Carver
A Life in Poems
by Marilyn Nelson
cover image retrieved 3/30/13
from
Bibliography
Nelson, Marilyn.
Carver, a Life in Poems. New York, N.Y: Scholastic, 2002. ISBN 9780439456739
Critical
Analysis
Much has been written
about the life and works of the great scientist and trail-blazer George
Washington Carver. In Carver: A Life in
Poems Marilyn Nelson examines the work and personal characteristics of Mr.
Carver in verse form. Ms. Nelson employees primarily free verse poetry to
capture this deep-thinking man who devoted his life to bettering the lives of
the poor. He is most well-known for his work with peanuts as a food staple,
though his scientific work was not limited to peanuts.
Expressing the life of
a devoted scientist in verse that appeals to readers could be a difficult task
for an author. Ms. Nelson uses descriptive language to add life to topics or
events that could be viewed as mundane. There is no discernible rhythm or sound
in the poems. Length of words, phrases, and the poems themselves is varied,
influencing the impact of each poem. For example, “Coincidence” is written in
short lines that match the short time-frame of a coincidence. “House Ways and
Means” is written in longer, more detail-filled lines befitting the importance
and scholarly subject matter of the topic. There is sparse sensory imagery and
emotional impact; rather, the poems are each written as a brief rendering of
the ordinary events of an extraordinary man.
Carver: A Life in Poems is organized chronologically. There is not
table of contents, but rather an alphabetized index in the back of the book.
The author’s acknowledgements and photographic resource citations document the
credibility of these poems as a legitimate representation of the events
depicted. This book, as a whole, is rather dry and informational in nature.
This can be seen as an advantage, since it seems to be achieving its goal of
representing snapshots of history in short, poetic form. It can be seen as a
disadvantage, in that the book is not all that appealing to read. Even as a
self-described history nut, I found the book to be rather boring overall.
Without careful guidance from the teacher or librarian, it would be difficult
for it to hold the attention of most middle and high school students. Ms.
Nelson is an accomplished, award-winning author. All of the poems in this book
carry the quality she is known for. Students will gain knowledge and perhaps
look at a historical event in a different light after reading this book.
Occasional captioned photographs provide welcome visual support for the poems.
Footnotes on some poems help place it in proper historic perspective. Used as a
support mechanism in an integrated curriculum, this book would be a great
resource in a high school classroom. Younger students would most likely lose
interest quickly. This volume of biographic verse is worth the investment as a
resource, as a look at the life of an incredible man in an unexpected format.
Book
Reviews
J. B. Petty, Ph.D.
(Children's Literature)
George Washington
Carver comes alive in these poems. Nelson sets the poems in the chronological
order of Carver's life. One even forgets that the poems are modern; they seem
to have been written by Carver and those who knew him best. This book is a must
for any library's poetry collection, regardless of whether the collection is
for children, young adults or adults.
Deborah Stevenson (Bulletin
of the Center for Children's Books, September 2001 (Vol. 55, No. 1))
While one wouldn’t
really term George Washington Carver forgotten, one might consider him too
often reduced, historically speaking, to a caption-sized contribution involving
peanuts and just maybe the Tuskegee Institute. A sequence of poems (most
initially published elsewhere, appearing here in chronological sequence so as
to suggest biography) occasionally punctuated with historical photographs would
seem an odd counteractant to that sad fate, but it’s startlingly effective. In
her free-verse lyrics, Nelson (herself the daughter of a Tuskegee Airman)
employs a variety of perspectives: an astonished teacher, a grateful student,
an envious colleague, the regretful subject of his broken-off courtship, and,
obliquely, Carver himself.
Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
Marilyn Nelson
unites poetry and biography in Carver: A Life in Poems,
a Newbery-honor book. These are not simple verses, but intricate expressions of
Carver's enigmatic and complex
personality. Carver was driven
by a desire to know and he paid for his education by becoming "a wizard
with a washboard,/a genie of elbow grease and suds...the best washerwoman in town."
