[New-Poetry] cummings, grammaticality

[Suzanne Burns]

On 12/30/06, Rsgwynn1 at cs.com <Rsgwynn1 at cs.com> wrote:
>
>
> I often wonder what their emotional lives are like.  It's very hard to
> teach them how to respond in the absence of any response.  Are they in
> denial?


I try to take into account the fact that fir many students poetry has been
taught to them as a cypher loaded with symbols that has to be decoded and if
they give the wrong answer-- ZAP!

Lack of response doesn't necessarily mean lack of an inner life-- it just
means that the subject might be something they don't know how to approach.
It also might mean that *you* are not easy to approach as a teacher. Its the
fear fear of giving the "wrong" answer.  (Haven't we all had that?  I don't
klnow about you, but I still have Algebra nightmares).

I remember seeing this even in very good students, especially those who are
in the sciences (where there really is more of a process to analyzing and
finding the "smart" answer)-- they feel subject to the whims of what appears
to them to be a very whimsical process-- and let's face it, compared to
science teachers, literature teachers can seem awfully whimsical.  If I were
a student and a teacher started analyzing my "inner life" based upon my
participation in class, I might start wonder whether I was in school or
therapy and might feel very intruded upon.

It can be hard work getting students to get into the groove of how to
discuss poetry.  Often a good way to break the ice is to get them to talk
about literature/media they have already read and really love and to talk
about how and where they find its meaning.  And yes, the emotional content.
Ask them about Neil Stephenson or Neil Gaiman and see what happens.  Don't
tell them what their inner lives should be-- give them some time to show you
what it is-- and accept that some students might be considerably more
introverted in that area.


Suzanne
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