Scott,
I have always handled poetry grammatically first, then structurally, and then semantics and the big idea of the poem; then we go after rhyme and meter.
When it is time to write some of their own, they appreciate the effort and are sympathetic to most poets because of the demand.
I like to have them work with diagrams and trees to make sure they see the big idea.
Grace and Peace,
Mr. William R. D. Hillaker, M.Div
English & Humanities
Flint Central High School
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810.760.4032
Those who fail to learn history
are doomed to repeat it, but
those who fail to learn the lessons
that history teaches, are just doomed.
>>> Scott Woods <[log in to unmask]> 10/13/07 12:48 PM >>>
Listmates,
Has much been done to develop a curriculum for teaching poetry using grammatical analysis? Does anyone on the list approach poems by looking at their grammatical structures? I have done this with my 7th graders, now that they have learned some grammar, and have found that once they see what is going on grammatically, they can usually see what the poem means more clearly. For instance, in Housman's poem
From the wash the laundress sends My collars home with ravelled ends: I must fit, now these are frayed,
My neck with new ones London-made. 5
Homespun collars, homespun hearts, Wear to rags in foreign parts. Mine at least's as good as done, And I must get a London one.
Most of my students thought the poet was talking about collars, and they couldn't see the point of the poem. Once they saw that the first stanza and second stanzas differed in number ( ones, one, are, 's), they were able to see that the poet had shifted from talking about collars to talking about his own heart and how it had changed. I didn't stop at grammar, but starting with grammar helped them see the poem.
I know this might sound strange, but maybe a series of graded exercises, using authentic poems by great poets, might give students an opportunity to apply their developing grammatical knowledge by giving them access to otherwise incomprehensible poems.
Scott Woods
---------------------------------
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