A Semi-Detailed Lesson Plan in English

I. INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of one-hour period, 100 % of the students are expected to:
A. Know the author of the “To My Mother.”
B. Interpret and summarize the meaning of the poem.
C. Respond how their mother show their support and love to them.
D. Compose a short letter expressing their love for their mother.

II. CONTENT:
A. Subject Matter: To my Mother by Edgard Allan Poe
B. References: https://www.slideshare.net/vita_vercetti/edgar-allan-poe-
17131274
https://interestingliterature.com/2018/02/a-short-analysis-of-
edgar-allan-poes-to-my-mother/
https://poemanalysis.com/edgar-allan-poe/to-my-mother-
poem/#:~:text=for%20his%20wife.-,Structure%20of%20To%20My
%20Mother,of%20ABAB%20CDCD%20EFEF%20GG.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdQrwBVRzEg

C. Materials: PPT Presentation, Visual Aids, Videos

III. METHODOLOGY:

A. ROUTINARY ACTIVITIES
1. Prayer
In the Name of the Father…
2. Greetings
Good Morning, class! I hope you are okay and having much fun.
3. Checking of Attendance
Are there any absentees for today?
B. MOTIVATION:
The teacher has prepared visual aid, specifically a blank acrostic poem which has
the word MOTHER. The task of the students is to fill each letter with a line about on their
mother. After the acrostic poem is complete, everyone in the class will read their output.

M-
O-
T-
H-
E-
R-

C. PRESENTATION OF THE LESSON:

 After the students done in creating an acrostic poem, the next thing the students will
do is to watch a short commercial video featuring mothers helping their children persevere
through difficult circumstances on their way to becoming successful Olympics athletes.
After watching the clip, the following questions will be asked:
 Does the video touch your heart? Why or why not?
 In line with the video, how your mother shows her support and affection to you?
 Can you explain the line presented in the last part of the video? “It takes someone
strong to make someone strong.”

D. LESSON PROPER:
After the students give their thoughts about the video, the teacher will facilitate the
learning of the students by utilizing prepared PPT presentation. However, when the
discussion is in the part of analyzing the poem, the class will be group into 3 groups. Each
group will analyze the assigned stanza that they pick in the magic box. The group will share
the ideas of the members to the class on what their interpretation in the assigned stanza.
After one group presented, the teacher will guide the students if their analysis is correct or
not by presenting the correct meaning of each stanza. Students are encouraged to
internalize and reflect the poem written by Edgar Allan Poe. The teacher is expected to
inspire the students to love their mother unconditionally through the poem and as they
discuss together the literary work. The discussion sequence will be from the author,
structure, and form of the poem, to the analysis or the interpretation of the poem

AUTHOR
Edgar Allan Poe is an American author, poet, editor, and literary critics He is
considered as part of the American Romantic Movement. He was born in Boston,
Massachusetts. He was orphaned young when his mother died shortly after his father
abandoned the family. Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan, of Richmond, Virginia,
and would live with them until he had reached adulthood, although the Allans never
formally adopted him. His middle name was derived from his adopted parents. He was
probably Edgar, by the way, after Edgar in King Lear: his biological parents were both
actors, who were starring in a production of Shakespeare’s play when their son was born.

THE POEM
To My Mother by Edgar Allan Poe
Because I feel that, in the Heavens above,
The angels, whispering to one another,
Can find, among their burning terms of love,
None so devotional as that of ‘Mother,’
Therefore by that dear name I long have called you –
You who are more than mother unto me,
And fill my heart of hearts, where Death installed you
In setting my Virginia’s spirit free.
My mother – my own mother, who died early,
Was but the mother of myself; but you
Are mother to the one I loved so dearly,
 And thus are dearer than the mother I knew
By that infinity with which my wife
Was dearer to my soul than its soul-life.
ABOUT THE POEM
“To My Mother” was published in July 1949, only months before Poe’s untimely
death, age just 40. The poem is a Shakespearean sonnet, rhymed ababcdcdefefgg, and
shows that Poe retained his literary skills right up until shortly before he died, not long
after he was found delirious and wearing somebody else’s clothes on the streets of
Baltimore.
With a title like ‘To My Mother’, surely, we can confidently identify the subject of
Poe’s poem. But in fact, the poem was not written about Poe’s biological mother who died
when he was still an infant. Nor, though, was it written about his adopted mother, Mrs
Allan. Instead, the subject of ‘To My Mother’ is in fact Poe’s mother-in-law, Maria Clemm –
the mother of Poe’s wife (and cousin), Virginia Clemm, whom he married in 1836. Virginia
died in 1847, two years before Poe wrote this touching tribute to both Virginia and her
mother.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE POEM

