The Last Conservative (Robinson Jeffers)

                    

The poem ‘The Last Conservative’, written by Robinson Jeffers has been prescribed for the students of Senior Secondary or Undergraduate programmes in several countries.

Here is a plan for teaching the poem within three hours in face-to-face mode.

The plan for the assessment of the learning of the poem has also been presented.

1.   Plan for teaching the poem

Following are the objectives of the teaching of the poem;

a)    Students comprehend the poem through silent reading.

b)    They analyse the poem from the viewpoint of one who closely observes the environment.

c)     They make an attempt to trace out the philosophies of Robinson Jeffers, which are reflected in the poem.

d)    They identify the message of the poem.

 (photo credit:https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/robinson-jeffers}

1.1 Day one (first hour)

You are all of 19-20 years old, aren’t you?

But as a child in class three or four you happened to see a place.

Suppose, that was a place where there were a few houses, buildings and roads.

After several years, say, recently you visit the place.

To your surprise you notice so many new constructions there.

Trees and plants had been cut.

New roads and market places have been built.

The face of the earth has been changed.

You feel some unfamiliarity.

Does any such experience come to your mind?
If so, shall we make an attempt to draw both the scenes?

Divide a blank page of your note book into two; A and B.

Below A, you draw the previous sight of the place.

Under B, you draw the present scene of the place.

            Students draw the pictures as suggested by the teacher.

After you draw both, you are writing a description on the changes happened.

Also recall the thoughts when you noticed the changes appeared there.

           

            Students write the description as suggested by the teacher.

            Two or three students show the pictures and read out their descriptions to the whole class.

            ……………………………………………

Anybody else can also present the self-thoughts that you have written.

……………………………………………

Good, you share your nostalgia also.

There is a poem in your textbook titled ‘The Last Conservative’.

Read the poem.

It shares some sadness that was caused by remembering something from the past.

          They read the poem silently.

          They use the glossary and/or dictionary to overcome barriers of unfamiliar words.

1.2 Day two (second hour)

The poem is seen to be autobiographical.

Certain events in his life are implied in the poem?

What are the events referred here?

            Students read the poem and write the list of events.

            (Following can be certain events that they may write)

            Teacher shows the chart.

           

a)    Poet builds his own house near the seashore. b)    He and his love live there. c)     Poet enjoys the life there, where he felt aloofness from the society. d)    Surroundings are changed a lot. e)    His dearest has died. f)      The sea has no change at all.

(Photo credit: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=hawk+tower+tor+house)

You understand the location where the poet was living in his twin-house, Tor House and Hawk Tower, aren’t you.

Look, one is Tor House and the other one is Hawk ‘Tower’.

Can you draw the houses and the natural settings around?

They are detailed in the first stanza of the poem.

Read the poem and draw.

            They read the poem and draw the picture detailed in the first stanza.

            ………………………………………………..

            Two or three show the pictures and read out the description.

The second stanza says about the sadness, as well as his dissatisfaction.

Write a list of thoughts that shows poet’s sadness or dissatisfaction.

            After two or three random presentations   teacher presents the chart;

a)    The environment deteriorates like a rotting apple b)    Streets are built around his house c)     People use cars and they have obsession of cars d)    His dearest has died

Though things around him have changed, there are certain things not yet changed.

Please read the last five lines of the poem.

Those are the things not yet changed, what are they?

Write a list of things that have not changed.

           

After two or three random presentations   teacher presents the chart;

a)    The ocean (Carmel Bay ) b)    The forest haunted by squirrels. c)     The quail running on the low roof’s worn cedar shingles.

1. 3 Day three (third hour)

Jeffers coined the word inhumanism, the belief that mankind is too self-centred and too indifferent to the astonishing beauty of the environment.

What is the evidence in favour of the above statement that you can trace out from the poem?

They read the last stanza and analyse it.

Do you find any expression of the poet that shows that mankind is too self-centred and too indifferent to the astonishing beauty of things?

            They make an attempt to copy down such expressions from the second stanza.

            After their attempt teacher shows the following chart.

a)    They have built streets around us, new houses. b)    Cars obsess them.

Read the following lines;

All that we saw or heard was beautiful

And hardly human.

The location where the poet lived with his love was beautiful.

But it was not human.

What does it mean ‘not human’?

            Students interpret the expression ‘not human’ in the way they like.

