Reading Poetry
Though students have been reading poetry since Kindergarten in English Language Arts class, they have not done this with me in Visual Arts class. Additionally, I have found that students do not always retain information from previous years. Because of this, I need to access what they already know and/or remember. Any teaching I do in review will be the minimum of what is essential to establish the climate and expectations the unit entails. Another reason for students to recall prior knowledge is to get them thinking about what is to come.
To teach students how to do a close reading I will have them follow a checklist of skills with a goal in mind to find meaning or a deeper understanding of the poem. They will do an initial reading by themselves to establish their first impression and/or emotional response. I will have them to write down any feeling(s) about the poem by stanza. Second, we will read it aloud, saying and writing down any more thoughts in a different color (to differentiate thoughts). After this reading students will be asked to circle any words they don’t know, underline words that stand out, put a star by a repeated phrase, word, or line, etc. Students will be guiding each other through seeking answers to these questions by asking a question to the class and having a student (not the teacher) answer it for them. They should not feel that there are wrong answers, only sometimes more constructive ones, and it is important to establish an open climate where students can write and express themselves freely. Letting the students guide one another through this process will empower them and, in essence, give me credibility. Next, to deepen the learning I will give different students cards with a question on it to ask the class. For example, one card will say, Who is the speaker of the poem? Other cards are: What is the title? Can you paraphrase the poem? What is the theme? What is the setting? Did you make any connections to the poem? Are there any specific words that helped you with the meaning? Are there any repeated words or words that have multiple meanings? Is there any figurative language (specifically metaphor, simile, and personification)? What is the tone of the poem? What is the mood? Are there any rhyming words? What is the form of the poem? Are there any patterns in the words? When does the poem take place (past, present, future)? Though I will not ask student ALL these questions, these are ones I want them to be familiar with over time.
To introduce the unit students will read “Lessons from a Painting by Rothko” by Bobbi Katz. This URL (copied and pasted in your browser) will take you to this poem and one example of Mark Rothko’s work http://ghpoetryplace.blogspot.com/2010/10/lessons-from-painting-by-rothko.html
This poem is a “notional” ekphrastic poem, which means that there is not one specific art piece that it is about. The title of the poem tells the reader that the poem is ekphrastic by saying it’s from a painting and even gives the last name of the painter. I think the directness of this title is important for my students because I do not know if they have any prior knowledge of ekphrastic poetry and this is a fantastic way to make the connection for them right away. In the first line the author asks the reader a question, “How would you paint a poem?” which immediately engages the reader. This question, again, makes the connection between art and poetry. After this line I will ask a few of my students to answer this question orally and I will ask all students to answer it in on paper. This is important because I will be asking them to do this later as part of the unit and to compare their answers before and after a guided analysis. The poem goes on to do what artists do next and “prepare[s] the canvas.” This should be done “carefully.” This word sets a specific tone for the poem indicating that it is special and very important, like a package at Christmas. In the third line the poet begins to describe what Mark Rothko did with his series of “Untitled” paintings (I’ve included six different examples below). He painted rectangles. Sometimes it was two, in other cases three or more. The word “misty” refers to the blurry edges of the shapes. However, the word also appeals to the reader’s senses. It adds some mystery to the painting because when things are misty, they are often unclear. Misting is something that happens when the water in the air is quickly cooled causing it to change from invisible to visible. This may indicate a weather phenomenon related to a landscape. The last line in the first stanza refers to the way the rectangles are “stacked.” However, Katz does not say this directly of the rectangles, she says it is “secrets” that are stacked and that they are “waiting to be told.” This plays into the tone initiated in the previous line.
The second stanza begins with the second line of the first stanza. This indicates that there may be a pattern forming. The second line of this stanza also references something that may be outside “shallow pools”: not a pond or lake, but a “color.” Is Katz referring to the limited color palette? Or is she referencing simplified objects in a landscape? The third line of this poem is the same as the fourth line of the first stanza. So far lines two and four in the first stanza are the same as lines one and three in the second stanza. When my students discover this, I will ask them to highlight the lines in different colors to aid them in finding the pattern. The repetition of lines in the poem makes it seem like Rothko is preparing yet another canvas and stacking up more mysterious rectangles. It seems like the poet is paying a tribute to the vast number of “Untitled” paintings that Rothko made. I do have some prior knowledge of this artist, so I do not think I am objective about the presence of this idea in the poem and do not think that my students will pick up on this initially. The last line of the second stanza mentions “messages.” From whom or from where we do not know, but the place is “unknown,” keeping in line with the mysterious tone of the poem.
