Socially-based Curriculum Unit

In this unit developed for ENG3U (English, Grade 11, University Preparation), students will have the opportunity to explore that tradition through a variety of political poetry by mostly Canadian authors. Students will read and analyze specific poems for use of language, poetic devices, and political context, as well as create their own poems inspired by pressing social issues in their local or national interest. The culminating activity for this unit can either be a poetry slam or a coffee house at a local establishment.

By the end of this unit students will:

• Understand the tradition of political poetry in English Literature and within Canada;
• Understand the use of poetic devices such as (but not limited to) metaphor, alliteration, simile, and personification;
• Understand and identify various forms of poetry, such as (but not limited to), ballad, free verse, sonnet;
• Know how to use print and/or electronic technology for research purposes, including electronic databases;
• Use their own imagination, informed by research, to create poetry based on issues of a local and/or national focus;
• Be able to communicate with confidence and clarity their own creative expressions to a wider audience.