Poems about Works of Art, Featuring Women and Other Marginalized Writers

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 18.02.01

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction
  2. Context
  3. Rationale
  4. Content Objectives
  5. Unit Content
  6. Teaching Strategies
  7. Classroom Activities
  8. Bibliography
  9. Appendix

The Poetics of Truth and Beauty: A Practical Approach to Reading and Understanding Ekphrastic Poetry

Anita Alisha Galloway

Published September 2018

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Introduction

As an art form that has endured through the ages, poetry’s power to both attract and repel readers in part lies in its ability to transform the English language.  It is one of the most powerful forms of writing, yet its syntax very often deviates from what we consider normal speech patterns and linear thought processes.  Because of this, reluctant readers of poetry need specific tools and strategies, different from those used for reading prose, to understand poetry- it really is like learning a new language. These pronouncements I make about poetry are not only borne out by research and personal experience (a word about both later), they are the views shared by almost all of my high school students.  Their aversion to poetry involves the notion that it is elusive, leaving them with feelings of inadequacy and intimidation, sensing that it is too dense with meaning, associations and background knowledge that they lack, thereby exacerbating their fears.  In short, poetry is not accessible for them.  If I am to be honest, even as an English teacher with more than a decade of teaching experience, I too had a troubled attitude toward poetry.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, I was never required to teach poetry as part of the prescribed curriculum of my school district.  It was only after deciding to issue a personal challenge to myself and apply to the Yale National Initiative seminar, Poems About Works of Art, that I was ready to confront my fears and attempt to unlock the secrets of poetry.  To this end, I created this unit on poetry to provide a toolkit for accessing poetry, a content specific focus on ekphrastic poetry and a skills driven learning plan.  The unit is roughly six weeks in length and will be book ended on the front by a persuasive writing unit and on the back by a social justice unit. It is my hope that this unit will act as a passport to poetry and give students a vantage point that will release its power to illuminate their lives and bring new light into a world they thought they knew.

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