SparkingStudents'Interestin
POETRY
By Judith Nembhard
ecently, when a number
of newspapers stopped
printing poetry reviews,
their editors iustified the
decision by saying that there was
not much of a reading audience
for poetry. Has the general interest in poetry reached an all-time
low? Surveying the current situation, Henry Taylor,
winner of the
,a
1986Pulitzer
)
Prize in Poetry,
wonders whether "diminishine
literacy" forecastspoetry's
demise.r
Has the seeming ebb tide of
poetry's influence affected the
schools?Indeed it has. From
within and without the profession
we hear that poetry does not
receive the emphasis that it
deserves.One parent of elementary school children complained
recently, "They don't make students memorize poetry anymore."
What methodscan
teachersuse to get
students interestedin
poetry?
t e a c h e rm u s t h a v e a g e n u i n e l o v e
for the written word, and especially for poetry.
In a recent discussion about
studying poetry, a middle-aged
man with a biology degree from
one of our Adventist colleges,
remembering his college English
professor,said with a smile, "I
thouqht she was nuts becauseshe
liked poetry so much, but I studie'd it and liked it becauseshe
Iiked it."
Understanding poetry in all its
forms and demonstrating a sensit i v i t y t o i t s n u a n c e s ,t h e t e a c h e r
m u s t s e e k t o c o m m u n i c a t et h a t
understanding and sensitivity to
s t u d e n t s ,h e l p i n g t h e m t o s e e t h a t
studying poetry is a worthwhile
activity.
Experience
or Interpretation?
Although poetry may have
fallen on hard times, it is still
being taught. But do students find
the study of poetry pleasurable?
Are they being motivated to read
poetry? What methods can
teachers use to get students interestedin the sublect?
Enthusiasma VitalIngredient
No bag of teaching tricks will
generate excitement about poetry
in the classroom like an enthusiastic teacher. To begin with, the
Dr ludith Nembhardis Eng/ishSuperctisLtr,
RegionC, District of ColumbiaPublic Schools.
She has taught nery gatle from t'irstthrough
graduateschool,including nine-ancl-a-half
years
of English teachingon the secondarylnel, and
collegeEnglish teachingat Columbia LLnionCoIlege,TakomaPark, Maryland; and Howard LIniaersity, W ashington, D. C.
ADVENTIS'I'EDLICATION
r DE,CELBER
1987.lANtlARY
l n t e a c h i n gp o e t r v , w e s h o u l d
strive to lead studentsto an
underst.rnclirrgof ..rpoem based
not ort r,r'h.ttsomeone else savs
. r L r o t ri t , h u t o r r t h t , i rt r n r r t , r , n e r i e r r e tr,r i t h i t . I r r r t r r r, I , r r r , - ,i r ' e
s h o u l c lh e l p s t u c l e n t s" g t ' t c o r r t r r t l
o v e r t h e i r r e a r l i n g. t n t l . . . m . t k r '
t h e m b e t t e r r e . t r l e r sr . ' r t h e rt h . t n
. . . p r o d u c e r so f r r r t e r p r r e t . r t i o n s . " :
We often tend to teachon .r
l e v e l o f . r b s t r a c t i o nt h a t s u p p l a n t s
experience,but students must be
allowed to interact with a poem.
I n s t e a d o f m e r e l y a n a l y z i n g ,b o t h
"No
they and we must experience.
one can read a poem for us,"
Louise Rosenblatt has observed.3
Reading poetry is an act of personal exploration.
Approaching poetrv as expelllaa
. P.\(;F- (i
rience does not negate careful
analysis and critical thinking.
Students should be taught about
poetic elements and terminology
at the appropriate level. However,
analysis and exploration of meaning become fruitful only when the
object is not merely to get at
meaning but also to provide
experience.
Howto Get StudentsExcited
About Poetry
One teacher turned his fascination with memorizing poetry into
an exciting venture for his students and himself. David Whitin
saw his students come alive after
he began reciting poems in class.a
One day he recited Hughes
Mearns'"The Little Man Who
Wasn't There" and casually stated
that he was sure that bv the next
d a y s o m e o n e i n t h e c l a s sc o u l d
recite the Doem.
