Introduction
Brainstorm a list of jobs that contribute to meeting our basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing. Please note that many of these jobs, such as making clothes, were once much more common in the United States than they are today.
• Explain that after entering the workforce, people spend most of their waking hours—at least two thousand a year—doing a job.
This 14-year-old turned down a $30M buyout offer (cnn.com)
OBJECTIVE: Determine a theme of the text, and analyze its development over the course of the text.
1. Read the Poem. Make a guess as to what you think the poem is about. I don’t expect you to fully or even partially understand it, but try to take a GOOD guess! It’s above or you can click on this link - http://carl-sandburg.com/chicago.htm
2. Go to this website: Carl Sandburg's "Chicago": Bringing a Great City Alive | NEH-Edsitement Read the intro and Background sections of the webpage.
Task
3. Select 1 link from each category (Photographs of Chicago, 1900–1925, Films, Interactive Maps, Written Documents), of the section titled "Selected EDSITEment Websites", to obtain information relating to the poem called "Chicago", on the bottom of that webpage Carl Sandburg's "Chicago": Bringing a Great City Alive | NEH-Edsitement
4. Click on the “Background” tab. Carl Sandburg's "Chicago": Bringing a Great City Alive | NEH-Edsitement
Read and answer the following questions:
4a. Who is the author of “Chicago?”
4b. When is the time reference for this poem?
4c. Complete this phrase, ”This poem is a celebration of….”
4d. How often was the population of Chicago doubling?
Process
5. . I know, I know…you still are confused right? It’s okay…this is a tough one! Click here, you’ll read the poem again, but this time with hints & some translations! (I know you are tired of reading it, but at least it’s short!) https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/poetry/chicago-sandburg/quotes
6. Now click on "Visions of Chicago", to read stanzas that will provide you with hints https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/poetry/chicago-sandburg/quotes/visions-of-chicago
7. Now click on "Strength and Skill" for more clues….https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/poetry/chicago-sandburg/quotes/strength-and-skill
8. And even more clues about the topic of "Love", that is found in the poem https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/poetry/chicago-sandburg/quotes/love
Evaluation
Conclusion
Record your personal response to the following question on https://voicespice.com/MyRecordings.aspx
"What do the different names for Chicago tell you about the city's economy at the time this poem was written?"
Teacher Page
Students will write their own one sentence summary for the poem, "Chicago", using one of the sentence frames on the following document: