This document provides a lesson plan for teaching Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" to high school students. It includes background information on Poe's biography, an analysis of the poem, and discussion questions. It also includes vocabulary and creative writing exercises related to themes in the poem like loss, grief, and madness.

1. Lesson Plan: The Raven
Anglo-American
Literature
Grades: 9-12

2. TYPES OF POETRY
Narrative Poem
(character, setting,
conflict, plot)
a. epic (adventure of warrior)
b. metrical romance (courtly
love)
c. metrical tales (straight
forward)
d. ballad (compose in stanza
ment to be sung
Lyrical Poetry
(musical in origin)
a. ode (praisinga nd grorifying
individuals)
b. elegy (sorrow and
lamentation)
c. sonnet (14 liners)
d. song ( set to music/ 3R's)
e. simple lyric (short poem
expressing thought,
feeling, emotion
Dramatic Poetry
(character speaking to
another character)
a. dramatic monologue
(character reveals his
innermost thought emotions
and feelings)
b. Soliloquy (acting of speaking
alone)

3. Elements of
Poetry
1. Speaker - a person who is addressing
the reader
2. Content - subject of the poem,
answers what
3. Theme - meaning of the poem
4. Shape and form - structured/free
verse
5. Mood or tone - feeling the poet
creates
6. Imagery - picture which we perceive
with our senses

4. Lesson Plan: The Raven
Anglo-American
Literature
Grades: 9-12

5. Lovi Poe

6. Grace Poe

7. Conrad Poe

8. Fernando Poe Jr.

9. Andy Poe

10. Freddie Poe

11. Fernando Poe Sr.

12. Edgar Allan Poe

13. BIOGRAPHY:
*• (1809-1849) was an American author best
known for his dark and ominous short
stories and poems.
• (1811) Poe's parents died in tuberculosis
within days of each other. Edgar goes to
live with John and Frances Allan in
Richmond, Virginia and he adopts his
foster family's last name as his middle
name.

14. BIOGRAPHY:
*
• (1847) Poe's wife, Virginia, dies of
tuberculosis at their home in the Bronx.
Poe is despondent during the final
months of her illness and he tries to mask
the pain with alcohol.
•(1848) Poe proposes to a poet named Sarah
Helen Whitman. She agrees to marry
him on the condition that he quit
drinking. When Poe can't live up to the
promise, Whitman calls off the
engagement.

15. BIOGRAPHY:
*
•(1849) Poe becomes engaged to his childhood
sweetheart, Elmira Royster Shelton. He
also vows to quit drinking.
•(1849) After being found unconscious in a
Baltimore gutter, Poe is taken to the
hospital and pronounced dead of
causes still unknown. He is buried at
Westminster Presbyterian Church in
Baltimore.

16. His Writings:
• Horror story about a cat
The Black Cat
• Comedy about being drunkThe Angel of the Odd
• Horror story about teethBerenice
• Talking with a dead man
The Facts in the Case of M.
Valdemar

17. His Writings:
• The horror of the plague
The Masque of the Red
Death
• Conversation with a hypnotized
dying manMesmeric Revelation
• A torture chamberThe Pit and the Pendulum
• A murderer's guiltThe Tell-Tale Heart

18. His Writings:
Annabel Lee Dream-Land
For Annie The Sleeper

19. His Writings:
Alone The Bells
"The Haunted The Raven

20. Poe's poem, The Raven, is published in the
New York Evening Mirror. It is often noted
for its musicality, stylized language, and
supernatural atmosphere. It remains one of
the most famous poems ever written.

21. "The Raven" has become one of
America's most famous poems, partly
as a result, of its easily remembered
refrain, "Nevermore."

22. The speaker, a man who pines for his
deceased love, Lenore, has been
visited by a talking bird who knows
only the word, "Nevermore."

23. The narrator feels so grieved over the
loss of his love that he allows his
imagination to transform the bird into a
prophet bringing news that the lovers
will "Nevermore" be reunited, not even
in heaven.

24. Poe's own essay about "The
Raven," he describes the poem
as one that reveals the human
penchant for "self-torture"

25. . BRING ON THE TOUGH STUFF - there’s not just one right answer.
1. Do you think this poem is supposed to be funny? Do you find
the speaker's tale intense and dramatic, or ridiculous and over-
the-top?
2. Do you talk to animals? Do you ever imagine them saying
something back?
3. On that note, do you think the speaker of this poem has really
lost his mind, or does he just seem very, very sad to you?
4. Do you trust the speaker? Do you think he gives us an accurate
version of reality, or is it possible that he is making up or
distorting some of these things?
5. Have you ever known someone (or been someone) whose love
turned into obsession? Does this poem make you think about
that experience?

27. UNTYING KNOTS
MEANING: Arrange the jumbled letters to come out to the
word defined.
1. WAREY- feeling or showing tiredness, especially as a
result of excessive exertion or lack of sleep = _________
2. KABLE - exposed and barren and often windswept =
__________
3. CCARES - insufficient for the demand = _________
4. RUMRUM - say something in a low, soft, or indistinct
voice =______
5. LICETAT - a screen or fence or as a support for climbing

28. UNTYING KNOTS
SYNONYMS: Cross out the term which is not same In
meaning to the rest of the grouped words.
1. Obeisance = bend curtsy disdain
2. craven = weak bold fearful
3. Melancholy=gay lachrymose wistful
4. Ominous =menacing threatening hopeful
5. pallid = rosy colorless ashen

30. SHARE OF FEELINGS:
Ask each group to think about events
or images from their experiences
that conjure up the same emotions. For
example, what have they experienced that may
have sparked deep fear or loneliness.

31. ON MY OWN
Have students work individually
to create an original piece that portrays
these emotions. They may make posters,
write poem or short stories, or record
songs. Encourage them to use of Poe’s
words and phrases.

32. Demo Teaching Materials
Prepared by: Francis Punla