Governor Phil Murphy • Lt. Governor Tahesha Way

Poem in Two Voices

Objectives

A two voice poem is a style of poetry in which two people perform together, reading it as a conversation from different perspectives. In this activity, students will be able to: 

  1. Discern the similarities and differences between themselves and their assigned Holocaust survivor,
  2.  Articulate those differences and similarities in two voice poem format,
  3.  Perform their two voice poems to their classmates.

By using this poetry format in a lesson about the Holocaust, specifically about South Jersey survivors, students can draw connections between themselves and survivors of the Holocaust, local stories and gain a deeper understanding of the historical content. Because these poems are to be written in first person, the students would be giving voice back to Holocaust survivors, and telling their stories through their poems.

1. To help the students understand the concept of a two-voice poem, play this sample video and pass out the poem that they are performing:

2. Hand out a blank venn diagram to each student for their note taking process. Review the instruction sheet with students, answering any questions they might have. 

3. Assign each student a Holocaust survivor biography to conduct a close read of, and provide them a printed copy of the bio. 

4. The students should write down any important facts about their survivor that they do not have in common with them on the right side of the diagram. On the left side of the diagram, the student should write down any important facts about themselves that are the opposite of the survivor, i.e. birth year, birthplace, languages spoken. In the center of the diagram, the students should write the facts they have in common with the survivor. 

5. The student should then have enough information to write a rough draft of their poem. Students should write lines they want to say in unison in bold or underlined, and the lines they want to say individually in their respective columns. 

6. Once the poem drafts are written, they should practice reading them aloud with a partner to focus on performance and fluidity. When they are presenting their poems to the class, they will partner up, one partner reading from one column and the other partner from the opposite column. The underlined or bold lines are to be read in unison.