A Poison Tree

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Name: ___________________________________________ Date: ______________________ #: ________ 9.2.52: “A Poison Tree” As a life-long learner, I will… (RL.2) analyze how an author achieves specific effects of tone and theme (W.4) use the writing process to draft a poem based on a reflective essay Poetry About the Author William Blake (1757-1827) was an artist as well as a poet. Born in London, he was apprenticed to an engraver when he was young. Blake claimed to have mystical visions which he expressed in his poems and engravings. He engraved both the texts and the illustrations for his poems. “A Poison Tree” is from his collection called Songs of Experience, which reflect his complex view of a world that includes good and evil, innocence and experience. A Poison Tree by William Blake I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath1, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow. 5 And I watered it in fears, Night and morning with my tears; And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles2. And it grew both day and night, 10 Till it bore an apple bright. And my foe beheld it shine. And he knew that it was mine, And into my garden stole When the night had veiled the pole; 15 In the morning glad I see My foe outstretched beneath the tree. 1 wrath: fierce anger; vengeance caused by anger 2 wiles: tricky or clever behavior You will be assigned a “chunk” of the text. Please visualize what is described in your chunk and sketch it below. Create an image that reflects important themes or ideas from the text. Now, you will work to clarify the tone and theme of the poem. Please re-read the text and mark it to respond to the following: Highlight or underline the different choices the speaker makes about revenge. Locate the speaker’s shift in attitude and mark it with a star. Describe the attitude of the speaker in different places in the poem. How does the poem end? Paraphrase the last two lines. What causes this to happen? Yesterday you created an essay about revenge. Please take that same event and draft a poem – using Blake’s work as a template – and respond to it in verse. Feel free to present it from a different point of view or voice than you used yesterday. .

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PBS Lesson Series
PBS Lesson Series ELA: Grade 8, Lesson 7, William Blake Part II Lesson Focus: The focus of today’s lesson will be on William Blake’s poetry and argumentative writing. Practice Focus: Students will analyze one of Blake’s poems, “A Poison Tree,” in order to determine its meaning. Students will also analyze an argumentative essay on Blake’s poem in order to study author’s craft in writing arguments. Objective: Students will use “A Poison Tree” and “Analysis of ‘A Poison Tree’” to learn about William Blake’s poem and to learn about author’s craft in writing arguments. Academic Vocabulary: wiles, beheld, stole, veil’d, connotation, figurative, personification, symbolism, cohesion, resentment, unexpressed, nurtures, hyperbole, grievance, transitional phrase, literary device TN Standards: 8.RI.KID.1, 8.RI.KID.3, 8.RI.CS.4, 8.RI.IKI.8, 8.RL.KID.1, 8.RL.KID.2, 8.RL.KID.3, 8.RL.CS.4, 8.RL.CS.5, 8.RL.CS.6 Teacher Materials: Lesson script Chart paper o Will need to write out the TPCASTT template onto chart paper; you only need to include the headings for each section as the commentary will be covered in the script o Will need to write the independent practice questions on chart paper so students can see them and copy them onto their own paper Student Materials: Paper, pencil, and a surface to write on Teacher Do Students Do Opening (1 min) Students gather materials for the Hello! Welcome to Tennessee’s At Home Learning Series for lesson and prepare to engage with literacy! Today’s lesson is for all our 8th graders out there, the lesson’s content.
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Introduction
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Poems of William Blake William Blake a Poison Tree by William Blake I
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