Loading StandardsPlacing images next to each other is a common poetic technique that invites the reader to infer what their differences and similarities suggest about the characters in the poem, or about the ideas these characters have. In Billy Collins's "The Lanyard," a speaker remembers a small gift he made for his mother in summer camp. To the adult speaker, the lanyard seems a puny gift in comparison to the love he received from her. However, through a series of clever, humorous comparisons—Collins is known for his funny, ironic poems—the reader realizes that giving his gift was indeed a heartfelt gesture, however inadequate, much like the writing of a poem that commemorates a mother's love.
When exploring this poem, first help your students understand its basic plot—the characters, the situation, the series of ideas it records, then the irony of its ending, and, finally, how comparison, humor, and irony are used to keep the poet's message of love from lapsing into a cliché (or, in the poem's words, a "worn truth") about childhood or parental love.
1. Explain that the class is about to read a poem about someone remembering a gift he made for his mother, and that like most poems, this one is going to feature a series of different moods and ideas as the memory unfolds. Play up the poem's humor by explaining what it is about (define the terms lanyard and ricochet) and hold up or show a picture of a lanyard. Read the poem aloud or ask a volunteer to read the poem aloud and show the lanyard when it is first mentioned in the poem. As students hear the poem, they should try to follow its story and get a sense of the speaker's shifting feelings.
2. As the poem is read, note whether students respond with appropriate laughter. If so, ask what inspired their laughter. (The speaker's feeling that his gift was silly? The descriptions of making the lanyard?) (Note: These observations may alert students to the idea that his gift is meager in comparison to his mother's gifts.) Think about how the poem is read in relation to Collins's reading in the video segment. When and why does each audience laugh?
3. Clarify any questions about vocabulary or the basic narrative of the poem.
4. Begin a more detailed analysis by explaining, "One way to understand a poem better is to break it down into its various parts or sections, so let's do that." Then, to help them see the three sections of the poem—the speaker as an adult looking for inspiration, the speaker as a child making the lanyard, the speaker as an adult again thinking about the significance of the lanyard—ask these questions:
5. Now students have identified the basic structure of the poem. Point out that each section of the poem does different things, and that they're going to look more closely to get a better understanding of what each one is doing, and what they all add up to.
6. Distribute "The Lanyard" worksheet. (Note: This worksheet can be completed individually, in pairs, in groups, and in groups by section of the poem.) Explain that students will be examining the sections of the poem more closely and comparing images and ideas within these sections in order to get a better understanding of how the poem shifts and develops from beginning to middle to end.
7. As students share answers, they should be able to ground their conclusions in images and ideas that are readily observable in the poem. Test these conclusions by asking them to identify the specific lines or phrases that demonstrate their points.
8. See if students were able to identify any tone shifts within the sections they examined closely. (If needed, explain that tone helps one understand the speaker's, as well as the poet's, point of view, but shifts in tone are especially useful to note when working to understand how the poem's ideas develop. Note that there is a useful tone-vocabulary list, "Terms for Tones," available for download at the Poetry Foundation.
9. As students share ideas, create or have students create compare/contrast charts for each section. These should compare/contrast each section with the ones before or after it, and also look within the individual sections. (For example, section I mentions "blue walls" and moving "as if underwater," while section II mentions "a deep Adirondack lake," which repeats and varies those images; section I mentions the word "lanyard" and in section II we get the thing itself. Within sections, section I subtly compares the typewriter and piano, bookshelf and envelope, and dictionary; section II compares the lanyard to the mother's gift; and section III compares the lanyard to the poem now being written.) These comparisons and contrasts should help students develop their understanding of the speaker's feelings about himself, his mother, and the making of the lanyard (and the poem!). They will also train students to pay attention to repetition and variation, which is a crucial structural device used by poems, novels, plays, and even many essays.
10. Prior to watching the video, ask students to identify moments that the audience might react to in the poem. (The repetition of the word "lanyard," etc.)
11. After watching, ask students if the reading "fit" their interpretation of the speaker’s tones and character? Did they hear the three sections of the poem? How did the reader's presentation make each section distinct, if it did?
12. Were they surprised by when or how loudly the audience laughed? How did the audience seem to respond to the end of the poem? How did Collins use humor, earlier, to set up their final response?
13. Were students surprised by the large audience watching Collins read? Did this affect the feel of the reading?
14. How did Collins deliver the ironic moments in his poem? How did his reading of the (humorous) ironic moments in the middle section contrast with the (more serious) irony of the final lines?
15. Ask students if they have ever made a lanyard. Has it been saved? Why or why not? Which of their gifts have been saved? Why?
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