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REFUGEE BLUES

BY: W H AUDEN

A LITERATURE UNIT

By: Tikvah Olshina-Sharabi

Literature Course 2014-2015

Refugee Bluesby W H AudenSay this city has ten million souls,Some are living in mansions, some are living in holes:Yet there's no place for us, my dear, yet there's no place for us.Once we had a country and we thought it fair,Look in the atlas and you'll find it there:We cannot go there now, my dear, we cannot go there now.In the village churchyard there grows an old yew,Every spring it blossoms anew;Old passports can't do that, my dear, old passports can't do that.The consul banged the table and said:'If you've got no passport, you're officially dead';But we are still alive, my dear, but we are still alive.Went to a committee; they offered me a chair;Asked me politely to return next year:But where shall we go today, my dear, but where shall we go today?Came to a public meeting; the speaker got up and said:'If we let them in, they will steal our daily bread';He was talking of you and me, my dear, he was talking of you and me.Thought I heard the thunder rumbling in the sky;It was Hitler over Europe, saying: 'They must die';We were in his mind, my dear, we were in his mind.Saw a poodle in a jacket fastened with a pin,Saw a door opened and a cat let in:But they weren't German Jews, my dear, but they weren't German Jews.Went down the harbour and stood upon the quay,Saw the fish swimming as if they were free:Only ten feet away, my dear, only ten feet away.Walked through a wood, saw the birds in the trees;They had no politicians and sang at their ease:They weren't the human race, my dear, they weren't the human race.Dreamed I saw a building with a thousand floors,A thousand windows and a thousand doors;Not one of them was ours, my dear, not one of them was ours.Stood on a great plain in the falling snow;Ten thousand soldiers marched to and fro:Looking for you and me, my dear, looking for you and me.

Participants name: Tikvah Olshina-Sharabi

Name of Key Component: Pre-reading activity

Aim of activity: To introduce the students to the hardships faced by refugees.

Estimated time: 40 minutes

Description of Activity:

In pairs students brainstorm the rights that they enjoy as citizens of Israel, recording their ideas on the worksheet.

Students watch the Youtube clip on the Declaration of Human Rights (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5s7j2O9N-E)

They may add any rights that they notice from the clip onto their worksheets.

These ideas are then shared as a class and recorded on the board students add to their worksheets any points that are different from the ones they thought of.

The students record the class findings on their worksheet.

Name:

REFUGEE BLUES

PRE-READING

A. In Pairs, create a list of your rights as citizens of Israel, for example, social rights, safety rights etc. Record your ideas in the Citizens of Israel column below. You will be asked to share these with the class.

Citizens of Israel

Refugees

Both

B. Take a few minutes now to consider the rights that refugees have and record these in the column above labelled Refugees. Any rights that you feel that are enjoyed by both citizens and by refugees write in the section labelled Both. Be prepared to share your findings with the class.

Participants name:

Name of Key Component: Basic Understanding

Aim of activity: To enable students to understand the poem at a basic level. To enrich their understanding of the new vocabulary used in the poem.

Estimated time:

1.5 hours


Students complete the following worksheet.

Refugee Blues W.H. Auden

BASIC UNDERSTANDING ACTIVITIES

VOCABULARY AND LOTS QUESTIONS

1. Match each word in A to its meaning in B.

A

B

1. refugee

a. stately homes

2. souls

b. town

3. fair

c. formally

4. village

d. board

5. mansions

e. hovels

6. officially

f. person in exile

7. committee

g. courteously

8. holes

h. people

9. politely

i. come again

10. return

j. good

2. Replace each underlined word or phrase with the correct form of the word from the word bank below. Make any necessary changes.

