Poetry of Witness

UNIT:  Poetry of Witness (Understanding by Design - Curricular Outline)
Year: 9th-12th Grade Creative Writing
Approximate Length: 1 Week
Visit the Poetry of Witness Virtual Classroom at Taking IT Global

Curricular Tools

RJI Resources:  Poetry by Falastine, Photography by M. Faraj and Slideshow by Katie Horvath

Big Ideas:  Poetry and photography as a means to bear witness, poetry and photography as the expression of personal experience, poetry as dialogue, literature’s capacity to simultaneously participate in and transcend politics.

Enduring Understandings:

  • Real politics is about people and their actual individual lives, daily experiences, etc.

  • Poetry and photography can serve as a way to bear witness to personal experiences.

  • Literature allows readers access to personal experiences in global regions of conflict which are typically difficult to discuss.

  • Photography and film allow viewers access to personal experiences in regions of conflict via visual nuances.

  • Because literature transcends politics and shares personal experience, it can help readers develop an authentic, compassionate understanding of different global experiences, thus participating in the formation of cross-cultural global empathy.