Animals - Walt Whitman.pptx

Lesson Plan and class presentation: Animals by Walt Whitman

1. ANIMALS Walt Whitman

2. Share your thoughts after watching the videos.

3. Lesson Objectives Know about the poet and his style of writing Interpret the meaning of the poem Analyze the poem critically Identify poetic devices and ascertain their impact on the tone and mood of the poem Identify and describe the theme/message and decipher the text-to-world connection.

4. Walt Whitman

5. About the Poet - When was he born? What is his main contribution to the world of poetry? What was his most famous book? How many siblings did he have? What was the name of his brother who was in the army? What did he have strong opinions about? What topics inspired his work? Which is his most acclaimed work?

6. Let us read the poem

7. Animals I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain’d, I stand and look at them long and long. They do not sweat and whine about their condition, They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things,

8. Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago, Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth. So they show their relations to me and I accept them, They bring me tokens of myself, they evince them plainly in their possession I wonder where they get those tokens, Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them? WALT WHITMAN https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnIyJW3GSJ4

9. Word Meanings - WRT the text turn self-contained placid whine demented mania respectable evince

10. GROUP WORK

11. Group 1 ‘I think I could turn and live… I stand and look at them long and long’. Group 2 ‘They do not sweat….they do not make me sick discussing their duty to God’ Group 3 ‘Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania….or unhappy over the whole earth’. Group 4 ‘So they show their relation to me and I accept them, They bring me tokens of myself, they evince them plainly in their possession’ Group 5 ‘I wonder where they get those tokens, Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?’ Group 6 Identify the literary devices used. What is the rhyme scheme? What effect do they have on the tone and mood? Group 7 With reference to the poem, compare and contrast between human beings and animals DISCUSS AND SHARE

12. Literary Devices Repetition Personification Anaphora Alliteration Metaphor Rhetorical Question

13. Structure Animals’ by Walt Whitman is a free verse poem without having specific line lengths or rhyme schemes in general. It moves with the internal rhythms that the poet leaves in each line.

14. What are the main themes of the poem?

15. Theme A sharp contrast between humans and animals. Civilisation has brought unwanted and bothersome traits in humans. Message Even though humans consider themselves superior among living beings, the poet seems more comfortable to be among animals. The human virtues of joy, satisfaction, sharing, concern, respect, love, and care seem to have been lost over the years of the human’s vast evolution. Civilisation and modernity has also brought about greed for materialistic pleasures, selfishness, hate and jealousy. It seems to go against our true nature as we repent about not doing our duty to God and remember our ancestors with respect. Animals are simple and innocent. They are detached from earthly desires. Animals do not whine, mope or complain about their condition but make the best of the moment. Humans are complicated, false, and troubled, as they are overwhelmed by their attachment, sins committed, and sense of duty. We should learn about living in the moment from animals.

16. Discuss the following questions 1. Notice the use of the word ‘turn’ in the first line, “I think I could turn and live with animals…”. What is the poet turning from? 2. Mention three things that humans do and animals don’t. 3. Do humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago? 4. What are the ‘tokens’ that the poet says he may have dropped long ago, and which the animals have kept for him?