Music and poetry have a very close affinity to each other. They both draw from all avenues of life in order to express ideas, emotions, and human experiences, and try to show the human condition. These shared qualities give both an element of universality, showing that we are not alone in our happiness or in our suffering. Readers and listeners of these mediums are able to apply them to their understanding of life. Music and literature are part of a universal language that transcends age, culture, and economics. They are instrumental in allowing people to put themselves into someone else’s circumstances, thus leading to a better understanding of another’s life and beliefs. They provide entertainment and education and enrich the mind.
My ninth-grade English class is the recipient of this unit, though I hope it will be applicable to students of all levels. They are a vivacious group of students who write a lot of contemporary poetry without any regard for rhythm, rhyme, or form. Their objective is solely to express what is on their mind and what they feel. Their words, whether spoken or written, denote their desire for personal expression. As they try to verbalize these thoughts and feelings, they turn to the medium of music, which is a constant factor in their day-to-day lives. Their musical experiences are usually limited to pop music, rap, rock and roll, and rhythm and blues. Classical music and poetry have been cast aside and are in danger of “extinction” where most modern teenagers are concerned.
Having to deal with the prospect of losing my students to pop culture without having been exposed to classical culture through music and poetry made me consider incorporating classical American music and literature in my lessons. Aaron Copland’s Dickinson Songs provides me with the perfect opportunity to pursue this goal. Choosing the texts and the right music that will capture my students’ attention was a strong consideration. My unit will focus on four of the 12 poems by Dickinson that were set by Copland in his Twelve Poems by Emily Dickinson, also known as the Dickinson Songs.
A lot of factors were taken into consideration in picking these texts. I first considered the ages of my students, which can greatly affect their attention to a given topic. They are an active group, who are experiencing the coming-of-age period as I write. In my day-to- day encounters with them, I observed that they chiefly deal with anxieties emanating from their immediate social circles and how they fit into them. Having observed this first-hand, I value their varied interests, which range from their concern for life and death, to their isolation and socialization, to their notions about love. Seen by adults from a distance, their concerns may seem petty or unimportant. But to the students themselves, their fears are real, and how they cope with them day to day is paramount. Many of them feel alone and isolated and believe that no one else shares their concerns or fears. This is why many of the students connect with contemporary music lyrics, as they seem to convey messages of angst or heartache that they can identify with. With these things taken into account, I chose four art songs from Copland’s song cycle of Dickinson’s poems: “Nature, the Gentlest Mother,” to show nature as a maternal sanctuary; “Heart, we will forget him,” to portray lost love; “Dear March, Come In,” to show the elements of being alive; and “The Chariot,” because it deals with “Death” and how Death is figuratively personified as something or someone people will eventually meet in the end. However; before this eventual meeting with Death, one will experience the different phases of life and experience love, loss, and the final struggle to keep Death at bay. “The Chariot” also tells of a woman who dies, reflects on the life she had, and then looks forward to eternity, perhaps starting a new unknown cycle.
My students have a vague idea of what comprises classical music and literature. One of the objectives of this curriculum unit is to introduce the concept of “classic” to the students. The concept of being cultured in modern society includes knowledge of the classics, whether it is in the arts, music, or politics. Many of the students have an eclectic background with the “classics” and do not even realize it. This unit’s attempt to educate the students about the classics will hopefully instill a sense of confidence in them to further pursue higher learning with an emphasis on the “classics.” I deem it important to make students aware that just because something is old or “classic” does not mean that it is not useful or applicable to modern life. Hopefully, this unit will develop in them a desire to pursue the classics on their own and to apply and cherish the lessons learned from them.
According to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, “classic” refers to feats or achievements accomplished by humanity. It also refers to a category of excellence or anything that relates to the ancient Greeks and Romans and their culture. In the classic tradition, the Greeks and the Romans placed great importance on culture, philosophy, language, arts, and government, and this tradition has had timeless appeal to humanity.
