McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson LXXII · Part 8: Webster, Evangeline and the poets of death and toil

78. The Church Scene from Evangeline (H. W. Longfellow)

Goal: Your student can tell what happens to the men of Grand-Pré in the church and why, and can read the long lines of the poem smoothly.

⏱ About 40 minutes · 7 steps

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You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • A notebook and pen
  • A dictionary

What's in the book

A passage from Longfellow's Evangeline: the men of Grand-Pré gather in their church and hear that they are to be sent away from their homes. A note at the end explains the history of Nova Scotia and the Acadians.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Words and meanings

    Look over the notes and definitions printed at the end of the lesson before you start, so names and hard words don't trip up the reading.

    Read the note at the end first. It explains that Nova Scotia was settled by the French and given to the English in 1713. When the people would not swear allegiance or fight their own countrymen, the English sent them away in 1755 and burned their villages. The poem tells this story through the men of Grand-Pré, gathered in the church.

    Your student picks three unfamiliar words, guesses each meaning from the sentence, then checks a dictionary.

  2. About the author

    The book's note covers Longfellow's birth in Portland, Maine, his teaching at Bowdoin and Harvard, his years in Europe, his later life in Cambridge, and says Evangeline was published in 1847. It says Longfellow's poetry is always elegant and chaste.

  3. Read aloud

    The lines are long and roll like waves (this meter is called hexameter). Read the first ten lines aloud slowly so your student can hear the rhythm, then take turns.

    Listen for these lines:

    So passed the morning away. And lo! with a summons sonorous

    Sounded the bell from its tower, and over the meadows a drum beat.

  4. Talk about it

    SayWhile the men are in the church, what are the women doing outside in the churchyard?

    SayWho marches into the church? How does the poet make it feel threatening?

    SayHow do the men react when they hear the news? Find the comparison to an animal or a storm.

    SayWhy might the poet have set this scene in a church, of all places?

  5. Narration

    Your student retells the scene as if they were one of the farmers in the church, from the bell in the morning to the news.

  6. Memorize or copy

    Copy these opening lines carefully, keeping the capital letters at the start of each line:

    So passed the morning away. And lo! with a summons sonorous

    Sounded the bell from its tower, and over the meadows a drum beat.

  7. Writing (optional)

    Write a short diary entry by one of the women waiting outside the church that morning.

Tip

If the hexameter feels heavy, have your student tap the beats lightly on the table while you read.

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