He added that a copy of the
poem would be taped to a window in the classroom;anyone
who could recite the poem would
h a v e h i . st r r h e r n a m e w r i l t e n
beneath it. To his surprise, the
next day at least a dozen students
"clamoring
were
to recite" the
poem.
And so an exciting poetic
adventure began for Whitin and
his students. Each poem remained
on the window for about three
weeks, and anyone who could
recite it received credit for doing
so. Teacher and students read and
shared dozens of poems, with
students finding poems rn some
unusual places-in a father's old
anthology or on a religious
calendar-and sharing them in
class.
ReachingPoetry-lmmune
Students
Once while teachingliterature
to a supposedlypoetry-immune
group of inner-cityhigh school
students,I begana study of Coleridge's"Rime of the Ancient
Mariner" by suggestingthat
anyonewho could reciteone
stanzaof the poem by the end of
the classperiod would get a few
extra points for the day's
recitation.
We beganwith a warm-up
activity about Coleridge, the ballad, and the special music of the
poem-its alliteration, internal
rhyme, and rhyme. Toward the
end of the period there was a
general rush to my desk; students
stood waiting their turn to recite a
four-line stanza of the poem.
T h e y o u n g m e n a m a z e dm e .
"cool"
Ordinarily
and reluctant to
show any sign of excitement
about learning, they now came to
my desk and said their four lines
with great pride. When some of
them flubbed their lines, they
went back to their seats,
rehearsed and then returned, a
pleased grin lighting up their
No bag of teaching
tricks will generate
excitement about poetry in the classroom
like an enthusiastic
teacher.
faces when they succeededin reciting the lines flawlessly.
That day the classroom was
alive with an excitement that
spilled out into the halls. One of
the counselors,herself a former
English teacher, told me how
pleased she was to hear students
walking down the halls reciting
"Rime
lines from
of the Ancient
Mariner." That introduction set
the tone for an enjoyable study of
the poem in detail.
Poetryand Music
Anotherof my Englishclasses
became interested in poetry when
I asked the students to brins to
c l a s sa n a p p r o p r i a t er e c o r d i h g t o
accompany the reading of a poem
of their choice from our anthology. For one period we had a
demonstration of students
unabashedly experiencing poetry.
One young woman read Gwendolyn Brooks'"We Real Cool," the
background music complementing the mood of the poem. Having
heard Gwendolyn Brooks herself
recite this poem, I believe she
would have applauded the stu-
ADVEN-I-IS-IEDL]CAI'I()N
o DECEMLIER
dent's rendition
of it.
Edward Arlington
"Richard
Robinson's
Cory" is one of the
most frequently
anthologized
poems; at some
time in their
studiesmost
studentsget a
chanceto confront
this paradoxof a
man.I have
found students
eager to talk about
"phoniness"
the
of
the adult that
Ctlry represents,
but \r-i
Cory'sexperienccis
lll Y
youth'sexperience lll '(
[/
too. He is the wellAN*\'
/fJ
\
behaved, seemingly
(
well-adjusted teenager
who masks his or her
p r o b l e m sa n d f r u s t r a t i o n s .
One activity that works well
with the poem is to have the students play the role of advice
columnists. The classis divided
into two €7oups:one tcl write letters seeking advice, the other to
respond. Students may write as
the Cory persona or provide their
own questions.
The activity takes two consecutive class periods, with those giving the advice writing their
responsesas a homework assignment and bringing them back the
next day for sharing. A poem
takes on new meaning for students when it is brought into the
arena of their own exnerience. An
exerciselike this offers an added
benefit-getting students to write.
Exploring the Poetic Experience
Studentsrespond favorably to
Emily Dickinson'spoetry. Part of
the appealis its brevity, but they
Continued
on page37
l9a7-JANLIARY
lgaa
o PAGE7
QUESTIONS
ABOUTAIDS
Continuedfrom pag,e
5
gamous marriage relationship.
Whatis my best protection
againstAIDS?
Knowledge. Know how people
contract AIDS; learn how to prevent transmission. BecauseAIDS is
transmitted sexually, avoid sexual
activity, including heavy petting,
u n t i l m a r r i a g e .C h o o s e y o u r m a r riage partner carefullyand remain
f a i t h f u lw i t h i n t h a t m a r r i a g e .
BecauseAIDS is transmitted bv
i n t r a v e n o u sd r u g u s e , a v o i d g e [ ting involved in drug abuse. Even
"just
this once" could prove fatal.
