Minds on.

I think that we’re beginning to remember that the first poets didn’t come out of a classroom, that poetry began when somebody walked off of a savanna or out of a cave and looked up at the sky with wonder and said, “Ahhh.” That was the first poem.

Lucille Clifton

This is the did you know icon. Did You Know?

Canada has its own unique poetic form called the viator, which was invented by Robin Skelton. In a viator, the first line of the first stanza becomes the second line of the second stanza and so on until the poem ends with its beginning line. One of his most famous poems is called “Dover Beach Revisited”.

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Long Description

Action.

Poetic Possibilities

The same hesitation that prevents some students from reading the classic novels also keeps them from reading poetry. Reading, and especially writing, poetry, is a skill that develops over time. Naturally, attitudes, beliefs, and experiences all colour your response to poetry. Some poems slowly unfold their meaning, while others reveal their details more quickly. Sometimes you will need to think about the words and ideas contained in the poem very carefully; at other times, the words and ideas will be more accessible to you.

This is an image of a dandelion that is about to spread its seeds.

Every seed contains possibility.

There are many appropriate responses to poetry. Whether your response is emotional, intellectual, or aesthetic depends on the experience you have had with poetry. The only empty response possible is from the student who refuses to engage in poetry at all.

Read the following poems; all offer advice from poets about engaging in the appreciation of poetry. After you read them, consider and summarize the advice in your Writer’s Notebook in preparation for the upcoming discussion.

“Johnnie's Poem” - Alden Nowlan

Look! I've written a poem!
Johnnie says
and hands it to me
and it's about his grandfather dying
last summer, and me
in the hospital
and I want to cry,
don't you see, because it doesn't matter
if it's not very good:
what matters is he knows
and it was me, his father, who told him
you write poems about what
you feel deepest and hardest.

“Egg” - Jay Macpherson

Reader, in your hand you hold
A silver case, a heart of gold.
I have no door, however small,
Unless you break my tender wall,
And there's no skill in healing then
Shall ever make me whole again.
Show pity, reader, for my plight:
Pass by, or else consume me quite.

“How To Eat a Poem” - Eve Merriam

Don't be polite.
Bite in.
Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that
may run down your chin.
It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are.

You do not need a knife or fork or spoon
or plate or napkin or tablecloth.

For there is no core
or stem
or rind
or pit
or seed
or skin
to throw away.

“You are reading this too fast” - Ken Norris

You are reading this too fast.
Slow down, for this is poetry
And poetry works slowly.
Unless you live with it a while
the spirit will never descend.
It's so easy to quickly cut across the surface
and then claim there was nothing to find.
Touch the poem gently with your eyes
just as you would a lover's flesh.
Poetry is an exercise in patience,
You must wait for it to come to you.
The spirit manifests in many guises;
some quiver with beauty,
some vibrate with song.
What is happening?
Slow down, slow down,
take a few breaths,
read the poem slowly,
read the lines one at a time,
read the words one by one,
read the spaces between the word,
get sleepy, this is poetry,
relax until your heart
is vulnerable, wide open.

Oh, Canada?

It is important to note that while every culture/tradition often writes about collective ideas (as studied in earlier lessons on Jung), each has a unique perspective. It is, furthermore, important that you are familiar with the poetry of your own culture/community to help understand who you are and why you respond to experiences in a particular way.

This is an image of a fingerprint that forms the Canadian flag.

Our poets capture and form our identity.

How many poets can you name? Now, from that list, how many are Canadian? If you didn't identify many (or any!) Canadians, why do you think that is the case?

Whether you know it or not, Canada boasts a rich collection of poignant poets. In fact, Canada’s poets can help us understand ourselves as they write to explain and explore their own experiences.

For example, read CBC 2016 Poetry Prize winner Michael Fraser’s "African Canadian in Union Blue" and then his follow up interview "Michael Fraser: How I wrote the poem that won the 2016 CBC Poetry Prize" to learn more about a contemporary Canadian poet.

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Writer’s Notebook

To learn more about how poets use their writing to build and communicate Canada’s identity, read the following two articles and then summarize how poetry contributes to identity, both personal and patriotic, in your Writer’s Notebook. Afterward, review the Resources below to read some examples of Canada’s poets in action. Do they speak for Canada and/or you?

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Resources

  1. University of Toronto Libraries’ Canadian Poetry Online website provides a short bio and samples of over 300 Canadian poets.
  2. Notable Contemporary Canadian Poets provides links to many Canadian poets’ works in written, audio and video formats.
  3. 11 do's and don'ts for writing great poetry provides insightful advice for aspiring poets.
Consolidation

This is the dropbox icon. Researching Poets

Now it’s time to learn more about the authors, themselves. Choose a poet to research. After you are finished, design a presentation. It should include:

  • the author’s biographical details;
  • a list of the author’s works;
  • the main genre(s) in which the author wrote;
  • the context in which the author wrote;
  • the author's beliefs about writing;
  • specific experiences the author may have had that influenced his/her writing;
  • a comment on how the author's beliefs, experiences, and the context within which she or he wrote influenced their writing. Give specific examples from her or his work. Analyse and assess a brief piece, or an excerpt from a longer piece;
  • three famous quotations from the author, along with a brief explanation as to why they are significant;
  • comment on how your chosen author contributed to poetry; and
  • a brief account of the contribution they made to writing as an art, craft, and/or career and how you feel it could influence your own writing.
  • Optional: If you have read any of her or his works, you may choose to write a brief review of one of them.

Genre means the type of art, literature or music characterized by a specific form, content and style. For example, literature has four main genres; poetry, drama, fiction, and non-fiction.

This is the metacognitive icon. Metacognitive Moment

For this Metacognitive Moment, you will reflect on the following aspects.

  1. Determine whether, and if so, to what extent, you believe an author can advise another writer.
  2. Write a 2 - 3 paragraph response on what you’ve learned about different dramatic writing styles, and how reading different authors can influence your own writing. Make sure you include specific references to what you’ve learned throughout this activity.
  3. What have you learned about writing as an art, craft, and career as a result of your reading?
  4. What new ideas have you encountered that you might incorporate in your own poetic writing?
  5. You've researched how an author's experiences, beliefs, and the context within which she or he wrote influenced her or his writing. How do your own experiences, values, and beliefs influence your personal writing?

Remember

Assess: to make a judgement about the nature or quality of something. Oxford Learners Dictionary

Analyse: to examine the nature or structure of something, especially by separating it into its parts, in order to understand or explain it. Oxford Learners Dictionary

In their book, Writing Analytically, Rosenwasser and Stephen set out a process for analysis:

  • Suspend judgement
  • Define significant parts and how they’re related
  • Determine the meaning that is implied
  • Look for patterns or things that seem out of place
  • Keep asking questions and formulating meaning

Source

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