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Historical Voices, Poetic Visions
Overview
To better understand the turn-of-the-19th century United
States, this interdisciplinary lesson integrates use of primary resources
with historical and literary analysis. Students work in groups and express
themselves creatively through a multi-media epic poem.
The artistic models for the students’ multi-media epic poem
are Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself (1855) and Hart Crane’s The
Bridge (1930). These epic poets capture, interpret, and give meaning
to their particular time and place. Students look to do the same with
the year 1900, relying upon relevant primary resources —sound recordings, images,
text— and their own creative and interpretative voices.
| Objectives |
While completing this unit, students will:
- identify and interpret primary source documents within an
historical context;
- evaluate and appreciate the dynamic nature of
life in the United States in a time of transition;
- recognize and then employ poetic skills: line, metaphor, symbol, image,
form, meter, and other stylistic considerations; and
- integrate creative writing, historical analysis, and technology.
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| Time Required |
Six to eight weeks |
| Recommended Grade Level |
10-12 |
| Curriculum Fit |
American History or American Literature,
preferably together |
| Standards |
McREL 4th Edition Standards & Benchmarks
Historical Understanding
Standard 1. Understands and knows how to analyze chronological relationships and patterns
Standard 2. Understands historical perspective
Language Arts
Standard 6. Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of literary texts
Standard 9. Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media
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| Resources Used |
Library of Congress
- America at Work, America at Leisure: Motion Pictures from 1894-1915
- The African-American Experience in Ohio: Selections from the Ohio Historical Society
- American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 - 1940
- American Indians of the Pacific Northwest
- The American Variety Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment, 1870-1920
- By Popular Demand: Jackie Robinson and Other Baseball Highlights, 1860s-1960s
- "California as I Saw It": First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900
- The Chinese in California: 1850-1925
- The Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920
- The Evolution of the Conservation Movement: 1850 -1920
- First-Person Narratives of the American South, 1860-1920
- Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920
- History of the American West, 1860-1920: Photographs from the Collection
of the Denver Public Library
- Inventing Entertainment: the Early Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies
- Photographs from the Chicago Daily News
- Prairie Settlement: Nebraska Photographs and Family Letters, 1862-1912
- Small-Town America: Stereoscopic Views from the Robert Dennis Collection,
1850-1920
- The South Texas Border, 1900-1920: Photographs from the Robert Runyon Collection
- Touring Turn-of-the-Century America: Photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company, 1880 - 1920
- Votes for Women: Selections from the National American Woman Suffrage
Association Collection, 1848-1921
Other sources
- The American Experience: America 1900. Alexandria,
Virginia: PBS, 1998, (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/1900/index.html),
accessed February 4, 2002.
- Crichton, Judy and David Grubin. America 1900. United States:
David Grubin Productions, Inc., 1998.
- Reynolds, David. Walt Whitman's America: A Cultural Biography. New
York: Knopf, 1995.
- Rozenweig, Roy, and Steve Brier. Who Built America. New York: Voyager,
1994.
- Unterecker, John. Voyager: A Life of Hart Crane. New York: Liveright,
1987.
- Voices and Visions: Hart Crane. United States: The New York Center
for Visual History, 1987.
- Voices and Visions: Walt Whitman. United States: The New York Center
for Visual History, 1987.
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