The best safeguardis to maintain
the life-style Adventist schools
have long advocated-keeping the
body free of sexual promiscuity
and chemical abuse.
n
lorltt W. Ho1tp,Plt.D., M.P.Ll., is Dcan ttt thr
\ , l t , t ' l L ' lA l li , J H r ' l il l r / ' r rr / r ' : i<rr r r ,' , t t t , lP r , , [ , : , , , , r .
Sclrotr/rrf Hctlth, Lotta Lindu Uniitcrsifu, Lottttr
Lirtth, CttlifontiLt.
A rcsourct uttit has ltt'tn ltrtyntrtl lttr ust,in
St<l:rrthdav Adtu,ntistscfutu/s,rnrdt's 5-12, r:rt
"An
titltd
AIDS LInit: lcatlrt:r lL'stturt't,."Il is
ttt,LtilnltL'
lron North Arnericnt Dit,isitut union
tt|fit'tsoi ttlut Lrtion.
ITEIIERENCES
"'Ihc
I
Evidcnce Against
J. I.i. Kaplan,
Transmission of Human T-lymphotropic
Virus/l.ymphadenopathy Associated Virus
in Families of Children With Acquired lmmr: nod eficienc y Svnd rome." Pr:diat ric I nf t'c
fitrrs Dist,nsc(1985),pp. 469-471.
r Phillip Ii. Lee, M.D., l'rofessor of Social
Medicine, University of California, San
Francisco, California, in a speech entitled
"AIDS:
T h e P r e s s ,t h e P o l i t l c s ,t h e P r i c e ,a n d
t h e P a t i e r r t s , "a t a s c i e n t i f i c s e s s i o n a t t h e
American Thoracic Society convention,
N e w O r l e a n s , L o u i s i a n a ,M a y 1 1 , t 9 t t 7 .
3 These are recommended for use with
water-basedlubricant and spermicidal lubricant such as Non-oxvnol-9, which may
give additional protection. Lubricants such
as petroleum jelly or oil-based creams de
not work well, as they cause rubber to
deteriorate.
t National Reporfs,citing a study by Dr.
Margaret Fischi of the University of Miami
medical school reported in the Nnu England
Jounml of Medicine,quoted in the Wasftin.{on
Tunes.
Editorial
j
iron,
pase
Continuect
Conference officers and division leaders as something worthy of
significant support for the long-term health of the system.
The final item I would like to mention is tuition. More and more,
particularly here in the United States, our people are saying that
"We
are pricing ourselves out of the business." This may be our
greatest challenge of all.
I ' m i m p r e s s e d w i t h t h e s c h o l a r s h i pp r o g r a m s a n u m b e r o f o u r
NAD collegesare putting in place.I know that will help. I just hope
that the systems in other divisions will not make the same mistake
as the North American Division in delaying so long to activate
endowment programs, or, for that matter, institutional fund raising
in general.
I a m e s p e c i a l l yc o n c e r n e da b o u t o u r s e c o n d a r ys c h o o l s( p a r t i c u larly boarding academies).Without strong academiesto build upon
the elementary experience and feed the higher education system,
our whole cause is greatly weakened.
I r e a l i z et h a t t h e r e a r e n o e a s ys o l u t i o n s ,b u t I s u g g e s tt h a t a n a l e r t
l e a d e r s h i pa n d a d e t e r m i n e dc o n s t i t u e n c ya r e c a p a b l eo f s o l v i n g t h e
problems. The education foundation idea that Gordon Madgwick
p r e s e n t e d a t t h e r e c e n t A n d r e w s U n i v e r s i t y T r u s t e e sr e t r e a t i s , I
believe, a step in the right direction.
O u r p r a y e r s a r e w i t h y o u a n d y o u r a s s o c i a t e si n m a k i n g t h e
second half of this quinquennium as fruitful, if not more so, than the'
f i r s t . B e s t w i s h e s i n y o u r c c l n t i n u e d e n d e a v o r s .I t i s a p l e a s u r et o
labor with you in behalf of the church's greatest.esiturce our
youth.
Verv sincerelv.
