Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village By Laura Amy Schlitz and Robert Byrd

Image retrieved from www.amazon.com

Bibliography:

Schlitz, Laura A., and Robert Byrd. Good Master! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2007. ISBN 9780763615789

Review and Critical Analysis:

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! is a collection of plays, written in poetic form, to tell the human story of survival during the Middle Ages. Following the “Contents” page, listing the titles of the 17 poems contained in the book, Laura Amy Schlitz included a Foreword explaining how the book came to be. At the school where she worked as a librarian, a group of students were studying the Middle Ages, and they were “going at it hammer and tongs.” They were doing projects, writing music, and creating manuscripts. Schlitz wanted to give them something to perform where each student had a big part - no small parts. Instead of writing one play for all of them to perform, she wrote 17 short plays, or monologues, to be performed. This book is a collection of those 17 short plays.

Following the Foreword is an illustrated two-page spread showing the setting for the plays - a medieval manor in England in 1255. Robert Byrd’s drawing of a medieval manor gives the reader a great sense of what life would have been like on a manor in England in 1255. He even labels each character to show where they would have been found on the manor. This illustration is an excellent guide during reading. Readers can refer back to it for each poem to get a visual idea of where the characters would be found. The book concludes with a lengthy bibliography, showing that Schlitz most definitely did her homework about life in the Middle Ages.

The poems in this book are beautifully written in a variety of styles. Some of them include a rhyme scheme, while others are written in free verse and come across much more like a story than a poem. Either way, the poems have an appeal to young people because they are written in the voice of young people. No Old English here. Readers will have no problem understanding what the characters are saying because they sound just like them. Schlitz creates a detailed profile for each character. Readers will be so interested in the character that they won’t realize how much factual information they are taking in at the same time. Schlitz does an excellent job of combining factual information with the real lives of these characters. Not only are the poems full of facts, but Schlitz also includes six two-page spreads of “A Little Background” for poems that need a bit more explanation. These include background information for the three-field system, the Crusades, and falconry - all subjects that young people may not know anything about.

The poems in this collection are also relatable to young people because the characters act much like they would. One of my favorite poems in the collection is “Barbary, The Mud Slinger.” Barbary is a young girl whose stepmother forces her to take her twin siblings with her to buy fish. The reader gets an immediate sense of the difficulty of Barbary’s life - a very young girl with so much responsibility. One her way to buy fish, Barbary sees Isobel, the lord’s daughter, beautifully dressed with her hair combed and her veil snow white and a servant to carry her basket. Barbary acts much like any adolescent in her difficult circumstances. She says, “I let go of the twin, / picked up a handful of / dung, filth, God-knows-what / and let fly. / Bull’s-eye.” Our of her envy, she throws a handful of mud at the lord’s daughter. Who wouldn’t enjoy the humor of Barbary’s story?

Robert Byrd’s drawings of each character give readers a visual glimpse into their life. At the beginning of each poem, the characters are shows doing what they are known for, whether it’s tending sheep or fighting a wild boar. Each page with “A Little Background” includes an illustration portraying its subject. Byrd’s illustrations definitely add to the imagery of the stories and characters portrayed in this book.

Poem Used to Support Critical Analysis:

Giles, The Beggar

Good masters, sweet ladies!

I am Giles the beggar,

the best of my trade!

Behold my crushed foot!

The sight of the wound

would sicken your stomach, and soften your heart.

A penny? A farthing?

I grovel for mercy -

sometimes I manage real tears.

(It’s an art.)

No takers? No givers?

Not even a morsel?

Ah! They are stone to my pitiful cries.

And so I am left to my wits, which in fact

are prodigiously keen and surpassingly wise:

I enter a town, with my crutch and my cry:

“Food for the famished! Alms for the poor!”

I stagger, collapse in the dust of the road!

I swoon - too exhausted to go one step more -

and here comes my father! (But I do not know him.)

I lie by the roadside, starting to wail.

My father, the peddler, the dealer in relics:

“Ten pence for a thread from Saint Margaret’s veil!