In the third stanza the first line is the same as the second line of the second stanza: “shallow pools of color.” The second line of the third stanza has new information for the reader. Indicating “thin layers of gauze” “floating” mysteriously over the canvas, Katz seems to be referring to something on the painting that I cannot see, though this line does vivify the imagery for the reader. The third line in the third stanza is the same as the fourth line in the second stanza. The fourth line in the third stanza is new and indicates a place of “soft shapes” which “expand above a glow.” Does this expansion point to more Rothko paintings? Or perhaps this refers to the “misty” shapes and the element of color in the painting being imagined. If this expansion is meant to lead us outside, the soft shapes could be trees moistened by dew that are expanding above the rising sun (which could be the glow).
In the fourth stanza the first line is the same as the second line in the third stanza. The second line is the same as the third line in the first stanza. The third line is the same as the fourth in the third stanza. And, beautifully, the last line is the same as the first. “How would you paint a poem?” The last line closes the poem in a circular way because it ends where it began. However, the reader went on a journey and knows more now than before, so we are not the same. For teaching purposes this is a great summary statement that brings the learners back to the original question with new acquired information. As I let students answer this question at the beginning of the activity, I will ask them to answer it again after an extensive guided analysis. I will encourage students to compare their ideas and reflect on their ideas.
This poem’s repeating pattern identifies the poem as a pantoum. In a pantoum there is an “abab” pattern that’s used to rhyme. It has changed over time and this it no longer does. This type of poetry, even though I do not derive much from the new punctuation in the last line, has the potential to shift meanings with that change.
I interpreted quite a bit as I looked at the poem above. I think the poet picked a pantoum to illustrate the mass production of Rothko’s “Untitled” paintings, as well as the alternation of his rectangles. Though my students will not pick up on this, I will enjoy giving them the tools to discover it when looking more closely at Rothko’s life and work. I also think the poet is hinting at the landscape quality in his work, as foreground, middle ground and background are roughly rectangular in landscape painting. I do not think that my students will understand this, but I will help them recall prior knowledge in their art lessons to guide them there. The simplicity of this poem and its direct connection with ekphrasis make it an appropriate choice for beginning on our poem journey.
Looking at Art
The first step is description. “What do you see?” This may relate to elements of design, the size of the work, the type of work (painting, sculpture, etc.), the style in which it was created (realistic, abstract). The next step is to analyze the artwork. “How was the work created?” In the analysis students should be looking at the subject-matter, how the elements and principles of art are organized (overlapping, shade and tint of colors, type of texture, the way space is used, etc.), and which ones do they notice first. Students are given a list of descriptive words to use. I have this hanging in my art room, but the list can also be issued as a handout. The next step is to interpret. “Why is the work created?” “What does the work mean?” Students are asked to use the visual information that they gathered in description and analysis to interpret the(ir) work. Students should be able to reference their description and analysis to support their interpretation. Interpretation can be the hardest for students to make at the ten-eleven-year-old range because I ask them to come up with an individual interpretation. Doing this is like taking a “leap of faith” because they are making an educated guess. They are very aware of their peers and the idea of “not being accepted” or being laughed at is demoralizing. It is important to have a climate of mutual respect in a classroom for students to feel comfortable as interpreters. The last step is judgement. Often, especially without prior training in the four art criticism techniques, students will want to rush to this step. I can’t begin to count how many times I have been judged while working on a piece of art before I was finished. Even in their own artwork, children often overlook some of the sophisticated processes that creating art takes. Art that requires an armature, an undercoating, or any other prerequisite steps to achieve a desired effect is not close to being finished and should not be judged. Working in the public domain, especially while demonstrating a process, this is a prevalent mistake. When making a judgement, it is important to have finished artwork and to consider the description, analysis, and interpretation. Students should divide their judgment into two parts: the objective and the subjective. The objective should be based on the goal of the work (in actuality or in theory). For example, if the artist’s intent (or what you think was their intent based on your acquired knowledge) was to create a realistic portrait, did they accomplish the goal? In the subjective judgement students should react personally to the artwork, putting their reaction in words.
Students will be looking at works of art by Vincent van Gogh, Edward Hopper, Jacob Lawrence, Alfred Stieglitz (of Georgia O’Keeffe), Pablo Picasso, Faith Ringgold, and Horace Pippin. Each artist created portraits in a unique way and all were or are marginalized in some way (with the exception of Edward Hopper).
Comments: