This is a suggested teaching schedule for a 10 day class study of the poetry of Robinson Jeffers. Lesson plans and handouts can be downloaded individually by clicking on the name of the file in the schedule below. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view these files.
Audio Guide CDs are available only for the communities participating in The Big Read. If your community is participating, contact the lead community organization to receive a free Audio Guide CD. Non-participating communities can listen to the full audio online.
Day One
FOCUS: Poetry of Place
Day One Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: Discuss the influence of place–Central California–on the poetry of Robinson Jeffers. Use a map of California to locate specific places in these poems. Write an essay or poem about your setting or home.
Homework: Read the introduction to Jeffers from the Reader's Guide (p. 3) and Jeffers's biography (pp. 4-6).
Read three poems by Jeffers: "Night Without Sleep," "The Answer," and "The Day Is a Poem." Write a paragraph describing the mood of one of the poems.
Day Two
FOCUS: Historical Criticism
Day Two Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: Discuss the historical context of Jeffers's life and poetry. Look at his attitude toward World War II through three of his poems. Write a response.
Homework: Read "Jeffers and California" (pp. 8-9) and "Tor House and Hawk Tower" (pp. 10-11) from the Reader's Guide. Read two poems by Jeffers: "The Stone Axe" and "Oh Lovely Rock."
Day Three
FOCUS: Biographical Criticism and the Speaker of a Poem
Day Three Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: Discuss the ways in which understanding Jeffers's life enriches the reader's appreciation. Discuss the speaker of "The Stone Axe," which is not Jeffers. Write an essay.
Homework: Read "Inscription for a Gravestone" and "The Deer Lay Down Their Bones."
Day Four
FOCUS: Word Choice and the Value of the Dictionary
Day Four Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: Consider the value of understanding a word's varied meanings. Look up words from today's poems. Write an essay that describes Jeffers's tone, syntax, and diction.
Homework: Read Handout One, "Jeffers's Inhumanism." Read Jeffers's poems "Credo" and "The Place for No Story."
Handout One [PDF]
Day Five
FOCUS: Poetry and Ideas
Day Five Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: Discuss Jeffers's philosophy of life, which he called "Inhumanism." Discuss the application of a
1934 Jeffers letter to today's poems. Write a personal response.
Homework: Read Handout Two, "Jeffers and the Central California Coast." Read Jeffers's poems "The Purse-Seine" and "The Coast-Road."
Handout Two [PDF]
Day Six
FOCUS: Eco-Criticism
Day Six Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: Discuss Eco-Criticism, and Jeffers's celebration of the Monterey-Carmel-Big Sur coast. Research the construction of California's Highway One. Write a response.
Homework: Read "Continent's End" and "Gray Weather."
Day Seven
FOCUS: Rhythm
Day Seven Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: Discuss Jeffers's use of rhythm. Consider the tempo at which poems should be read aloud.
Write an essay.
Homework: Read Jeffers's poems "Hurt Hawks" and "Rock and Hawk." Then read Handout Three, "Rock and Hawk."
Handout Three [PDF]
Day Eight
FOCUS: Symbols
Day Eight Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: Analyze two major symbols in Jeffers's poetry: stones and hawks. Write an essay that
discusses the "almost religious feeling" Jeffers had toward hawks.
Homework: Read "To the House," "Hooded Night," and "Shine, Republic," and list the references they contain.
Day Nine
FOCUS: Allusions
Day Nine Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: Examine important allusions in Jeffers's poetry that draw on religion, Egyptian history, and
American history. Write an essay which explains how three allusions contribute to the meaning of "Shine, Republic."
Homework: Read Jeffers's poems "To the Stone-Cutters" and "Love the Wild Swan." Read "Jeffers and American Culture" (pp. 14-15) in the Reader's Guide.
Day Ten
FOCUS: What Makes a Poet Great?
Day Ten Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: Explore the qualities of a great poet. Discuss what Jeffers's poetry can teach about the concerns of his generation. Write a short essay that explains one central theme or major feature of his work.
Homework: Write a paragraph about Jeffers's legacy in the twenty-first century.
Jeffers' poems remain protected by copyright, but may be printed from the Poetry Foundation's website. Go to the Poetry Tool and search by the poet's name, or each poem's title. All the poems cited in this guide are available on their website.
