The Uses of Poetry in the Classroom

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 05.01.12

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction
  2. Strategies and Key Elements
  3. Sample Lessons
  4. Annotated Bibliography for Teachers
  5. Annotated Bibliography for Students
  6. Appendix
  7. Notes

The Inspired Voice: Invoking Poetry through Music

Kimberlee Presswood

Published September 2005

Tools for this Unit:

Introduction

Inspiring Voice

She reluctantly puts her iPod away as she enters the classroom. He tucks his worn sketchbook into his backpack. Students gather in the hallway as two young freestyle artists battle. The bell rings, and one by one they settle into their seats and shut down their minds in preparation for today's lesson. A groan ripples from desk to desk like the subtle wave of a crowd during a baseball game. Poetry is on the agenda.

Undeterred, I pass out a poem to my class. As soon as the copy touches their fingertips, the material becomes another "stupid-piece-of-paper-with-a-bunch-of-boring-words-and- even-if-I-understand-it-this-time-I-probably-won't-like-it" poem. Why? I don't have time to think about it. I have to hurry up and clarify the difference between synecdoche and metonymy, and I just know these young brains are already imagining ways to resist learning.

There is a silent agreement between us: no one expects anyone to enjoy poetry. We read it because that's what we do in English class – and because they'll have to write an essay about it later. This isn't learning. It's tossing information to the passive bleachers.

Educator and author Bernice McCarthy defines learning as "the realization of something new and our response to that newness."1 When we realize something, we bring it into our realm of existence. We may acknowledge it is there, and we may even look at it for a while. How similar is realization to inspiration? When we are inspired, we are moved to take action, to respond to the thing that suddenly enters our realm of existence. True learning is perhaps an interflow of realization and inspiration, a series of "aha" moments, a sense of being a part of something and having the power to converse – to receive in realization and to respond in inspiration. Let us be clear: realization is not a passive activity. Realization requires voice. It takes voice to converse. An authentic conversation requires active listening. It is an interflow of ideas; it is realization and inspiration.

What happens when a learner lacks voice? Perhaps the learner has a voice but it is suppressed – or oppressed. For many of my current students, school is synonymous with prison. It is possible to get through school – to put up with it until the time is served – but forget about enjoying it or taking an active role in the conversation of learning. There seems to be a correlation between the absence of voice and the resistance to learning. A student who feels he or she has nothing to contribute will avoid participation or put forth minimal energy until the four-year sentence is over. So what can poetry mean for the voiceless? Poetry can certainly be a form of expression. It can also be intimidating and irrelevant for some students.

This unit is about inspiring voice. The muse of poetry holds the key and the power to unlock the cages of the voiceless, but unfortunately Euterpe tends to look like the creepy figure in the movie Scream (and the figure in the painting of the same title) to students who are not familiar with her. I imagine she looks even worse to students who have been aggressively alienated from her throughout their years of school. Sometimes a familiar cage is more comfortable than the beckoning curve of a long, bony finger. Essentially, this unit is about encouraging movement from silence; it is about realization and response. It is about inspiration. It is one-third of a larger idea that includes invoking poetry through music, art, and the land. The poetry seminar at the Yale Initiative, emphasizing the relationship between poetry and pictures, places and people, has brought my attention to the deep, handholding conversation between humans and art. This particular unit focuses primarily on students who have not really warmed up to poetry, but who readily seek contact with music. The lessons on music may serve as a foundation for finding poetic connections to art, land, or other sources of inspiration.

Why Music?

The nice thing about music is that it is not necessary to master an instrument in order to like a song. Students are familiar with music. They are already connected to it, and they are not afraid to praise or criticize it. Not all of my students are musicians, but most of them are music-connoisseurs. Let us start in a place that is comfortable for students. We will begin the lessons with something that they know, so they feel immediately that they can contribute something. From this place of familiarity, we will extend outwards into the newness of learning. This is how we will move from the cage of silence.

Music is good for the brain. Educational consultant David A. Sousa describes how music can stimulate the limbic system in a way that allows students to make emotional connections.2 According to Sousa, music can also stimulate parts of the brain that are responsible for recall and memory. Eric Jensen adds creativity, concentration and cognitive improvement to the benefits of integrating music in the classroom.3 He shows how different areas of the brain are activated by melody, harmony, rhythm, and the measurement of beats.

Most of us have heard that music and math are connected. What about music and poetry? Students who are trained to listen for melodic or dissonant sounds in music may be able to identify similar sounds in poetry. Also, music deals with patterns, much like poetry. We feel music in a close, personal way. We have attractions and aversions to particular music for our own reasons. What are the similarities between the way we respond to a song and the way we respond to a poem? Does our musical taste have anything in common with our taste for certain styles in poetry? Are students with an affinity for rap—or for music with four beats to a measure— also sensitive to iambic tetrameter?

