Voices of the People: Our African-American Heritage
Teacher’s Guide, Grade 9, Level I
Yet Do I Marvel, p. 56
Introducing the Lesson
Vocabulary for the Selection
Before students begin reading the selection, refer
them to the definitions of vocabulary items from
the selection. These are located in the Glossary
beginning on page 92 of the student text.
quibble, v. Discuss trivial or petty matters
baited, past part. Lured by something
caprice, n. Sudden change of mind without
justification
inscrutable, adj. Incomprehensible, mysterious
immune, adj. Protected against
strewn, adj. Spread loosely or at random
petty, adj. Having little worth or importance
compels, v. Forces
Prereading
Discuss with students the Prereading note on page
56 before the begin reading the selection. Discuss
the following with students before they begin
reading:
• Sonnet form. A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem.
An Elizabethan sonnet is divided into three fourline quatrains and a concluding two-line couplet.
• Such parts of poems often serve as units of
meaning, like paragraphs in an essay.
• A good approach to reading a poem is often
to attend to such parts one at a time and then
move to the next part once each is understood.
• The question “Why is there evil in the world? is
often referred to as “the problem of evil.” This
is an ancient question addressed over many
centuries in religious traditions worldwide in the
world’s literature, philosophy, and theology.
This poem contains many challenging vocabulary
words, so it would be a good idea to review the
vocabulary list above with your students BEFORE
they read the poem.
Close Reading
Have students glance through the questions under
Key Ideas and Details on page 59 and answer these
questions as they read through the selection. (See
the answers given below under “Answer Key.”)
Checktest
After students have read the selection, administer
the multiple-choice checktest to ensure that they
have done the reading.
Discussing the Selection
After students have finished the checktest, hold a
class discussion of the selection.
Choose a student to read aloud A Reading of the
Selection on page 58. Read the first quatrain of the
sonnet aloud and discuss its main idea and the two
examples given. Then read the second quatrain and
discuss the examples of Tantalus and Sisyphus. Ask
students to provide examples of other evils in the
world. Next, read the third quatrain and ask what
possible answer to the problem of evil the quatrain
presents. Finally, read the concluding couplet and
ask whether students think that the speaker is being
literal in this final statement.
Advanced students: Discuss with your students some
of the answers that have traditionally been given to
the “problem of evil.” The area of theology that deals
with this problem is called theodicy, from a book of
the same name by the German philosopher Gottfried
Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716), who argued that while
there was evil in the world, the world is nonetheless
“the best of all possible worlds,” an idea that was
ridiculed by the French philosopher François-Marie
copyright © 2012, Callisto School Publishing. All rights reserved.
Voices of the People: Our African-American Heritage
Teacher’s Guide, Grade 9, Level I
Yet Do I Marvel, p. 56
Arouet (pen name, Voltaire; 1694-1778) in his novel
Candide. Another traditional answer is that evil exists
because humans have free will, and they bring about
the evils of the world. Still others argue that the joys
of the afterlife will more than compensate for evil
experienced in this life. Yet another argument is that
the world, and its evils, is illusory (This traditional
belief is associated with various strains of Hinduism
and Buddhism).
Choose a student to read aloud the note on the
Cultural/Historical Context of the selection, on page
58. Give your students the following examples of Jim
Crow laws:
many important African-American writers, including
Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Countee
Cullen, and Sterling Brown. Another important
journal of the day was The Crisis, published by the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP).
Refer students to the questions raised under
Key Ideas and Details, Craft and Structure, and
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas on page 59.
Discuss the questions raised in these sections, in
turn. (See the answers given below under “Answer
Key.”
Laws that effectively prevented voting by African
Americans, including ones requiring that voters pass
literacy tests or pay poll taxes.
Answer Key
Laws supporting segregation of public schools, in
housing districts, and in public accommodations,
such as buses, trains, rest rooms, theaters, and
hotels.
1. What qualities does the speaker attribute to God
in the first line?
Laws preventing marriage between blacks and
whites.
Laws enabling discrimination in housing,
employment, and other areas of life.
The term “Jim Crow” itself has a racist history. It is
widely believed to have derived from the title of a
song performed by the minstrel singer Thomas Rice,
a white man who performed in blackface.
Read the note under About the Author on page 58.
Explain that Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life,
published by the National Urban League from 1923
to 1942, was an extraordinarily important journal, a
pioneering vehicle for African-American studies that
helped spur the flowering of achievement in the arts
in New York and elsewhere in the country that is now
known as the Harlem Renaissance. Opportunity first
published and/or greatly encouraged the careers of
Key Ideas and Details
The speaker says that God is good, well-meaning,
and kind.
2. What creature is mentioned in the second line?
What apparent problem does this creature face?
The speaker mentions the mole, who is blind.
3. According to the fourth line, the human form
mirrors what? What happens, eventually, to all
humans?
Eventually, all humans die.
4. Look at the footnotes. What tortures are endured
in the afterlife by Tantalus and Sisyphus, according
to the old Greek stories? What does the speaker
say that God could explain about those?
Tantalus is condemned to be eternally hungry
and thirsty, with food and drink just out of reach.
Sisyphus is condemned to roll a boulder up a hill
copyright © 2012, Callisto School Publishing. All rights reserved.
2
Voices of the People: Our African-American Heritage
Teacher’s Guide, Grade 9, Level I
Yet Do I Marvel, p. 56
eternally. The speaker says that God could explain
the reason why Tantalus is tortured and whether it
is merely “brute caprice,” or unthinking whim, that
Sisyphus should be treated so.
