English Grade 8 Lesson Plan 3

Narrative poem.

Key Idea

Key elements of Literary Texts that tell a story – genre, purpose, structure, plot, theme, character, and

literary devices – Poetry.

Most Essential Learning Competencies and English Curriculum (2016):

 Determine various social, moral, and economic issues discussed in the text listened to. EN8LC-III-

7.4

 Read intensively to determine the author’s purpose EN8RC-Ig7.1 2.

 Determine key ideas, tone, and purpose of the author EN8LT-IIIf-2.2.5

 Explain figurative language used EN8LT-IIId-2.2.4.

Component 1: Short review

Time: 7 minutes

 Teacher: In our last lesson, we read a story called ‘The Aged Mother’. Today we are going to look at

a poem written about 250 years ago that also tells a story.

[Teacher Note: Feel free to ask the class if they like or dislike poetry – see what their attitudes to poetry

are and/or whether anyone has ever written a poem.]

 Teacher: Individually write your answers to Question 1 in the Workbook.

[Teacher Note: Feel free to do these questions either in pairs or orally as a class discussion/survey, especially for

Consolidation group.]

Questions

Q1. What kind of topics do you expect to find in a poem?

Q2. What kind of style and language do you expect to find in a poem?

Q3. What do you see as the differences between a poem and a story?

Suggested Answers:

Q1. Any combination of personal topics; feelings; descriptions; love; people; ideas about politics,

morals, religion – and some not listed here.

Q2. Rhyme, stanzas, similes, metaphors, difficulty in working out what it means, opposite of everyday

speech and prose.

[Teacher Note: Introduce term ‘figurative language’ here as a key component of poetry – it’s defined in 2016

Curriculum Guide (p. 240) as ‘use of words that go beyond its literal meaning; examples are simile, metaphor, and

hyperbole (exaggeration), among others’. In the 2016 English Curriculum Guide, students cover simile, metaphor,

and hyperbole in Grades 5-8 but because the poem is an extended metaphor of a tree representing hatred and

how it can grow, the term ‘metaphor’ is included in Component 3 for revision – its meaning can also be

introduced or covered in this component too). The 2016 English Curriculum Guide, page 242, defines metaphor as

‘a figure of speech that makes an implicit, implied, or hidden comparison between two things or objects’ - the

definition given in Component 3 uses simpler language.]

Q3. A story uses everyday language that is usually easy to understand; poems use figurative language

because poets try to be original and use techniques like metaphor and simile that are not often

used in prose or everyday speech.

 Teacher seeks answers from students and provides feedback.

Component 2: Purpose of the lesson

Time: 2 minutes

In this lesson we are going to read another story text but this time it’s in the form of a poem.

We are going to look at words and expressions that you need to know to be able to understand this

narrative poem but after that I want to see if you think the story is real or not.

Component 3: Language Practice

Time: 5 minutes

 This narrative poem is called A Poison Tree. It was written by an Englishman, William Blake, who

lived 200 years ago.

 Because of its age, we will meet some words that are important in the poem but that you may not

have seen before. I’m going to list these words and we will work on their meanings so as you will

be able to understand the poem when I read it shortly. The definition of the word ‘Pole’ is given to

you in your Workbook – in this poem it does not mean a big stick.

These words are written in your Workbook.

 Wrath (anger)

 Foe (enemy)

 Deceitful wiles (where someone hides their true feelings to trick their enemy)

 Pole (the Polar Star, which in those days, before electricity, together with the moon, provided

light at night)

 Metaphor (where 2 things that don’t usually go together are compared and a likeness between

them is given).

 Let’s practice these words. Say them and their meanings after me. Look at their spelling.

[Teacher Note: Except for ‘pole’ the rest of these words, except perhaps for metaphor, may be able to

be done using context clues – the teacher could model ‘foe’ by asking students for a word that means

the opposite of ‘friend’ in line 1. Feel free to do it that way as a whole class rather than using the process

described below.]

o Let’s put them in a sentence. I’ll do the first one….

‘I saw a movie called Wrath of Man about a man who was so angry about his son’s death that he

nearly went crazy.’

o Now with your partner, write a sentence for each of the other words in the list.

o Teacher samples sentences to make sure the words are used according to their meanings.

[Teacher Note: Try to get students to write sentences that reveal the meaning of the words. If running

short of time, either omit sentence writing or do it orally as a class].

Component 4: Lesson Activity

Time: 25 minutes

Component 4A Reading the text.