The Connoisseurs

I teach students in grades 9 through 12. The classes on the forefront of my mind (and on my schedule) are PreAP English 9, 12th grade English, and Creative Writing 9-12. All classes are about 90 minutes long. I doubt that most teachers will be so lucky as to get such a combination of classes, but my intentions are to make the lessons applicable to high school English classes in general, give or take a few modifications. There are a few obvious differences between the three types of classes that I teach, namely the ages of the students, the elective versus the mandatory, and the Advanced Placement versus the ordinary placement classes. They are all part of a school with a "bad reputation" and a tendency to contrast itself to the high school where all the "smart and rich kids" go. Of course, we are striving to change the image, but it does have an impact on how the students view their relationship to education.

Many of our students are bilingual or monolingual Spanish speakers. Most of my students who speak English as a second language will have completed supplementary ESL classes before entering my room, but they will still experience some difficulties with the English language. Students in my classes will sometimes write poetry in Spanish and essays in English. I find that it is important to look at the purpose of the student's use of language in poetry. Are students writing to improve skills in the English language? Or is it an exercise in expression? Can a student use his or her native language to develop details, imagery and content?

Like those in most classes, my students will possess a broad range of skills. Traditionally, students in my school are placed in PreAP English because they are good in math. Students who enroll in Creative Writing don't always consider themselves writers, and some are die-hard science fiction writers with a strong aversion to poetry, but at least most are willing to try. The 12th grade students are as excited about poetry as any 12th grader who is forced to take yet another semester of English. It is important for this unit to be applicable to all the classes, but it will be necessary to make occasional adaptations that are more appropriate for grade levels or types of classes. For instance, the students in Creative Writing may be more receptive to writing than some students in senior English, but they will still benefit from techniques that help them read and understand poetry. Writing with music in mind may add depth for more experienced writers.

Forms and Movements

Music is the companion of poetry in this unit. It takes the lead in the beginning, steps back a bit in the middle, and ends its journey on the equal footing with poetry in a culminating performance. The poetry in this unit will be recognized in the form of spoken word, performance poetry, hip-hop, rap, and of course page poetry. With the contemporary popularization of performed poetry, a distinction between the page and the stage has worked its way into informal discussions between poets and spoken word artists. In fact, the question of whether there is a hierarchy of poetic quality – or a degree of literacy – between performed poetry and printed poetry is worthy of debate. Spoken literature, whether poetic or narrative, is by no means new, but perhaps our relationship to it is what really matters. It still seems more literary to publish a book than to produce a poetic CD, but there is a definite pull of poetry toward performance in the business of youth and in the coffee houses. It is this pull that accounts for the emphasis of the unit.

What is it about performed poetry that inspires our youth and some contemporary poets to participate in spoken word venues? The demands made by the community for spoken word institutions like the Minnesota Spoken Association and the Santa Fe Poets-in-the-Schools program are becoming more apparent. Why is Slam – and the idea of going to the Nationals – such a huge deal for so many poets? A poem performed (not just read) by a poet adds another level of conversation between the poet and the audience. The poet's voice resonates, allowing the audience to feel the sound of the poem. It's like music.

Students in this unit will examine differences and similarities between poetry, spoken word, performance poetry and forms of music like rap or hip-hop. The word on the street – and I mean the poet's word—is not always consistent about definitions. In fact, long workshops have been held in Minneapolis in an attempt to define these labels. The problem lies in the tendency of these labels to overlap. The title of poet is often applied to published, produced and performing writers who aren't rappers. A poem on the page can confidently call itself poetry (unless it is really a song that someone printed out).

Generally, a poet can read the object in question on a stage— even with a microphone— and the written material is considered to be poetry. If the poet reads with an emphasis on sound and delivery— with or without the paper in hand— the labels spoken word and spoken word artist emerge. Note the shift to spoken word artist, a term that includes the musicians who perform with the poet. Spoken word artists often make strong connections to hip-hop. The rhythm and cadence of delivery, the allusions to current events, and the visual appearance of the poet often reflects an aspect of hip-hop culture (though not necessarily rap). More discussion about hip-hop culture, its subcategory called rap, and its connection to poetry can be found in an overview of the Last Poets.

Performance poetry is often used synonymously with spoken word artist. A performance poet definitely has oral delivery to an audience in mind. The poem is memorized and usually more theatrical, although performance poets have also been known to perform with a… well, with a spoken word band. Think of it this way: a spoken word artist or performance poet can always be considered a poet, but a poet can't always be considered a spoken word artist or a performance poet.

A major difference between performance poetry and published poetry is the form it takes on the page. Performance poets don't always write with print in mind—it is the quality of sound that matters. As a result, the moving impact of the words may not be conveyed on paper. The poem, like a song without music, may seem incomplete without its performer. Of course, these are generalities. Those of us who have heard a published poet ruin a perfectly good poem by reading it aloud know that this isn't always the case, either.

The oral communication of poetry has shaped and reshaped itself throughout different eras. The unit will introduce students to poets from the Harlem Renaissance, the Beat poets, the Last Poets (in the context of the beginning of hip-hop), and finally our contemporary: Slam. We will look closely at three pieces from each section. I will provide additional poems and recordings for students, as they will need to select a piece to use later in the unit.

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