In American music and literature, works such as Aaron Copland’s and Emily Dickinson’s can be considered classic, so Copland’s setting of Dickinson’s twelve poems to music epitomizes the definition of something that is classic. In the book, The Dickinson Songs of Aaron Copland, Larry Starr pronounced this song cycle as “especially intriguing insofar as it unites the words of one of America’s greatest poets with the music of one of America’s greatest composers” (1).
Music is the “art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color” (Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1268). Language and music combine to create what is commonly known as a song. The human voice provides the interpretation of a song, embodying it with emotions, whether or not an instrumental line is present.
One classification of song is the “art song.” This term signifies the setting of a poem to music, sung by a trained vocalist and usually with piano accompaniment. Art song, as we know it today, is an outgrowth of trends in the 16 th century to “use special rhythms to make the text better understood” (What is Art Song?). In the 17 th and 18 th centuries, the art song was further influenced and refined with changes in song styles.
Students define music by what they hear and see on the radio, on the television, or at the cinema. They relate it to popular culture, which engulfs their everyday existence. By popular culture, I mean rap music, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, reggae, and religious music. While these are all forms that employ language and music, they do not include the art song. Learning about the Dickinson Songs will open an avenue for the students to learn about this musical category and introduce them to American classical music and poetry. This will provide them a chance to appreciate two classical traditions they can call their own.
Literature is comprised of “writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays” (Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1122). Emily Dickinson’s poems are representative of American literature. They express themes that depict life, death, and eternity. Her poems are considered classic because they have passed the test of time. Students who study her poems will gain an understanding that their everyday lives have much in common with those of other people, and that many of the experiences they think are unique to their lives are universal occurrences. They will come to value new experiences and reflect on them rather than fear them. Life is something that does not unfold only within the walls of a classroom or school. The ticking of life is experienced with the seasons as they change every year.
Aaron Copland was an American composer who was born to Jewish-Russian immigrants in 1900 in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were entrepreneurs who operated their own store. They raised five children, including Aaron, and immersed them in the family business, trying to teach them to be productive citizens of the United States. With this kind of family initiative, it should come as no surprise that Aaron’s announcement to pursue music concerned his parents.
Even though Copland’s father was less than enthusiastic with Aaron’s decision, he was fully supportive in making sure that Aaron received a solid musical education nonetheless, and he eventually took pride in his son’s career. Aaron Copland matured into a very reserved person who diligently worked at his music. He believed that a serious composer should be able to hear his music in his mind even if he composed at the piano, as Copland himself did. He did not necessarily sketch out his compositions from beginning to end, but often worked in a collage-like fashion. He used such techniques when he put together the Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, as the parts were completed separately.
Copland was drawn to Dickinson’s poems on several levels. They not only appealed to his intellect, but evoked strong emotions because of their vivid imagery. “The Chariot” was “cited by Copland as the original source of attraction to Dickinson as a poet” (Starr 11). Copland was intrigued by Dickinson’s use of simple language that provided a unique style that he found very American. For him, Dickinson’s poetic verbalization of her inner thoughts showed a “highly individual synthesis of subject matter and tone” (13). This style is typically American, according to Starr, and related to the work of Walt Whitman, another 19 th -century American poet. Other American poets cultivated similar techniques (14).
Copland’s setting of Dickinson’s poems to music “represented the composer’s first works for solo voice and piano in more than two decades” (Starr 4). After reading “The Chariot,” Copland was so enthralled by the poem that he set about reading all of Dickinson’s poetry with the intent to set some of them to music; he completed the task in 1949. Ordinarily Copland wrote on commission, but he undertook this cycle on his own initiative. He was touched by Dickinson’s poetry and set to composing the songs as a “labor of love . . . arising out of what can only be called spontaneous impulse and inspiration and out of inner creative need” (4).
