7 minute read

by James Weldon Johnson

LESSON TWENTY

BIBLICAL ALLUSIONS IN “THE CREATION” POEM BY JAMES WELDON JOHNSON

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Lesson Overview

James Weldon Johnson, one of the best known African American poets, wrote “The Creation." The poem was published in Johnson’s poetry collection The Book of American Negro Poetry in 1922. In his poem, "The Creation: A Negro Sermon," the poetic style and diction used by Johnson reflect his awareness of African American culture. This westernized version of the story of Genesis is an indigenous expression of a black sermon. The overall poem is an allusion to the biblical episode of Genesis. An allusion is an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference. This lesson will explore the literary techniques in Johnson’s poem and connect the biblical allusions to the Creation narratives in Genesis, Chapters 1 and 2.

Key Concepts: allusion, stanza, pulpit oratory, alliteration, free verse-, hyperbole, stanza, refrain, repetition, personification, anaphora, rhyming, epistrophe, consonance, synecdoche, simile, situational irony, metonymy, theme, parallelism, figurative versus literal language

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:

• analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work (literary works in Western literature with Creation themes/allusions. • determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text. • determine the meaning of key words and phrases used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone. • analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise. • analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work. • edit writing to correct errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this lesson, students will be able to: • summarize and analyze the literary details of James Weldon Johnson's poem "The Creation" and compare Johnson's poem to the biblical text (Genesis, Chapters 1 & 2). • examine how the author of the poem draws from the Bible to create a unique work.

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Biblical Allusions In “The Creation” Poem By James Weldon Johnson

• recognize literary techniques used in writings, including biblical texts. • edit writing to correct errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.

Duration: 2-3 hours

Materials:

• A computer with editing capability • Internet access • A notebook/pen/pencil • Different translations of the Hebrew Bible (Biblehub.com) (Assigned readings: Genesis,

Chapters 1 & 2) • A pronunciation dictionary (https://howjsay.com) • Video: Genesis 1 - Creation Story - RARE KJV Audio Bible Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynbtg6OuZo0 • An audio version of “The Creation” poem by Johnson (https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-pty-pty_forms&ei=UTF8&hsimp=yhs-pty_forms&hspart=pty&param1=20210503&param2=9766caf4-c28a44ca-9b60-4d4f19b54a71&param3=forms_%7EUS%7Eappfocus1%7E&param4=dccc4-lp0-dsf_forms-cp_12887637018-tst1-bb9%7EChrome%7Eaudio+version+of+the+creation+by+Johnson%7EB85D33B80658 44214F83D8BF914F5AEC%7EWin10&p=audio+version+of+the+creation+by+Johnso n&type=fm_appfocus1_cr-win-%7E202119%7E#id=1&vid=8cf05f65b8c5d4fa51d321bcfc5fe5cb&action=click) • Publication: Poetry Analysis • (https://poemanalysis.com/james-weldon-johnson/the-creation/#Summary)

Procedure:

• Use a dictionary to define the vocabulary terms below. • Write the definitions in your notebook. • Use a pronunciation dictionary to learn how to pronounce the words. Practice repeating the words aloud. • Listen to the audio versions of the selections of Genesis, Chapters 1 & 2 from the Bible, then listen to the audio version of "The Creation" poem by James Weldon Johnson. • Respond to the study questions. • Write the key points in your notebook for future assessments. • Write a reflection on the lesson (5-7 sentences) by sharing at least five of the similarities and differences noted in the poem and the first two chapters of Genesis. • Label the post: A Reflection on James Weldon Johnson's "The Creation" and the Creation

Narratives in Genesis 1 and 2. • Post your response on the discussion board.

Understanding Common Literary Terms

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Directions: Use a dictionary to pronounce and define the literary terms below. Write the words and definitions in your notebook to study for future assessments. Find examples of each term. Post your findings to the discussion board.