Because I feel that, in the Heavens above,

The angels, whispering to one another,
Can find, among their burning terms of love,
None so devotional as that of ‘Mother,’

In the first stanza of ‘To My Mother’ the speaker makes his feelings clear about the
word “mother”. He finds it to be of the utmost importance. So clear and “devotional” that it
could not have been coined by any force less than the “angels”.
The speaker can “feel” and imagine a scenario in which all of the angels are gathered
around “whispering.” They are discussing the words of love and are unable to come up with
anything more “burning or devotional” as the word “Mother.” This image is very evocative,
it also intimately ties motherhood to the divine. It’s obvious the devotion Poe feels for those
who take on this role, particularly the women he references in his poem. At this point in ‘To
My Mother’ the reader is most likely under the impression that this piece is going to be
about Poe’s own feelings for his long-dead mother. But that is not the case. A turn changes
one’s perceptions about the text at the end of the eighth line.

Therefore by that dear name I long have called you –

You who are more than mother unto me,
And fill my heart of hearts, where Death installed you
In setting my Virginia’s spirit free.
At the start of this quatrain, the speaker turns to address someone else. Its a woman
who he has called “mother” for as long as he has known her. This “mother” figure is not
solely a mother to him, but the one who filled his “heart of hearts.” The mother he is
speaking about is not his own, but the mother of his cousin, and young wife, Virginia.
He loves her by her own right but is even more devoted to her for the fact that she
gave him his true love. It was by her hand that “Virginia’s spirit” was set free. In Poe’s mind,
mothers have the ability to foster love within one’s own heart, but also outside. It is from
Virginia’s mother that she was made, and therefore from her that Poe received the greatest
love of his life.

My mother – my own mother, who died early,

Was but the mother of myself; but you
Are mother to the one I loved so dearly,
And thus are dearer than the mother I knew
By that infinity with which my wife
Was dearer to my soul than its soul-life.
In the last six lines of ‘To My Mother’ the speaker describes the emotions he has for
his own biological mother and how those emotions work in tandem with those he has for
Virginia’s mother.
Poe’s parents died when he was very young and grew up in foster care. It makes
sense that he would be seeking out a mother figure somewhere in his life, it was a
relationship that he was lacking.
In the second line of this section, Poe refers to his mother as nothing more than “the
mother of myself.” She was the one who gave birth to him, but Virginia’s mother is much
more important. She is the “mother to the one I loved so dearly.” ‘To My Mother’ is all the
more poignant when the reader learns, or realizes, that Virginia is dead. Poe and Virginia
were married for a number of years before she died of tuberculosis. This sadness that
“Death” brought makes his love for Virginia’s mother all the more important. She is
“dearer” to him than the mother he so briefly knew. This emotion stems from “infinity”. His
love for Virginia’s mother is tied to the love he felt for his “wife” who was “dearer to [his]
soul than its soul-life”.

SUMMARY
The poem begins with the speaker describing the importance of the term “mother.”
He believes that this phrase was coined by the angels as there is no word “so devotional as
that of ‘Mother’.”
The speaker continues on to state that the woman he is speaking of is not his
biological mother, but the mother of his wife, Virginia. This woman is more dear to him
than his own mother, mostly due to the fact that she is responsible for the creation of
Virginia. It is through her that his heart was filled.
In the final lines of this piece, the speaker reiterates how important this new mother
is to him and how she outweighs what he feels for his birth mother. The woman who gave
birth to him is nothing more to him than just that, the person who made him. But the love
feels for Virginia’s mother stems from the “infinity” of the love he felt, and feels, for his wife.

IV. VALUING:
The students will watch another video wherein they will learn the value of
appreciating the love of mother towards their children. The following questions seek to be
answered by the students:
 Do you see or even appreciate the effort of your mother to you?
 Do you think any other person who you could compare the love of your
mother?
 Love and care could be found in everyone. However, the love that comes to our
mother hits different. It will always be unconditional and soulful. Mother’s love can see in
different ways and it could be considered as a sacrificial love because a mother’s love
endures through all and that’s make mother’s love is the most unconditional and the purest
form of love.

V. EVALUATION:
Answer the following questions.
1. Who is the mother does Edgar Allan Poe pertains to his poem?
2. What is the structure of the poem?
3. How Edgar describes the mother in the first stanza?
4. Who are the fostered parents of Edgar Allan Poe?
5. Who is the cousin of Edgar Allan Poe who sooner he married?
6-10. What theme is present in the last part of the poem “To My Mother”?

VI. ASSIGNMENT:
Compose a short letter to show your appreciation and love to your mother. Decorate
your letter to make it creative. You could write it in a bond paper, or any paper would do.
Criteria:
Presentation: 5
Creativity: 5
10 points