This class helps students make connections between collage in art, music and literature. Students begin by examining how Kerry James Marshall uses collage to bring together disparate visual elements from history, memory and imagination in “Watts 1963.� Next, they see how contemporary musicians create “sound collages� by sampling riffs from old songs. An interactive exercise allows students to create their own poetic collages. While students perform selections from Seeing & Writing, other students generate lists of “found words.� By the end of the exercise, students have unique lists, from which they are asked to create new poems. I have written this lesson plan with college students in mind, although it could be adapted to other ages as well. 1. Looking Closely at Kerry James Marshall’s “Watts 1963� (10 minutes). Begin class by examining at Kerry James Marshall’s “Watts 1963.� What elements appear to come from Marshall’s memory? From his imagination? From his desire to be accurate about this time and place? How does Marshall’s use of collage bring these elements together? Does it feel like a unified work? 2. Sampling in Music (15-20 minutes). Next extend the idea of collage to music. Students are probably familiar with the term “sampling� or using riffs from older songs. In popular music today, there are countless examples of this type of sampling, and it works well to bring in a few audio samples to play. Here are a few examples: “Good Times� by Chic and “Rapper’s Delight� by The Sugarhill Gang; “Under Pressure� by Queen/David Bowie and “Ice Ice Baby� by Vanilla Ice; “Let’s Get it On� by Marvin Gaye and “�Mr. Boombastic� by Shaggy; “Every Breath You Take� by The Police and “I’ll be Missing you� by Puff Daddy; “Thank You� by Dido and “Stan� by Eminen. Students will also be able to provide examples on their own. Questions to Discuss: What is the difference between legal sampling and illegal copying? If you were a musician, would you feel exploited or honored if another musician sampled your work? 3. Interactive Performance Exercise (20-25 minutes). Pick four students to perform. For each student, assign one of the following (which can easily be found in S&W): a poem or short story, an essay, a chapter introduction, and the glossary. Tell the performers that, when directed by you, they will simultaneously begin reading their chosen selections out-loud. They should keep reading until you direct them to stop (after about a minute). They should try their best to read loud enough be heard by the listening students. Listening students should try to listen carefully to all performers and write down a list of as many words as they can. It is, of course, impossible to write down all the words they hear! That’s okay. Emphasize to listening students that they should just write down single words, not entire sentences. Repeat the performance 3-4 times, making sure all students have opportunities to both perform and listen. Ask students to circle 15-20 of the most descriptive, interesting, and diverse words on their lists. They should make sure to have a variety of word types – proper names, nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc. When they are finished with their lists, ask students to compare. What words do they share? What words were most memorable? Point out to students that their lists are unique, depending on such factors as whether they were performing, who they could hear best, and what content they were interested in. 4. Writing Exercise (20-30 minutes). This can be done at home or, if time permits, at the end of class. Ask students to write a poem using the words on their lists. They may write about anything they want and add any words they want, but every line of their poem must contain at least two words from their original word lists. Invite students to share their poems with each other. Make sure to point out that even though students began with the same material, their poems are unique and reflective of their individual point of view, background, style, and creativity.