Copland dedicated each of the song in the song cycle to 12 of his esteemed composer-friends. Four of the songs included in this curriculum unit are herein enumerated with their respective recipients: “Nature, the Gentlest Mother,” a pastorale song, is dedicated to David Diamond; “Heart, we will forget him,” a nostalgic song, is dedicated to Marcelle de Manziarly; “Dear March, Come In!,” a scherzo, is dedicated to Juan Orrego Salas; and “The Chariot,” a processional song, is dedicated to Arthur Berger.
Copland’s dedication to his craft can be an influential factor from which my students can glean a helpful principle or core value: the idea that hard work and dedication can bring about professional success. Copland’s music serves to teach students that there is more to life than making money. Copland’s sensitivity to the works of others, like Emily Dickinson, shows a respect and appreciation for life that my students will find inspiring.
Emily Dickinson seemed to have had a happy and normal childhood, and did not withdraw from the world until she was in her thirties. At that point, however, she withdrew to her bedroom, cutting herself off from the outside world to pen some of the most poignant and moving poetry written. Despite this behavior, Dickinson’s life appeals to “youthful and romantic imaginations” (Ferlazzo 13). Readers of Dickinson’s poems find her life immortalized by her thoughts on love, death, immortality, life, and eternity. She embodies a sense of optimism in the midst of suffering, and her audience finds it endearing that she was able to observe the world from her own space without actually interacting with anyone physically. Contrary to popular belief, Starr states that Dickinson’s reputation of reclusive existence “is not true” and that “her extensive correspondence attests to her lively intelligence, to her acute awareness of the world around her” (10). He also points out that Dickinson had a yearning for making her thoughts and feelings known, through her poems, to those she believed in and respected.
Her poetry reflects her New England background and upbringing in a time when women had few choices open to them. The choices of career and advancement were almost non-existent, leaving open few avenues other than marriage for a young lady. She used the hymns she grew up with as one of the sources for her poetry. This is evidenced by her use of a hymn structure, with an alternating eight- and six- syllable line of iambic feet – a pattern that “consists of an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable,” as seen in “The Chariot” (Benton 1006). Her use of this technique cannot really be found in her more “mature work, but the strategy works very well here” (Starr 15), as the style fits the themes of death and life with which the poem is preoccupied.
One of the four poems selected for this unit, “Nature, the Gentlest Mother,” personifies nature as maternal personifying nature as a maternal figure. “Heart, we will Forget” addresses love and loss; “Dear March, Come in” concerns man’s relationship with nature; and “The Chariot” concerns serves as the last song in the Copland cycle, perhaps because one of its themes deals with eternity. In the 1950 collection by Mabel Loomis Todd and Thomas Wentworth Higginson in which the poem was first published, the editors deleted the fourth stanza in “The Chariot” and changed four lines. The omitted stanza was eventually restored by Thomas H. Johnson in his The Poems of Emily Dickinson.
Teaching these poems and what they mean, especially as set by Copland, will make a powerful tool in discussing life and death in general. Also, if death is presented as something that has to be dealt with, it may guide the students through the decision-making process as they determine what they should aspire for or hope to achieve in their lifetimes. Though it sounds morbid in some respects, it is the very essence of what Dickinson was trying to impart: that since death is a very real part of life, one should make sure that one truly lives one’s life to its fullest extent.
The Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson is considered a “major achievement not only in the career of Aaron Copland but to contemporary [song] literature” as well (Smith 253). According to Smith, Copland’s work falls within the tradition of classic-romantic song cycles, providing America with a very impressive representation of this sort of work. It lasts about 27 minutes and is “almost homophonic in texture,” with a piano accompaniment that expresses the feeling, tone, and self-examining quality of the poems (254). Smith further classifies each song according to a theme: songs one, two, six, and eight are songs of nature; songs four and nine are songs of death; songs five and 12 are songs of death and life; songs five and seven are songs of life; and songs three and 11 are songs of eternity.
Both Copland’s and Dickinson’s lives can serve as role models not only to young musicians and poets, but to the general population, including ninth-grade students.
