Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Comparing and Contrasting Analyzing and Writing Poetry [Homework Week 7]
I thought writing about poetry was very different from writing my own poetry. Writing about poetry requires a greater understanding of poetic structures like theme, plot, genre, rhyme schemes, and more. Although analyzing the poetry for our last assignment was challenging, it was helpful in preparing me to write my own poetry. Because I had to look deeply into a classic poem, I felt like I could use what I saw in that poem to model what I wrote in my own poetry. I think doing these two separate assignments was useful because the assignments helped me understand that these two writing strategies are completely different. It seems that some students may prefer one of these formats over the other because they involve different faculties. In addition, I think assigning students to write about poetry before writing actual poetry would be useful to the students. In other words, it seems that assigning students to write about classic poetry is helpful in preparing them to write their own poetry because it allows them to look closely at a successful poem and take into account specific structures that they might use in their own poetry.
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It was very interesting to see that you felt that by looking "looking deeply into a classic poem", that act helped you to better write your own. While I am no scholar of the history of education, that pattern seems exactly what the Classical school of education was all about: reading what was deemed "classic" works of art from the masters of the "classical age" and mimic them as best as possible. Though these teachers and schools were apparantly brutal, there does seem to be a definate benefit to the rhyme and reason to this method, for if an exalted example is revealed and enjoyed,why not mimic it!
ReplyDeleteDon't they do the same in Hollywood? One style of movie becomes famous, and then that's the new trend till folks become bored with it and a new "school" or trend emerges.
I will also agree that some students "prefer one of these formats over the other ...." I only hope that is not because, as Pope alluded to, poor poets become disgruntled critics!
I wonder if there isn't some kind of odd psycology going on there. A student tries to mimic the masters, isn't so good, get's teased by his/her fellow students and takes revenge by becoming a critic and challenging all works of art, finding fault instead of praise...hmmm. But I go astray. Or do I. Should we as teachers foster the budding poet who obviously is booring the reader? Is that building a false sense of esteem? Still, whose to know who will be the next big author or poet or script writer etc.? Not me! Just some food for thought, I guess.
Nice to have you in the class and to meet you before you go galavanting to some other part of the world!
good luck,
MLC
Hey Luisa,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your response to my post, I was flattered, so thank you for that. I'd also like to say that you shouldn't sell yourself short because you're a tremendous talent. You seem to have an intense focus on what you're doing, which may be difficult to do because you also have a wrestless spirit, yet a subdued work-environment nature. And your package is yet to be complete because you'll only get better, which is scary, but in a good way.
I think that most of us feel the same way when it comes to writing and writing about poetry; we simply use the words we feel appropriate concerning whatever topic is at hand. So now that we know you make a great deal of sense in the present---imagine yourself a few years down the road. That's what I mean by scary-good!
I also read your WebCT post and I must admit that I'm impressed. When I have more time I'll go back and give it a second look. Keep doing what you're doing; it suits you well.
Chuck
I agree with you about the role of writing about poetry being an integral part to writing your own poetry. Personally, if I had not been assigned the poetry analysis paper in our class, I would have been much less prepared and far less confident for writing my own poetry.
ReplyDeleteIt’s definitely a more effective teaching method to introduce a wide variety of poetic forms and styles before assigning poetry. I remember when I was first introduced the concept of poetry in grade school. My teacher gave us very minimal guidelines about how to write poetry and only gave us an example of the simplest type of poetry to model after. I was so lost and frustrated and could not understand the style of it and it was discouraging for me. I think that experience may be why I hate reading and writing about poetry.
However, your strategy would be much more effective because if your students understood how flexible and liberating poetry can be after being exposed to the wide variety of forms and styles that it comes in, they could have a lot of fun with its potential for creativity.