Welcome to Part 2 of Animal Poetry !
Egyptian bronze sculpture, 700-600 BC
In Egypt, the cat was a sacred animal who kept the grain storage free of
rodents. Anyone who harmed a cat could be killed. Representations of
Bastet, the protector, had the body of a woman and the head of a cat. Her
twin, the destructive Sekhmet, had a woman's body and the head of a lion.
The domestic cat today is one of 41 species. The big cat relatives - who can
roar - include the tiger, the lion, the leopard, and the jaguar. They are often
celebrated in poetry. (Some smaller cats you will have heard of include the
puma, the cheetah, the ocelot and lynx.) The family classification for all cats
is felid.
A very short poem using the cat as metaphor is Carl Sandburg's Fog, which
you can find at the following site:
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15263
The poem begins, "The fog comes / on little cat feet." Even though this poem
is very short and only mentions "cat feet," each group must answer how the
poet manages to capture the fog of Chicago and the character of the cat? Be
sure to discuss why it is a metaphor. (Remember you took a metaphor quiz in
the first lesson.)
Early in the lesson, send your group comments to the classroom discussion
site and interact there.
William Wordsworth, an English poet, celebrates a kitten's joy. The
Wordsworth poem to be studied is part of The Kitten and Falling Leaves.
Open the falling site:
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19966
Spend some time reading this poem which has brief but effective use of
rhyme. Note the overwhelming emotion attributed to this cat.
All students will study this poem, but Group 2 will rewrite stanza one in simple
prose. Group 3 will rewrite stanza two. And Group 1 can rewrite the final
stanza. When you have studied The Kitten and Falling Leaves, before midlesson, send your group rewrites to the discussion site and read and interact
as possible.
It is interesting that the wildly - a pun - successful musical, Cats, is based on
T.S. Eliot's work: Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. The Naming of Cats is
an excerpt available at the following site:
http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/tseliot/5536
There are many readings on YouTube as well. The following site features a
high-school production reciting The Naming of Cats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu45Uy0hCNo
There is also an original cast recording of the same naming:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W4a9P6ZQeU&feature=related
Read, listen, enjoy. Discuss as you wish. You may know the musical ends
with the confirmation that the cat is not like the dog! (Remember the "Pets"
story.)
See again The Naming of Cats. The last 11 lines of Eliot's poem begin with But
above and beyond there is still one name left over...
Group 3, focus on lines 1 - 12.
Group 1, focus on lines 13 - 20.
Group 2, focus on lines 21 - 31.
When you have weighed these lines carefully, try to write in your own words a
summary of their content. What do the lines say about a cat's character?
Mid-lesson, send your well-written group response and comments to your
classroom teacher.
The Lion, a big cousin of the domestic cat, was celebrated in another very
successful musical.
The Jaguar, a Big Cat
The Jaguar is a Mayan symbol of power.
And another Big Cat, the Panther is guardian.
To learn more about these cat symbols, open the following site:
http://www.whats-your-sign.com/mayan-symbols.html
There are many interesting sites within to open.
What animal in the cat family is most appealing to you? Well before the end of
the lesson, send your group choice and reason for it to the discussion site
and interact there. Include a striking graphic of your choice.
Another poem about a cat is William Blake's The Tyger. Note how Blake
spelled "tiger," a big cat. Open the following site:
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15523
There are ten questions in this poem because one is a repeat. Burning and
symmetry are constant themes. Before the end of the lesson, send to your
classroom teacher your comments about one or more questions which your
group finds interesting or striking.
Next week, we will learn about the horse family.
Assignments:
Early in the lesson, send your group comments about Fog and interact in
classroom discussion.
Before mid-lesson, rewrite as directed about The Kitten and Falling Leaves
and continue interaction in classroom discussion.
Mid-lesson, write about The Naming of Cats and send your group response to
your classroom teacher.
Well before the end of the lesson, send to classroom discussion your group
choice of cat symbol and reasons, as well as a graphic.
Before the end of the lesson, send to your classroom teacher your group
comments about one or more questions in the tiger poem.
6.7 Grade Level