"I Met a Traveler from an Antique Land..."

Scene:

Yesterday afternoon, my office, student ("P") on his way out the door after having successfully completed -- after 6+ weeks of it hanging like an albatross around his "Ancient Mariner" neck -- his "Ozymandias" poem memorization project.

Mr. Long: 

"Nicely done.  Pleased that your parents and I can finally celebrate your quarter grade the next time we're on the phone together.  And I have to believe there's a bit of a weight off your shoulders now that you'll pulled off this assignment."

Student "P":

"Definitely feels good.  And you know what?  I actually ended up liking this poem once I memorized it.  Crazy, that."

***

Backstory: Every one of my 10th graders -- 4 sections worth (the entire 10th grade for our school, actually) -- were given the following non-negotiable challenge the first week of this 3rd quarter:

Each of you has been assigned the challenge to memorize Percy Shelley's "Ozymandias," a 14-line poem centered on the historical fragments of one leader's "cold command" that lies "half sunk" in sand long after his proclamation of greatness was supposed to inspire "[d]espair" in those standing before him.

You are to write out the full poem -- word for word, punctuation mark for punctuation mark -- without making a single mistake of any type.  Not even a single comma out of place or a missing moment of capitalization.  Perfection, in other words.

There are 2 possible grades:  "zero" or "A+".  Nothing in between.  Until you ace it, you'll have a "big fat zero" in the gradebook for an assignment that is the equivalent of a major essay. 

Granted, you can re-take the challenge over and over again (outside of class) anytime this quarter until you ace it...but don't be tempted to wait too long to get it done.  Trust me.  You do not want to be trying to 're-memorize' it weeks from now after forgetting about the assignment as the rest of the syllabus takes over. 

That being said, this will be a real test for many of you.  And it'll be a great warm-up as we prime our brains/imaginations for doing similar work -- on paper and in front of an 'audience' -- once Shakespeare comes knocking on the classroom door later this semester.

***

Funny.  A few weeks later, I was in Philly for EduCon 2.0.  Mentioned this assignment/challenge to a few new colleagues during one of the breakout workshops centered on 'authentic' assignments.  Still struck by one of the very well-intentioned educators who immediately responded:

"What?  You're really going to make every one of your students memorize the entire poem without even a single mistake?  Can they really do this?  I don't think they can.  Personally, I think it's a mistake."

Wow.  A Mistake. And she wasn't kidding. 

Even funnier?

As of yesterday, I'm only 4 kids away -- out of the ENTIRE 10th grade -- from having 100% success with this project.  This includes the natural actors; it also includes the ESL and alternative-learning-modality kiddos, too.  No exceptions. 

None.

Even funnier?

To get there, we didn't even use a blog or Twitter-tweets or wiki-up our thoughts.  Nope.  Used pretty antiquated tools, to be honest.  Just time, brains, paper, a book, and zero apologies.  Even a blackboard (the dry erase type with no 'smart' nuttin' plugged in).

In spite of all the hyper-attention given to bleeding-edge technologies and ramped-up global collaboration these days, sometimes the really epic 'teaching/learning' moments happen when you put a non-negotiable line in the sand for EVERY kid that demands an all-or-nothing approach with zero apologies for having done so.  Amazing what happens when something that challenges even your best-n-brightest is something the not-so-strong kiddos pull off also.  Pretty much levels the playing field for the rest of the year so we can get down to the business of really pushing hard on ideas in class.

Even funnier?

These kids will never forget this poem.  Never.  Heck, I still remembered after 21 years because my own 11th grade English teacher pulled this crazy business on us, too. And a few just like "P" -- kids who normally 'tread water' through their English class -- discovered that through 'authentic' old-skool challenge, a real passion for something 'academic' happened beyond their control.

See below for the link to read the full poem. 

Maybe you'll even take on the challenge of memorizing it yourself.  Spring Break is coming up.  Might be a nice change from mowing the lawn or hanging out on the beach.

 

Photo link.

 

***

Shelley's "Ozymandias":    

I met a traveler from an antique land    
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone    
Stand in the desert... Near them, on the sand,    
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,    
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,    
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read    
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,    
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;    
And on the pedestal these words appear:    
"My name is Ozymandius, King of Kings,    
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"    
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay    
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare    
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Comments

[Ben Bleckley]

I was just talking about these kind of assignments that include rote memorization with a colleague yesterday. I don't have a lot of teaching experience and would like to learn; what do you feel your students learned from this assignment or what skills did they practice?

[Neal]

Interesting. I have been ruminating on the value of forced memorization lately. I quite like the idea of using it to level the playing field, as you put it. Was that your primary intent? Also, have you found value in making regular use of memorization assignments?

[Christian Long]

Ben: Know that I'm definitely NO expert on the real implications of 'memorization' projects (and frankly rarely give 'traditional' exams that require such study styles)...so I can only offer an anecdotal response. Here goes:

Skills (beyond the obvious 'I did it'):

* An ability to 'enter' the poem in a way that would have been otherwise impossible if they had only 'read' it or 'analyzed' it. I am convinced that most of my students now 'own' the poem on 'their' terms. I was just the audience for this moment.

* An ability to look for 'patterns' or 'techniques' to aide their own thinking and memorization style. Once the kids began to break down the poem into component parts and saw how 'visual' it was, the anxiety fell away for most.

* EVERY one of them can now 'empathize' more personally with ANYONE who acts, presents, etc. And they can see themselves doing it in ways that many would not have thought possible before.

* When we discuss the 'oral' tradition of literature's roots, they know 'get it' on a much deeper level. The traveling bard did NOT read from paper. They had the entire story, poem, etc memorized...including some really 'epic' pieces.

As to what they 'learned'?

* "Know thyself (as a problem solver)" is what comes to mind here for me. Instead of generically thinking they could or could not do this, every one of them had to solve the puzzle in their own way...and everyone has figured it out.

* And there are obviously the many 'intellectual' elements that allow this poem (and the entire Romantic poetry movement) to come to life and raise off the printed page for them.

I hope this helps or makes sense.

Thanks for the response.

[Dawn Hogue]

Because when it comes down to it, teaching is a gifted adult who connects with kids and helps them grow.

Sounds like an amazing experience. What a lesson.

dawn

[Ben Bleckley]

Thanks for the post Christian. I guess I feel there may be other ways to get them inside the poem than having them memorize it, but I can see how the study skills/cross-curricular element could be beneficial at the beginning of the year, and, as you say, some students come away appreciating the poem more. Thanks for making me think.