When Copland read Dickinson’s poems, he selected certain ones that he wanted to set to music. He made sure that each one “would echo and cross-reference one another – nature, life, death, and eternity” (Starr 44). Dorothy Baker, in her essay entitled, “Aaron Copland’s Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson: A Reading of Dissonance and Harmony,” states that Copland “assumes the role of an interpreter of Emily Dickinson and her art” (3). She further states that Copland picked poems that “challenge the stability of fixed ideas,” and that he recognized the artful way Dickinson tackled her chosen topics (3).
The song cycle aptly begins with two songs dealing with two opposing faces of nature. The first one covers the motherly quality of nature, while the second invokes nature’s harshness. The cycle continues with death in the next two songs, “The World Feels Dusty” and “Why do they shut me out of heaven?,” which progress into the recuperation of losses with an act of picking up the lost pieces of life, and then moving on in “Heart, we will forget him.” Then the cycle presents the seeming passage of time with fervor in “Dear March, come in!” and later addresses eternity in “Sleep is supposed to be.” The song cycle runs like a wheel of life when it repeats each theme all over again, with nature in “When they come back,” death in “I felt a funeral in my brain,” life in “I’ve heard an organ talk sometimes,” death in “Going to Heaven,” and eternal life in “The Chariot.” Four of these twelve songs are the focus of this unit.
“Nature, the Gentlest Mother,” the opening song in the song cycle, posits the idea that nature is a caring and patient mother of all living and non-living creatures. The verses chart the passage of time from morning until night. Nature oversees all with maternal supervision. Copland responded to Dickinson’s use of vivid imagery with a composition that is gentle and warm. He uses “traditional musical materials” that are “unpredictable and expressive” (Starr 54). He uses diatonic scale patterns (meaning he limits himself to the seven tones of a standard major or minor scale), and the triad, which is a basic chord that contains three notes separated by thirds, to convey Dickinson’s honest, plainspoken, and almost traditional use of expression in this poem. The sample stanzas that follow show the kind of imagery Dickinson used in “Nature, the Gentlest Mother”:
Restraining rampant squirrel
Or too impetuous bird (2.3-4 1 , Starr 118).
Of the minutest cricket, The most unworthy flower (4.3-4 Starr 118).
This nature song reflects a rural world that is typical of Copland’s other nature-inspired pieces, like Appalachian Spring (Starr 54). He interpreted animal sounds like bird sounds in his piano, while the voice interprets “an impetuous bird”; such qualities make this a pastoral song. He created an image of Dickinson’s nature as loving and always in control of all elements in the world – of someone who can gently reproach a “child.” He used simple musical materials to express Dickinson’s simple language and still evoke a time in which nature awakes at dawn (in the first two stanzas) and sleeps at night (in the fifth and sixth stanzas):
When all the children sleep
She turns as long way
As will suffice to light her lamps;
Then, bending from the sky,
With infinite affection And infiniter care, Her golden finger on her lip, Wills silence everywhere (5-6, Starr 118).
The voice and piano accompaniment give the song a “virtual sense of timelessness” and a sense of “activity that intrudes only very gradually upon [an] idealized landscape” (Starr 56). This “timelessness” and the “gradual intrusion of activity” remind me of my students’ attitudes because, at their age – at 14 or 15 years old – they have this attitude of having the time of their life, disregarding all responsibilities unless they are forced on them, and only dealing with responsibilities out of necessity. They often spend their time hoping that some 11 th -hour savior will appear and rescue them. Nothing interrupts their daily “teenage” activity or thoughts unless it is relevant to their social life or standing. There is a timelessness and invincibility that accompanies the feelings of youth, and the thought that there will not be a tomorrow is beyond comprehension. The song in its entirety can provide my students that “sense of timelessness,” but at the same time provide them with an appreciation for valuing time, thanks to the song’s illumination of life’s daily motions from the time of waking up to the time of resting and back again.
