The character talked about in E. A. Robinson's poem, Richard Cory, is about a man with everything, a man that everyone wants to be like, a man who ends his own life without explanation. Singers Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, intrigued by the poem, wrote their own version of it and, thusly, created a song with the same title: Richard Cory (a link to the lyrics is provided). In this lesson plan, students will be--first--reading the poem, then comparing the poem to the song, and finally creating an interpretation inspired by both versions.