "Experience Poe's dramatic readings of 'The Raven'." YouTube, 18th Oct., 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxi4m91_6YY
Qualitative: The students may need to know more information regarding the poem, to understand some of the vocabulary. Since the video is broken up between someone reciting the poem and people discussing the actor/poem, it would be a good break to understand more about the way the poem is supposed to sound and how it sounds when recited.
I would want to show this video prior to reading the poem itself. I think it's a good way to show how the poem is supposed to be read, and allows the students to hear it and get a better understanding of what the poem is trying to convey.
Does listening to the poem being read out loud help you understand more about what the feeling of he poem is about?
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Qualitative: I think it would be important to make note on weather the students would need to know what The Simpsons is. I feel that the video is pretty generalized, and I don't think it's really needed to have a background knowledge on who these characters are, but could help in the context of using Marge as Lenore (to help explain that Lenore is someone the protagonist loved).
I would use this video after reading The Raven and it would help guide the students in analyzing what the poem means. This video provides a more modern take on using The Simpsons, but instead of just listening to someone read the poem, the cartoon also provides a more "movie" like version, to allow the reader to visualize what is actually happening in the poem.
Was there any moments in the video that helped you understand parts of the poem better? Which parts?
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"Figurative Language: The Raven." Venngage, https://infograph.venngage.com/p/55242/figurative-language-the-raven.
Qualitative: This graphic text offers more of an explanation of what each element means along with an example used from The Raven itself.
I would want to use this as a guide to help students understand what each element of Figurative Language means. I would first want to make sure that I addressed the definitions of each of these elements prior to this info-graphic and general examples to help them understand. I think using this, would be helpful for them while they find their own examples within the anchor text themselves.
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RebeccaRay, "The Raven Literary Elements." StoryboardThat, 12th July, 2018. https://www.storyboardthat.com/storyboards/rebeccaray/-the-raven--literary-elements.
This was a storyboard created to help visualize some of elements of Figurative Language. It provides a small quote as an example of each element, with a small cartoon showing the reader what is happening to also help understanding.
Qualitative: This visual is nice because it offers an text example from The Raven as an example of each element of Figurative Language as well as a visual representation of that quote. What it doesn't have a definition of what each of those elements are. It would be important that the students already have that understanding so that they would know why each of these examples relate.
THE RAVEN by Edgar Allen Poe (anchor text)
Link to the Poem: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48860/the-raven
Poe, Edgar A. "The Raven." Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales and Poems. Poetry Foundations. www.poetryfoundations.org.
Summary:
The Raven is one of Poe's popular poems. It centers around a man sitting alone in his office, grieving the death of a loved one, when a knocking sound is heard on his door. He ultimately finds a raven who perches on a statue and continuously quotes the word "nevermore". The poem's mood is very mysterious and ominous, which creates a dark and eerie tone. It is filled with figurative language and the rhyme and rhythm of the poem, can be enjoyed by many.
Analysis:
Quantitative: On storytoolz.com, The Raven was scored at around a 10th (and higher) grade level. There is a lot of difficult words within the poem that would be difficult to understand because of their complexity. The way the words are structured are also a bit different than how sentences are created now, causing understanding to be a bit difficult. The length of the poem is rather long and could be difficult to keep students engaged if they don't understand a lot of the language.Qualitative: This would be a great way to explore a famous poem/author. Since the language may be more complex, it would be important to go through each stanza and understand what words the students may or may not know, so that they can better understand the meaning behind the poem.
Purpose:
The purpose of using The Raven would be to help increase awareness of famous poets. I think it would be important to use this poem for learning more about Figurative Language and how rhyme and rhythm are important elements to poetry.
Vocab:
Quaint, morrow, surcease, lattice, yore, mien, beguiling, ungainly, ominous.Question:
What feelings and mood do you think is being felt while you read this poem? What things make you feel this way?----------------------------------------------------
Link to: Biography of Edgar Allen Poe
"Edgar Allen Poe: Buried Alive Biography" American Masters. PBS, 1 June, 2006.<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/edgar-allan-poe-about-edgar-allan-poe/681/>.
Summary:
This is a blog post/article of the biography of Edgar Allen Poe. It explains more in-depth about who Edgar was, where he was born, and his journey to writing all of the short stories and poems we know today.Analysis:
Quantitative: The Lexical Score from storytoolz.com rated this post at about a 11th grade level. It is not a very long article, so it would be short and to the point.Qualitative: Even though the score is rated higher than where my student's would be at, I would make sure that they have some background knowledge on who Poe is and why he writes the stories that he does.
Purpose:
The purpose of this text is to provide some background information on Poe himself. I think understanding who the author was as a person, can help some of the students relate and understand more about why Poe wrote the poems and stories that he did. I would use this before reading The Raven so we can talk more about the author before getting into the anchor text.
Vocab:
prose, tuberculosis, aspirations, estranged, solidified, psycheQuestion:
Pick out a few interesting facts about Edgar Allan Poe. Why were they the most interesting?----------------------------------------------------
TedEd. "Why Should You Read Edgar Allen Poe? - Scott Peeples." YouTube, commentary by Scott Peeples, 18th Sept., 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lgg-pVjOok
Summary:
This is a TedEd talk about Edgar Allan Poe. This video discusses who Edgar Allan Poe was and why he was the most well known author of Gothic stories and poems. It uses cartoons and drawings to help express the narrator's words instead of just people talking to a camera.Analysis:
Quantitative: I feel that this video is centered around high school and above students. It is about 5 minutes long.Qualitative: I think the use of the visuals within the video is a great way to keep the viewer engaged and learning about the content. It provides background information about Poe as well as some of the things behind the poems that he wrote to help us transition into reading the story.