1 These numbers represent the stanza and line(s) quoted, as in second stanza, third through fourth lines.
The cyclic pattern of nature and life is creating an understanding that when life is lived with a purpose, it will not all end in vain.
“Heart, we will not forget” is a love song that presents a speaker who mourns for someone who may have died. The speaker grieves for lost love in the beginning, but resolves to face up to reality and begin a normal way of life once again.
Love, they say, is an integral part of life. My ninth-grade students incessantly talk about love both inside and outside the classroom. They talk about love gained or love lost or love hoped for. Whenever my class prepares to read William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, they cannot stop talking about “right” or “wrong” love, young love, dangerous love, and romantic love. The atmosphere in the classroom drastically changes from academic to animated, with many different views coming forward. All the “love experiences” of the entire class pour out like water from a bucket. They do not differentiate between the objects of their affection and the depth of their feelings, but know only that their heart has loved and that parting ways hurts. They share stories of beloved grandparents who passed away and how their family struggled to survive their loss. Stories of boyfriends and girlfriends who moved away to another city, or as is often the case, just moved on to another relationship in the same school, abound. It is amazing how many of my students can talk about love, loss, and recovery in a split second. This is why I decided to include this song, with its poignant longing for a loved one, as part of this unit. It may help my students to better understand their experiences with love and bring home the point that the heart, as tender as it is, can often be resilient in its recovery.
“Dear March, come in!” brings back the profound connection of the speaker with nature. A scherzo, the song has a fast beat and a cheerful sanguinity, epitomized by the “piano’s bounding, athletic triple groupings in 6/8 meter” (Starr 71). It is a representation of time and nature as healers of pain and suffering. The theme of the song is affiliated with the first two nature songs in the cycle. One might find this song different from “Nature, the gentlest mother” because nature, no longer a maternal figure, has turned into an “exclusively worldly companion” (Baker 9). It is also different from the second song, “There came a wind like a bugle,” because nature is not as violent in this song.
In “Dear March, come in!” the speaker seems to have now found full pleasure in living and has become impervious to the thought of death. In the song, the speaker happily welcomes March, a gentleman who is taken in intimately, as if he is an old friend or someone very well-known to the speaker:
Dear March, come in!
How glad I am!
I looked for you before (1.1-3, Starr 121).
This song suggests a dialogue wherein the speaker is conversing with an invisible person represented by the piano. Then comes April, another guest who is blamed for “arriving at an inopportune moment” (Starr 74). The “blame” then turns into “praise.” Copland ends the song with a chord that “is the musical equivalent of a smile, a wonderfully warm and tender gesture,” very similar to the first nature song’s ending.
Who knocks? That April! . . .
As soon as you have come,
That blame is just as dear as praise
And praise as mere as blame (3.1 and 3.7-9, Starr 121).
“Dear March, come in!” is a song that signifies hope. Hope is an emotion that many of my students are keenly aware of. Whether it is the hope to pass a particular class, to complete a given grade level, or to graduate from high school entirely, they are particularly familiar with the notion and emotion of hope. Hope is as common to youth as timelessness and invincibility. This song is deemed to ainspire a positive outlook towards life for my students to pursue whatever that life can offer.
“The Chariot” is the 12 th and final poem in the Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, composed by Aaron Copland between March 1949 and March 1950. It is one of Dickinson’s more metaphysical poems. The poem evokes a mystical view of life, death, and afterlife. This is also the poem that first inspired Copland to set the poetry of Dickinson to music.
In this poem, the author embarks on a journey towards death in the first three stanzas and portrays death itself as a gentleman accompanied by a chaperone, Immortality, to ensure safety for the speaker from any unwelcome advances. In his book, Eberwein explains that Death here is a perfect gentleman or suitor who courts a fine lady, which is very much a trait of 19 th -century courtship.
Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.
We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had to put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility (1-2, Eberwein 54-57).
