Lesson Plan: Students work in large and small groups to analyze and discuss the poem "Spring and Fall:To a Young Child," by Gerard Manley Hopkins.

Rationale Students will be able to explain the terms figurative language, neologism, simile, and metaphor. After understanding the terms in isolation, students will be encouraged to locate these literary concepts within the context of the poem "Spring and Fall: To a Young Child," by Gerard Manley Hopkins. The instructor will then gently guide students through the poem using Socratic questioning so that they may imbue the poem with inter-subjective meanings and debate how the aforementioned …

…in response to Hopkins' poem, and a group-discussion essay. Use of Technology While technology is not requisite for this assignment to be a success - and perhaps not desirable - the aforementioned video camera can be used. Students might also use the internet to research the author of the poem, the historical period in which it was written, and the social and cultural conditions that may have contributed to the construction of such a poem.