Who covets the thumbnail of Martin of Tours?

Or this - better still - even this can be yours!

A flask of the healing holy water -

stand back, now - don’t push, don’t jostle -

flask of the sacred holy water

used on the feet of Saint James, Apostle!”

Sometimes they pay. More often they don’t

so he throws up his hands and he sighs - like that.

“Oh, ye of no faith! Before you, I swear

I will cure, here and now, this unfortunate brat!”

That’s my cue. So I whimper.

He opens the flask,

anoints me, while I seem to faint,

with the authentic holy water

used on the feet of the holy saint.

I swoon in his arms. Look upward! Cry out!

(Now see how the peasants step forward and gawk.)

“Angels! Apostles! I see them before me!”

I throw down my crutch, clasp my hands, and I walk!

(My father and I

rehearsed this for hours -

miracles have to look perfectly natural.)

“He walks! Praise God and His saints! He walks!”

If I do it just right,

the crowd gasps aloud -

they genuflect, weep,

stretch their hands out, and touch.

And while they are paying

for drops of that water,

I gather my bandages,

pick up my crutch.

My pantomime’s done

once the money is paid.

I creep out of town.

I feel guilt -

but not much.

Later my father

follows the highroad.

We meet, and he gives me

my supper, my pay:

bread or an apple,

cabbages, turnips -

sometimes there’s sausages

on a good day.

We sup by the road,

ask Our Lord to look after us:

“Send us more fools

for our food and our keep.

Forgive us our trespasses,

pardon our lies;

look after your foxes

as well as your sheep.”

I would introduce the poems in this book as part of a unit on the Middle Ages and medieval England. Students would already have gained background knowledge about medieval England and life on a medieval manor.

To introduce this poem, I would discuss the theme of adversity with students. We would discuss adversity in the Middle Ages - what kinds of adversity they encountered daily. I would read “Giles, The Beggar” out loud and then have them reread it on their own. I would ask them how the theme of adversity is shown in this poem. Together, we would make a list of the adversity Giles encounters, as well as evidence from the poem to support it.

Then, I would place students in groups and have them focus on an idea we have studied during our unit and create a character to portray it. Students will give their character a name, an occupation (or at least something they are known for on the manor), and create a brief description of him or her. Students would be welcome to write a poem for their character, but this would not be required.

Rutherford B., Who Was He?: Poems About Our Presidents by Marilyn Singer and John Hendrix

Image retrieved from www.amazon.com

Bibliography:

Singer, Marilyn, and John Hendrix. Rutherford B., Who Was He?: Poems About Our Presidents. New York: Hyperion Books, 2013. ISBN 9781423171003

Review and Critical Analysis:

Rutherford B., Who Was He? is a book of poetry about forty-three men who have one thing in common: each of them served as president of the United States of America. The poems use rhythm and rhyme to convey the most important facts about each president and their presidential terms. At the end of the book, following the poems, is a section entitled “Meet the President” in which Singer includes a brief summary about what a person must do to become president and what the president’s role is. After that, she includes “Presidential Biographies.” This section includes a brief biography of each of the forty-three presidents, with each one ending with a quote from that president. The final page of the book includes a list of books and websites where Singer found much of her information, and where readers could go for further research.

Each poem is titled with the name of the president, followed by his political party and the dates that he served as president. While the information about political parties is somewhat unnecessary, I found it interesting, and students would likely be inspired to further research former political associations such as Federalist, Whig, and Democratic-Republican. The poems are short - never taking more than a page, and some taking less - but Singer gets straight to the point of the issues or problems each president encountered during his presidency, and this gives readers a great amount of insight into each president. She doesn’t try to make them seem greater than they were, but she portrays them for who they really were in American history. In fact, in the “Rutherford B. Hayes” poem, Singer says, “Rutherfor B., who was he? / Honest and upstanding, or His Fraudulency? / He won a harsh election with disputes and appeals, / (and also quite possibly backroom deals).” In the “William Howard Taft” poem, she portrays him as an unhappy “drudge” who was so overweight that he got stuck in the bathtub. However, for those more upstanding presidents, she portrays them as such. In “James K. Polk” she says, “A powerful president with lots of gall. / Made four promises, kept them all.”