Purpose:
The purpose of this video was to show more of a visual about who Edgar Allan Poe was as a person. The video discusses some of his background story, but also more about his poetry than the previous blog post and the moods/themes that he generally creates within them. I think this would be a more engaging tool to use when teaching about Poe, so students are able to get a more visual representation of who he is and what he looks like instead of just reading about him.Vocab:
pallor, macabre, cardinal, paradoxes, propensity, juxtaposed, versatile, satires, antagonizedQuestion:
Was there anything new that you learned about Edgar Allen Poe? What types of poems/stories did Poe generally write?----------------------------------------------------
Summary:
The PBS video, showcases a short dramatic reading of The Raven, spoken by an actor portraying Edgar Allen Poe. There are a few guests who speak up about Edgar Allen Poe and the poem throughout the reading.Analysis:
Quantitative: This video seems to be made for an audience of students who are in around high school. It does recite The Raven, so some of that vocabulary is needed. It is only a 3 minute video.Qualitative: The students may need to know more information regarding the poem, to understand some of the vocabulary. Since the video is broken up between someone reciting the poem and people discussing the actor/poem, it would be a good break to understand more about the way the poem is supposed to sound and how it sounds when recited.
Purpose:
I would want to show this video prior to reading the poem itself. I think it's a good way to show how the poem is supposed to be read, and allows the students to hear it and get a better understanding of what the poem is trying to convey.
Vocab:
Lusciousness, seniority, Vocab from The RavenQuestion:
Does listening to the poem being read out loud help you understand more about what the feeling of he poem is about?
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BartZombie. "The Simpsons - The Raven." YouTube, 20th Feb., 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS9XA6Dh2Vc
Summary:
This is an episode of The Simpsons where they reenacted The Raven. It provides the views with a visual/movie representation of what The Raven is about in a more comical and modern way.Analysis:
Quantitative: I believe that this video is for more high school aged and above. I think because of the poem they are reciting, it would be set at a 10th grade level. It is about a 5 minute video.Qualitative: I think it would be important to make note on weather the students would need to know what The Simpsons is. I feel that the video is pretty generalized, and I don't think it's really needed to have a background knowledge on who these characters are, but could help in the context of using Marge as Lenore (to help explain that Lenore is someone the protagonist loved).
Purpose:
I would use this video after reading The Raven and it would help guide the students in analyzing what the poem means. This video provides a more modern take on using The Simpsons, but instead of just listening to someone read the poem, the cartoon also provides a more "movie" like version, to allow the reader to visualize what is actually happening in the poem.
Vocab:
establishing, vocab from The RavenQuestion:
Was there any moments in the video that helped you understand parts of the poem better? Which parts?
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LINK TO INFO-GRAPHIC: Figurative Language using The Raven
"Figurative Language: The Raven." Venngage, https://infograph.venngage.com/p/55242/figurative-language-the-raven.
Summary:
"Figurative Language: The Raven." Venngage,This text is an info-graphic explaining the elements of Figurative Language. It also provides examples of each using quotes from The Raven itself.Analysis:
Quantitative: This info-graphic feels more geared towards a middle to high school student.Qualitative: This graphic text offers more of an explanation of what each element means along with an example used from The Raven itself.
Purpose:
I would want to use this as a guide to help students understand what each element of Figurative Language means. I would first want to make sure that I addressed the definitions of each of these elements prior to this info-graphic and general examples to help them understand. I think using this, would be helpful for them while they find their own examples within the anchor text themselves.
Vocab:
efficiently, excerptQuestion:
What are some other examples of these elements that you can find within The Raven?----------------------------------------------------
RebeccaRay, "The Raven Literary Elements." StoryboardThat, 12th July, 2018. https://www.storyboardthat.com/storyboards/rebeccaray/-the-raven--literary-elements.
Summary:
This was a storyboard created to help visualize some of elements of Figurative Language. It provides a small quote as an example of each element, with a small cartoon showing the reader what is happening to also help understanding.Analysis:
Quantitative: The words that are generally used in this template were from The Raven, so it would be about a 10th grade level (which is what The Raven was rated asQualitative: This visual is nice because it offers an text example from The Raven as an example of each element of Figurative Language as well as a visual representation of that quote. What it doesn't have a definition of what each of those elements are. It would be important that the students already have that understanding so that they would know why each of these examples relate.
As I said to both Paige and Micah before this, I'm impressed that you did all of your sources rather than the required three. Now I feel like an underachiever!
ReplyDeleteAs a fledgling ESL teacher: YES YES YES for the read-out-loud that you used as a resource text. This is SO important for ELLs who struggle to figure out our pronunciation rules and the even-more-difficult cadence suggested for reading of this text. Even for English speakers who are still struggling to read confidently, this is a great resource. I highly recommend finding resources like this for any of your texts because they are so useful in the future.
Hi Nicole,
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your text set. I especially liked the figurative language info-graphic and storyboard. How did you find these? I did simple google searches when looking for similar material related to feminism but didn't come up with too much other than an interactive storyboard. The ordering of your texts seems to work really well; they build on each other nicely.