Walter H. Johnson
Cumberland County College
Vineland, New Jersey
wjohnson@cccnj.edu
Using the sonnet as an introduction to poetry can be a rewarding way to combine poetry terminology, a bit of literary history, and the search for meaning in poems — and to achieve all this with a minimum of nervousness. First, you'll need to brush up on the differences between the Italian and English forms and then select one from each category. Keats's "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" and your favorite Shakespearean sonnet would work well, and there is a good chance you can find them (and maybe several others) in your textbook; otherwise, make copies for the class. Then, read the iambic pentameter lines aloud and let the class hear the cadence that resembles everyday speech. Show how the punctuation divides the units of thought so readers aren't bombarded by fourteen lines all at once. Make sure students see the three quatrains in the Shakespearean sonnet if there are no separations into stanzas. Finally, let the division of thought in the sestet or couplet reinforce what the poem's earlier parts seemed to mean to them when they attempted to interpret those lines.
Ask students if they have a preference for either type and why Shakespeare might have altered the original format; see if they agree that the sonnet form is tailor-made as a love poem. Perhaps as a follow-up, they could find some sonnets that aren't used in the traditional way and evaluate their success; suggest Poe as a starting point. Maybe the ambitious among them could try their hand at composing a sonnet. Working with fixed-form poetry reduces the anxiety of finding meaning. Finding satisfaction in poetry is something different, but if you respond enthusiastically, there is much satisfaction to be found in the sonnet.
Joseph Sottile
Gates Chili Central Schools
Rochester, New York
jsottile@frontiernet.net
If you aren't used to teaching poetry activities, I have one that works like magic with students in grades 1 to 12.
1 ask students to fold and tear a blank piece of paper in half once, then twice. Then they do it again. At this point there are some mild giggles and comments: "I can't get it perfectly straight." "Can I have a new sheet of paper?"
Then students fold and tear the paper one more time. Now they have eight paper strips, I ask them to write four true statements beginning with these sentence fragments: I like... I love... I hate... I wish.... Students always do this in an interested manner.
When finished with their four sentences, I tell them to write four lies beginning with the same sentence fragments. Now students are smiling from ear to ear. For some students who are a little reluctant to start, I assure them that it's OK to write untrue statements because we are using our "poetic license" and nobody will know the truth unless we tell them.
Lastly, I say, "You can put your eight statements in any order that you like. Read what you have written twice to yourself, and don't worry about anyone knowing which ones are true or false."
There's always someone who asks, "Can we read these to the class?" Those are the magic words I hope to hear. Members of the class leap to the podium to read their new-formed poem, which I call "Truths and Lies." An ordinary class period or poetry workshop has now been transformed into a magical moment.
Charlotte R. Witting
St. Cecilia School
Tustin, California
crow7l 1@sbcglobal.net
Students' responses to our school's required memorizing and regurgitating of poetry led me to find a way to pique students' interest. As a child, I always loved listening to music, and my mother used to tell me that she wished I could memorize my homework as well as I memorized the words to songs. Little did she know what an influence her statement would have on my teaching.
Do you listen to music? Do your students listen to music? Chances are likely that they do. Pick words to any song and apply poetic terminology. Sound devices such as rhythm, meter, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and rhyme scheme are a few of my favorites. Figurative language terms such as simile, metaphor, personification, and hyperbole can also be included.
I broke my class into groups and first made each group choose one "old" song (from past decades) and one "modern" song (post-'90s). The only other limitation was that the songs had to contain school-appropriate language. Groups had to provide handouts with the songs' lyrics to each member of the class. Then, they had to play the songs and present the applicable poetic terms. The audience added any terms that the group might have inadvertently excluded. Students took notes on the handouts to use as study guides.
I had a direct Internet connection and a laptop computer with an overhead projector in my classroom. As a result, some students went straight to a Web site that posted their lyrics-great for visual learners-and then played the songs via CD player, my laptop, or Internet site-great for auditory learners.
Making them choose a song from past decades resulted in positive, unexpected parent involvement. The parents were enjoying the project as much as their children. I know this because students would come back to class the day after researching music and tell me that their parents insisted that they use a particular song. Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" was an annual repeat. Several songs also tap into our history, which always made for interesting presentations, too. "American Pie" by Don McLean and "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel are two examples.
Finally, I took them back to the book, Exploring poetic terms in a nontraditional way allowed students to appreciate classic poetry because it had purpose, just as the music they presented as poetry had purpose. To conclude the unit, students had to pick a poem from the book and a song for their compare/contrast essays. If time permitted, each group also wrote and performed an original poem for our classroom coffeehouse. Every year, because of this project, I am reminded of how much I love teaching poetry. I am also reminded that loving what I do motivates students to love what they are learning.
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