In the fourth stanza, the “gazing grain” symbolizes her reflecting on her life, while the “setting sun” refers to her approaching death. She also realizes that she is inappropriately dressed for the occasion of a simple drive into town. The “gossamer gown” that is more closely associated with mourning and is similar to a burial shroud is not enough to prevent a “chill” against her skin. She feels the cold chill of death’s touch, but, in denial, rationalizes that it is due to her thin gown. “Chill” here is associated with an impending death:
We passed the school, where children strove,
At Recess – In the Ring –
We passed the fields of Gazing Grain,
We passed the Setting Sun.
Or rather – He passed Us –
The Dews drew quivering and chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only Tulle – . . . (3-4, Eberwein 54-57).
In the last two stanzas, she arrives at a cemetery with the “swelling of the ground,” which alludes to a grave; a “roof,” which referes to a tombstone; and a “cornice in the ground,” which pertains to the coffin as it is at last laid in the grave (Ferlazzo 56). Here, the speaker finally realizes that her companions are gone and understands that she was lured and courted like a fine lady, but tricked to her death.
The poem satirizes Victorian mores, while addressing the unfolding of a life cycle, moving from childhood to adulthood and to what lies beyond life:
We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground;
The Roof was scarcely visible.
The Cornice – in the Ground –
Since then – ‘tis centuries – and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses’ Heads
Were toward Eternity (5-6, Eberwein 54-57).
When Copland set “The Chariot” to music, he made some changes in the text and added some words as with the other poems. For example, he changed “could” to “would” in verse one and “At a wrestling in a ring” to “Their lessons scarcely done” in verse three.
LESSON PLANS
Poetry and music are two aesthetic expressions of emotions, ideas, experiences, ambitions, and dreams. Poetry is an expressive work of art that is written by a poet. Music, on the other hand, is an art of arranging sounds in an artistic way to create an auditory stimulus to listeners. Poetry and music appreciation involve reading verses or lyrics and listening to the rhythm and melody accompanying the verses. The students will recognize the excellence and beauty of a poem that was set to music. Houston Independent School District (HISD) does not have a specific objective for appreciation, but it does have one for analysis, reading, and listening.
HISD states that students should be able to “analyze and evaluate aesthetic language in literature and in spoken messages” (CLEAR ELA.L.9.02.a). In reading, the students should be able to “analyze literary elements for their contribution and meaning to texts” (ELA.R.9.2.e). Furthermore, HISD curriculum objectives expect students to “deconstruct media to determine messages” (ELA.V.9.2.b) and “understand production techniques that affect the composition and the content of a message or form of media” (ELA.V.9.1.a, ELA.V.9.2.d). These objectives are useful guidelines in the appreciation, analysis, and creation of a media representation of an art song.
CD player Sound recording of each song Two construction papers for each group Magazine cut-out Colored pens Glue Background sheet
The students will listen to each song and then read and analyze each poem. First, they will interpret each poem and create a visual presentation using a small display board that will show what each poem is about. Interpretation will be based on the students’ perspective. The visual aid may be drawn as a poster, a collage, or a combination of both. Afterwards, they will read a background information sheet containing literary criticism of the stanzas according to professional literary critics (provided by the teacher) for each poem studied.
Then, the students listen to the verses again as sung. They will review their previous interpretations. They may change their view of the poem they are interpreting by adding or taking out any visual representations from their visual projects.
A poem will be assigned to a group of five or more. Each group assigned a poem will memorize their assignment and present a choral reading or singing of the poem assignment in front of the class. The members of each group will plan a creative simulation of their visual interpretation through live performance, props, and poetic expressions.
A rubric designed by the teacher with the students’ input will be used to evaluate the visual representation of an art song. A separate criterion will be framed to evaluate the choral reading or singing of an art song. The criteria for both projects will include: Initial Understanding, Interpretation, Critical Analysis, Expression, Content, Organization, Production Design and Techniques, Appropriate Subject Matter, and Attention to Details. The project is due on the second week of the curriculum unit.
