The Uses of Poetry in the Classroom

Classroom Activities

Lesson 1: Socratic Seminar

Objectives

The Socratic seminar requires students to personally engage themselves with a text. While there are many different ways to structure a seminar, the most important feature is its collaborative nature: the teacher is a facilitator rather than the "keeper of knowledge." The goal is to focus on higher order thinking—analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of ideas—in order to illuminate understanding.

Students must:

• come prepared with text, a question, and writing implements.
• sit in a circle (with larger classes consider using an inner and outer circle where the outer circle evaluates the discussion)
• raise their hands and wait for acknowledgment from the facilitator (but they are to address each other)
• take positions, agreeing or disagreeing with classmates or facilitator (but textual support must be provided to support opinions)
• be polite (disagreement with ideas rather than individuals is encouraged)

Procedure

Students receive poems and rules prior to the seminar. After reading poems and defining any unfamiliar vocabulary for homework, students formulate one specific, open-ended question concerning themes and values (rather than facts). This question will be turned in prior to the seminar on an index card and may be used by the facilitator at any time during the discussion. Group discussion is based on a series of divergent (open-ended) questions and a few convergent (closed or "yes/no") questions in order to hold students accountable for reading. The discussion should be organic and questions are merely a guide for the facilitator. Both the facilitator and students should ask follow-up questions.

Examples of Facilitator Questions:

1. In "Song of Myself" [1], stanza one, what might Whitman be asking of his audience?
2. Why is the verb "loaf" essential to stanza two? Does our society encourage or discourage loafing?
3. Why do you think Whitman uses the image of shared atoms in stanzas one and three?
4. What do you think the speaker is "beginning" in stanza three?
5. What does Whitman mean by "creeds and schools in abeyance"? How does this relate to the section of the Preface we read yesterday?
6. Why might Whitman use the verbs "harbor" and "permit" in stanza four?
7. What does Whitman mean by "Nature without check with original energy"? What might nature "with" check and "without" original energy imply?
8. What does Whitman entreat his readers to do in [2]? How does this directive conflict with conventional ideas about education?
9. Why is Whitman considered the most "democratic" of poets?
10. What are contradictions? Why is Whitman comfortable with them?
11. What does it mean to be "unstranslatable"? How is this ironic? What might a "barbaric yawp" be? What might it sound like?
12. What do you think the main idea of "Song of Myself' is? Why is "Song" in the title?
13. What poetic elements has Whitman used? What are the effects?
14. How are Whitman's ideas radical or revolutionary? What, if anything, do they attempt to "overthrow"?
15. How would you describe Whitman the poet. How does he employ the characteristics of a creative person? Is "Song of Myself" worth studying in 2005?

Evaluation

I will monitor student responses and the type of response (based on Bloom's Taxonomy) on a chart. Each student is expected to actively participate and will receive an oral participation grade based on number and quality of responses.

Lesson 2: Active Reading through Annotation and Explication

Objectives

Active reading requires students to interact with a text, conversing with an author, a speaker, and ideas. This is different from the passive reading that many students are accustomed to and that does not promote comprehension skills. With all reading, I encourage students to read closely and annotate a text as they're reading. Here students learn to "read with a pen," hopefully developing a lifelong habit. After annotating a text, students can bring their ideas together in a prose explication (literally an "unfolding"), where they begin to interpret the meaning or significance of a writer's choices. This, in turn, can lead to more formal analytical, thesis-driven essays.

Procedure

Using copies of poems on transparencies, colored markers, and an overhead projector, I model how to annotate a text. Students are given copies of the poem to take notes, and colored highlighters. This is an interactive process, as I ask probing questions of students, allowing them to discover possible meanings. Students are encouraged to grab a classroom dictionary or thesaurus to explore words as I write their questions, associations, and synonyms in the margins. I underline words or phrases using different colored marks to connect related ideas. Or I might circle, use arrows, and insert words to clarify meaning. I mark up the double-spaced text on the overhead, noting: questions; significant or intriguing vocabulary; tone; shifts; allusions; relationships; patterns; figurative language; and sound devices. We will also discuss what effects these poetic choices have on the reader. (If time permits, I might share the poem "Marginalia" by Billy Collins, which demonstrates that readers really do write in books.)

Example of Textual Annotation: In Dickinson's "Much madness is divinest sense," diction is of special concern and provides an excellent introduction to the concepts of denotative and connotative meaning. For instance, the terms "sanity" and "madness" might also be expressed as "rationality" and "irrationality." And "much" might be read as "much of" or "some," so these words are written above the original text. For this poem I bracket off the first two lines and ask students to attempt a paraphrase based on the initial paradox and our investigation of vocabulary. It might be something like "To a person with good judgment, what is considered insanity might actually be inspired wisdom." We continue this line-by-line reading. In line three I ask students what word they might insert to replace the first dash, so that the first line is mirrored. The word "is" is inserted on the transparency so that we read "Much Sense [is] the starkest Madness" or "What is considered rational might actually be irrational." I underline the word "this" and ask what the pronoun refers to. A line is drawn from line five to line three, connecting the ideas visually. The "majority"—which we've identified as the dominant voice in society—agrees with "this." "Assent" (suggesting agreement) to the majority opinion implies "sanity," while "Demur" (suggesting objection) to the majority implies a threat and someone who must be controlled with physical force. Eventually the speaker's message becomes clear: the beliefs of the majority are considered acceptable, while those who dissent from the majority are considered dangerous.

Evaluation

Students will be required to apply these techniques to other poems discussed in class as well as to unfamiliar poems on the final unit test. Their ability to write a clear, well-supported explication of a poem will provide evidence that active reading is being practiced.

Lesson 3: Small Group Discussion

Objectives

Procedure

Handouts with questions will be provided to guide group discussion, and the teacher will monitor by circulating around the room. Students will be required to take on different roles, such as reader, recorder, and reporter. Groups will select a different reader for each poem and read each aloud, paying special attention to pacing (which should be slower than usual), line breaks, and punctuation. Then, after informally discussing each poem, the recorder should write down answers to the questions in complete sentences. Answers should be supported by textual evidence. The reporter will present findings to the larger group.

Example of Small Group Exercises:

1. Why does Baca view his situation as beautiful? What are other freedoms he has discovered? What negative characteristics does Baca admit to, even embrace as a means to an end? Identify significant images and figures of speech. How is the poem—in both form and theme—similar to "Song of Myself"? How can a bad experience ultimately be beneficial? Give specific examples.
2. How does Giovanni's poem resemble "Song of Myself"? How does it differ? Giovanni is using humor and playing with language. As a group, identify your favorite lines. Why might Giovanni end the otherwise free verse poem with a couplet? What does the subtitle "(there may be a reason why)" suggest to you?
3. In Komunyakaa's poem, what does the allusion to the Roman god Mercury (Greek god Hermes) imply? Why does he use the image of "bad angels" and what are the implications? What other allusions to myth or fairy tale does this poem contain? What does he mean by the word "metaphysical"? Why do you think that Sonny Boy played hard the day his mama died? What might the "trouble" be? Identify figures of speech. Select four successive lines and discuss the line break choices. How is this poem similar to "Song of Myself"?
4. Select one poem and, using materials provided, create a visual interpretation. Use both text and images to illuminate your sense of what the poem means or what is significant. Include both the title and the author. Be creative!

Evaluation

Written work and illustration will be turned in. Students will receive a class work completion grade if they remain on task. They will also be required to apply critical reading skills and identify poetic elements on a final unit test.