The Year of Magical Thinking Lesson Plan

Exploring Poetry

Kind of Activity:

Group Work

Objective:

Students will consider the role of poetry in The Year of Magical Thinking

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4; CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.5

Structure:

Over the course of the novel, Didion often includes excerpts of, or quotes from, poems that she thinks of as she is processing her loss. Divide the class into small groups and ask each group to choose one of the poems she mentions (it is okay if more than one group does the same poem; interpretations will be different). Instruct students to use the internet to find the full-length version of the poem they are focusing on, and close-read it as a group....