I Hear America Singing

Complete each activity below, incorporating details from both poems over the course of your work. Be ready to share your work or findings with peers, as well as an analysis of your process (such as how your ideas evolved, or what surprised you along the way).

1. Use scholarly sites and resources to briefly investigate major events in American history that preceded the publication of each poem (1860, 1914).

First, for each poem, note 3-4 historical events whose tone, impact, or outcome in some way befits the mood and theme of the poem that followed. Begin two timelines that you either draw by hand or create in a slideshow format by compiling your events with dates.

Collect a series of visual images that depict the events you chose. These can be photographs, but they can also be newspaper headlines, works of art, cartoons, works of propaganda, magazine covers, or other primary source documents. Print and paste or copy and paste these to your timelines in a visual array. Sites such as this “Primary Source Timeline” from the Library of Congress might be helpful both in noting timeline events and finding primary source images.

Add the lifespan of each poet to their respective timeline. Include on each timeline the year of publication of its respective poem and quote a short passage from each poem to mark that year. Select lines that complement the events on the timeline to suggest how events of their day may have influenced the writing of each poem.

In sharing with the group, note how these writers’ respective eras and historical developments might have influenced the tone and outcome of each text. Cite additional lines or phrases to support your ideas.

2. As you follow along with the text of “I Hear America Singing”, listen to this opening number from the musical Working, “All the Livelong Day.” Then reread Sandburg’s poem as you listen to the instrumental composition “Chicago After Midnight” from the musical Chicago.

As you listen to each selection, note in a series of short, bulleted phrases the ways in which each piece of music befits or represents the poem. Consider the lines and words of each poem, but also analyze the mood, tone, atmosphere, and sound devices. For the pieces of music, use adjectives to describe tempo, tone, mood, range, and emotional effect. Create a class compilation of bulleted ideas on a bulletin board or on a shared, viewable electronic document.

Finally, work with your peers to generate a list of contrasting characteristics between the pieces of music in a two-column chart. Complete a second two-column chart of similar characteristics. How do your lists compare to the similarities and differences between the two poems? Expand your graphic organizers in a visual display of your choosing (such as a Venn diagram or other comparative tool) to demonstrate your conclusions.