Passports

Floors

Feet

Great plain

Public

fastened

Wood

marched

Speaker

pin

Politicians

Daily bread

harbour

the Human Race

1. Someone who doesnt have the relevant travel documents is unable to enter or leave a country.

2. Elected leaders make decisions on behalf of mankind.

3. The apartment building had many storeys.

4. The jacket was secured shut with a brooch.

5. The fish swimming in the bay were only a short distance away from the refugees.

6. There were many trees in the forest.

7. The meeting was open to the community.

8. The spokesman objected to the idea that taking in many refugees would cause a shortage of necessities.

9. The soldiers walked over the large prairie.

3. Answer the following questions.

1. Name two places where people are living.

2. Where are the narrator and his companion unable to go?

3. What does the old yew do every spring?

4. According to the consul, when are you officially dead?

5. What was the refugee offered by the committee and what did they ask him?

6. What is the speaker at the public meeting concerned that the refugees will do if allowed in?

7. What did the refugee mistake for the sound of thunder rumbling in the sky?

8. Which animal is let in an opened door?

9. What did the narrator see at the harbour?

10. What did the refugee see in the woods?

11. What did the refugee see in his dream?

12. Who is looking for the refugees?


Name of Key Component: Explicit HOTS Teaching

Aim of activity: To familiarize students with the HOTS of Explaining patters so that they are able to explain the significance of different patterns in the text.

To familiarize students with the literary terms setting and rhyme scheme

Estimated time:

1 lesson


1. The teacher brings in to class the following items and arranges them in a row at the front of the classroom in the following order: a hat, a glove, a sock, a comb, a ring, a flip-flop, a hair clip, some hand cream and a pumice stone.

2. Ask students to study the items for a minute or so and then ask them if they noticed anything special about the way the items were arranged. The students should be able to identify a pattern of things used on the head, on the hands and on the feet repeated three times.

3. Ask the students to continue the pattern with their own items found in the classroom.

4. Ask the students to then look at the poem Refugee Blues by W H Auden (which they are by now familiar with) and have them in pairs identify the patterns in the poem and a whole as well as in each stanza. These patterns include the two rhyming lines in each stanza followed by a repeated sentence. Explain to the students that this is called a rhyme scheme and is a literary term.

5. Divide students into groups of 3. Each group has to think of an event from history (can be from Jewish/ General History). Each group has to then write down on a card a setting clue (year, place, setting description). In turn each group has to hold up their card for the rest of the class, and from the setting clue, the class has to guess the historical event. An example of this could be one group writing 1939, Germany on their card. The class would then have to guess beginning of WW2. Make clear to the class that setting is the time and place where an event happens and a story or a poem is set.

Participants name: Tikvah Olshina Sharabi

Name of Key Component:Analysis and Interpretation

Aim of activity: to deepen students understanding of the poem

Estimated time:

2 lessons

Students answer the questions on the attached work sheet.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

1. What pattern are you able to identify in the poem? Explain the significance of the pattern you have identified.

Possible Answer:

The poem has a rhyme scheme of a a b, c c d, e e f, g g h, i i j, k k l, m m n, o o p, q q r, s s t, u u v, w w x.

The poet has used two lines that end with a rhyme followed by a refrain. This refrain personalises each stanza to the plight of the refugee, almost a realisation of their eventual fate. (HOTS- Explaining Patterns)

2. Who is the speaker of the poem? Who is he speaking to?

Possible Answer:

The speaker of the poem is likely a German Jewish Refugee who is speaking to a female who is also a German Jewish Refugee. The two refugees likely have a close relationship as the speaker addresses the whole poem to the female refugee and refers to her as my dear.

3. In the first stanza the poet uses the terms ten million souls. Why do you think that the poet used the number 10 million? How does this add to your understanding of the reality facing the refugees in the poem?

Possible Answer:

The poet uses the number ten million to convey a city with a very large population. The poet continues the poem by telling us that these ten million people are living either in mansions or in holes (slums) however the refugees in the poem dont even have those options. They have nowhere to live. The poet has used the large number to emphasize that the refugees face a different situation from such a large number of people.

4. Once we had a country and we thought it fair.... We cannot go there now, my dear, we cannot go there now. Which country is the German Jewish refugee referring to? Possible Answer:

The refugee could be referring to two countries, Germany or Israel. The Jewish people have for generations longed for a return to the Promised Land however as refugees without travel papers (passports) getting to Israel would have been almost impossible. The refugee may have been referring to Germany. We know from the poem that he is a German Jewish refugee. From this we can understand that he is or was a citizen of Germany and would now no longer be in Germany which can be understood by his refugee status- he is a refugee from his own country to which he can no longer go (HOTS Making Connections, Inferring)

5. In the third stanza of the poem the author makes reference to an old yew that blossoms anew every spring and compares it to old passports which cannot be renewed. Explain the similarities and differences between the old yew and the old passports.