Although Singer’s poems are chock-full of interesting and useful information about our presidents, they are nowhere near dull. Singer uses humor and a mixture of clever rhythm and rhyme to draw readers in and make them want to keep reading. While each poem’s form and style is unique, Singer’s inclusion of rhyme in each poem gives a familiar cadence to the entire book. A couple of the poems are weaved together to portray two or more presidents. Singer writes one poem for Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan, giving them each a voice in the conversation about the Union and state secession. These presidents were America’s leaders from 1849 to 1861, and by combining them into one poem, she shows the great turmoil our country was in for years, leading into the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln’s presidency.

Without the illustrations of John Hendrix, the poems in the book would not come to life nearly the way they do. With each turn of the page, the reader’s eyes are drawn to the president’s caricature and a picture showing how he is about to be portrayed in his poem. The drawings are detailed and many of them include a quote from the president. John Tyler is drawn with a huge forehead, with the poem resting entirely on it alone, and his mouth wide open yelling, “I can never consent to being dictated to!” What a great picture to show how he “strongly rebelled!” John F. Kennedy is drawn on a Television screen, showing that “Vision and television made him a star,” with Lyndon B. Johnson watching him on TV from the opposite page. Hendrix and Singer are the perfect pair for this informative book of poetry for children.

I was surprised by the amount of information I learned by reading this book of poetry about our presidents. I think it would be best read a second time by turning to the “Presidential Biographies” section after each poem and reading the biographical information to go along with each president. This would give the reader a much clearer picture of each president and who he was. This book of poetry would be an excellent tool for teaching and could easily be used in the classroom as students learn about the presidents of the United State of America. It is up to date for now and even includes a poem on our current president, Barack Obama.

Poem Used to Support Critical Analysis:

Barack Obama

(Democrat, 2009- )

A country disillusioned,

looking for solutions

to problems created

by financial institutions,

by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Then he told us, “Yes, we can!” -

end the wars and the recession,

offer health care nationwide,

invest in renewable energy sources,

work together to heal the divide.

Now, some say he succeeded.

Some say that he tried.

Others are still angry or dissatisfied.

One thing is certain,

on one thing we agree -

as our first black president,

he indeed made history.

The poem, “Barack Obama,” is typical of the poems in this book. The poem talks about Obama’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as some of the ways he’ll go down in history as our 43rd president.

I would introduce this poem by asking students what they know about our current president. I would ask questions such as, “Who is our current president? What do you know about him? What do you like about him? What don’t you like about him?” I would then display the poem and illustration about Barack Obama and read it out loud. I would discuss with students some of the issues the poem refers to. We would also read together the biographical information about Barack Obama located at the end of the book, and it would further explain and discuss those issues. 
Next, I would lead the class in a discussion about our next president. We would talk about what issues they will face and what qualities are important to have in a president. I would then have students write their own poem about our future president.

What Are You Glad About? What Are You Mad About?: Poems for When a Person Needs a Poem by Judith Viorst and Lee White

Image retrieved from www.amazon.com

Bibliography:

Viorst, Judith, and Lee White. What Are You Glad About? What Are You Mad About?: Poems for When a Person Needs a Poem. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2016. ISBN 9781481423557

Review and Critical Analysis:

Judith Viorst has created a collection of poems that explores the wide range of feelings children experience on any given day. Her book of poetry, What Are You Glad About? What Are You Mad About?: Poems for When a Person Needs a Poem truly provides a poem for any time a person needs a poem. It holds poems for every feeling (whether it be glad, mad, sad, or bad), for school, family, friends, home, away, and much more. Children will be thrilled to read this book and discover poems that capture their roller coaster feelings in a fun and light-hearted way.

