Shame, Rebellion, Self-Love and Change in Elizabeth Acevedo’s The Poet X

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo focuses on the life of Xiomara, a young girl growing up in Harlem, NY. Xiomara struggles to be heard and cannot escape the constraints of her religious immigrant family. Throughout the novel, Xiomara faces challenges that cause her to question her religion, culture and identity. Eventually, Xiomara uses poetry as a way to cope with and rebel against everything and everyone that makes her feel small and unheard. In this unit, students will read, write, interpret and engage with spoken and written poetry. Students will use creative writing to explore aspects of their own identities, life, culture and communities. Lastly, students will learn skills necessary to write an effective analytical essay on poetry. 

Essential Question(s) / Big Idea: 

How does writing help us learn who we are and where we come from? Why is telling our own stories so important? 

This unit was designed for a high-achieving Honors level English II class. My goal for this unit was to introduce students to poetry, and teach them how to read and interpret it. Many students in the class had openly voiced not enjoying poetry unless it was one of those 4 line poems that go viral on Instagram. I hoped that in reading this text, I could help students become more comfortable with poetry and become aware of its diversity. I also believed that many of my students would be able to relate to Xiomara, a daughter of Dominican immigrant parents growing in a large city. Though students rejected the idea of reading this text at first, many read the entire book in just the first week of our unit. Many claimed to enjoy the way the text was written, others felt heard when they read Xiomara’s experiences, and some were even encouraged to write their own stories and share them with the class. Please continue reading to learn all about this Curriculum Unit Plan.