The following activities and questions are designed to help your students use their noticing skills to move through the poem and develop their thinking skills so they understand its meaning with confidence, using what they’ve noticed as evidence for their interpretations. Read more about the framework upon which these activities are based.
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Warm-up: Join with a partner and discuss these questions: Why do poets write? Why do you write? What is the importance of writing?
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Before Reading the Poem: Look closely at the two paintings of The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Take a few minutes to fully take in the paintings. What do you see? Look more closely. What else can you find? What similarities and differences can you find?
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Reading the Poem: Silently read the poem “Poets! Towers of God!” by Rubén Darío, translated by Thomas Walsh and Salomón de la Selva. What do you notice about the poem? Note any words or phrases that stand out to you or any questions you might have.
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Listening to the Poem: Enlist two volunteers and listen as the poem is read aloud twice. Write down any additional words and phrases that stand out to you. You can listen to a reading of the poem.
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Small Group Discussion: Share what you noticed about the poem with a small group. How do the resources from the beginning of class compare to your reading of the poem? What might the extended metaphor of poets as towers mean? Why is this important?
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Whole Class Discussion: Read this definition of ars poetica: “An ars poetica poem examines the role of poets themselves as subjects, their relationships to the poem, and the act of writing.” How might this poem be an ars poetica? What does this poem tell us about writing and/or art? How does this message change, shift, or evolve in each stanza?
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Extension for Grades 7-8: Read the poem “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes. Participate in a socratic seminar. Discuss how this poem compares to Darío’s poem. What does each poem communicate about writing and/or poetry? How is this similar to or different from what you shared about your own relationship to writing at the beginning of class?
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Extension for Grades 9-12: Read more ars poetica poems. Think back to the writing that you did at the beginning of class. Write your own ars poetica poem. Share your poem with the class.
Dive into the biography of Langston Hughes and his poem, “Theme for English B,” with another Teach This Poem lesson plan. Read more.
An ars poetica poem is a poem examining the role of poets themselves as subjects, their relationships to the poem, and the act of writing. Read more.