Heroes and Saints Lesson Plan

Cerezita's Poem

Kind of Activity:

Individual Writing

Objective:

Students will use their knowledge of the play to inform their analysis of Cerezita's poem and the writing of their own poem from a character's perspective.

Structure:

In Act II, Scene Four, Cerezita recites a poem:

The living dead of winter.
Dead to the warmth of sun on my face
melting into the horizon.
Pecan trees like rigid skeletons
black against the sky.
Dead to the deep red and maroon
the grapevines bleed.
Dead to the smell of earth,
split moist and open
to embrace the seed.

Choose one student to read the poem aloud to the class. Break students into groups of 3-4 to analyze the poem in the...