Reading and Writing the Sijo ( Lesson developed by Tracy Kaminer , World Literature Teacher
Marist School , Atlanta , GA )
Extensive information ( a Power Point lecture , videos , teacher guides , famous examples of sijo over time and examples of student work ) on sijo and short stories is available on the Sejong Cultural Society ’ s website : www . sejongculturalsociety . org . org . . The website also includes information on an outstanding annual essay and poetry contest . Part 1 :
Introduction : What follows is a suggested guideline for teaching sijo in a language arts classroom . The approach is created for students in grades 9-12 but can be modified for 7 th and 8 th grade students as well . The material is intended to provide three days of teaching about sijo in a 55-minute class . The background material can be a day in itself if you take the time to discuss the Korean Wave and spend more time on the Korean history timeline . Day 2 could be the introduction to sijo itself concluding with the 10-minute sijo . Day 3 could be the sharing of the sijo created for homework . The teaching objectives are to introduce Korean culture through a form of poetry particular to Korea , to read and understand some important sijo in their cultural context , and to understand and practice writing the sijo . Materials used for this lesson plan come
Early Korean Literature by David McCann , Columbia UP , 2000 ; The Bamboo Grove : An introduction to Sijo by Richard Rutt ( U of Michigan P , 1998 ) and “ The Sijo , a Re-Versible Door into Korean Culture ,” from Education About Asia ( Spring 2010 ) published by the Association for Asian Studies .
CHAPTER 3 LITERATURE
Creating Interest : Before introducing students to a 15 th century form of poetry written in Korea , introduce them to an aspect of Korean popular culture . If you have the means to do it , show them the “ Super Girl ” music video by Korean boy band Super Junior M or “ I Want You Back ” by the girl band Secret or “ Gangnam Style ” by Psy . You can find the videos on youtube . com . Why is this relevant ? Students may be interested in knowing about the Korean Wave , which refers to the successful exporting of Korean culture since the 1990s . The impact of Korean culture , particularly in Asia , stems in part from the exporting of Korean soap operas and films .
See the following articles for more information : http http :// :// www en . wikipedia . asiamedia . org . ucla / wiki . edu / Korean / article _ wave . asp ? parentid = 86640 http :// en . wikipedia . org / wiki / Korean _ wave
Quick Look at Korean History : Hand out a chronology of Korean history . It is important for students to recognize the deep history that Korea has . While students may be familiar with a few of the dates in modern history , such as those pertaining to the Korean War or Japanese occupation , they may know nothing about the famous Silla ( Shilla ) Dynasty , known for artistic and cultural development , or the Choson Dynasty under King Sejong . Point out that King Sejong was known as an inventor and among his achievements was the creation of the Korean alphabet , called Hangul . For more information on King Sejong , see the following article : http :// www . asiasociety . org http / countries-history :// asiasociety . org / traditions education / king-sejong-great . The development of the Korean alphabet and language were important for Koreans whose formal communication and written history had been conducted in Chinese . According to David McCann , even though Chinese continued to be the dominant form of written communication in Korea until the 19 th century , “ an opposing Korean character and spirit kept trying to assert itself ,” because of the development of Hangul . Important to the development of poetry in Korea was the state examination system . As in China , all educated men were trained in literature and composition as they prepared for the examinations that
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