It was 1803, New Orleans, world port,
Mississippi wealth poured steamboats, gamblers,
craftsmen, merchants, bankers, poor, rich, boom growth,
Third largest U.S. city, best land deal
for four cents per acre, American,
but France plus Spain, Latin roots now Creole
when baked African spice spills in Vieux Carrè
Faubourgs, below Canal, downtown music,
shot-gun homes, brick walkways, lamb’s ear gardens,
semi-tropics, alligators roam streets.
Mosquitoes wreck composure. Sweat drips.
Ceilings, high heat escapes; shutter sunlight.
Mona Lisa Saloy
from her book Red Beans and Ricely Yours
Truman State University Press, 2005
reprinted with permission of the poet
LESSON PLANS
For an English Class
by Laurie Williams
Pass a copy of the poem out to the class.
Have students number the lines on the left-hand side.
Have students read the poem aloud or silently.
After reading the poem, have students identify how many sentences, by way of punctuation, the poem has.
Read the poem again, out loud.
Have students listen to the rhythm of the poem.
How does the punctuation move the rhythm along?
What is the difference in the rhythm between the comma and the period?
The first sentence, by way of punctuation, is ten lines long. What happens in that ten lines?
Have students identify any other sentences not set off by a period within those first ten lines. What is the effect of having those smaller sentences in that list?
What happens to the rhythm in the eleventh line?
Have students write a poem, focusing on line breaks and punctuation to control the rhythm. Have them use Ms. Saloy’s poem as a model.
For a Louisiana History Class
by Laurie Williams
Pass a copy of the poem out to the class.
Have students read the poem aloud or silently.
After reading the poem, have students identify what the poem says was happening in New Orleans in 1803.
Have students research what was occurring in New Orleans in 1803?
Does the poem cover everything about New Orleans in 1803? What if anything has been left out? Consider the title in your answers. Could a poem of twelve lines cover all that occurred in New Orleans in 1803?
If you were to turn this poem into an essay, what would the thesis statement be? Be sure to use some of the words from the poem and title in your thesis statement.
Do any aspects mentioned in the poem still exist today?
Compare and contrast New Orleans in 1803 to another time period.
Write a poem beginning with a year and the name of a city in Louisiana. Make sure that the information is accurate. Use Ms. Saloy’s poem as a model.
For a Math Class
by Laurie Williams
Pass a copy of the poem out to the class.
Have students read the poem aloud or silently.
In 1803, New Orleans was the third largest city in the United States. Where does it rank today? By what percentage would the city have to grow to once again be the third largest city?
How many acres were purchased in the Louisiana Purchase?
How many square miles were purchased?
How many acres are in Louisiana? What would it have cost just to purchase Louisiana?
How many acres are in Iowa? What would it have cost to purchase Iowa?
What is the average price of an acre of land in Louisiana today? in Arkansas? in Missouri? in Iowa? in Oklahoma? in Kansas? in Nebraska? in Minnesota? In North Dakota? in South Dakota? in Colorado? in New Mexico? in Montana? in Wyoming?
What is the average price per acre of the land purchased in the Louisiana Purchases by today’s prices?