Emergence

Essential Questions: What is symbolism, and why do writers use symbolism? How do we grow and change throughout our lives? Why do we sometimes keep parts of ourselves hidden?

Let students know they are about to read a poem that contains symbolism. As a class, review the definition of this type of figurative language, perhaps making reference to any novels or poems containing symbolism that you have studied in class. You might offer this definition: A symbol is something that stands for something else. A symbol can be anything—an object, an image, an idea, an animal, a color, a person, or a place, for example. A writer does not directly tell the reader what a symbol represents; instead, the reader must infer what it represents. Symbols often stand for complex or abstract ideas, like forgiveness and change, for example. The use of symbols is called symbolism.

As a class, listen to the audio read-aloud of the poem, in which poet Jennifer Dignan reads her work for your students. The audio read-aloud is located in the Resources tab in Teacher View and at the top of the story page in Student View.


For a second read, invite students to read the poem silently to themselves. Then discuss the following questions as a class.

Note that for clarity, we refer to the speaker of the poem as “she,” but the speaker is not necessarily female.

1. In line 1, the speaker refers to a door in her chest. In line 7, she refers to “the cage of my ribs.” What idea is the speaker expressing when she talks about her body this way? (Think about the purpose of a cage.) In describing her chest or torso as though it were a cage, the speaker is expressing the idea that something inside her has been held back, confined, contained, repressed—in other words, kept from being expressed or acted upon.

2. Note the words and phrases the poet uses in the second stanza to describe the butterflies: “brilliant,” “shimmering,” “rushing out,” and “stirring the air.” What feelings or images do these words and phrases create? Students might offer that the words and phrases help create a sense of energy, excitement, change, action, activity, wonder, brilliance, and beauty.

3. The poet describes the butterflies as having “flower petal wings.” What does this metaphor tell you about the butterflies’ wings? The comparison to flower petals tells you that the butterflies’ wings are delicate and colorful.

4. What are some words or phrases in the poem that help develop a sense of urgency—that contribute to the idea that the butterflies have been yearning to escape and are eager and excited to be set free? The phrases “rushing out,” “waiting for so long,” and “ready to take flight” help develop a sense of urgency.

5. What do you think the butterflies are a symbol of? Answers will vary. The butterflies are certainly a symbol of something inside the speaker that she’s been holding back, hiding, suppressing, or ignoring and that she is now ready to let out—but exactly what that might be is not specified and open to interpretation. The butterflies could be a symbol of an emotion the speaker is ready to express, a desire she is ready to act on, something about herself that she is no longer going to hide, a change she is ready to make, or a dream she is going to pursue. Put another way, the butterflies are a symbol of self-expression or self-realization.

6. Why might the poet have chosen the title “Emergence” for this poem? Emergence is the act of emerging: becoming known or apparent; moving out of something and coming into view. On a literal level, the poem describes butterflies emerging from the speaker’s body; on a symbolic level, the poem is about some aspect or desire of the speaker moving from the internal to the external—in other words, becoming apparent to all.

Have students use the Writing Planner to help them respond to the prompt that follows the poem:

What is waiting inside you to take flight? Your response can be in the form of a poem or an artwork.