Calvin B. Roci
n e y o u n g w o m a n r e t u s e dt o p a r INTERESToticipate;
SPARKING
she would not speak on
t h e s u b j e c t .H e r r e a c t i o ng d v e u s d
IN POETRY
chance to explore the fear that is
Continuedirontpage7
are also attracted by its intensity
and Dickinson's sharp perception
of the meaning of existence.Her
"Because
poem
I Could Not Stop
for Death" gave my 1Oth-grade
class a chance to immerse themselves totally in the poetic
experi€nce.
Before we read the poem, I had
the students conduct interviews
among themselves.Pretending to
be reporters, they paired off, note
pad and pencil in hand, to find
out how their partner felt about
death. They tobk notes that
would form the basis of their oral
"rcport"
to the class. Later the
report was written up and submitted for a grade.
The students were frank and
perceptive in their comments, but
ADVENTIS'I'EDLICATION
o DECEMBER
l9BT.jANL]ARY
o f t e n a s s o c i a t e dw i t h d e a t h .
So impressed were the students
with the activity that some of
them used the interviews to make
a verv attractive poster. When we
studied the poem itself, we all had
a clearer understanding of the
subject and a greater readiness to
catch the poet's vision.
Exploring
SightsandSounds
One of the simplest yet most
rewarding ways to get into poetry
is through its sights and sounds.
Actually, this is the level on which
students initiallv resDond to a
poem. When you as[ why they
like it they respond, "lt sounds
good to me." We can teach rhyme
by having students fill in blanks
in stanzas of poems from which
the rhyming words have been
omitted. ceorge Herbert's
lgaa
o ['AGE Itl
"Virtue"
provides a good
example:
Sweet dav, so cool, so calm, so bright,
The bridal of the earth and skv:
fhe dew shallweep thy fall
F r ) rt h ( ) u m u 5 t
The same is done for the three
r e m a i n i n g s t a n z a s .S t u d e n t s r e a d
the poem more closely as they try
to find the most suitable words to
fill in the blanks. Studying the
rhyme can also lead to working
w i t h o t h e r a s p e c t so f t h e s o u n d
pattern of the poem-for example,
the repeated word strrrt'fin its vari o u s d e n o t a t i v ea n d c o n n o t a t i v e .
meanings.
Imagery is tied in with the
sightsand soundsof poetry.It
offers another avenue for eliciting
s t u d e n t r e a c t i o r -E
r .x p l o r i n g s u c h
p o e m s a s B r o w n i n g ' s" M e e t i n g a t
N i g h t , " D i c k i n s o n ' s" A N a r r o w
F e l l o w i n t h e G r a s s , "a n d K e a t s '
"To
A u t u m n " c a n h e . i g h t e ns t u d e r r t s 'a w a r e n e s so f i m a g e r y a n d
h e i p t h e m u n d e r s t a n dm o r e
c l e a r l y h o w t h e i r l a n g u a g ew o r k s .
lJere, too, good oral reading
h e l p s t o b r i n g t h e i m a g e st o l i f e .
E m p l o y i n g m y b e s t i n t o n a t i o n ,I
o n c e r e a d t o a c o l l e g ec l a s st h e
h i g h l y i m a g i s t i cd e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e
fog in "The Love Sor.rgof J. Alfred
Prufrock":
Thc yclkrw fog that rubs its back upon the
windowpant's,
L i c k e c li t s t o n g u e i n t o t h t ' c o r n e r so f t h e
e v t ' ni n g ,
L i n g e r c d u p o n t h t ' p o o l s t l . r a ts t . r n d i n
dr.rins,
[.ct fall upon its back the soot that falls
from chintneys,
S l i p p e d h v t h e t e r r . r c t ' ,m a c l t a s u t l d c n
It .rp,
And seeing th.rt it rvas .t soft C)ctobt'r
r-right,
Curlt'd once .rbout the house,and fell
asleeP
( r i n e s1 5 - 2 2 )
I wanted the students to see,feel,
and react, but I was quite unprepared for the "Mmmmml" that followed my reading, signaling their
complete involvement with the
scene that T. S. Eliot had created.
Through the reading and animated discussion that followed,
t h e p o e m b e c a m et h e i r s .