Book
Awards
Boston Globe-Horn Book
Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, 2001 Winner Fiction and Poetry
United States
Connecticut Book
Awards, 2002 Winner Children's Literature Connecticut
Coretta Scott King Book
Award, 2002 Honor Book Author United States
Flora Stieglitz Straus
Award, 2002 Winner United States
John Newbery Medal,
2002 Honor Book United States
National Book Award,
2001 Finalist Young People's Literature United States
Best
Book Lists
Best Children's Books
of the Year, 2002 ; Bank Street College of Education; United States
Books to Read Aloud to
Children of All Ages, 2003 ; Bank Street College of Education; United States
Bulletin Blue Ribbons,
2001 ; Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books; United States
Capitol Choices, 2001 ;
The Capitol Choices Committee; United States
Children's Books of
Distinction, 2002 ; Riverbank Review; United States
Great Middle School
Reads, 2004 ; ALSC American Library Association; United States
Horn Book Fanfare, 2001
; Horn Book; United States
Middle and Junior High
School Library Catalog, Ninth Edition, 2005 ; H.W. Wilson; United States
Middle and Junior High
School Library Catalog, Supplement to the Eighth Edition, 2002 ; H.W. Wilson;
United States
Notable Children's
Books, 2002 ; ALSC American Library Association; United States
Notable Social Studies
Trade Books for Young People, 2002 ; National Council for the Social Studies
NCSS; United States
Parent's Guide to
Children's Media, 2001 ; Parent’s Guide to Children’s Media, Inc.; United
States
Senior High Core
Collection, Seventeenth Edition, 2007 ; The H. W. Wilson Co.; United States
Senior High School
Library Catalog, Sixteenth Edition, 2002 ; H.W. Wilson; United States
Special Interest Group
of the International Reading Association, 2002 ; Special Interest Group of the
International Reading Association; United States
YALSA Best Books for
Young Adults, 2002 ; American Library Association; United States
Poetry
Break!
Spotlight
Poem
Clay
“Beauty is
the vocation of the earth.”
William Bryant Logan
God’s breath on a compound of silica,
alumina,
and various oxides –
primarily
iron— gave Adam life.
There
is a primal, almost mystical
connection
between mankind and clay,
from
the footed bellied first receptacles
to
frescoed Renaissance cathedral walls
to
Carver’s eye, the muddy creek banks say
Here, to be dug up strained, and painted on,
Is loveliness the poorest can afford;
azures, ochres… Scraps of discarded board
are
landscapes. Cabins undistinguished brown
bloom
like slaves freed to struggle toward self-worth.
Beauty
is commonplace, as cheap as dirt.
Learning
Extensions
Coretta Scott King
curricular resources to accompany this book at http://www.teachingbooks.net
Introduction:
§
Share this
poem by reading it aloud with images showing the colors and
images described in the poem, to allow students to make connections between the
potentially unfamiliar words and images. Suggested words/images to pre teach/reinforce:
azure - blue
image retrieved 4/4/13 from
www.commons.wikimedia.com
ochre - clay that is yellow, brown, or red
image retrieved 4/4/13 from
www.las.new-engalnd.net.au
oxides - a compound of oxygen & another element
image retrieved 4/4/13 from
www.boralna.com
alumina - a white oxide found in minerals
image retrieved 4/4/13 from
www.nanofinishcorp.org
silica - a compound found in many minerals
image retrieved 4/4/13 from
www.wisconsingeologicalsurvey.org
Extensions:
§
Give each
student a printed copy of the poem. Share it again, asking students to
highlight examples of imagery or descriptive phrases.
§
As students
share the imagery they found in the poem, initiate a discussion of how poets
bring deeper meaning and connections to common items through imagery.
§
Challenge
students to brainstorm descriptive phrases for common items found in nature:
trees, a field of cotton, the ocean, a stream, the moon etc. Working in pairs,
have students try their hand at composing a short, free verse poem about an
item found in nature, using descriptive phrases for impact.
Other
books by Marilyn Nelson
Poetry Books
Sweethearts of Rhythm:
The Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World,
The Freedom Business:
Including A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture, a Native of
Africa
A Wreath for Emmett
Till
The Cachoeira Tales,
and Other Poems
Fortune’s Bones: The
Manumission Requiem
Carver, a Life in Poems
The Fields of Praise:
New and Selected Poems
Magnificat
The Homeplace
Mama's Promises
For the Body
Chapter books
She-Devil Circus
Triolets for Triolet
Partial Truth
Hundreds of Hens and
other poems for children
The Freedom Business:
Connecticut Landscapes Through the Eyes of Venture Smith
Collaborative Books
Miss Crandall’s School
for Young Ladies and Little Misses of Color. with Elizabeth Alexander
Pemba’s Song : A Ghost
Story. with Tonya Hegamin
The Cat Walked Through
the Casserole. with Pamela Espeland
Hundreds of Hens and
other poems for children by Halfdan Rasmussen with Pamela Espeland
Translations
The Ladder by Halfdan
Rasmussen (translated from Danish)
The Thirteenth Month by
Inge Pedersen (translated from Danish)
Hecuba by Euripedes, in
Euripedes I, Penn Greek Drama Series (translated from earlier English
translations)
Hundreds of Hens and
other poems for children' by Halfdan Rasmussen (translated from Danish)
Books for Young
Children
Snook Alone
Beautiful Ballerina
The Ladder by Halfdan
Rasmussen
The Cat Walked Through
the Casserole
Hundreds of Hens and
other poems for children by Halfdan Rasmussen
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