The Human Heart in Conflict

This marking period’s theme is about “the human heart in conflict.” Answer the following questions and use Joy Harjo’s poems to provide examples.
1)What do we mean by this metaphor, the human heart?
2) Why does a human heart feel conflict?
3) What are the various conflicts the human heart feels?
4) How is the human heart affected by conflict?
5) How is resolution of conflict dealt with?

We will write essays on the human heart in conflict next Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Dictionary and Poetry

Choose one of the shortest poems in How We Became Human.
Use oxforddictionaries.com to look up every word in the poem.  Write down the definitions, and do not forget to look at word origins.  Even something as simple as what languages the words in the poem originated from can be important.
What does this show you about the poem? 
How does this illuminate alternative meanings of the text?

Call and Response in HWBC

According to oxforddictionaries.com, “call and response” is “a form of verbal interaction between a speaker and listeners, usually at religious or public gatherings, in which each utterance by the speaker elicits a response from the audience.”

The poems on pages 146, 171, and 177, among others, contain examples of call and response.

Choose one poem.  How do you know which lines are calls and which are responses?  How does this format contribute to the meaning of the poem as a whole?  What other literary devices are integrated with the call and response format?

Find a partner and coauthor a call and response poem. 

Finding Poems by Joy Harjo

Find each of the following:
A poem about a historical figure
A poem on a current event (from the time the poem was written)
A poem about a relationship
A poem about transformation
A poem about music
Finally, write a poem on one of the topics above. 

Remember: Joy Harjo will be here 4th period!

Repetition, Repetition

Find a poem that uses some form of repetition. 
What kind(s) of repetition does Harjo use in this poem? 
How does the repetition contribute to the overall meaning of the poem?
Write your own poem that uses repetition.  You could emulate the type of repetition used in your poem or do something else.  For example, you might start each line with something like, “I remember…”
Don’t just abandon your poem with a first draft.  Shape it into something meaningful.

How We Became Human

Here are the last few exercises we did with How We Became Human.

Please remember that we have an in-school field trip on this Friday, 4th-5th period, in the auditorium.

Read some poems from the book. You can start from the beginning, use the table of contents to find titles that appeal to you, or just open to a random page and start reading. Just read.


Find two poems that share the same theme. How does each one deal with the theme? What techniques does Harjo use to express the theme? Form Tone Figurative language Other literary elements/techniques (symbolism, irony, alliteration, etc)


Find a poem you cannot understand the first time you read it. Read it again. What do you start to understand after repeated readings? Switch poems with someone. How can you help each other with the poems?


Find a relatively short poem. 
Copy the entire poem into your notebook. 
Does this help you understand the poem?  What did you notice about it as you copied it down?
Recopy the same poem, but this time, change the way it appears on the page.  If it is a prose poem, chop it into lines.  If it a free verse poem, change the places the lines end or make it into a prose poem.
What does this show you about how the poem is shaped?
Repeat this process with another poem, if you have time.