JOYFUL NOISE

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fleischman, Paul. 1988. JOYFUL NOISE: POEMS FOR TWO VOICES. Ill. by Eric Beddows. New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 9780060218522.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Joyful Noise is the perfect book for performance poetry. In fact, Fleischmann designed it for performance, including an author’s note at the front with directions for the readers:

The following poems were written to be read aloud by two readers at once, one taking the left-hand part, the other taking the right-hand part. The poems should be read from top to bottom, the two parts meshing as in a musical duet. When both readers have lines at the same horizontal level, those lines are to be spoken simultaneously.

The poems are connected through the theme of nature and written with the voices of its various insect players, like the honeybee and the mayfly. The information presented is scientifically valuable, yet playful in presentation. 

As poetry of two voices, the reader is challenged to imagine two different voices as they read each poem. The text is accessible, so the readers are free to find the dichotomy of rhythmn between each column, left vs. right. For reader’s who miss Fleischmann’s author’s note, it might be more challenging. For this book, the author’s note truly helps.

These poems would be well paired with nonfiction text about insects. The sensory images are rich, as in these lines from The Digger Wasp:

To climb up from their cells

And break the burrow’s seal

And fly away

SPOTLIGHT POEM AND LESSON

This lesson is appropriate for both elementary and middle school, particularly through to 7th grade. It uses the poem Honeybees on page 29.

Honeybees

(excerpt only -- use entire poem for lesson)

Being a bee Being a bee

                                                    Is a joy

Is a pain.

                                                    I’m a queen

I’m a worker

I’ll gladly explain. I’ll gladly explain.

Invite two students to perform the entire poem in two voices, or create a poetry movie beforehand to share with students.

After reading the poem, invite kids to share their feelings about the poem’s two voices, i.e. The worker vs. The queen. Kids will note the inherent unfairness of the dual roles. Invite students to share times when they viewed the same situation differently from another person.