            ………………………………………

Yes, this expression shows that this beauty had been created by the nature herself.

Rock, wind, sea, moonlight, mountain coyote, doe, fawn etc. were gifted by the nature.

They had a ‘wild’ look, wild beauty.

The nature was maiden, virgin.

‘The Last Conservative’ is another poem of Jeffers that implicate his passion towards stone.

This poem is said to be the ‘poetry in stone.’

What are the references of stone in the lyric?

            They read the poem from beginning to the end.

            Following can be their possible responses;

a)    outcrop boulders  (first line of the poem) b)    we built our houses (means, Tor House and Hawk Tower, both in Gothic style and made of stone, the outer walls were bare, not plastered) c)     squatting beside the stones to see the ghosts of Indians (6th and 7th lines of the poem) d)    rock, wind and sea were in the surrounding (9th line)

                                                                                                              

2.    Plan for assessment of learning of the poem

2.1 Assessment task one (30 minutes)

Look at the title of the poem, it is ‘The Last Conservative’.

Conservative means, one, who is resistant to change or no progressive.

Does the poet feel that he himself is a conservative?

He is against the development which is upsets the order of the nature.

Civil constructions or developmental activities are beneficial for men.

If the constructions and developmental activates are not carried out, it may affect the well-being of the human community in a place.

One who speaks against the well-being of the human community is an opponent of development.

But, Jeffers is a proponent of the freedom of the humans as well as animals.

He is one who demands to reject the thought that ‘self’ is all.

This poet is rarest of all poets who also practised a reasonable detachment as a rule of conduct, instead of love, hate, and envy.

The poet stands for the beauty of the nature on the expense of development.

Is the poet marching backward?

Is he a conservative, adamant to changes?

If yes, write YES.

If no, write NO.

Write your arguments for your YES or NO.

………………………..

            They write their arguments in favour of their response YES or NO.

            After the completion of writing the arguments, they involve in a debate. 

            Teacher anchors this debate keeping neutrality.

            Teacher provokes them wherever necessary to make a heated debate.

Indicators for the assessment of the script of the arguments (100 words);

a)    Relevance of the arguments to the poser (question):  1/2/3/4/5

b)    Attempts to substantiate the arguments with examples from the poem:

1/2/3/4/5

c)     Appropriateness of the language: 1/2/3/4/5

2.2 Assessment task two (30 minutes)

The Wikipedia entry says as follows about Robinson Jeffers;

…. Jeffers was largely critical of the US policies including the entry into the World War II. He was largely been marginalized in the mainstream academic community…

But after his death in 1962, Jeffers continues to be a formidable presence even in 2016.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson_Jeffers, accessed on 02/08/21=016)

His utterances are reverberating. What are the questions that the poet poses to the world nations on the need of changing from man to not-man? Explain.

Indicators for the assessment of the script of the answer (100 words);

a)    Arguments in favour of detachment towards certain human nature:  1/2/3/4/5

b)    Attempts to substantiate the advocacy towards protecting environment as the need of the hour: 1/2/3/4/5

c)     Appropriateness of the language: 1/2/3/4/5

2.3 Assessment task three (30 minutes)

Write short answers for the following questions, in 50 words.

a)    Based on the themes of the poem ‘The Last Conservative’, how far Jeffers is a peace poet?

b)    Jeffers called on humans to "uncentre" themselves. What is his suggestion to ‘uncentre’ discussed in the poem?

Indicators for the assessment of the script of the answers;

c)     Arguments in favour of the proposition:  1/2/3/4/5

d)    Attempts to substantiate the suggestion: 1/2/3/4/5

e)    Appropriateness of the language: 1/2/3/4/5

The law of life (story by Jack London)

(How to teach the story?)

The story ‘The law of life’ by Jack London has been prescribed as a lesson for the students of undergraduate or senior secondary programmes. Following is the plan for teaching the lesson in the classroom in a face-to-face mode within four hours, one-hour each per day with the following objectives;

Day-wise objective of the lesson

a)    Students comprehend the events and characters through silent reading.

b)  They identify the conflicting moments in the story.

c)  They draw the character-sketch of old Koskoosh, the principal character.

d)    They involve in a debate on senicide (killing off of the elderly).

Day one

Have you ever thought of the anxieties of the aged?

Are they happy? Have them any concerns?

Have they worries?        

Here is the short story by Jack London that deals aging and the inability of the aged.

