Lesson Report:
**Title: Multilingual Poetry Translation and Interpretation**
**Synopsis:**
In this session, students engaged in a complex process of poetry interpretation and translation across various languages, focusing on the underlying essence and emotional core of the texts. The objectives were to enhance interpretive skills, foster creativity in translation, and promote cross-cultural understanding by having students adapt and transform poems through multiple linguistic lenses.
**Attendance:**
– One student mentioned absent (name not specified).
**Topics Covered:**
1. **Introduction to Poetry Activity**
– Students paired up based on assigned language groups, tasked with bringing a poem from the assigned language.
– Recitation and reading exercise: Partners exchanged poems, focusing on understanding the poem’s soul and essence beyond a literal translation.
2. **Translation Exercise: First Round**
– Students translated their partner’s poem into English, encouraged to adapt freely while preserving the original poem’s core essence.
– Emphasis on creativity: Allowed to change words, order, and presentation, mirroring previous exercises with catalyst poems.
3. **Cross-Group Interpretation**
– Students exchanged notebooks with someone outside their language pair.
– Focus solely on the English translation, analyze the essence and meaning without referring to the original text.
4. **Translation Exercise: Second Round**
– Further exchange of notebooks, returning to original language group.
– Tasked with translating the new poem (written by partner) into English without prior context, reinforcing the focus on capturing the poem’s soul.
5. **Break**
– Students instructed to take a break before concluding activity, marking the halfway point of the translation exercises.
**Actionable Items:**
– **Post-Class Reflection (Urgent):**
– Encourage students to write a reflection on their translation process, focusing on challenges and insights into cross-cultural poetic expression.
– **Additional Support (If Needed):**
– Consider providing resources or workshops for students struggling with the concept of retaining the poem’s essence versus literal translation.
– **Next Lesson Preparation:**
– Prepare a summary of this lesson’s translation exercises to discuss outcomes and learning points in the next class session.
Homework Instructions:
NO HOMEWORK. The transcript only describes in-class activities involving poem translation and exchange, but makes no mention of an assignment to be completed outside of class time.