Social Issues by: Zoe Smith

Zoe Smith

Professor Traver

English 277

8 May 2020

Teaching Christina Rossetti’s, “Remember” 

Looking back at all of the texts we read this semester, it is difficult to choose just one, because all of the pieces were influential in one way or another. However, since I do have to choose just one, I would choose to teach the poem, “Remember” by Christina Rosetti. As far as what grade-level of students I would like to teach this poem too, I think that ninth graders would be optimal. I found ninth graders to be the ideal age because this poem has a mildly complex form that would be a good point to focus on for a freshman class. Not to mention, the meaning within the poem is something that I could see holding quite a bit of value for fourteen and fifteen-year-old students.

         I think that this poem would fit perfectly within the traditional freshman curriculum when discussing the common poetry form known as the sonnet and the many different layouts that these sonnets can appear in. I would use this poem specifically to teach students about the Petrarchan sonnet, which rhymes with the “abba abba cdd ece” pattern and has a volta, or a turn, at the end of the eighth line of the poem. I would also use this poem to show how poets like Christina Rossetti can modify their poems with literary techniques such as using line breaks and placing punctuations in a deliberate and thoughtful manner.

         Furthermore, I decided to choose, “Remember”, because of its underlying message. This poem reads somewhat like a letter, where the writer is speaking to a particular individual or group. The writer is speaking to its reader, seemingly while the writer is approaching their final hours of life, and informs the reader that he/she wishes that they are remembered after they pass. This is relatable even to a class of fourteen and fifteen years, because I think all human-beings hope that they are remembered long after they pass. Rossetti then follows the traditional rules of the Petrarchan sonnet when she offers a shift in the poem at line eight. At this moment, the speaker within this poem turns from asking to be remembered to letting her loved ones know that if they do forget you every so often, then that is okay. On the final two lines of the poem, the speaker tells the listener that he/she would rather them forget her and be happy then remember her and be sad.

         This poem displays a very painful message being shared between the speaker and the listener in the poem that may even bring back painful memories for today’s readers, but I think it would be valuable to be taught to a class of freshman, because it displays a very realistic aspect of how people go through the stages of grief when dealing with the loss of loved ones. I think that anyone who has lost someone in their lives can relate to the truth that as hard you try to never forget someone who passed away that you cared for, there will come a time down the road where you do temporarily forget and you will begin to move on with your life. Rossetti informs students with this poem that it is okay to forget if it means that it prevents you from being constantly sad, because that is what the person who has passed away would want for you. In other words, teaching “Remember” by Christina Rossetti would be a useful way of informing students that just because you temporarily forgot about people who passed away that you have cared for, it doesn’t mean that you no longer love them, it is just a part of life.