Possible Answer:

Yew trees are deciduous trees that seem dead during the winter. However, each spring, the tree seemingly regenerates itself, with new leaves appearing. Old passports also seem dead and while during peacetime one is able to simply renew a passport, one can understand from the poem that the passports couldnt be renewed and were dead . (HOTS Comparing and Contrasting)

6. In the sixth stanza, the speaker at a public meeting says, If we let them in, they will steal our daily bread. In your opinion, what (other than food), does the term daily breadi relate to in this poem?

Possible Answer:

The term daily bread does not only relate to food. Daily Bread also refers to the basic rights and benefits that citizens or residents of a country have, including the ability to hold a job, receive government aid etc. The speaker at the public meeting represents those people who believed that if refugees were allowed sanctuary in their countries, they would steal jobs from the locals as well as monopolize social welfare institutions and cause possible food shortages. This would have been a real fear for many people in Europe at the time as many basic necessities were rationed due to the war.

7. Thought I heard the thunder rumbling in the sky; It was Hitler over Europe, saying: They must die; What literary techniques does the poet achieve through the use of these words?

Possible Answer:

The poet uses the literary techniques of imagery and symbolism through his use of the term thunder rumbling. Storm clouds symbolise dark times and trouble which directly relates to the situation European Jewry found itself in during the Second World War. The term also symbolises the Luftwaffe Nazi Germanys air force. The noise generated by these warplanes and their bombs would have resembled a severe thunder storm.

8. In the eighth stanza, the poet compares German Jews to a poodle in a jacket fastened with a pin as well as to a cat which is being let in through a door. What can you infer about the status of German Jews during WW2 from this stanza?

Possible Answer:

It is possible to infer from the poets use of comparing German Jews to pampered animals (who are being dressed up and having doors opened for them) that their status was below even that of animals. It also implies that the refugees faced shortages of clothing and shelter as doors were closed to them. (HOTS Inferring)

9. Dreamed I saw a building with a thousand floors, A thousand windows and a thousand doors; Not one of them was ours, my dear, not one of them was ours. In your opinion, what does this imagery represent?

Possible Answer:

The imagery of a vast building with seemingly many rooms, doors and windows implies a place that could shelter many people yet has no space for the refugees. Much like Europe at the time, there was no room for the Jews in Nazi controlled territory even though there was enough physical space. It is also a metaphor for the other countries of the world that had room to take in refugees yet restricted their entry citing lack of room and resources.

10. The poet uses the literary technique of foreshadowing throughout the poem. How is this achieved?

Possible Answer:

Each stanza has two rhyming lines that relate in some way to the plight of Jewish European refugees during the Second World War such as lack of housing, shelter, expired and unrenewable paperwork, unhelpful bureaucrats etc. The refrain of each stanza is essentially the German refugee personalising these woes. The tone of each stanza hints at the desperation of the refugees as all doors are closed to them and all their rights gradually removed. This tension is gradually built up foreshadowing the events of the final stanza where the refugees are pursued by ten thousand soldiers reference to the Nazi death squads who pursued the Jews relentlessly to their deaths.


Name of Key Component: Bridging Text and Context

Aim of activity: To deepen students understanding of the themes of the poem

Estimated time: An hour and a half


1. Students read the bridging text together with the teacher.

In April 1975, North Vietnamese totalitarian communists defeated the South Vietnam regime and theUnited Statesarmy. Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese secretly fled South Vietnam to escape communist persecution and torture. Many escaped in small, unreliable boats and faced harsh weather and threats from pirates as they were turned away by neighboring local authorities. More and more Vietnamese began escaping.

On June 10, 1977, anIsraelicargo ship en route toJapancrossed paths with a boat full of 66 Vietnamese. They were out of food and water, were extremely lost and scared, and their boat was leaking. Their SOS signals had gone ignored by passing East German,Norwegian, Japanese, andPanamanianboats. The Israeli captain and crew immediately offered food and water and decided to bring the passengers on board and transported them to Israel.