Art songs and pop songs are two genres in music that are seldom compared to each other. More people, including ninth-graders, are familiar with pop songs than with art songs. Few art songs are known to the masses or receive much media attention. To further understand the distinction between art song and pop song, students will be required to explore the topics. They will “generate and refine questions for inquiry” (CLEAR ELA.R.8.a.) and find ways to answer the questions by assembling a list of sources they will use. Then, they will “evaluate their own research, draw conclusions, and frame new questions for further investigation” (ELA.W.9.8.c). The research will be limited to American art songs and pop songs only.
Students in the ninth grade are expected to show superior control over their research work by “making connections, pointing out weaknesses and strengths, challenge ideas they encounter and explore other possibilities, and judge or rate the clarity, accuracy, or value of a source or finding” (CLEAR). They should be able to draw conclusions both in writing and in oral discussions and use specific examples to drive home a point. Then, they should be able to generate new angles of inquiry from their conclusion, thus encouraging further investigation and learning.
Students’ library cards Card catalogue Internet access Pen Research notebook (medium-size will do) Index cards CD player (to play samples of art songs and pop songs) 8 ½ x 11 ½ white paper Typewriter or computer Filing folder
After completing Lesson One, the students will generate a list of possible sources for the research project. They will activate their library cards and inquire about access to the card catalogue and to library computers for Internet access. They will start looking up the various sources they have on their lists. They will do a process of elimination to find out which of the sources they will utilize and which one they will have to discard. They will write specific notes on their index cards, including name of source, author of source, pages read, source copyright, and date of finding. (Each index should be labeled with the researcher or student’s last name and first name for identification purposes.)
Once the index card notes are gathered and collected, the students will write a detailed outline of their research material in their research notebook or type it in a word processor. After consideration and deliberation, the students will flesh out the research paper and write a first draft. The teacher will check and evaluate the draft before having students write the second and final drafts.
The project will be turned in and presented on the third week of a grading cycle. Oral presentation follows with an exhibition of samples of art songs and pop songs for listening purposes.
The research paper should have a length of no fewer than 750 words, typed. There should be a list of primary and secondary sources of at least five sources, with parenthetical, in-text documentation. It should follow a format that includes a title page with the title of the paper, students name, teacher’s name, course, period, and date; a topic sentence outline; an introduction; the body of the paper; a conclusion; and a works cited page following the standard MLA or APA format (CLEAR).
Media representation is an effective way of re-enforcing understanding of a lesson with thoroughness. The students will break down some media representation like a movie to try to decipher the message conveyed. They will “use reference materials such as glossary, dictionary, thesaurus, and available technology to determine precise meanings and usage” (CLEAR ELA.R.9.3.g.) of certain words relevant to the lesson.
A copy of the film, Chariots of Fire TV and DVD or VCR Pen and Notebook
The students will define the word “chariot” and use a web chart to identify synonyms and antonyms for the word. The teacher will then present Chariots of Fire to the students. While the students view the film, they will note important details in the movie. They will then analyze such themes in the film as choices in life, challenges, perseverance, courage, and success.
A set of guide questions will be provided to the students at the beginning of the film until the end. The students will turn in the guide questions to the teacher after viewing the film. Points will be assigned according to the clarity of answers, supported by specific associations with the “The Chariot” by Emily Dickinson, as set to music by Aaron Copland.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baker, Dorothy. “Aaron Copland’s Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson: A Reading of Dissonance and Harmony.” Project Muse (2003): 27 April 2004. This source, also accessible through the University of Houston library online via Project Muse, discusses the Dickinson Songs as a song cycle.
“Classic.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2004. Merrian-Webster, Incorporated. June 1 2004. <http://www.m-w.com/cgibin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=classic>. This source provides a definition for the word “classic” as a relating to the excellence achieved by the Greeks and the Romans.
An Emily Dickinson Encyclopedia. Ed. Jane Donahue Eberwein. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. This book is an easy-to-read text for both students and professionals alike. It provides an extensive discussion of Emily Dickinson and her work.
