The time we rode the Ferris wheel
whirling above Lake Pontchartrain,
city lights tossed up behind us,
the water a satin sheet starred
with sailboat lanterns here, then there,
the chair slowed, my feet dangled—
I thought I would die at the summit.
Afterwards, a buoyant feeling.
I was twenty, that tilting wheel
revolved in all my childhood dreams.
Now nightmares circle my evenings:
a woman lies down to die in the street;
crows flock the backyard fig, calling
“Supper! Supper!” while fruit ripens
to summer’s purple, sweet and plump,
already signing the season’s turn.
Perhaps the ancients had it right:
Fortuna spins her wheel, we ascend.
Stella Ann Nesanovich
from her book Vespers at Mount Angel
Xavier Review Books 2004
reprinted with permission of the poet
and special permission of Xavier Press
LESSON PLANS
For a Math Class
Lesson Plan for Stella Ann Nesanovich’s “Memento Mori”
by Laurie A. Williams
Have students read the poem and underline images, words, phrases that can be related to math.
Have students choose one of these Ferris Wheels and draw a circle to represent the Ferris wheel with the appropriate radius.
The first Ferris Wheel at the Chicago World’s Fair was approximately 260 feet and was approximately four feet off the ground. It completed one revolution in approximately 9 minutes.
The Ponchatrain Beach Ferris Wheel had a height of 72 feet and was approximately 3 feet off the ground. It completed one revolution in approximately 4 minutes.
Ask students to think about how they would go about plotting speed of the Ferris Wheel. Has enough information been given? If not, what information is missing?
There is a great lesson plan on trigonometry functions and Ferris Wheels by Lori Pearman, Cathy Perkins, Stephanie Morris, and Kyungsoon Jeon that can be found by looking for Ferris Wheel and Lori Pearman.
For an English Class
Lesson Plan for Stella Ann Nesanovich’s “Memento Mori”
by Laurie A. Williams
Write memento mori on the board. Have students discuss what they think it means.
Introduce the Roman goddess Fortuna.
Pass out the poem and have students number the lines on the left hand side.
How many lines does this poem have?
How many strophes?
What can be said about the organization of the poem?
Have students read the poem, and as they read identify the number of sentences in the poem.
What happens in the first strophe?
What happens in the second strophe?
What happens in the third strophe?
How does the title inform the poem?
Have students choose two opposites of the Fortuna’s wheel and write a poem using those two opposites as its core.