Once in Israel, Prime MinisterMenachem Beginauthorized the Vietnamese boat people with Israeli citizenship, comparing their situation to the plight of Jewish refugees seeking a haven during theHolocaust. Between 1977 and 1979, Israel welcomed over three hundred Vietnamese refugees.

(Text by Naomi Scheinerman. Available at chttp://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Immigration/VietBoatPeople.html)

2. Students then answer the following Bridging Text and Context question: How is the new information connected to the poem?

Possible Answer:

The poem Refugee Blues by W H Auden explores, throughout its stanzas, a variety of situations that faced German Jewish refugees during the Second World War. These included having expired passports and being unable to renew them, having nowhere to live, no country to call home, no jobs and generally being regarded as intruders- pursued by Hitler even until death. The above text explores the experiences of Vietnamese refugees who were ultimately granted asylum in Israel. The text describes some of the challenges faced by these refugees before they were granted safe haven in Israel. There are strong similarities between the plight of the German Jewish refugees and the situation faced by the Vietnamese refugees. These include being ignored by other countries (or by their cargo ships), having no safe place to live (yet theres no place for us, my dear, yet theres no place for us), and the frantic desire to escape persecution and even death (It was Hitler over Europe, saying, They must die). The text about the Vietnamese refugees enhances my understanding of W H Audens Refugee Blues in that it emphasises the challenges facing all refugees from tyrannical regimes and underscores that the trials facing refugees are a global issue and not one that was isolated to Europe during the Second World War.


Name of Key Component: Briding Text and Context Qutestions

Aim of activity: To deepen students understanding of the themes of the poem

Estimated time: approximately an hour


Part 1: Re-do of Bridging Text activity from session 6.

1. Students read the bridging text together with the teacher.

In April 1975, North Vietnamese totalitarian communists defeated the South Vietnam regime and theUnited Statesarmy. Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese secretly fled South Vietnam to escape communist persecution and torture. Many escaped in small, unreliable boats and faced harsh weather and threats from pirates as they were turned away by neighboring local authorities. More and more Vietnamese began escaping.

On June 10, 1977, anIsraelicargo ship en route toJapancrossed paths with a boat full of 66 Vietnamese. They were out of food and water, were extremely lost and scared, and their boat was leaking. Their SOS signals had gone ignored by passing East German,Norwegian, Japanese, andPanamanianboats. The Israeli captain and crew immediately offered food and water and decided to bring the passengers on board and transported them to Israel.

Once in Israel, Prime MinisterMenachem Beginauthorized the Vietnamese boat people with Israeli citizenship, comparing their situation to the plight of Jewish refugees seeking a haven during theHolocaust. Between 1977 and 1979, Israel welcomed over three hundred Vietnamese refugees.

(Text by Naomi Scheinerman. Available at chttp://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Immigration/VietBoatPeople.html)

2. Students then answer the following Bridging Text and Context question: What connection can be made between the new information and the poem Refugee Blues?

Possible Answer:

The poem Refugee Blues by W H Auden explores, throughout its stanzas, a variety of situations that faced German Jewish refugees during the Second World War. These included having expired passports and being unable to renew them, having nowhere to live, no country to call home, no jobs and generally being regarded as intruders- pursued by Hitler even until death. The new information explores the experiences of a number of Vietnamese refugees who were ultimately granted asylum in Israel. The text describes some of the challenges faced by these refugees before they were granted safe haven in Israel. There are strong parallels between the plight of the German Jewish refugees and the situation faced by the Vietnamese refugees. This includes being ignored by other countries (or by their cargo ships), having no safe place to live which is reflected in the poem by the words yet theres no place for us, my dear, yet theres no place for us. It is also apparent in their inability to return to Vietnam much like the German Jewish refugees in the poem who cannot go to their own country now that they are refugees. From this one can see a strong connection between the new information and the poem.

