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Where
is the Nature?
Subject
Area
This activity
is suitable for addition to poetry units in the English curriculum
at any level, and perhaps in the senior English as a Second Language
curriculum.
Learning
Outcomes
Teaching,
learning and evaluation will focus on the student’s ability
to:
- Actively
participate in group brainstorming sessions centred on discovering
ideas to be developed into poems;
- Describe
a specific relationship between humans and nature in poetic
language;
- Formulate
a hypothesis and express it in both a paragraph and a poetic
passage.
Classroom
Development
This activity
has been inspired by the poem on the following page composed by
a student as part of the “EarthPrayers” activity from
the Transitional Years volume of this curriculum guide.
- An overhead
master has been provided for this activity. Place the overhead
on the projector so that only the poem is visible, and have
one student read the poem. Ideally, choose a student ahead of
time, and have this student practice reading the poem, so that
it is well presented. It might be a good idea not to explain
that this poem is the work of a student until the class has
had the opportunity to discuss the poem, to ensure that the
poem will be considered as a serious work.
- Initiate
a small group discussion based on the poem to ensure that all
students have an understanding of the text. At least some of
the following points should be addressed:
a) The relationship between humans and the various aspects of
nature;
b) The answer to the question presented in the title;
c) How the positioning of the words on the page convey meaning;
d) How the use of punctuation and the controlled disregard for
grammatical rules convey meaning;
e) Since there are no verbs, adverbs or adjectives in the poem,
how does the poem alter the nouns and create a sense of movement?
f) Why might the noun “man” be more suitable than
“human” or “woman” in this poem? How would
the meaning change through the substitution of either of these
two words?
- At some
point during this activity, have students respond to the poem,
discussion, or writing process in their Response Journals or
Writing Folders to encourage students to describe the impact
of the poetry or the process on themselves.
- The poem
“Where is the Nature?” describes the process by which
nature is appropriated by male humans. Students need some similar
relationship that they can describe in their own poetry. Direct
students to form into groups of at least 4-5 so that they can
brainstorm on the following relationships based on the three
traditional forms of conflict studied in the English curriculum:
Man versus Nature
Man versus Nature versus Himself
Woman versus Nature
Women versus Nature versus Herself
Man and Nature versus Women and Nature
- Once
a list is completed by each group, the lists can be shared with
the class, or students can continue working on their own.
- Students
will be required to write three to five poems based on the ideas
and relationships brainstormed in the groups. Each poem should
be short (2-20 lines), contain a title, and be accompanied by
a description of the conflict addressed (from step 4), and the
student’s rationale for addressing the issue in the manner
presented in his or her poem.
Extensions
Depending
on the needs of your particular unit, this activity can be concluded
through presentations, writing folders or a DTP activities (see
appendix on Computer Mediated Communication).
Resources
O.S.E.E.
“EarthPrayers, Poems and Invocations.” In volume one
of Towards an Ecozoic Curriculum. Toronto: O.S.E.E., 1994.
Cross-disciplinary
Links
The most
obvious links would be with the Visual Arts curriculum in which
students could repeat the same activity in its entirety by substituting
a visual product for the poetic one. Also, whichever part of your
school’s curriculum teaches Desktop Publishing can be enlisted
to help with the production of a small journal of the students’
work. Make sure that the final product is catalogued by the library
and is consulted in any later repetitions of this activity. A
copy sent to the editors of this project would also be greatly
appreciated.
Note: Permission
for the use of this poem in the Teacher’s Guide and Overhead
has been given by the poet.
Where
is the Nature?
Mountain
Mountain, and tree
Mountain, tree, and animal
Mountain, tree, animal, and bird
Mountain, tree, animal, bird and fish
Mountain, tree, animal, bird, fish and river
Mountain, tree, animal, bird, fish, river and man
Mountain, tree, manimal, bird, fish, and river
Mountain, tree, manimalbird, fish, and river
Mountain, tree, manimalbirdfish, and river
Mountain, manimalbirdfishtree, and river
Mountain, and manimalbirdfishtreeriver
Manimalbirdfishtreerivermountain
Keun Eon
Park (1993)
Overhead:
Where
is the Nature?
Mountain
Mountain, and tree
Mountain, tree, and animal
Mountain, tree, animal, and bird
Mountain, tree, animal, bird and fish
Mountain, tree, animal, bird, fish and river
Mountain, tree, animal, bird, fish, river and man
Mountain, tree, manimal, bird, fish, and river
Mountain, tree, manimalbird, fish, and river
Mountain, tree, manimalbirdfish, and river
Mountain, manimalbirdfishtree, and river
Mountain, and manimalbirdfishtreeriver
Manimalbirdfishtreerivermountain
Keun Eon Park (1993)
Conflicts
Woman versus Nature
Women
versus Nature versus Herself
Man
and Nature versus Woman and Nature
Man
versus Nature versus Himself
Man versus Nature
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