Introduction
"Poetry is for everyone" -Tristan Tzara 1
In this curriculum unit you will find models and exercises for learning how to make Dadaist cut-up poems, visual typography poems, visual collage with words, redaction poems, concrete constructivist poems, and found poems, culminating in the production of an altered book. Here is an example from one student that demonstrates the potential for both artistic and literary merit:
Image by Vanessa Guzman
Deeper than any actual activities, however, is the goal of getting students to understand the conceptual framework for poetry of this type, and cultivating critical thinking skills: How could this text be altered to find new meaning(s)? How can we find meaning and purpose in creating conceptual and concrete poetry out of found images and words? For teachers, I suggest that using "Multiple Modalities," can enhance instruction in literacy, and make an argument for using both the verbal and the visual in this type of work: How can art teach writing, and writing teach art, and both teach critical thinking? How can both modalities of art and literature fuse to inspire new perspectives of tone, syntax, diction, content, and artist/writer's voice? Ultimately, students will see how the "Conceptual" work being done over a wide span of history synthesizes art, poetry, and theory, and learn how to grasp abstract ideas with concrete activities. Participants in this unit, whether located in a Poetry workshop, English class, Philosophy, or Art and Design seminar, will find themselves entering the contemporary moment in which these separate fields pursue a common thread of inquiry. Ultimately, this is a unit about how to think, as much as one about how to do. While the main focus for most poetry is original self-expression, and even romanticizes feelings, this work allows students to re-use language creatively and analytically, and detach themselves from typical experiences with narration.
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