Lesson 28: “Hanging Fire”

Think-Pair-Share

Instruct students to think about the following prompt individually before discussing it with a seat partner and then sharing their thoughts with the class.

Say these Directions: Think about how you felt on your first day of middle school. Choose one symbol or figurative image that matches that feeling. Then share your idea with a partner and explain how your image connects to the feeling.

• Ask: How did you feel on your first day of middle school? What is one symbol or figurative image you associate with how you felt that day?

  • On my first day, I felt excited but also nervous. One symbol I associate with this is a yo-yo bouncing up and down, up and down.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Today, we’re going to read and discuss a poem about how it feels to be fourteen years old. We’re going to focus on the symbols and figurative language that the poem uses and how it helps capture the emotions it talks about. Then, for homework, you will write your own, similar poems!

Fluency Practice

Display the poem “Hanging Fire” by Audre Lorde and read it aloud, exaggerating “with the door closed” at the end of each stanza to emphasize how overwhelmed and anxious the speaker is. Share that poets use repetition to show something. In this poem, it shows a lack of connection or help between the speaker and the mother.

Say these Directions: As you listen to the poem, pay attention to who is speaking and how the speaker seems to feel. Think about what details in the poem help you understand the speaker’s emotions.

Lead a brief discussion about the subject of the poem. Discuss who the speaker is (remembering that this is different than the poet) and what they seem to be feeling.

• Ask: Who is the speaker?

  • The speaker is a fourteen-year-old with big, conflicting feelings about things.

• Ask: How does the speaker seem to feel?

  • The speaker is sharing all the things in her life that she can’t talk to her mom about. She feels very overwhelmed, nervous, and alone.

Briefly remind students of the meaning of prosody and its importance when interpreting poetry in particular.

• Say these Directions: Remember, prosody is the patterns of rhythm, sounds, stress, and intonation that you use when reading poetry. As I read this time, pay close attention to my prosody choices, and think about how they help capture the poem’s meaning.

Read the poem aloud a second time.

• Ask: What prosody choices did you notice in my reading, and how did they affect how you heard the poem?

  • I noticed that you read it like you were really rushing and running out of breath until you got to the end of each stanza, and then you did a big stop after “and momma’s in the bedroom with the door closed.” That helped me really hear how nervous the speaker is and how much it hurts her that she can’t talk to her mom about what’s happening.

Have students work with a partner to practice fluency and prosody while reading the poem to each other and giving feedback.

Say these Directions: Read the poem with a partner and practice using prosody to show meaning. As you listen to each other, give feedback about how pauses, emphasis, and rhythm help communicate the speaker’s feelings.

• I like the way you read with such feeling. I wonder if you need to pause at the end of every line. It might work better if you pause at the end of each stanza instead.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: We are going to dig even deeper into this poem, examining its symbolism and language choices, and how both help express emotions.

Part A: Literal and Figurative Meaning: “Hanging Fire” (L.6.5a, RL.6.5) (10 minutes)

Distribute a copy of the poem “Hanging Fire” to each student. Explain the importance of reading poems several times to get a deeper understanding each time. Tell students that this read will look for literal and figurative meanings.

Read Aloud for Literal and Figurative Meaning

Instruct students to listen carefully and follow along as you read the poem aloud again. Ask them to note any lines that have figurative or symbolic meanings.

Say these Directions: As you listen and follow along, look for lines that may have a deeper meaning beyond the literal one. Underline words or phrases that seem symbolic, vivid, or especially important, and be ready to explain what they suggest about the speaker’s thoughts or feelings. After reading, lead a discussion with the whole class on the meanings of some of the poem’s figurative language.

• Say: We will now share the lines you underlined and explain what they might suggest about the speaker’s thoughts, feelings, or experiences. Be ready to point to specific words and explain how they help develop the poem’s meaning.

• Ask: What possible symbolism did you underline? How does this help develop the ideas in the poem?

