Freeing Poetry from Its Bad Reputation

           It seems that every time I am in a literature class and the teacher announces that we will be doing poetry, not only do the students seem to cringe at the thought, but the teacher as well. Students seem to want to run away from poems because the answer of what it is about is not plain to see. I personally love analyzing poetry because I can appreciate a writer more when they create a clever puzzle with their words.

High school English teacher Nancy Barile understands the fear that students can have when approaching the unknown rhelms of poetry. She created a thought out introduction to poetry that shows students how interesting it can be to figure out each lines meaning. She starts with Sylvia Plath's "Metaphors", then John Donne's "Computations", moving onto Emily Dickinson's "It sifts from Leaden Sieves" until finally she finishes up with Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress".

For the first three poems she guides the class through the poem and makes them contemplate how title coincides with the lines of the poem. For the last poem she had the class break off into groups and write one sentence for each stanza that sums up what the speaker is say. Her class responded really well to the approach and even reading through her explanation made me want to raise my hand and answer her questions. Until I realized I am staring at a computer screen.

I will definitely try this approach when I am finally teaching my own English class. The lesson provides a comfort starting level for students who have no experience with poetry. The teacher does not have false expectations for the class and the students are encouraged to just go with their first instinct in analyzing the poem. Once students realize how cleverly a writer can express a thought without flat out saying it, I believe this inspires students to read more poetry. Once the intimidation that poetry often produces is proven to be unnecessary, more students will be open to learning how to analyze poetry.

Website used: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/classroom_solutions/2011/03/get-ready-for-national-poetry-month