This collection of poetry begins with the “Contents” of the book. The contents is divided into titled sections beginning with general feelings and moving on to specific subjects like school, family, friends, this and that, and more. The section “How Are You Feeling Today?” contains poems for every feeling, whether it’s madness, sadness, gladness, loneliness, jealousy, fear, curiosity, or silliness. “School Stuff” is a section of poems about school - a place where children spend a large part of their lives. It’s not surprising that these poems deal with much more than Math, Science, Social Studies, and English. They show school for what it is - a place for learning how to get along in the world. The poem “What I’ve Learned at School” says, “John F. Kennedy was our thirty-fifth president. / Earth is a planet revolving around the sun. / Not everyone’s mom puts an I-love-you notes in their lunch box next to their lunch. / And not everyone remembers to flush when they’re done.” The poem continues with a clever mix of historical facts learned in school and real life facts learned there as well.

Although each poem in this collection is unique in its rhythm and sound, all of the poems rhyme. You would think that using rhyme in every poem in a collection might get a bit redundant and boring, but Viorst uses rhyme in such creative and innovative ways, that they are not redundant in the least. I couldn’t wait to turn each page to see what wry wit was waiting for me there. Her use of rhyme adds humor and appeal to the poems. It makes them more appealing to children (and adults!), and brings light-heartedness even to difficult subjects like divorce. She even includes a poem entitled “My Least Favorite Things” that can be sung to the tune of The Sound of Music’s “My Favorite Things.” How clever to use this light-hearted tune to list a child’s least favorite things.

Lee White’s illustrations add to the humor of Viorst’s poems. His comical interpretation of the poems gives the reader another dose of light-heartedness. His illustration for “The Best and the Worst” section of poems shows a little girl riding high and carelessly on a unicorn while snakes hiss at the unicorn’s heals. For the poem “Whoops” that says, “I tell you I am tall enough! / Don’t need your help to get that stuff!” he shows a boy climbing a ladder to reach a treasure chest sitting on top of a dragon. White’s use of the color blue in his illustrations brings out the emotion of each poem. Blue is a calming and sad color, and it fits perfectly with these poems to show what you are glad about or what you are mad about.

Poem Used to Support Critical Analysis:

What Are You Glad About? What Are You Mad About?

By Judith Viorst

If you had just one color to paint the whole world,

Would it be orange or gray?

If you had just one message to give to the world,

Would it be grrr or hooray?

If you had just one place you could live in this world,

Would you choose here or away?

What are you glad about?

What are you mad about?

How are you feeling today?

Did you wake up this morning all smiley inside?

Does life taste like ice cream and cake?

Or does it seem more like your goldfish just died

And your insides are one great big ache?

Do you wish you could go in a closet and hide?

Or would you rather go play?

What are you glad about?

Mad about? Sad about?

How are you feeling today?

When they ask you to do something, will you say yes?

Or will your answer be no?

Do you think that you get what you want - or much less?

Are you shrinking or starting to grow?

Is that person you see in the mirror a mess?

Or is that person okay?

What are you glad about?

Mad, sad, or bad about?

How are you feeling today?

“What Are You Glad About? What Are You Mad About?” is an excellent poem to read regularly to students. So many students come to school with no one who ever asks them how they are feeling. This poem has a great deal of “care” in it, and a simple reading of it will let students know they are cared about, and that someone wants to know how they are feeling today.

I would introduce this poem by reading all the way through it one time first. Then, I would read it again, pausing after each question and allowing a student to answer. I would lead students in a discussion of the purpose of this poem, and of poetry in general - to express feelings and emotion. We would discuss how this poem does that and how it allows the reader to think about all the feelings they are having today.

I would then give students their own copy of the poem and have them answer the questions from the poem. They could do this in paragraph form, or with short, simple answers. Then, they would look through their answers to the questions and choose an emotion that stands out to them about how they are feeling today. Then, they would create their own poem, filling in the blank for the title “What I am (Mad, Sad, Glad, etc.) About Today.” At the end of the lesson I would ask for volunteers to share their poems with the class.