Trees as Symbols: Composing Poetry and Creating Images

Explore William Blake's poem "A Poison Tree." Learners read the poem and then respond to four text-based questions and four higher-level discussion questions.

Bring together concepts covered in earlier lessons in the ten-part lesson series to analyze one of Poe's most famous poems, "The Raven." Class members discuss many different aspects of the poem and take turns reading lines and sections....

The hawk is a recurring symbol in Robinson Jeffers' poetry. Ask your learners to consider this symbol in the poems "Hurt Hawks" and "Rock and Hawk." Pupils discuss these two poems and compare them to poems read earlier in this series....

Allusion can be a difficult concept for pupils to grasp. Home in on two brief poems by Edgar Allan Poe, "To Helen" and "Sonnet–To Science," with allusion in mind. Class members discuss the relationship of classical Greece and Rome to the...

Emphasize the difference between literal and figurative language, as well as how each adds to the plot, with a instructional activity on Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Readers study the images of the pear tree, the...

Make a study of the Gothic style by taking an in-depth look at Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Fall of the House of Usher." Lead a discussion about the Gothic elements in the story and the effect the story has on readers. Next, ask students...

Extend your instruction on similes and metaphors with a instructional activity on Emily Dickinson's "Hope is the thing with feathers" and "There is no Frigate like a Book." After a discussion on the images of each poem and their...

My Ántonia, by Willa Cather, features several symbols that add to the depth of the story. After finishing Book Two of the novel, readers analyze the snake and the crossroads from Book One, and the plough from Book Two, based on passages...

One of the many challenges in creating a poetry unit is selecting illustrative poems and designing activities to accompany each lesson. Here's a carefully crafted resource that can be used as a poetry unit or the individual lessons can...

“It’s not about what it is, it’s about what it can become.” You’re never too old for Dr. Seuss and using The Sneetches and The Lorax is a great way to introduce readers to allegories, parables, and literary symbolism. The lessons...