Douglas Olsen
Teaching poetry to university students can be challenging, as it requires engaging students with complex material and encouraging them to develop their critical thinking skills. Professors can help students overcome these challenges and develop a lifelong appreciation for poetry by selecting a diverse range of poems, fostering an environment of discovery, and encouraging students to form their own interpretations. Additionally, providing real-world applications for poetry, such as through publications or performances, can enhance student engagement and foster a deeper understanding of the art form. Ultimately, the goal is to empower students to connect with poetry, discover their favourite poets, and develop their analytical and creative skills.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Teachers should enjoy reading poetry | Teachers should seek to discover poems they admire and teach them to students |
| Teachers should be patient and perseverant | Teachers should help students overcome challenges and increase their patience with poems |
| Teachers should be confident | Teachers should have clear teaching targets |
| Teachers should be aware of the impact of the absence of certain elements in a text | Students gain experience that can prepare them for similar thought processes when analyzing discursive prose in other subjects |
| Teachers should encourage acts of discovery | Students can more easily connect to various styles of poetry, find meaning, and enjoy reading poems |
| Teachers should encourage students to share their interpretations | It's okay for students to say they don't know what a poem means, but they should share what they think it means |
| Teachers should encourage students to write poems | Students can write poems in response to their favorite poems, news stories, songs, TV shows, or artworks |
| Teachers should encourage students to discuss several works by a specific poet by comparing and contrasting them | Students can discuss a chosen poem in poetry clubs |
| Teachers should encourage students to perform and read their work for an audience | Students can perform poems by memorizing and acting them out |
| Teachers should encourage students to study a particular genre or school of poetry | Students can study genres such as the Harlem Renaissance or Romanticism |
| Teachers should encourage students to diversify their anthology of poems | Teachers should consider a global map of poets from many places and teach female poets |
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What You'll Learn
Focus on discovery to help students connect to the content
Teaching poetry to university students can be challenging, especially when it comes to helping them connect with the content. Here are some strategies to focus on discovery and facilitate meaningful engagement with poetry:
Encourage Active Participation
Instead of a traditional lecture format, consider a seminar-style class where students actively participate in the discussion. Assign a variety of poems, and at the start of each class, randomly select a student to choose a poem from the list and read it aloud. This approach ensures that at least one student has a personal connection to the poem, making the discussion more engaging and interactive.
Foster a Sense of Discovery
Encourage students to discover their own interpretations of the poems. While discussing the poet's intentions is valuable, it's also important for students to share their unique perspectives, even if they are unsure of the "correct" meaning. This sense of discovery can extend beyond the poem's meaning to include exploration of poetic devices, cultural allusions, and historical contexts.
Embrace Diverse Poets and Poetry Styles
Expose students to a diverse range of poets and poetry styles, including female poets, poets of colour, and living poets. By pairing contemporary and classic poems, such as Willie Perdomo's "Where I'm From" and Carl Sandburg's "Chicago", students can discover the richness and variety of poetic expression across different eras and perspectives.
Integrate Creative Exercises
Incorporate creative exercises into your lessons to make poetry more accessible and enjoyable. For example, provide students with a list of words and ask them to create their own poems. Alternatively, have them write poems in response to their favourite poems, news stories, songs, or artworks. These exercises can spark creativity and help students connect with the content on a deeper level.
Facilitate Collaborative Learning
Create opportunities for collaborative learning and discussion. For example, pair students up and ask them to compare and contrast several works by the same poet. Alternatively, organise poetry workshops where students share and discuss each other's work. Collaborative learning can foster a sense of community and help students discover new interpretations and insights.
By focusing on discovery and utilising these strategies, you can help university students connect with the content and develop a deeper appreciation for poetry.
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Teach students to find meaning and their own interpretation
Teaching poetry to university students can be challenging, but also rewarding. Students often find poetry difficult, especially when it comes to interpretation and analysis. However, poetry offers a unique opportunity for students to develop their critical thinking skills and discover new ways of seeing the world. Here are some strategies to help teach students to find their own meaning and interpretation of poems:
Encourage Individual Interpretation
Allow students to form their own interpretations of the poem. Emphasize that there is no single correct interpretation and that their perspective, point of view, and personal connection to the poem are all valid. This approach encourages critical thinking and a deeper engagement with the text. It is okay for students to say they don't know what the poem means, but they should be encouraged to share their thoughts and feelings about it.