Part 2: Bridging Question for Summative Assessment

Text: (sourced from Yad Vashem http://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%205787.pdf)

After the Nazis rose to power in 1933, Australia was considered to be an appropriate safe haven for Jewish refugees trying to escape persecution in Europe. However, Australia had an immigration policy that was designed to keep out immigrants of non-British origin. Only "aliens" who had 500 pounds sterling for landing money or relatives of aliens already living in Australia were allowed to enter the country. In 1937 the Australian government showed an interest in Jewish refugees, and encouraged the establishment of the Australian Jewish Welfare Society to organize aid for Jewish refugees. Nonetheless, at the Evian Conference in June 1938, Australia's delegate refused to increase the country's immigration quotas. Five months later, the Kristallnacht pogroms broke out all over Germany. The horrors of that one night of destruction convinced the Australian government to change its policy. It announced that over the next three years, it would accept 15,000 Jewish refugees. By the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, more than 7,000 Jewish refugees had arrived in Australia.

Question: How is the new information connected to the poem? Support your response with examples from the poem.


Name of Key Component: Post Reading Activity

Aim of activity: To give the students an opportunity to make a personal response to the text.

Estimated time:

One and a half hours


Students choose one of the following activities to complete as part of the post reading component of their log.

Post Reading Activities:

Create a visual representation of the poem that references each stanza and takes the form of a graphic novel or comic strip. You may draw this yourself or use the following website: www.makebeliefscomix.com/comix/ to create your comic

Imagine that you are a human rights lawyer representing the refugees in the poem. Write a letter on their behalf to the Foreign Ministry of the country of your choice requesting residency permits. In your letter include references to the issues highlighted in the poem.

Create and perform an interpretive dance in response to the poem. Use props and costumes when performing to the class.

Imagine that you are the refugee in the poem. Write an excerpt from your memoirs about the time in which the poem was set.


Name of Key Component: Summative Assessment

Aim of activity: To assess students understanding of the poem

Estimated time: 1.5 hours


Students complete the summative assessment attached below with the answer key.

Summative Assessment 5 points

Refugee Blues By WH Auden

LOTS Basic Understanding (4 x 5 = 20 points)

1. According to the poem, you are officially dead if you havent got a ___________________.

a) birth certificate

b) drivers license

c) passport

d) country

2. According to the poem, what is the speaker worried that the refugees will steal?

__________________________________________________________

3. According to the poem, what does the refugee hear rumbling in the sky?

__________________________________________________________

4. According to the poem, who was marching to and fro and why?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

HOTS Analysis and Interpretation (60 points)

5. What is the theme of the poem? Use examples from the text to justify your answer. (10 points)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Who is the speaker in this poem and who is he speaking to? Include examples from the text in your answer. (10 points)

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. What is the tone of the poem? Use examples from the text to justify your answer. (10 points)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Why was this poem written. Identify which HOTS you used to answer the question. (15 points)

Making Connections

Inferring

Explaining Patterns

Explaining Cause and Effect

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. What is the fate of the refugees in this poem? Use examples from the text in your answer. Identify which HOTS you used to answer the question. (15 points)

Making Connections

Inferring

Explaining Patterns

Predicting

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bridging Text and Context (20 points)

Read the following excerpt about Jewish refugees from Arab countries.

(sourced at: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/talking/jew_refugees.html)

Explain how this new information is connected to the poem.

In 1945, roughly 1 million Jews lived peacefully in the variousArab statesof the Middle East, many of them in communities that had existed for thousands of years. After the Arabs rejected theUnited Nationsdecision topartition Palestineand create a Jewish state, the Jews of the Arab lands became targets of their own governmentsanti-Zionistfervour. As Egypts delegate to theUNin 1947 chillingly told theGeneral Assembly: The lives of one million Jews in Muslim countries will be jeopardized by partition. The dire warning quickly became the brutal reality.

With their lives in danger and the situation growing ever more perilous, the Jews of theArab Worldfled their homes as refugees.

The majority of the Jewish refugees left their homes penniless and destitute and with nothing more than the shirts on their backs. These Jews, however, had no desire to be repatriated in the Arab World and little is heard about them because they did not remain refugees for long.

