Home, Grief, and Storytelling in Men We Reaped

Lesson 13
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ELA

Unit 9

10th Grade

Lesson 13 of 22

Objective


Analyze the metaphor of the horse that Betts extends throughout "What We Know About Horses" including how it creates social commentary about growing up as a Black man in America.

Readings and Materials


  • Poem: “What We Know of Horses” by Reginald Dwayne Betts 

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Target Task


Writing Prompt

How does Betts use the extended metaphor of horses to convey central ideas in "What We Know of Horses." In your paragraph, cite and analyze specific examples from the poem that support your claim about the central ideas of the text.

Sample Response

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Key Thinking


Annotation Focus

In what lines, words, and phrases does the speaker in "What We Know of Horses" reference a horse? What does this horse refer to in those lines, words, and phrases?

Scaffolding Questions

Who or what is the poem about? How do you know?

What is the central conflict in the poem? How do you know? How would you characterize this conflict?

The speaker in "What We Know of Horses" references a horse three times in the first stanza. Note each reference and explain the connotations and meaning of horse in each line.

  • "some trust / in chariots and some in horses."
  • "Running these streets, he was a horse – / graceful, destined to be / broken." 
  • "Why admire horses?"

In the second stanza, the speaker references a horse 4 times. What new meaning does the word "horse" take on in this stanza? How do you know? Is the horse the same throughout the stanza.

  • "Why compare everything fast / & beautiful to horses?"
  • "men strung out on horse, / chasing the dragon, shivering / with the memory of that stallion / gone postal in their veins –"
  • "with cities buried inside them – horses / inside them stampeding."
  • "My brother put his faith in horse, / & there is no map to find him now."

In the third stanza, the speaker references horse three times. Note each reference and explain the connotations and meaning of horse in each line.

  • "History is written / on the back of the horse” broken / by the world.” 
  • "Call this place a horse collar, / & watch how it cuts into skin, / how the leather embraces / all of our necks."

Discussion Question

How does the meaning of horse in the poem develop over time? How does this development contribute to the central ideas of the text?

Homework


Read and annotate "We are Born" and "Desmond Cook" by Lesson 14

  • Annotation focus: 
    • What are your first impressions of Ward’s birth story? 
    • What are your first impressions of Desmond Cook?

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Standards


  • LO 1.3B — Analyze how the writer's use of stylistic elements contributes to a work of literature's effects and meaning.
  • RL.9-10.4 — Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
  • RL.9-10.5 — Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.

Supporting Standards

LO 1.3A
LO 2.3A
LO 2.3B
LO 2.3C
LO 5.1A
LO 5.1B
RL.9-10.1
RL.9-10.2
SL.9-10.1
W.9-10.2

Next

Analyze the role that violence and substance abuse play in the childhood of Ward and Joshua.

Explain how Desmond’s death and Ward’s memories of him connect to the thematic topics of violence and substance abuse that Ward introduces in "We Are Born."

Lesson 14
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