TheBibleas Poetry
The Bible, itself a repository of
some of the greatest poetry ever
ADVENTIS'l-
written, is an inexhaustible source
of poetic images expressedin
figurative language.The Psalms in
particular encourage the study of
imagery. What a forceful picture
Psalm 93:3presents in the floods
"lifting
up their voice." Then
there is in Psalm 102:6the moving
i m a g eo f t h e m a n o r w o m a n i n
deep distress feeling "like a pelican in the wilderness" and "like
an owl in the desert." Psalm 137
makes an excellent piece for team
teaching, as the Englistr teacher
joins the Bible teacher in providi n g t h e s t u d e n t sa r i c h e x p e r i e n c e
in Hebrew history and poetry.
UsingHymnPoetry
The study of imageryand meta p h o r c a n b e e x t e n d e dt o h y m n
p o e m s .S o m e o f t h e g r e a t e s t
hymns of the church make their
impact through bold images.
Studentsmustbe
allowed to interact
with a poem.
Enlistingthe help of the music
teacher for a lesson in hymn singirrg as well as hymn reading, the
E n g l i s h t e a c h e rc a n p r o v i d e a n
enriching e'xperiencefor students.
At this point you may be asking, How do I begin whetting my
students' appetite.for poetry?
Generally speaking, today's students are reluctant readers of poet r y , s o a t t h e o u t s e tt h e y m a y n o t
respond to a long trek through
"Hiawatha."
I n s t e a d ,t h e y m a y b e t e a s e d
into welcoming poetrv through a
short unit on "Little Poems."
"little
These
p o e m s "a r e p i e c e s
from four to eight lines with playful rhythms, strong imaS;es,and
readily understandable meaning.
T h e y a r e e a s y t t l m e m o r i z ea n d
lend themselves to imitation and
illustration. Among such poems
are the picturesque "Dawn," by
Paul Laurence Dunbar; "The Shepherd," by William Blake;and
"Fogi'
by Carl Sandburg.
Teaching poetry presents us
with an opportunity to stimulate
o u r s t u d e n t s ' i n t e r e s ti n t h e s u b -
E,DLICATION r D E C E M R E R
ject by making them participants
in the poetry experience.We
should ask the same question that
J o h n C i a r d i p o s e si n h i s f a m o u s
book title, Hottt Doesa PoemMesn?
To find the answer, we must follow Ciardi's lead and involve our
students fully in the experience of
poetry. In so doing, not only will
we give them enjoyment while
they study with us, but we will
also achieve the more important
objective of making them lifelong
l o v e r so l p o e t r y .
tr
REFEI{I.]NCES
I l J e n r y ' f a v l o r , " T h e S t r a n g e C ; r s eo f
Modern I)oetrv," Thc Washittgton
P o s t( J u l y
26, 1987),p 83
"
T
o
w
a
r
d
r RusscllA. Ilunt,
a Procr.ss
lnterventiotl Model of Litcrature Tcach
-l982),
i n g , " C r r l / r 3 , E n g l i s h , 4 4 :(4A p r i l
p.
348.
r Louist' Rosenblatt, Littrnturt m F.xlilttrtt
fiol (New York: Noble and Noble l,ublishc r s , 1 9 7 6 ) p, . 3 3 .
I Davicl Whitin, "Makins Por.try Conre
J.
A l i v t ' . " / , / , / . {rrii{ r ' A r l c6. 0 : { r A p r i l l u x . l r ,p .
,156.
THINKING
SUCCESS
('ontrnut'r/
ftonr1r,tgi'
B
society expect girls to outperform
boys in lanp;uagearts and dcr
poorly in mathematics?
How does one explain the fact
t h a t c e r t a i nt e a c h e r sa n d a d m i n i s trators always preside over wellb e h a v e d s t u d e n t s ?C o u l d i t b e t h a t
theseindividuals expectgood disc i p l i n e ? T h i s m e s s a g ei s c o n v e y e d
t o s t u d e n t s a n d p a r e n t s ,w h o c o m e
to believe it, and cooperate to
achieve the desired result.
Individuals do live up to what is
expected of them.
Belief in Self
The power to think yourself into
a winner has been shown reDeatedly in the field of sports. liruce
Jenner,champion of the Decathlon
event in the Olympics really won
the events in his head prior to the
games.
The Bible offers manv examples
o f t h e p o w e r o f f a i t h .C o n s i d e rP a u l ,
who had severe physical limitations as well as problems with
church leaders. He was literally
I987.]ANL,'ARY I9AA o I'AGEIJ2