Ferlazzo, Paul J. Emily Dickinson. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1976. This book, a biography of Emily Dickinson, provides relevant information about her influences on younger generations. It also contains analyses of some of Dickinson’s poems.
Pollack, Howard. Aaron Copland, The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man. University of Illinois Press, 2000. This book presents an extensive biographical sketch of Aaron Copland. It provides information of the life and musical endeavors of one of America’s greatest composers. The book also briefly discusses the Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson.
Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary. New York, NY: Random House Reference and Random House, Inc., 1987. Several definitions of the word “music” are found in this book, and these definitions have been relevant in helping understand the concept of music.
Smith, Julia. Aaron Copland His Work and Contribution to American Music. New York: E.P. Dutton and Company Inc., 1955. Smith discusses Aaron Copland’s life and some of his achievements in music.
Starr, Larry. The Dickinson Songs of Aaron Copland. New York: Pendragon Press, 2002. This book contains in-depth information about the Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson.
What is Art Song? Artsong Update. 26 April 2004. <http://www.artsongupdate.org/Articles/What%20is%20Art%20Song.htm>. The article provides information about the concept of the art song, explains the difference between art song and folk song, and discusses the history of art song. The website is a news review and idea site for art song fans.
Supplemental Resources
Berger, Arthur. Aaron Copland. CT: Greenwood Press, Publishers, 1953. This book discusses Aaron Copland’s early years, training, work, and music.
Bolin, Frances Schoomaker. Emily Dickinson: Poetry for young People. New York: Magnolia Editions Limited, 1994. This book is a journey into the world of Emily Dickinson and her nature-filled poetry.
Brave New Works. Words and Music. 16 February 2004. <http://www.personal.umich.edu/~cyoungk/copland.htm>. This website contains articles about Aaron Copland and Emily Dickinson.
Copland, Aaron. Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson. Boosey and Hawkes, Inc., 1951. The musical score to the Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson.
Copland, Aaron and Vivian Perlis. Copland 1900 Through 1942. New York: St. Martin’s/Marek, 1984. This autobiography presents the story of Aaron Copland’s life from 1900 to 1942.
Ellman, Richard. The New Oxford Book of American Verse. New York: Oxford UP, 1976. This anthology includes a copy of Emily Dickinson’s “The Chariot,” with its original fourth stanza. It includes a wide range of amorous, confessional, satirical, and metaphysical poetry.
Encyclopedia Britannica. Chicago: William Benton, 1970. Volume 11 contains useful information about iambic meter, foot, etc.
Hardenbergh, Esther Jane. “The Solo Repertoire of Richard Hundley: A Pedagogical and Performance Guide to the Published Works Chapter II Development of American Art Song 1860-1930: Dominance of Western European Style.” Teacher’s College of Columbia University Abstracts, 2004. This paper deals with the development of art song in America.
Introduction. 2004. The Lied and Art Song Texts Page. 23 April 2004. <http://209.16.199.17/lieder/intro.html>. This website provides basic information about art songs.
The Lied and Art Song Texts Page. The REC Music Foundation. 4 Feb. 2004. <http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/merge.cg1?109>. This site contains the texts for the Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, including the changes by Aaron Copland to some of the words in each of the poem’s text.
Copland, Aaron. The Ultimate Copland Album – An American Celebration. Decca 2894669092, 1997. The CD includes many of Aaron Copland’s most famous compositions.
______. A Copland Celebration, Volume 3: Vocal and Choral Works. Sony Classical SMK89329, 1970. This disc includes the Dickinson Songs.
______. Quiet City/Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson/Barber: Op. Nos. 11 & 13/Knoxville
– Summer of 1915. Emi Records 55358, 1994. The CD includes the orchestral version of eight of the Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, as sung by Barbara Hendricks.
______. Copland Super Hits. Sony 89274, 2000. The CD contains some of Copland’s most popular compositions.