5. W
hat contradiction is mentioned in the concluding
lines of the poem?
The contradiction is that the same person could be
black (and thus subject to the ubiquitous racism of
Cullen’s day) and impelled to sing (or be joyous).
This statement is probably not meant to be taken
literally. Rather, it is a way of making a statement
that there were, at the time of the writing of the
poem, many reasons for an African American not
to be joyous.
to feel joyous (e.g., like singing).
Writing Practice
Use the Writing Rubric: Argument to assess the
student’s work. This rubric is available at http://
callistoeducation.com/Teacher9.htm.
Speaking and Listening Practice
Craft and Structure
Brainstorm a list of problems and write these on the
board. Number them. Then, for each problem, have
students write down some possible solutions. Then
discuss and list the solutions on the board. Have
students consider the pros and cons of each solution,
bearing in mind that sometimes people’s solutions
are even worse than the problems that they are
trying to solve.
Answers will vary. Possible answers are given.
Example:
Quatrain 1 summary: Doubtless, God is good and
so could explain apparent evils like death and the
blindness of moles.
Problem: Lack of education in the developing world
Quatrain 2 summary: He could also explain the
tortures to which Tantalus and Sisyphus are
subjected.
Possible solution: Inexpensive, donated, solarpowered laptops (See the One Laptop per Child
program at http://one.laptop.org/about/mission),
coupled with free online instruction (See http://
www.khanacademy.org).
Quatrain 3 summary: God’s ways can’t be
understood by a petty human mind, filled with
relatively minor concerns.
Issues with solution: At around $100 apiece,
Final couplet summary: However, I still wonder why
God would make a person black and give him the
urge to create song (poetry).
Answers will vary. Possible answers are given.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Answers will vary. Some may argue that Cullen’s
speaker is being tongue-in-cheek throughout the
poem, that he considers the problem of evil to be
quite real. One thing is certain, however: The speaker
is making quite clear, in the concluding couplet, that
there are reasons for a black person, at his time, not
Language Practice
1. k eep in a particular place
We store supplies in that cabinet.
business that sells merchandise
There’s a video games store on the corner.
2. p
ound or crush with the feet
Stamp on the ashes to make sure that the fire
is out.
copyright © 2012, Callisto School Publishing. All rights reserved.
Voices of the People: Our African-American Heritage
Teacher’s Guide, Grade 9, Level I
Yet Do I Marvel, p. 56
postage
Place the stamp in the upper, right-hand corner
of the envelope
3. t he fat of sea mammals
Whales are kept warm by their blubber.
weep, cry
Don’t blubber about losing the game; doing so
won’t change anything.
4. a person who keeps watch (e.g., a soldier or
official at a checkpoint)
The guard at the door fell asleep while on duty.
a piece of protective equipment
Goalies have to wear shin guards.
5. a person who works secretly to collect and
report on information about an enemy or
competitor
Jill’s great-great-grandmother was a spy in the
Civil War.
catch sight of
At dawn, I spied a horse coming toward us at a
rapid pace.
6. a rticles of little or no value
Let’s not go to that store because they sell only
junk.
a type of flat-bottomed sailing vessel
At the boat show, there was a replica of a
Chinese junk.
7. m
oist
Wipe the surface with a damp cloth.
deaden, or decrease the vibration of
You can damp the string with the palm of your
hand while plucking it in order to produce a
percussive sound.
My love is like a red, red rose.
past tense of to rise, meaning to move or get
up
The sun rose at 7:10 AM.
9. h
aving the nature of or being a deity
The Pharaoh was thought to be divine.
To foretell through or as if through divination
Joe claimed to be able to divine the location of
underground springs.
10. O
ne of the four natural divisions of the year:
spring, summer, autumn, or winter
Spring is the season traditionally associated
with youth.
To improve or enhance the flavor of something
by adding spice
The soup was seasoned with curry powder,
cumin, black salt, and cardamom seeds.
Differentiating the Instruction
Here are some ideas for differentiating your
instruction for the selection:
• Ability with spoken language generally outpaces
reading and writing ability. You may wish to read
aloud part or all of the Prereading and other
study apparatus for the selection to your English
language learners.
• Consider reading part of the selection aloud to
you class and having them then complete the
reading on their own.
• Divide you class into study groups and have each
group choose, with your assistance, a gifted
reader to introduce (and read aloud) each part
of the study apparatus.
8. a type of flower
copyright © 2012, Callisto School Publishing. All rights reserved.
4
Voices of the People: Our African-American Heritage
Teacher’s Guide, Grade 9, Level I
Yet Do I Marvel, p. 56
Additional Resources
Here are some additional resources for teaching the
lesson:
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_evil.
html. An easily accessible overview of this
traditional problem in philosophy and theology.
• “ The Problem of Evil.” Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries
evil/. An in-depth, highly technical philosophical
discussion of major views on the problem of evil.
• “Sisyphus,” from the Encyclopedia of Greek
Mythology. http://www.mythweb.com/encyc/
entries/sisyphus.html.
• “ Tantalus,” from the Encyclopedia of Greek
Mythology. http://www.mythweb.com/encyc/
entries/tantalus.html.
• Carlos Parada and Maicar Forlag, “Tantalus,”
from Greek Mythology Link. http://
ancienthistory.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=
1&sdn=ancienthistory&cdn=education&tm=33&
f=00&su=p284.13.342.ip_&tt=11&bt=0&bts=0&
zu=http%3A//www.maicar.com/GML/Tantalus1.
html.
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