Students will do a close analysis of Brook's poem, "Truth." Students will understand how important each and every line is a poem. Students will write a journal that gets them thinking about truth. Students will also work in groups to answer questions that will help them analyze the poem and cause them to substantiate their claims with proof from the text.

Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts. Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.

If you do not have a copy of the poem do a search on the internet. Using infoseek seach:Gwendolyn Brooks. THen do a search within results and type in Truth--it should bring to sites that have the poem. This is an excellent poem to teach metaphor, symbol, personification and extended metaphor. The quetions above generate very good discussion.

Students will write an explanatory essay that analyzes the poem.

Daily Language Practice--sentences with mistakes that must be corrected. Notes on Gwendolyn Brooks Journal--How do we know what is true? Do people always wans to know the truth? Why not? Give some examples. Is it important to always know the truth? Why or why not? Discussion over journal. Group Work--Answer these questions: How does the writer say the sun wil be greeted (ll.?) WHy will they greet him this way? 2) Have the people WANTED the sun to come? WHat does the sun represent? 3) How is the sun personified in the second stanza? 4) WHat do the 3rd and 4th stanzas tell us about the people? 5) Have the poeple accetpted the sun/truth? Explain your answer. Discussion over the above questions. Introduce the essay if time allows. Overhead of how the essay should be written.

Once students have written up their rough drafts they will type up their essays using Claris Works Word Processing.