Ya heard?!
As a follow up to my earlier blog today, tonights class went well. I regret not choosing a poem I liked more because I would have had more fun with it and acted more. I love this class because everyone in it is so fun and cool. Its easy to say what you want to say and not feel weird about it.
In turn this leads me to make a bold statement: This is the coolest group of people I've had the honor of learning with :-D
I think that poetry should be stressed more in elementary and high school english classes. I think all varieties should be exhibited as well. Its stupid to only showcase Frost and Cummings. Poets like Maya Angelou and unknown poets should be celebrated. I know that most students dread poetry and I think it is for the reason that all studied poetry deals with 100 year old subjects. To raise interest in poetry, a raised level of acceptance has to be shown to poetry.
I think that haiku may be my favorite type of poetry to read because it is normally full of wisdom and wit. I remember being in grade school and writing a haiku about my missing cat. Good times.
more later
Posted by EmilyEvans at April 15, 2004 08:23 PMHear, hear... I've also notice that poetry seems to be the one genre that my students can't get "into" very easily. And I concluded that the choice of poems is so personal that I wanted to let you guys do it. The advice about being sure you choose a poem that you really like is worth remembering!
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at April 15, 2004 08:33 PMEmily,
I agree with you. It seems like every poem i've ever read for a class has either been about love or death and vitually impossible to understand.
I also agree on the Haiku issue, its one of those, it doesnt always have ot make sense to be enjoyable subjects. I'm not extremely into poetry either, but i'm a big classic rock fan. I took a class a few years ago at upg on poetry, and I got myself into it by reading Jim Morrison's poems. I think that may be another way to get people to be interested in poetry, to somehow link someting they care about.
And I agree that the ppl in our class are awesome. So different in opinion, but so willing to have fun with it!
:) ~Heidi
Posted by: Heidi Herholz at April 16, 2004 01:14 AM