When I get an out-of-the box idea for a poetry analysis lesson, chances are it’s inspired by my son, like this basketball-NASCAR mash-up with a Hanif Abdurraqib poem. The other day, my son asked for a pair of “nice shoes” for his birthday, and we got to talking about what he would want them to look like. Two things came from our conversation: 1. a pair of new(ish) hand-me-down Jordan Jumpmans from his cousin, and 2. this activity for close-reading poetry.

My American Lit juniors are currently reading Richard Blanco’s collection How to Love a Country. They could pick any poem that we had read so far to represent with their shoe design. This activity works just as well with any poem, or any text for that matter. I spent two 50-minute class periods on this (one day for the artistic part, one day for the written part).

The shoe templates for this lesson were gifted to me by our brilliant and generous art teacher who used to have her classes participate in a Vans shoe design contest years ago. They might not be the highest quality templates, but they work perfectly for this lesson.

The shoe template includes 3 parts:

1. Outside of Shoe = Literal

The outside side of the shoe should represent its literal meaning. What happens in the poem? What are its main topics? Are there any characters? Is there a setting?

2. Inside of Shoe = Deeper Meaning

The inside side of the shoe represents its deeper message. What themes are explored? Is there an important historical context or allusion that matters to this poem?

3. Top of Shoe & Tongue = Techniques

Write the poem’s title on the top of the shoe (toes area). For the tongue (laces area), list 3 literary devices in the poem and quote the line(s) from the poem that use those devices. 

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Then, using the provided Slides linked at the end of this post, students will explain the rationale behind their designs using textual evidence from the poem to support. Here’s a student sample:

Outside of shoe design for Richard Blanco’s “Complaint of the Rio Grande”

Outside of shoe explanation

“Starting with the rings for the shoe laces and the area around it, I chose to leave it black and white, representing how the river has seen the joys and the suffering throughout its time, the joys being when humans were not tampering with it. The lines ‘I felt the sun flare, praised each star flocked about the moon long before you did’ demonstrates the joys the river had before humans and how before they came into the river, it was perfectly connected with the world around it. The middle of the shoe shows the map of where the Rio Grande is located and how it serves as a geographical division between America and Mexico. The lines ‘You split me in two—half of me us, the rest them’ and ‘Then countries—your invention—maps jig-sawing the world into colored shapes caged in bold lines to say: you’re here, not there, you’re this, not that, to say: yellow isn’t red, red isn’t black, black is not white, to say: mine, not ours’ represent the growing issue that is happening as the river originally served as a bridge between the two areas in one land, but humans and their want for everything to be their own, caused the physical and metaphorical split of the one land into two countries.”

Inside of shoe design

Inside of shoe explanation

“Starting with the top edge of the shoe with the rings for the laces, I left those white and black because the colors represent how the rivers seen the joys and the pains of humans. At the upper middle area of the shoe, there are clouds that are raining blood and pollution, which in the lines, ‘the rush of mountain rain and us. Blood that runs in you is water flowing in me’, represent how humans have directly affected the rivers condition because of their interference with it. Below the clouds, the scene shows people crossing the river and being met with barbed wire fence, Americans shouting at them, and for some, the end of their life. This is representative of the lines ‘ You named me big river, drew me blue, thick to divide, to say: spic and Yankee, to say: wetback and gringo’ and ‘I wasn’t meant to drown children, hear mothers’ cries, never meant to be your geography: a line, a border, a murderer’. These lines embody the deeper meaning behind the poem, and Blanco portrays the horrible things that some immigrants experience in their attempts to make it to America, only to be met with the set precedent that there is meant to be a division, that there are two groups and you are on one side or the other. The inside as a whole shows that not only is there a geographical divide of the two groups, but there is a social division.”

Top of shoe and tongue design

Top of shoe and tongue explanation

“In the line “blood that runs in you is water in me,” Blanco utilizes a metaphor to convey a profound sense of interconnectedness between human beings and the river. This metaphorical connection emphasizes the idea that all living things share a common source of life and are inherently interconnected, as how human beings live directly affects the rivers. The effect of this metaphor is to bring up a sense of empathy and solidarity with the river and its plight. This metaphorical connection fosters a deeper understanding of the human impact on the environment and the importance of preserving the delicate balance of ecosystems for future generations.

In the poem, Blanco utilizes vivid imagery to evoke powerful sensory experiences and create a rich tapestry of emotions and sensations. Through descriptive language, Blanco paints vivid pictures that allow readers to visualize the river’s journey and the impact of human actions on its ecosystem. Phrases like “I wasn’t meant to drown children, hear mothers’ cries” and “before you dug your oars into me” evoke harrowing images of tragedy and destruction wrought by human intervention. The imagery of children drowning and mothers crying serves to illustrate the devastating consequences that come with racism in regards to immigration. By portraying scenes of beauty and devastation with vivid detail, the speaker invites readers to empathize with the river’s plight and reflect on the consequences of human actions on the natural world. 

Personification is utilized throughout the poem to provide the river with human-like qualities and emotions, thereby elevating its significance and symbolic resonance. By personifying the river, Blanco emphasizes its agency and autonomy portraying it as having its own desires and aspirations. Lines like “I was meant for all things to meet” and “to be home to fallen rain” personify the river as a welcoming and nurturing presence, capable of providing solace and sustenance to all living things. This personification highlights the river’s role as a vital source of life and symbol of unity and interconnectedness. Blanco’s use of personification enriches the poem’s thematic exploration of unity, interconnectedness, and the human impact on the environment.”

Overall explanation

“The overall shoe design is quite cohesive and shows both the literal and the deeper meanings of the poem. Both sides connect to show the effects of humans selfish actions on the river in a physical sense with the outside, and the societal sense with the inside. The inside portrays what cannot be seen as a human effect on the river unless looked at closely to see how the separation of the two countries has fostered intense racism to occur toward immigrants as well as the deaths of immigrants who are trying to make their way across. While the sides have the same idea of what the river has endured because of humans, each side shows different messages to the extent that human choices have killed the rivers integrity, as it suffers from pollution and human interaction and being a place of death for immigrant children and adults alike. I feel like my shoe accurately portrays the poem and I personally love the way it turned out.”

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Thank you, Camden, for your insightful analysis! Camden basically wrote a poetry analysis essay without even knowing they wrote an essay. I admit this example is from one of my strongest writers, but I was so impressed across the board at what ALL of my students discovered about their chosen poems through this activity. Like Camden, students were able to work far past the literal interpretation of the poem into thematic exploration. Then, they were able to draw connections between the deeper meanings and HOW they are created through poetic devices. This is EXACTLY what I want my students to do!

This activity makes for a perfect pre-writing for a more “serious” poetry analysis essay, or it can stand alone on it own. Or a gallery walk would be amazing!

Overall, this is low-stakes assignment that yields a high return in learning and student engagement.

What you will need:

• Shoe templates handouts for each student (this is a PDF file so it’s unable to be edited – even for me. Please download a copy of them to your own Drive instead of requesting access.)
• Shoe design directions Slides
• Markers, colored pencils, crayons, etc.

Preview of the Slides (linked above):

I have to share this design by Emma too because it’s so cool. Emma’s chose to represent Blanco’s poem “Leaving In the Rain: Limerick, Ireland.” The thinking! The analysis!

Explanation:

Happy designing!

If you use this lesson, please consider donating a buck or two to TLP if you are able! Everything here will always be free. We appreciate your support!

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