"The Elder's Drum"

Learning Target(s):

• Recognize and appreciate the role of story, narrative, and oral tradition in expressing First Peoples perspectives, values, beliefs, and points of view.

• Appreciate and understand how language constructs personal, social, and cultural identities.

• Construct meaningful personal connections between self, text, and world

1. TPCASTT the poem. Fill in this graphic organizer as you go through the quest.

2. Figurative language like imagery uses words that stimulate the reader's imagination by appealing to the senses. These help to make a literary work powerful. Instead of using ordinary language that readers may take for granted, the writer chooses words that make a vivid impression on our senses of sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. They need not be long or obscure in meaning. They should, however, be striking. Create a table to list the vivid verbs, adjectives, and nouns in Molly Chisaakay’s poem ‘”The Elder’s Drum” that appeal to the senses. Identify which of the 5 senses is being awakened with each word choice.

3. How does Chisaakay feel about the rituals and heritage of her Native people? How do you know? Provide evidence from the poem.

4. a) Listen to the audio recording of this poem below.

b) Then click here to read the poem in its printed format.

5. After you have read the poem, try listening to the audio again.

• How did your second listen benefit from your on-the-page reading?

• Which did you find easiest or most comfortable?

• Consider how listening to a poem being read aloud is different from reading it silently.

Write a personal response of approximately 200 words that addresses your reactions to the oral presentation and to the written presentation. What made the experience different or similar for you? Reflect on the effect of either listening to or reading a poem. In a response, you go beyond "I like it," or "It's different," and give a thoughtful reaction to a piece of literature and the question. A personal response to literature is the reader's answer to the question: "What are my thoughts and feelings about the two different presentations of this poem? How do I connect to the poem and the question?"