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Walking Around by Pablo Neruda



Tales of a Teacher
Weekly blog – 11/18/18







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Walking Around by Pablo Neruda

Welcome back fellow teachers! This week we are going to be discussing “Walking Around.” A poem by Pablo Neruda. This poem was written somewhere around 1935 and deals with some heavy subjects. However, I think it is always a good idea to challenge the thoughts of our students! This poem is very much about the dreary everyday life of a man in a vanity-oriented society, who wishes it would all just stop. The heavy, yet common theme here is…

Theme

The theme of this poem is “man versus society.” This is a fairly common theme that appears throughout many popular works of literature, and you have possibly taught this sort of thing to your class before. This time around, the society is one in which everyone has lost their individuality. They all want what everyone else wants, and the man feels extremely saddened and disheartened at it all. So that brings us to our next topic…

How to Teach this Theme

To teach this, I would connect it to “The Lorax.” This is a classic man versus society story that most people are familiar with. Maybe read them the story or have them watch a bit of the film, and then have them connect the pleas of the man in “Walking Around” with the pleas of the Lorax himself. You’ll be surprised to see how much they truly have in common! This will get your kids interested, connect them to something they’re familiar with, and get them excited to learn.

Here’s the Gist

This poem is a deep and meaningful poem that 
hits home to a lot of people. I am always a fan of 
challenging students to dig deeper, and this is a perfect opportunity to do so. Connecting it to something lighthearted will brighten the overall mood and
get your kids excited to learn!
__________________________________________

I would love to hear about your experience 
teaching “Walking Around!” Shoot me an email through the link on the left or catch me at the “Teachers for a Cause” event in San Antonio, 
Texas this December!

Last week’s blog:
 Night in Sine


www.nightinsine.blog.net




Where can you get “Walking Around”? Here’s the link!
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/walking-around


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