InIsrael, a newly independent country that was still facing existential threats to its survival, the influx of immigrants nearly doubled the population and a put a great strain on an economy struggling to just meet the needs of its existing population. The Jewish State, however, never considered turning away the refugees and, over the years, worked to absorb them into society.

______________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Summative Assessment Answer Key

Section

Question

Answer

LOTS

1

c- Passport

2

our daily bread

3

The refugee thinks he hears thunder rumbling in the sky but it is in fact Hitler saying They must die

4

Ten thousand soldiers were marching to and fro looking for the refugees

HOTS

5

The theme of this poem is the Human Rights abuses suffered by a pair of German Jewish refugees during the Second World war who are trying to find refuge of some sort from the persecution they are subjected to. The refugees are trying to find physical shelter but it is futile as indicated by the words yet theres no place for us, my dear, yet theres no place for us. The refugees are also desperately trying to use invalid passports to gain sanctuary in another country however they are unable to because their passports are invalid. The refugees are trying to find shelter and escape persecution but are unable to find any country or place that will accept them. Ultimately they are trapped between Hitlers forces and their inability to find shelter and freedom elsewhere.

6

The speaker of this poem is a German Jewish refugee as indicated by the words but they werent German Jews. The refugee is talking to another German Jewish refugee, presumably a woman as she is referred to as my dear by the speaker.

7

The tone of the poem is despondent and hopeless. The speaker- a German Jewish refugee essentially lists different attempts to secure a safe future and shelter for himself and his partner (my dear) and in each stanza makes reference to being rejected in some way. This is evident in the words, theres no place for us, we cannot go there now and references to not being able to find a home, dreamed I saw a building with a thousand floors.... not one of them was ours.. The final stanza of the poem has a particularly chilling tone with the refugees standing physically in the falling snow with ten thousand marching soldiers looking for them.

Extended HOTS

8

HOTS: Making Connections

This poem was written in order to highlight the Human Rights abuses suffered by German Jewish refugees as well as by all refugees. The words of the first stanza some are living in mansions, some are living in holes Yet theres no place for us my dear refers to the lack of housing available to refugees- even bad accommodation was unavailable to them. Another Human Rights abuse referred to in the poem was the right to a country and self determination. The second stanza mentions a country that once belonged to the refugees that they are now unable to access. This stanza is connected to the desire of many Jewish refugees during the second world war to make their way to Palestine, an option that was almost impossible legally as the British heavily limited Jewish immigration to Palestine at the time. Reference in the third stanza to old passports that cannot be renewed is linked to the difficulty faced by refugees to obtain and renew valid passports to their country of citizenship, while the reference to Hitler saying that they must die is directly related to Hitlers genocidal decrees against Jewish refugees throughout Europe during the Second World War.

9

HOTS: Predicting

I predict that the refugees in this poem will not survive because in each stanza their fate seems so hopeless. They are unable to find shelter which can be seen in there is no place for us. They are accused of wanting to steal, If we let them in they will steal our daily bread. They are unable to obtain or renew their passports, if youve got no passport, youre officially dead essentially leaving them trapped in a country where there are ten thousand soldiers looking for them in order to fulfil Hitlers will, they must die. The only hope in the poem seems to belong to animals who are swimming as if they were free, or birds who sang at their ease. Each of the stanzas suggest a negative outcome for the refugees.

Bridging Text and Context

10

The new information is about the plight of the Jewish refugees who were forced to flee from Arab countries throughout North Africa and the Middle East in the mid to late 1940s. The text explains that the Jewish refugees were lucky to escape not only with their lives but were often unable to take any of their wealth or possessions with them when they fled. These refugees were given shelter and absorbed successfully into the new state of Israel even though this put great strain on the economy of the fledgling country. This new information is directly connected to the poem as the poems theme is about the Human Rights abuses suffered specifically by German Jewish / European refugees during the Second World War only a few years prior to the expulsion of Jewish Refugees from Arab lands. The main difference in the experiences between the two groups of refugees was that the German Jewish / European refugees didnt have the option of being welcomed into another country with open arms while the Jewish Refugees from Arab lands were welcomed into Israel even though it put a strain on the new country.