Scaffolding and Mini-Lessons
Break down the poem into manageable chunks to avoid overwhelming students. Teaching the elements of poetry through mini-lessons or a step-by-step sequence can help students feel successful and build their confidence. Start with simple concepts and gradually introduce more complex ideas. This approach ensures that students understand each component before moving on to the next, making the analysis less daunting.
Sensory Language and Imagery
Imagery is a powerful tool in poetry, and students can benefit from exploring sensory language. Encourage students to connect with the poet's use of imagery by engaging their senses of touch, sight, smell, taste, and hearing. This can be done through sensory stations or interactive activities. By tuning into the sensory aspects of poetry, students can better understand the poet's message and make their own interpretations.
Understanding the Speaker
Teaching students about the speaker in a poem is crucial for interpreting its meaning. The speaker is the voice behind the poem and can be the poet or a fictional character. By analyzing the speaker's tone and point of view, students can gain insight into the emotions, motivations, and experiences expressed. This helps them reflect on how the poem relates to their own lives or wider reading.
Guiding Questions and Themes
Use guiding questions and themes to facilitate discussion and reflection. Encourage students to construct their own themes and essential questions after reading the poem. This approach allows them to explore the poem's relevance to their own lives and make personal connections. Discussing themes such as change, death, or other universal topics can spark meaningful conversations and help students find their own interpretations.
By employing these strategies, you can create an engaging and inclusive environment for teaching poetry to university students. Remember that interpretation is a journey, and by providing students with the tools and space to explore, you will empower them to discover their own meanings within the poems they read.
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Diversify the anthology of poems with contemporary and old school poets
When teaching poetry to university students, it is important to diversify the anthology with contemporary and old-school poets. Textbooks and anthologies are great resources, but they may not always be diverse or tailored to your students. Here are some ways to diversify the curriculum:
Firstly, do not confine yourself to contemporary writers. Include poets from different eras, such as the eighteenth century, the Renaissance, and the American Renaissance. While you may not want to put these older poets first, they are essential for providing a well-rounded education.
Secondly, encourage student participation by letting them pick poems they like. This can be done by assigning more poems than you can discuss and having students choose which ones they want to read and analyse in class. This approach ensures that at least one student has committed to and tentatively claimed to liking that poem, fostering a sense of agency and engagement.
Thirdly, embrace diversity by using your textbook as a starting point but not the only source. Familiarise yourself with new poetry by reading widely and keeping a list of poems that would be good classroom material. Organisations like Poets.org and Poetry Foundation provide "poem-a-day" programs that can be a great way to discover new poetry. Additionally, your students can be a valuable source of diverse poems, as they may bring suggestions or stumble upon new material through their internet searches.
Lastly, consider teaching students to create their own poetry anthologies. Literary scholars like Ed Simon and Kenneth Warren advocate for this approach, empowering students to curate their collections and add their creative work. This method helps students understand the power and problems of curation and frees them from taking the editor's opinions as conclusions.
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Encourage students to write their own poems and publish them
Encouraging students to write and publish their poems can be a rewarding endeavour for both the students and the teacher. Here are some ways to achieve this:
Foster a Love for Poetry
Students are more likely to write poetry if they enjoy reading and engaging with it. Teachers can foster this love by selecting poems that students can connect with and enjoy. While some poems may be mandatory, teachers should seek out poems they admire and teach them alongside the mandatory ones. Teachers should also encourage students to read widely and explore different styles of poetry, such as dialect poetry, which can offer a unique perspective and a chance to appreciate the tension between different languages and dialects.
Provide Tools and Techniques
Teachers can provide students with the tools and techniques to write effectively. This includes teaching them about poetic devices, such as rhyme and structure, and how to understand the "thing behind the thing", where students reflect on their interests and how these relate to their worldview. Teachers can also encourage students to be specific in their writing, providing detailed descriptions and commentary that will engage their readers. Additionally, students can be encouraged to draw from their own experiences, emotions, and thoughts to create meaningful poems.
