Fostering Student Engagement with "Jorge the Janitor Finally Quits" by Martin Espada- Abreviated Lesson Plan

 Objectives:

• Students will read the poem "Jorge the Janitor Finally Quits" by Martin Espada to evaluate their own emotional response to the poem as well as the writer's purpose.
• Students will analyze language within individual stanzas in order to evaluate connotation and real-world feelings, connections, issues, and emotions. 
• Students will be able to evaluate their own role as a reader and analyze its influence on the poem. 

Common Core Standards:

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5 Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact. 
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.7 Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text.

Activities:

1.  Firstly, students will read the poem independently, annotating words and sentences of interest, taking special notice of what they think and feel. Here are guiding questions: Is this a positive or negative poem on the LatinX experience? Is the narrator speaking positively or negatively of his choices and experiences? Where in the language proves this? Does this text remind you of any real-world experiences and/or other texts?
2.  As a class, we will do a second read-through. This time, I will pause between stanzas and implement Sarah Levine's Up-Down-Both-Why approach. In each stanza, I will pay close attention to specific language. 
   
   For example: 
   No one can speak my name,
   I host the fiesta of the bathroom,
   stirring the toilet like a punchbowl.
   The Spanish music of my name is lost
   when the guests complain
   about toilet paper.
   
   Music and fiesta are associated with positivity and fun, but Espada uses language to manipulate meaning here. I will ask students to pay close attention to what the poet is saying here before asking them to thumbs up or thumbs down. Jorge had a negative experience and we would want to put a thumbs down, but for students that put a thumbs up, I will ask them to justify or talk about why they feel that way. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3.  To frame the poem in a more social justice light, I will show this video on LatinX experiences. 
4. After viewing the video, as a class, we will revisit another stanza with the video in mind.

Assessment:

• Students will write a journal entry reflecting on one stanza and their initial feelings towards what the poet is saying. What do you think he is saying? Is referring to any norms/issues within our society? Did/do you agree with the poet/narrator? Did your perspective change through class discourse and why? 
  

Rationale: 

    I believe Espada's poem is a perfect text to study in terms of social justice. It is a deeply personal poem that tackles Jorge's feelings and emotions towards being ostracised as 'other'. He is excluded from the church community for being a janitor, Hispanic, and Spanish speaker. Due to this isolation, he feels disrespected, ignored, and dehumanized. This short poem is packed with social justice issues people in the LatinX community face. Firstly, I wanted students to have multiple read-throughs. When you are reading a poem through any type of lens, it is important to familiarize yourself with the language. The only way one can truly study the language is if they re-read. It is important for students to have independent time to read through in order to assess their own thoughts and feelings. This is their starting line in studying the poem(initial feelings). Then I wanted to do a slow read-through, paying close attention to each stanza in order to pick apart the language and have students evaluate how they think, feel, and initially reacted. As Sarah Levine said, the thumbs up and down method allows students who do not normally participate a chance to easily express their attitudes towards the text. I also feel breaking down the poem enforces poetic devices and forms, and so students are growing old skills while acquiring new skills as connected readers.