  • One line that stood out to me is “The boy I cannot live without still sucks his thumb in secret.” The literal meaning is that he sucks his thumb, but the symbolic meaning is that he’s immature and still a little boy. He’s also a boy the speaker can’t live without. This develops the poem’s idea by showing how confusing and frustrating it is to be caught between being a child and being an adult.

• Ask: What are some images from this poem that stood out to you? They can be notable because they’re powerful or because you have questions about them.

  • The most notable image to me is when the speaker repeats “momma’s in her bedroom with the door closed.” I think it’s a really powerful image because it shows how much you still need your mom at this age and how much less available she might feel sometimes and how scary that can be.

Part B: Imagery Discussion (L.6.5a, RL.6.5) (20 minutes)

Transition students into small groups for this part of the lesson.

Graffiti/Table Talk

Hand out a copy of the 3 Column Chart graphic organizer to each student.

Label (or instruct students to label) the three columns “Images,” “What the Speaker Thinks/Feels,” and “Lessons.”

Briefly model filling the chart and making connections between information in the different columns.

Say these Directions: Reread the poem and fill in the first two columns of your chart. Record important images from the poem, then explain what each image helps you understand about what the speaker thinks or feels.

• Say: If I were going to use the example about the boy sucking his thumb, then I’d write “boy sucking his thumb” in the first column. In the second column, I’d write, “He’s immature.” In the third column, I’d write, “It’s hard to like a boy who is so babyish.”

Instruct student groups to reread the poem and silently fill in the chart.

Say these Directions: Now, take some time to reread the poem and fill in the first two columns of the chart. Include at least two images and explain what each one reveals about the speaker’s emotions.

After about half the available time has passed, instruct students to discuss their responses with a partner.

• Say: Look at each other’s thoughts, and discuss or ask each other questions if you need to. Add to your own graphic organizer based on what your partner shares.

Whole-Group Discussion

Say these Directions: Share your chart with your partner or group. Discuss your ideas, ask questions, and add new thinking based on what you hear from others. Be sure to use evidence from the poem when responding.

Finish this portion with a discussion about the major elements of the poem.

• Ask: Who is the speaker, and what is she trying to say?

  • The speaker is a fourteen-year-old girl who’s worried about a lot of things and wishes her mom could help her with them more.

• Ask: How would you summarize this poem now that you’ve read it more carefully?

  • This poem shows how when you’re fourteen, you’re stuck in the middle of everything. Big and small problems all seem huge, and you really need someone to help you sort it all out.

• Ask: How do the imagery and figurative language help make the poem more powerful? How do they help us understand what the speaker thinks and feels?

  • The imagery and figurative language help the reader feel what the speaker is feeling instead of just hearing it. Having a crush on a boy who still sucks his thumb paints a clearer picture than “I have a crush on an immature boy.”

• Ask: Do you feel empathy for the speaker of this poem? What about the poem makes you feel that way?

I do feel empathy for the speaker because I can see that she’s really stressed out, even though some of the things she’s stressed out about might seem pretty small. Even if I haven’t had any of the same experiences, I can still understand how she feels because of the way the poem jumps so quickly from one idea to the next. I feel her stress!

Quick Write

Say these Directions: Write a brief response to the question below.

• Ask: How can figurative language build community and empathy? Include an example from “Hanging Fire.”

  • • Optional Sentence Starter:

  • “Figurative language can build empathy by ____.”

    • Figurative language can build empathy by painting an image that helps us see through someone else’s eyes. If a writer uses plain language, you may know what they’re thinking, but when they use figurative language, you also know how they feel. When the speaker in this poem “Hanging Fire” says that “momma’s in the bedroom with the door closed,” the reader feels how disconnected the closed door makes her feel.

Instruct students to write one stanza of their own version of this poem in their Journal, following the model below. Students may also deviate from the model if they would like to create their own version of the poem.

I am ____ years old

And my ____ betrayed me

The ____ I cannot live without

Still ____

in secret

how come my ____ are

always so ____

what if I ____

before morning

and ____ in the ____

with the ____