It is the story of old Koskoosh, the chief of the tribe.

Read the story.

            Students make an attempt to read the story.

            (While they make an attempt to read the text, there will be barriers.

            Unfamiliar words and unfamiliar structure are the major blocks)

Your friends in the class can help you, get the meaning.

The glossary in the textbook may help you.

Read a dictionary.

If their attempts are unsuccessful, the teacher can give them correct meaning.

If you complete reading, sequence the major events of the story.

            Teacher shows the following chart to encourage them to write the events;

1.    Koskoosh sits outside his house. 2.    He listens to the sound and talk that happen around. 3.    ………………………………………………………. 4.    ………………………………………………………. 5.

        After two or three presentations teacher reads out the list of events with her/him.

         (If the teacher feels that they require more time to read the story, they have to read it as a homework)

Day two

The story ‘The Law of Life’ is a story with many conflicting moments.

These conflicting moments make the readers  read the story with much anxiety.

Conflict means opposition or disagreement between persons, ideas or interests.

The conflict can also be internal, i.e. turbulence within the character.

Or the conflict can be an open fight between two or more characters.

Can you survey the lesson to find out any moment of conflict within Koskoosh?

            Students read the lesson to find out any conflict.

            They describe each conflict in their notebook.

            They present what they write as the conflicts.

The conflict between man and society is the one.

Koskoosh is left behind by his society is a conflict.

His daughter and son see off him to the last moments, are conflicts.

The anxiety of Koskoosh towards the imminent death of the infant is an inner-conflict.

Koskoosh’s internal conflict on aging is another.

Koskoosh’s internal conflict on the law of nature (everything perishes) is yet another one.

The fight of the moose and wolves is an external conflict.

Anyhow, these conflicts make the story more emotional to the readers.

Koskoosh, of course, is a character with lots of inner conflicts.

Shall we make an attempt to write a character sketch of Koskoosh?

The students make an attempt to write the character sketch without waiting for teacher’s help.

Two or three students present their attempts in the whole class.

Following is presented (on the screen) as the teacher version.

The conflicts in the short story “The Law of Life” by Jack London include the conflict of “man versus himself”. The old Indian, Koskoosh, has been left behind by his tribe to die in the snow. This is because Koskoosh is old, weak, and feeble, and a hindrance to the tribe moving on in its sojourns. This is the tribe’s tradition of doing things. Koskoosh accepts this, but there is still the internal conflict of Koskoosh versus himself – his inner feelings and desire to hang onto life if at all possible, even though he is a weakened warrior.

A further conflict is “man against man”. Koskoosh, though he loves his family and tribe, is fighting (in his heart) against his tribe’s wishes for him. They are not being vindictive or cruel, it is just the way things are done, but it is a conflict of what Koskoosh really wants for himself (to carry on with his people) and what the tribal leaders see as best for the survival of the tribe.

Another conflict in this short story is “man versus nature”. Koskoosh is at the mercy of the harsh winter weather and also the wolves that will eventually consume him. Because he is old and dying, his attempts to fight nature will be futile.

He knows this, and he has past experiences that include witnessing a moose that was left behind by its pack and that also succumbed to wolves.  He sees the similarity in that situation and his present situation. Therefore, the ‘writing is on the wall’ for Koskoosh. As hard as he tries to overcome these three conflicts, he knows that in the end, this is “The Law of Life” and a law that applies directly to him.

Courtesy to:

http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-conflicts-story-law-life-by-jack-london-476412?utm_source=what-conflicts-story-law-life-by-jack-london-476412&utm_medium=enotes&utm_campaign=popular-questionshat is the character physically? Accessed on 24/07/2016.

Day three

Yesterday in our discussion you found that Koskoosh was a man who had tons of conflicts in his mind.

His last moments were with tension and worries.

What all things can you say about Koskoosh?

Shall we write a character sketch on old Koskoosh?

What I mean is a description about the character and his roles in the story?

Please plan the essay in your notebook.

What will be your title to the essay?

You want an introductory paragraph.

Below the introductory paragraph, there should be four or five paragraphs.

Of course, an end paragraph is required as the conclusion.

They scribble the plan.

Using this plan they make an attempt to make the character sketch.

Two or three presentations are made.

