Writing poetry and writing about poetry may seem similar, but they’re very different experiences. When writing poetry, the goal is to find a way to express thoughts and emotions creatively. On Tuesday when we delivered our poems to the class, it was not only entertaining but a liberating experience. It allowed me to reconnect with my own feelings and convey them in a way that felt personal, meaningful, all the while conveying my message to my peers. It was also intriguing hearing from my peer’s perspectives and various approaches to the art form of poetry. There’s a sense of freedom in crafting something that’s entirely your own, from your own experience, or your creative mind.
On the other hand, writing about poetry involves taking a step back and analyzing how another poet has achieved the same expression. It’s more analytical, focusing on the explicative elements of the poem’s structure, language, and rhetorical devices to understand how it works all together. While this type of analysis is a different type of engagement, it deepens your appreciation for the craft and the decisions a poet makes. Both writing poetry and writing about it are interconnected. Writing about poetry has made me more mindful when constructing my own work, as I think more carefully about my choices, whether it’s selecting a particular word or structuring a stanza in a certain form. At the same time, writing my own poetry has given me greater empathy and insight when reading others’ works, allowing me to approach my perception and exploration of poetry with a more nuanced understanding.
When it comes to teaching, the balance between these two processes is integral. When students have the opportunity to write their own poetry, they experience firsthand the challenges and joys of shaping language to convey their thoughts and emotions. This creative process gives them insight into the choices poets make by constructing their own, using literary devices and techniques that may seem abstract when simply reading a poem as opposed to writing one. On the more analytical side, guiding students through the breakdown of established works allows them to see how these choices affect meaning, mood, and impact. By dissecting how poets use this rhetoric, students develop the tools to critically engage with both their own writing and the poems they study. By blending these activities, students learn to approach poetry not only as something to decode but as something to create, making the experience more relatable and meaningful.
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Dear Shel,
ReplyDeleteI think you brought up some really good points about the benefits of poetry writing/performing as well as the differences in writing poems vs. explicating poems. Like you pointed out, our poetry slam night was fun and insightful. We all got to bare a little piece of our souls in some way to our classmates while also taking a peek into everyone else’s fears, joys, motivations, senses of humor, etc. This practice can be really helpful for upper grade students going through tough times, as well as the usual growing pains, to find their voices and open up to others about their problems. I especially liked that you brought up how writing, sharing, and analyzing poetry builds empathy, because it allows us to take a look into someone else’s poems and try to put ourselves in their shoes to see what could have motivated them to pick and choose the forms, topics, and words that they used. Thank you for sharing this post, it was very insightful!