Analysis and Interpretation:

HOTS


Title: ______________________________________

Author:_____________________________________

Student name:__________________Date:________

Vocabulary

Summary of Events

Post-Reading Activity

Characters:

Setting (time and place):

Pre-Reading Activity


HOTS


Literary terms

Unit Graphic Organizer (UGO)


Name of Key Component: UGO

Aim of activity: To help the students review for the summative assessment

Estimated time: 1 lesson


Students are given a blank copy of the UGO at the beginning of the lesson and complete it individually. At the end of the lesson, the filled in version of the UGO is handed out to the students so that they are able to accurately review all the relevant information before the summative assessment.


HOTS

Making Connections

(What are the historical connections that can be made to the poem?... WW2, Holocaust, Refugees, Immigration to Palestine?)


Remember When answering the Bridging Text and Context Question to follow the following steps:

1. Explain the new information

2. Make an explicit connection to the poem (The new information is connected to the poem because..)

3. Give concrete examples from the poem to support your answer

4. Conclusion (draw your answer back to the question.)

Title: Refugee Blues

Author: W H Auden

Student name:

_______________________________

Date:__________________________

Vocabulary

Refugee Blues

By W H Auden

Say this city has ten million souls,Some are living in mansions, some are living in holes:Yet there's no place for us, my dear, yet there's no place for us.Once we had a country and we thought it fair,Look in the atlas and you'll find it there:We cannot go there now, my dear, we cannot go there now.In the village churchyard there grows an old yew,Every spring it blossoms anew:Old passports can't do that, my dear, old passports can't do that.The consul banged the table and said,"If you've got no passport you're officially dead":But we are still alive, my dear, but we are still alive.Went to a committee; they offered me a chair;Asked me politely to return next year:But where shall we go to-day, my dear, but where shall we go to-day?Came to a public meeting; the speaker got up and said;"If we let them in, they will steal our daily bread":He was talking of you and me, my dear, he was talking of you and me.Thought I heard the thunder rumbling in the sky;It was Hitler over Europe, saying, "They must die":O we were in his mind, my dear, O we were in his mind.Saw a poodle in a jacket fastened with a pin,Saw a door opened and a cat let in:But they weren't German Jews, my dear, but they weren't German Jews.Went down the harbour and stood upon the quay,Saw the fish swimming as if they were free:Only ten feet away, my dear, only ten feet away.Walked through a wood, saw the birds in the trees;They had no politicians and sang at their ease:They weren't the human race, my dear, they weren't the human race.Dreamed I saw a building with a thousand floors,A thousand windows and a thousand doors:Not one of them was ours, my dear, not one of them was ours.Stood on a great plain in the falling snow;Ten thousand soldiers marched to and fro:Looking for you and me, my dear, looking for you and me.

Post-Reading Activity

Create a visual representation of the poem that references each stanza and takes the form of a graphic novel or comic strip. You may draw this yourself or use the following website: www.makebeliefscomix.com/comix/ to create your comic

Imagine that you are a human rights lawyer representing the refugees in the poem. Write a letter on their behalf to the Foreign Ministry of the country of your choice requesting residency permits. In your letter include references to the issues highlighted in the poem.

Create and perform an interpretive dance in response to the poem. Use props and costumes when performing to the class.

Imagine that you are the refugee in the poem. Write an excerpt from your memoirs about the time in which the poem was set.

Important Reminder

Whatever you write about the poem, make sure you are able to back up your opinion with concrete examples from the poem. This is especially applicable to HOTS questions and the Bridging Text question.

Pre-Reading Activity

What rights do you have as a citizen of Israel?

What rights do refugees have according to the United Nations Convention on Refugees?


HOTS

Explaining Patterns (explain the patterns in the poem- rhyme scheme, refrain etc)

Inferring


Literary terms

Immagery and symbolism (thunder rumbling)

Foreshadowing

Irony

Metaphor

Unit Graphic Organizer (UGO)

Poem Pouch-All these images can be resized, printed and laminated. I resized the pictures of the passports till they were the same size as a standard passport and then stapled them together to make a little book/passport.

englishteachingwithcreativity.files.wordpress.com · web viewreplace each underlined word or phrase...

Documents