Look, here is a chart on which you can read certain points to write the character-sketch.

a.  The physical description of the character (How old he is? height, weight, size, dress …) b.  What is the character doing? c.  What is his relationship with other characters in the story? d.  What are the thoughts of the characters? e. What is the character’s belief/philosophy/judgment? f. What are the character’s likes and dislikes? g. What about the personality traits of the character?

Consider the above points to rewrite the essay on the character sketch of old Koskoosh.

The following is shown as the teacher-version;

 In "The Law of Life" by American writer and journalist Jack London, the main character old Koskoosh dies, or is about to die, by a pack of wolves who are now encircling him. Hunger is in the wolves’ entire beings, and they have an unrelenting instinct to satisfy their most basic needs. The chief of the tribe is Koskoosh’s son as he is of more vigor and strength and agility. Old Koskoosh was once the chief of this tribe, but his time of power has now come and gone.

Koskoosh was expected to die by slowly freezing to death. He could no longer contribute to the tribe, and the tribe had to carry on for its own survival without him. He would be an impediment to the progress of the tribe in forging out a survival path for itself. It was the custom of their tribe to operate in this manner.

Koskoosh is left behind to freeze to death and enter a peaceful death sleep. He has come to terms with this. He relates that he was born close to terra firma – the earth; had lived close to the earth with the tribe; and now, would die close to the earth and the elements thereupon. He remembers how the wolves killed in the past, as experienced in his younger hunting days.

He knows the wolves will complete their task now and kill him. Accepting this, he wearily drops his head to his knees and awaits his death after a long life with his family and tribe.

Courtesy to:

http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/story-law-life-how-does-koskoosh-die-how-has-he-146317. Accessed 0n 24/07/2016.

Day four

Koskoosh, the principal character is left for death by his daughter and son.

His kin and kith are moving to another camp in the polar region.

What his son gifts to him are two or three bundles of sticks to feed the fire.

In the coming hours, Koskoosh may succumb to death in the cold weather.

The death is the end solution to his miseries.

But can a daughter or son or relative throw him to the lap of death?

Is senicide, the killing off of the elderly the right way?

Though old, Koskoosh has consciousness and emotions.

Still the near and dear are throwing him to the darkness of death.

This type of social practice has been executed secretly in certain parts of the world.

Read the following Wikipedia entry:

Thalaikoothal (Tamil: தலைக்கூத்தல், lit. showering is the traditional practice of senicide (killing of the elderly) or involuntary euthanasia, by their own family members, observed in some parts of southern districts of Tamil Nadu state of India.

Methods

Typically, the elderly person is given an extensive oil bath early in the morning and subsequently made to drink glasses of tender coconut water which results in renal failure, high fever, fits, and death within a day or two. This technique may also involve a head massage with cold water, which may lower body temperature sufficiently to cause heart failure.^]Alternative methods involve force feeding cow's milk while plugging the nose, causing breathing difficulties (the "milk therapy") or use of poisons.

Incidence

Although thalaikoothal is illegal in India, the practice has long received covert social acceptance as a form of mercy killing, and people seldom complain to the police. In some case, the family informs their relatives before performing thalikoothal, and the victims sometimes even request it. However, social acceptance may lead to more egregious abuses: the issue gained a higher profile in early 2010, when an 80-year-old man escaped when he came to know of his fate and heard his family members discussing how they were going to "share" his lands, and took refuge in a relative's home.

The Investigation revealed the practice to be "fairly widespread "in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu. Dozens or perhaps hundreds of cases occur each year.

Courtesy to:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalaikoothal.  Accessed on 25/07/2016.

Didn’t you read the entry?

I repeat the question.

‘Is killing off of the elderly right or wrong?’

            Teacher writes the question on the board.

            Looking at the audience the teacher asks the question.

Is killing off of the elderly right or wrong?

If you think it is right, write ‘right’.

If you feel it is wrong, write ‘wrong’.

Write your arguments in favour of your option.

            They opt right or wrong.

            They write maximum arguments in their notebooks.

            Teacher asks the question once again;

Is killing off of the elderly right or wrong?

            Teacher asks the question to anyone who may speak ‘right’ or ‘wrong’.

            Teacher invites anybody who may oppose the earlier one.

            Teacher follows the strategy to invite more pros or cons.

(If the entire class seems ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, teacher provokes them as an opposing camp. Though this is a debate, don’t sensitise them that it is a debate)

When the class reaches the saturation of arguments, they write the summary of their arguments.