Sources used in this document:

The critical thinking skills we worked on together involved being able first to fully grasp the problem or the issue to be worked on. From the perspective of "The Raven" we will use the analysis and problem-solving opportunities within the poem itself as the artifact. Instead of just reading the poem and providing student input in the form of 9th grade analysis, we go deeper into the era when it was written, the personal problems the poet went through in his life, the amazing skills juxtaposed with the depression and alcoholism. The teacher will play on the classroom TV screen slow-motion videos of ravens flying, tearing into the flesh of a dead mouse, attacking other birds that are in its way as it forages.

Incorporating history is a tool a teacher can use which makes a poem or a poet come to life in the context of the times. Why, for example, does almost every line in The Raven offer a clue as to why Poe wrote it, or what Poe's mentality was during that era? And what was going on in American when he wrote it?

The class can learn juxtaposition and irony in this lesson; a raven is a scavenger, and when Poe was down and out he scavenged to survive. In 1845 in America darkness was a constant theme because there was slavery, especially in the south, but there were people like Frederick Douglass who were leading the movement to free the slaves. There was hope but juxtaposed was anger and threats, and slaves in many cases were beaten by their masters, which got into the newspapers in New England. Alcohol was widely used and many believed that alcohol could actually cure the sick and make the elderly lively. In 1845 tuberculosis was very common and there were no medical remedies for TB. Critics and scholars know a lot about the artifact in this instance but students will use critical thinking, problem solving and they will put their performance skills to good use in their groups to complete the project.