1. Stanza2. Repetition3. Personification4. Anaphora5. Rhyming6. Epistrophe7. Consonance8. Synecdoche9. Simile10. Situational Irony11. Chiasm12. Metaphor13. Onomatopoeia-

Study Questions

Directions:

View the video poem analysis of Johnson’s “The Creation” at https://poemanalysis.com/jamesweldon-johnson/the-creation/).

Based on the video presentation, indicate if the following statements (A) CORRECT or (B) INCORRECT. 1. Johnson uses multiple literary devices in this poem to make the story of the creation more appealing to the readers. 2. In the first stanza, the poet uses alliteration in the phrase, “make me. ” 3. A stanza is a group of lines forming the basic recurring metrical unit in a poem, a verse. 4. Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration for the effect. 5. Hyperbole is an overstatement of something. 6. The literary device hyperbole amplifies or embellishes facts. 7. The second stanza of Johnson’s “The Creation” contains a hyperbole in the expression “blacker than a hundred midnights.” 8. “Darkness covered everything” is an example of personification. 9. In the third stanza, the poet uses the literary device anaphora, a rhetorical device that features the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive sentences, phrases, or clauses. 10. Johnson uses anaphora to depict the Creation as a continuing process. 11. The poet uses a metaphor in the expression “a shining ball” to describe the moon.

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Biblical Allusions In “The Creation” Poem By James Weldon Johnson

12. Epistrophe is the repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses or sentences. 13. Johnson uses epistrophe in the following lines: “And the waters above the earth came down, / The cooling waters came down.” 14. Consonance is a figure of speech in which the same consonant sound repeats within a group of words. 15. Johnson uses consonance in the phrase, “green grass sprouted. 16. In the ninth stanza, the poem is replete with repetitions. 17. Irony is a literary device or event in which the way things seem to be is in fact quite different from how they are. 18. In the last line, “And God said: I’m lonely still,” the poet uses situational irony. 19. Simile involves the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid. 20. The line, “Like a mammy bending over her baby” is an example of simile. 21. Simile and metaphor both involve comparisons. 22. Metaphor is an indirect comparison without using the words “like” or “as.” 23. Simile is a direct comparison using the words “like” or “as.” 24. A synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a term for a part of something refers to the whole of something or vice versa. 25. The use of a synecdoche is in the phrase, “lump of clay.” 26. The use of is a simile is in the line, “Like a mammy bending over her baby.” 27. Johnson’s poem is an allusion to the biblical episode of the Genesis Creation narratives. 28. Since this poem is an oratory sermon, the poet utters “amen” twice at the end. 29. The expression “amen” means “so be it” and can express agreement or assent. 30. The use of “amen” in Johnson’s poem is similar to the use of the expression “it was good” in the biblical Creation narratives.

Extended Learning

Directions: Complete the assignment as follows: • Read the articles: “The Breath of Life” by David Demick (https://answersingenesis.org/human-body/the-breath-of-life/). • Read Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, Genesis, Chapter 2 (https://bibleapps.com/ellicott/genesis/2.htm) • Consider the last stanza of Johnson’s poem. The poet focuses on how God blows the “breath of life” into the “lump of clay,” and man becomes “a living soul.” Compare this stanza to Genesis 2:7 (KJV) “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

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For Reflection:

Directions:

Read the article, “The Breath of Life” by David Demick.

(Additional Resource: Article: “Soul-Nephesh” (https://theexplanation.com/soul-nepheshbiblical-hebrew-definition/)

• Point out three facts that the writer makes about the significance of breathing. • Compare the article to Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, Genesis, Chapter 2 (35 paragraphs). • Use credible internet sources to respond. • Document sources by using the MLA or APA formats. • Edit your writing to correct errors. • Post the reflection to the discussion board. • Label the post: A Reflection on “The Breath of Life.” • Follow writing guidelines at: Learn to Write a First Class Essay (https://www.researchprospect.com/essay-writing-guidelines/).

A Closing Thought:

“If we don’t have a proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in rights for anybody except the State!”

– Harry Truman, Thirty third President

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