lesson 1

from Girls That Never Die

by Safia Elhillo

• Start by splitting your class into groups of three or four. Each of the teams, in a few moments, will be responsible for creating their own original piece that mimics the themes and style of today’s poem of focus, “Girls That Never Die” by Safia Elhillo.
  
• Before starting, make sure your students have access to the following document. They won’t need to – and should not - open it at the moment, but they will need to open it as soon as you’re done going over the instructions. This is the document where they’ll be composing their work. If you’d prefer for your students to work on posterboard or newsprint, you have that option, as well
  
• Walk your students through the following introduction/overview of the assignment.
  

• Before you start the timer (on the last slide of the introductory presentation), make sure your students are aware that they will be presenting their poem to the judge (you) and that they will need to be able to justify their artistic/stylistic choices from their text.
  

• Start the timer. Your students have thirty minutes to create their project.
  
• When the timer has elapsed, ask each group to present their assignment to you and the rest of the class. For each group, you should ask:
  

• How is your poem similar in theme or message to the original poem?
  
• How does the poem reflect the experience(s) of Janie Crawford?
• What stylistic elements of the original piece did you try to emulate or mimic in your own work?
  
• Discuss the rationale behind some of your stylistic choices and how they contribute to your poem.
  

• When all teams have presented, simply choose a “winner” and announce it to the class. There’s no formal rubric, but you can assess each poem based on the:
  

• Originality” of piece
  
• How closely the poem mirrors the same sentiment, theme, or message as the original poem.
  
• How closely the poem mirrors the actual experiences of Janie.
• How closely the poem utilizes the same type(s) of literary techniques or elements as the original AND how effective/intentional the usage of those terms are.
  

lesson 2

how to make her stay

by Shauna Morgan

• Start class by reading the epigraph of Shauna M. Morgan's poem, "how to make her stay."

• "Emotional abuse can be more insidious and have longer lasting effects than physical abuse."
  

• Briefly discuss that line. What does the poet mean?
  
• Share the first line of the poem:

• "tell her the new fragrance is nice but she doesn’t have to bathe in it / assert that sarcasm is a talent"
  

• Briefly discuss the line. How is the action an example of emotional abuse? How can that action have lasting effects? And how can that action, as the title implies, "make her stay"?
  
• Read the next line of the poem. Then ask them the same set of questions & briefly discuss:

• tell her that her salwar or lappa is weird and take her to the mall for khakis / do so until she stops wearing that colorful garb.
  

• Ask your students how those two lines reflect Janie Crawford' experience(s) in her relationships. Briefly discuss.
  
• Read the rest of "how to make her stay" by Shauna M. Morgan. While you are reading aloud, ask your students to think of the parallels between the content of the poem and Their Eyes Were Watching God.
• Have your students open the following document and go over the instructions with them. In this assignment, your students are going to create their own piece - in the same style as Shauna M. Morgan's - that conveys the extent of Janie's mistreatment over the course of the novel. Then give your students time to work.
• When your students are done, have a few of them responses.
  

lesson 3

Taurus Sun, Cancer Moon, Scorpio Rising

by Paul Tran

• Start by showing your students the following video from Paul Tran.
• Project Paul Tran's "Taurus Sun, Cancer Moon, Scorpio Rising" on the board and read it aloud. As you are reading, ask your students to pay attention to the poem's distinct form and how it "mirrors the mind piecing a life back together, arriving at what seems like forgiveness, and deciding that there’s so much more to live for.”
• When you're done, briefly discuss the piece.
• Hold a brief discussion of the parallels between the poem and the content of Their Eyes Were Watching God. How can the two pieces reflect one another?
• Ask your students to open the following document and go over the instructions with them. In this assignment, your students are going to analyze the form of "Taurus Sun, Cancer Moon, Scorpio Rising" and discuss how the poem can tie back to the themes and specific plot points from Their Eyes Were Watching God. When you've gone over the instructions, give your students time to work.
• When students are done, ask them to share their responses. Start with going over Paul Tran's piece, then ask them about the parallels between the poem and the novel, then, finally, ask them how they would go about writing a poem about Janie by being intentional about the work's form.

• Extension Activity: If your students would like to actually compose their own poem, please encourage them to do so!