 Teacher reads the poem, drawing attention to the words listed.

 Students listen and follow along; students highlight or underline any words they don’t know.

 Students then take turns to read the text to each other and highlight/underline any words they

don’t know.

[Teacher Note: The purpose is to guide students in reading the text. The teacher should first read the text aloud to

the students with appropriate phrasing and expression to model a fluent reading of the text. Students could then

read the text together or individually, identifying problematic or unfamiliar language.]

A Poison Tree by William Blake

I was angry with my friend.

I told my wrath; my wrath did end.

I was angry with my foe:

I told it not; my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears.

Night and morning with my tears:

And I sunned it with smiles,

And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night.

Till it bore an apple bright.

And my foe beheld it shine.

And he knew that it was mine.

And into my garden stole,

When the night had veiled the pole.

In the morning glad I see

My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

Resource: This poem is in the public domain and is available at Poetry Foundation https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45952/a-poison-tree

Component 4B Questions [10 minutes]

 Teacher: There are some questions about the poem in your Workbook.

 Read each question carefully.

 What information do we need to find to answer the question? [Locate and underline relevant

information in each question]

 Can you find the answers in the text? [Students locate and underline relevant information in text]

Questions

Q1. Who are the main characters in the poem?

Q2. What is the difference between how the poet treats his friend and his foe?

Q3. The poisoned tree is a metaphor – what does it represent?

Suggested Answers:

Q1. The poet, his friend, and his foe.

Q2. He tells his friend the reasons for his anger and so the anger disappears; he keeps it bottled up

inside with his foe which makes the anger worse.

Q3. The poet’s anger with his foe and how it grows.

 Students answer the questions in the Workbook.

 Teacher samples answers to the questions from the students and provides feedback.

[Teacher Notes: For Consolidation students, feel free for them to do Q3 in pairs and/or for you to provide some

guidance through reference to other trees that have metaphorical significance – e.g. the Tree of Knowledge in

the Garden of Eden and the apple as a type of poison and a metaphor for temptation that cannot be resisted.]

Component 4C Questions. [10 minutes]

 Teacher reads Questions 4-6 in the Workbook.

 These questions require interpretation and evaluation – answers are drawn from a reading of the

whole text rather than being in one place within the text.

[Teacher Note: Stress that for these questions there have been different answers given since the poem

was written and it will be interesting to see whether students today react in the same or different ways

to those of the past.]

Questions

Q4. Look at Stanza 2 – it is a good example of how poets use figurative language [ where things like

trees are used as a metaphor to represent something else, like growing anger] - write a short

summary in your own words of what it says about the tactics the poet uses against his foe.

Q5. How do you interpret the ending of the poem? Is the foe dead or is that also a metaphor for

something else? Give a reason for your answer.

Q6. Is there a moral or lesson to the poem? If so, what is it? Give reasons for your answer.

 Students (or pairs) write answers in Workbook.

 Teacher samples answers to the questions from the students.

 Teacher provides feedback to answers.

Suggested Answers

Q4. Answers should include that he starts to enjoy feeding his anger and hides his anger to deceive and

trap his foe.

Q4. He enjoys seeing his foe destroyed. Look for answers that show awareness of the meaning of the

poisoned tree as a metaphor.

Q5. Be prepared for a range of answers including it shows how if you bottled up your anger, there can be

catastrophic results; how clever tactics can be rewarded; how we all have a dark side.

[Teacher Notes: For Consolidation students, feel free to do Q5 and Q6 as a class discussion and then

write their answers to Q6 in their Workbooks.]

Component 5 Conclusion

Time: 5 minutes Teacher reads the questions

Questions:

Q1. The focus of the lesson was on learning about how poetry can present ideas about life, just like short

stories or novels or movies can, using a story and metaphor. How has the lesson helped you to

understand this?

Q2. Which questions were easy to answer? Why?

Q3. What strategies did you use to answer the harder questions?

[Teacher Notes: It would be worthwhile to do this by getting students to write on the Workbook, so you have

some feedback on the effectiveness of the lesson and how they feel about their learning experience. However, if

pressed for time, you may want to do this section as a class discussion.]

Segue to next lesson: In the next lesson we will look at another technique used by authors of literary texts – literary

descriptions.

REMINDER: Collect student Workbooks to review and analyze students’ learning – focus on answers to Question 6 for quality and clarity of writing and understanding of the content.