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Using Primary and Secondary Sources to Analyze “On Being Brought from Africa to
America” (Phillis Wheatley)
Lesson Plan (1-2 days) for 11th^ Grade ELA
Designed by K. McGriff, using materials from African Americans in the Making of Early New England (an NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop, presented by the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association)
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS/MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE- AND CAREER-READY STANDARDS:
ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.4, ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.5, ELA-Literacy.L.11-12. ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.1, ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.6, ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12. ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1, ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.
OBJECTIVE:
Students will read and analyze Phillis Wheatley’s poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” first generating their own summary of the claim the poem makes, then analyzing 2-3 conflicting critical interpretations of the poem and finally writing their own.
Note : The point of this lesson is fourfold. It (1) introduces students to the life and work of an important author in the American canon; (2) requires students to use traditional tools of the literary analysis of a poem and to (3) situate a piece of literature in its historical context; (4) exposes students to examples of literary criticism (which they are often asked to perform without having ever seen a model!).
BEFORE CLASS, STUDENTS WILL READ:
excerpts from “Phillis Wheatley,” in The Black Presence in the Era of the American Revolution & excerpts from Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage or , for low-level readers: excerpts from A Voice of Her Own: The Story of Phillis Wheatley, Slave Poet
Note : Excerpts assigned for homework will include only biographical information about Phillis Wheatley, not examples of, or analysis of, her poetry.
RELEVANT VOCABULARY:
from “On Being Brought from Africa to America”
mercy, pagan, benighted (students will use context clues during/after reading to determine the meaning of this word), sought, sable (students will use context clues during/after reading to determine the meaning of this word), diabolic
from The Black Presence… and Biography of a Genius
reviled, notoriety (students will use context clues during/after reading to determine the meaning of this word), contemporaneous, appropriate/appropriation, hypocritical
from “Great African American Authors”
irony
POSSIBLE PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
What surprised you as you did the homework readings about the life of Phillis Wheatley? What about her life story is different from what you have learned in the past about American slavery, in Mississippi or elsewhere? What about Phillis Wheatley’s life story confirms or corroborates what you have learned in the past about American slavery?
A 2007 survey (Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life) found that 83% of black Americans identify as Christian – a significantly higher percentage than in the American population at large. Why? Why are so many black Americans Christians? Consider your own community and what you know about the racial and religious history of the United States.
How do we, living in 2017, know what slavery is like? From what kinds of sources do we get our information about it? What did enslaved people say about it? If you’ve not read the words of enslaved people about slavery – or even if you have – what do you imagine they would have said?
What would you expect a poem called “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” written by an enslaved woman in 1768, to be about? Before you have read it, what predictions do you have?
DIRECT INSTRUCTION 1:
Distribute copies of “On Being Brought from Africa to America.” Introduce vocabulary that students will encounter in the poem. Direct them to underline or mark the words “benighted” and “sable” on their copy of the poem; these words they’ll determine the meaning of using context clues or other strategies from their vocabulary notebooks as they work on interpreting the poem.
Have students read the poem silently, then read it aloud and/or have a strong reader read it aloud to the class.
WORK PERIOD 1:
Direct students to work first independently; then confer with a partner/small group to write a summary, in contemporary language, of the poem/of the argument the speaker makes in the poem, using the following questions as a guide:
The title of the poem is “On Being Brought from Africa to America.” Is the speaker’s attitude about being brought from Africa to America positive or negative? How do you know? What words in the poem have positive/negative connotations?
What words, phrases, or lines in the poem are associated with Africa or Africans? What words, phrases, or lines are about America?
Based on the way the word is used in context, what does “benighted” probably mean? How do you know? What other words in the poem are synonyms of “benighted”? What about the word “sable”?
Find the verbs in the poem. What verb tenses does Wheatley use? Which verbs are in past tense, and why? Which are in present tense, and why? Does Wheatley use future tense? If so, where, and why?
Line 6 is punctuated with quotation marks. Why? Who is Wheatley quoting?
Based only on the text on the page, who is the intended audience for the poem? How do you know?
Carefully reread lines 7-8. What does Wheatley want to make sure her audience understands?
DISCUSSION:
Question students about their findings during the work period.
What is the central claim of “On Being Brought from Africa to America”? What reason(s) or evidence does the speaker give in support of this claim? (Discuss questions from the work period as necessary.)
What is surprising to you about the message of this poem? Does it match the predictions we made just before reading it?
DISCUSSION/DIRECT INSTRUCTION 3:
Ask students about Carretta’s analysis. What does this add to our understanding of Phillis Wheatley’s poem?
Review the word “irony,” then show students the film clip about Phillis Wheatley from Great African American Authors. Ask students about Dr. Dana Williams’s interpretation of “On Being Brought from Africa to America.” What does Dr. Williams mean when she says that this poem is “ironic”? What does she say is the central claim of the poem? What evidence from the poem – or from Phillis Wheatley’s biography – supports that claim?
WORK PERIOD 3/ASSESSMENT:
Direct students to work independently to write a paragraph in response to the following prompt:
Phillis Wheatley’s poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America” has been called “the most reviled poem in African American literature.” In your opinion, does it deserve its notoriety? Why or why not?
In your paragraph, be sure to address why this poem is so “reviled” – even if you don’t agree with this analysis! Use at least three pieces of evidence from Wheatley’s poem in your paragraph, and cite at least one of the secondary sources you’ve read in class or for homework. You may choose a secondary source that supports your position, or one to refute, or both.
OPTIONAL, for enrichment: Read excerpts from shmoop.com and newadvent.org (linked on Schmoop) about the “mark of Cain.”