Offer Practical Guidance
Students can be guided through the writing process with practical steps. Teachers can provide prompts, such as identifying an object and writing about it or writing about sounds in a public place. These prompts ground students in their everyday experiences, allowing them to focus on language and expression. Teachers can also suggest keeping a writer's notebook where students can jot down favourite sentences, words, and poems for inspiration, as well as their own observations and ideas.
Share Your Own Process
Teachers can write their own poems and share their drafts, failures, and successes with the class. This not only demonstrates the teacher's passion for poetry but also provides a real-world example of the writing process. It gives students insight into the challenges and triumphs of writing and allows the teacher to address their questions based on personal experience.
Provide Publication Opportunities
Students can be encouraged to publish their poems in literary journals or magazines that feature new writers, such as Rust & Moth, which focuses on discovering new writers and presenting their work alongside graphic design. Teachers can also create an anthology of the class's poems, providing each student with a copy as a memorable keepsake.
By following these steps, teachers can effectively encourage their university students to write and publish their poems, fostering a love for poetry and creative expression.
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Use a variety of teaching tools and methodologies
Teaching poetry to university students requires a range of tools and methodologies to engage students and help them develop their analytical skills. Here are some strategies to achieve this:
Student Engagement and Discovery:
Encourage students to discover the meaning of poems themselves. This can be facilitated through acts of discovery, where students explore various styles of poetry and find their own interpretations. This approach helps students connect with the content and fosters a deeper understanding of the material.
Diverse Anthology of Poems:
Diversify the anthology of poems you teach. Include poems from a global array of poets, featuring different genders and ethnicities. Pair contemporary poets with classic ones, such as Willie Perdomo with Carl Sandburg, to offer a contrast in styles and themes. By doing so, students are exposed to a broader perspective of poetry and can develop their own preferences and critical thinking skills.
Student Choice and Interaction:
Allow students to choose poems they want to discuss. This can be done by assigning more poems than there is time to discuss and letting students select the ones they are interested in. This approach ensures student engagement and encourages them to take ownership of their learning. Additionally, create opportunities for students to interact with each other and the poem. For example, use The Big Six method, where students move around the room, stopping at different stations to discuss and annotate the poem.
Comparative Thinking:
Foster comparative thinking by placing lines from thematically similar poems next to each other to create a new poem. Ask students to identify the original poems and explore how the lines connect. This exercise enhances their analytical skills and encourages a deeper understanding of poetic themes and devices.
Creative Assignments:
Assign creative assignments to make poetry a more enjoyable and engaging part of students' lives. For example, have students write poems in response to their favourite poems, news stories, songs, TV shows, or artworks. Encourage them to experiment with different voices and styles, such as writing in the voice of someone else, like a parent or a friend. These exercises help students develop their creative writing skills and build a personal connection with poetry.
Visible Thinking Routines:
Utilize Visible Thinking Routines, which are strategies that help students make connections across different content areas. Develop a recording template that guides students in constructing a methodology for accessing poems. This approach enhances their critical thinking and encourages a structured approach to poetry analysis.
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Frequently asked questions
It is important to let students discover their own meaning in a poem. Students often get frustrated searching for hidden meanings and having to decode poetic meters and rhyming patterns. Teachers can make reading poetry enjoyable by focusing on discovery so that students can connect to the content. Teachers should also encourage acts of discovery so that students can connect with various styles of poetry and find meaning.
There are many approaches to teaching poetic analysis, such as TPCASTT. Teachers can also create their own analysis tools, such as The Big 6, which invites students into a dialogue with each other and with the poem. Teachers can also encourage students to think about multiple interpretations of a poem, which encourages critical thinking.
Teachers should seek to discover poems they admire and then think about why they admire them, and teach them to students. Teachers should also make an effort to diversify their anthology of poems. They can teach contemporary and old-school poetry together, and teach female and lesser-known poets.
