Honestly, I learned nothing from the writing about poetry assignment that I can use. When I was in grade school, poetry and drama were both still common subjects. I've been writing about poetry since I was a child. I enjoy it. The dissection of a poem appeals to my analytical side. I love puzzles and I love words. Poems are word puzzles. I love seeking out patterns and hidden meanings and, in the process thereof, learning something that I may not have known about the poet and/or myself.
I did learn something by the poetry writing assignments. I had never written a found poem. It was a lot of fun. Instead of using my own words, I got to twist other people's words to express my meaning. That being said, I hate having limits put on me when I'm creating. I spent many years after high school enjoying poetic license. If I'm creating something, I expect the form thereof to be entirely up to me. Being told exactly what or how to write is, for me, intellectually akin to being put in a cage.
As a teacher of students who will probably not be as friendly with creative writing, the exercises we did may prove to be quite useful. Children who are especially wary of writing poetry may feel empowered and encouraged by the idea of producing a found poem. It may prove to be a very helpful first step in getting them to write poetry.
As for the performances, they were great. Poetry is meant to be performed, or at least, read aloud. It relies greatly on rhythm, rhyme, and tone. No poem can be fully understood until heard. Concrete poems need to be seen in addition to, but not in lieu of, being heard. Even my own poem had more meaning for me once I heard it spoken aloud (as opposed to being spoken silently). A couple of the poems changed for me almost completely after having heard them being performed by the poets. My future students will probably prefer death to reading their own poetry in front of their classmates. Again, maybe the found poems will get the ball rolling.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Molly Rose
How cute is this?
Just a Thought
"I hope that someday we will be able to put away our fears and prejudices and just laugh at people." ~Jack Handy
Facts of Life
My weight is perfect for my height...which varies. ~Steven Wright
Teardrop
warm, wet, rolling down
a soft, silent eruption
of raw emotion
a soft, silent eruption
of raw emotion
About Me
- Deb G.
- I'm a cradle-Catholic Mormon with Jewish tendencies, which probably explains my interest in, and my openness to, various religious theories.
My new baby
Molly Rose
Things of interest
How cute is this?
5 comments:
I'm a little confused. You start off by saying you learned nothing from the assignment that you can use. Then you start the next paragraph with "I did learn something by the poetry writing assignments." You go on to explain what you learned, and discuss how you could use it in the classroom. Did your opinion of the assignment change as you were composing your post, or did the paragraphs refer to separate subjects?
You also say your students would probably "prefer death to reading their own poetry in front of their classmates." I think a lot of the students in our class felt just as unwilling to participate as high school students would be - but once they were up in front of the audience and they knew the classroom was a safe place to express themselves. I think most high school kids, if placed in a positive environment like we had, would enjoy the experience.
I am one of those students who found the found poem liberating. Being able to take someone else's words and splice them together was so much easier for me than writing my own words. I think it is a great step toward getting people moving and thinking about poetry, even if they have this great fear of writing it (which I do!). When I was writing my wrecking poem, I stared at the blank page for a long, long time, but when we got the found poem assignment I immediately had ideas on what I wanted to search for. When I teach a poetry unit, I'll most likely use found poetry as a tool.
I agree about the performances, as for me that was the best part of the experience. Being able to see people get up there and put emphasis where they wish it, and feeling where they meant it to be enhanced each poem. I was nervous as all hell, but the classroom atmosphere allowed me to work that out. I think that might be key, the creating of a classroom where students feel safe getting up and reading their poetry.
Poetic forms can be a bit constricting but I think that for people who are not used to writing poetry, or anything creative for that matter, that forms can be usefull to kind of get the ball rolling. In a way it forces on the author another kind of creativity. They must be creative within certain limits. This makes them create something that is different but not necessarily worse than what they would create left completely to their own devices.
I agree with you though about the presentations. They were awesome and they really bring the poetry to life. But, a bunch of high school kids are going to much less inclined to do it than we were I think.
I find it interesting that you would think that students would preffer death to reading their poems outloud just becuase your are already assming that the majority think alike. From what i have noticed, students actually enjoy reading their poems outloud but sometimes they do need a little bit of a push to get them to do so. I agree, with the found poem getting the ball rolling but maybe if u didnt jump to assume that students dislike it, you might be more open to having assigments that involve the studenst performing poems or any other assigments.
Deborah, I also think that getting students to write poetry is the key lead into getting them to write about poetry. That is how I began to understand to write about poetry. Analyzing poetry seems really tedious and unnecessary, when you have not had the chance to dabble in it yourself. It opens up a sensitivity for poetry that is not there if you haven’t written a poem before.
I do think however that teens might get the two mixed up though. These two writing types are completely different and might confuse the average high school student. They might get caught up in the belief that they are looking for emotions rather than underlying connections and language play.
I think that when I teach poetry, I will be careful to make that distinction clear. Having the student write a poem or a couple is some thing that could make writing about poetry a little more personal for a student though. I can definitely see myself using both the Found Poem and Wrecking the First Person on my agenda for poetry.
Norma
Post a Comment