The Poe Fest
by Mrs. Volo
The Celebration of the 200th Birthday of Poe
or
(to paraphrase from "The Tell-Tale Heart")
The Beat Goes On!
Introduction:
You are going on a journey of discovery and the subject of your search is Edgar Allan Poe. Poe never gave up on his talents, no matter how hard his life became. He continued to purse his dream, even when his work was rejected. He truly lived to write and wrote to live! In our quest to explore him as a man, as an author, as a poet, and a genius, you are going to be exploring, reading, performing, drawing, dressing up, and celebrating his life. I want you to learn and to have fun. Edgar Allan Poe had the heart of a writer... and the beat goes on!
Task: (please read the Process for detailed instructions)
You will be assigned a partner, and you will receive both a group grade and an individual grade for the work that you do.
* Learn about the life of Poe. (This information is in the Resources section.) Reflect in your Reader Response Journal.
* Read "The Tell-Tale Heart" and write an epilogue.
* Read one of Poe's short stories with a partner
* Analyze the literary elements of the story. This will be submitted to me. Name the elements and dicuss how it they are represented in the work.
* Create a graphic novel of the story.
* List eight important images from the story.
* Create a poster that graphically represents your story.
* Diagram the plot of your story.
* Write a play adapted from the climax of your story to the conclusion. Design costumes for the play version of this story. Pay attention to details that fit the characters portrayed wearing these costumes.
* Perform the play for the class.
* Evaluate and reflect on the process and your work, through literary response, wiki, and blogs.
On Friday, October 30, we will have a 200th birthday celebration for Poe. You will dress up as the character you are playing.
Process: (If there is a "G" at the end of the task it is a group function. If there is an "I" it is an individual function.
*Learn about the life of Poe. We have covered biographacial material in class and you should have notes. In addition, I want you to visit the websites in the Resources section . That reading should be reflected in your Reader Response journal. (I )
* Read "The Tell-Tale Heart" and tell me what happens next. In other words, write an epilogue for the story! What do you think has happened to the narrator? Where is he telling the story from and when? What happened after the tale ended? There is a national activity going on to celebrate Poe, and students all over the country are doing this activity. We will email ours to a national website that will be published in January of epilogues to the story! Poe would be proud! ( I)
* Read one of Poe's short stories with a partner. You will be given a copy of a story. After you read, diagram the plot. (G)
* Analyze the literary elements of the story. This will be submitted to me. Name the elements and dicuss how it they are represented in the work. (G)
* Create a ten frame minium graphic novel of the story. This could be any section of the story you desire. (G)
* Create a poster that graphically represents your story. Effective readers often "see" a story in their mind. As they read its words, the story becomes a kind of movie in their minds. They "watch" as the characters move about and listen to the way they speak to each other, almost as if they were another character in the story. On your poster, create the central image that you and your partner see, and on the back of it, tell my why you chose it. (G)
* Write a play adapted from the climax of your story to the conclusion. Remember to practice. The play must last at least three minutes but should be no longer than five minutes. (G)
* Perform the play for the class. Please wear costumes. (G)
* Evaluate and reflect on the process and your work. You will submit at least five blog entries to our blog, write five readerer's response entries, and join our wiki. Four of the reader's response entries will deal with information form the Resources section. One will be your reflection on the project. (I)
Last but not least, make Poe a birthday card, expressing your appreciation of his talents and skills. (I)
The Internet is rich in wonderful sources of information on your topics. Here are some sites to get you started :
|
| Category | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Organization | Information is very organized | Information is organized with well constructed paragraphs | Information is organized but information is not well constructed | The information is disorganized |
| Mechanics | No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors | Three or fewer grammatical or spelling or punctuation errors | Four to six grammatical or spelling or punctuation errors | Seven or more spelling or punctuation errors |
| Quality of Information | Information clearly relates to the story. The graphic (graphics) represent important details from the story. | Information relates to the main topic. The graphic (graphics) represent details from the story, although they may not be important details. | Information loosely relates to the main topic. The graphic (graphics) provides few supporting details and/or examples.
|
Information has little or nothing to do with the story and does not include any supporting details or examples. |
| Total |
| Category | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adaption | Play is faithfully adapted from the story. The exposition,incting force and rising action are correctly identified, and clearly explained to the class.The climax is correctly identified and the action in the play is reenacts the story. |
Play is adequately adapted from the story. The exposition,incting force and rising action are correctly identified, and explained to the lass.The climax is correctly identified and the action in the play is reenacts the story. There are no more than 2 accuracy error. |
Play is adapted from the story but there are gaps. The exposition,incting force and rising action are identified very briefly and it is not clearly explained to the lass.The climax is identified in vague termsand the action in the play briefly reenacts the story. There are more than 2 inaccuarcies. | Hard to tell what the story and the play is. |
| Body Posture and Eye Contact | Stands up straight, looks relaxed, and establishes eye contact with everyone in the room during the room the presentation. | Stands up straight and establishes eye contact with everyone during the presentation but appears to be overly nervous. | Stands up straight and establishes eye contact with only a few people during the presentation. | Slouches and/or does not make eye contact with anyone or looks only at the teacher. |
| Vocabulary | Uses vocabulary appropriate to the audience. Defines words that might be new to most of the audience. | Uses simple vocabulary appropriate for the audience. There may be a more than three grammatical errors. | Uses vocabulary that is appropriate but has more than five grammatical errors. | Uses several words or phrases that are not understood by the audience. The vocabulary is limited and there may be more than eight grammatical errors. |
| Speaking Skills | Speaks clearly and distinctly all the time and mispronounces no words. | Speaks clearly and distinctly all the time but mispronounces up to three words. | Speaks clearly and distincly most of the time but mispronounces four or five words. | Often mumbles or can not be understood. Frequently says "um", "like", or "ok", or mispronounces more than five words. |
| Visual Aids | Student uses several visual aides (could include a costume) that show considerable work/creativity and which make the presentation better. | Student uses 1 or 2 visual aides that show consderable work/creativity, and which make the presentation better. | Students uses at least 2 visual aides. | Students uses no visual aides or the visual aides chosen detract from the presentation |
| Total |
| Category | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Organization | Information is very organized | Information is organized with well constructed paragraphs | Information is organized but information is not well constructed | The information is disorganized |
| Mechanics | No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors | Three or fewer grammatical or spelling or punctuation errors | Four to six grammatical or spelling or punctuation errors | Seven or more spelling or punctuation errors |
| Quality of Information | You zero in on one or two key ideas of the articel, rather than giving a summary of the text. You write in ways that go beyond the literal nature of the text. You creatively develop your connections so the reader is drawn into your response. You stick to your key idea and do not wander from it. Your writing is clear and easy to understand | You begin to focus on one or two key ideas of the articles rather than giving a summary of the text. You may have several underdeveloped ideas. Your writing needs to demonstrate further analysis of the key point or points. Need to work on ways to be more creative and less factual as you respond to the piece, so that you draw the reader into your response. It may read like a list. Your writing is generally clear and understandable, although you may stray from the topic.
|
You do not focus on the key ideas of the article. Your analysis is in need of much development. Your writing style lacks creativity. Your writing needs considerable work to make it clear.
|
Information has little or nothing to do with the articles and does not include any supporting details or examples. |
| Total |
Conclusion: After we complete all of the tasks, we will have given Edgar Allan Poe a very fitting celebration of his life. You will have become an expert on one of his stories and will have entered into the world of a true genius.