The Scary Part of Poetry

When it comes to the art of poetry there are many ways to look at it. In the past I have spoken with people, usually the more STEM minded, who have said they don't understand why they would want their thoughts interpreted in the way it was intended. However, I believe this is one of the great things about poetry that I hope to instill in my students when I become a teacher. Poetry can be interpreted in multiple different ways, with a lot of it stemming from a person's own life experiences. No analysis of a poem is wrong in my opinion, because like with food or colors, the way I see a poem may be vastly different than the way someone else sees the same poem.

This also going into the differences between writing and reading poetry. When you write poetry you allow your feelings to spread out onto a page, and open yourself up to analysis. Because poetry can be interpreted in different ways, it makes it a little scary to write your feelings out, because you don't know how someone else is going to react to it.

In the same regard, reading poetry is a very intimate thing, because you are reading something that someone else has written as a way to express themselves and open up. In a way, reading poetry almost feels like an invasion of privacy, and you need to treat carefully as you analyze in order to understand why and what the motives could be for it.

These are feeling I felt myself feeling when we were writing the poems and doing the slam for this week. I gave myself a hard time as I was listening to others read their poems, because I felt that they had such beautiful words and interpretations that mine felt stale in comparison. However, it was when I read my poem out loud and got the feedback that I realized that everyone else was probably feeling the same way I did. Writing about poetry made me discover that everyone is self conscious about throwing their feelings onto a paper, especially if they themselves feel self conscious about opening up and interpreting.

Overall as I mentioned in my first paragraph, all of this is what I will be conveying to my students when I become a teacher. The ideas that everyone has a hard time writing but at the same time, interpreting can be just as scary because you don't know what to expect.

About Me

Hello everyone and I welcome you to my new blog for questions, answers, and discussion on Literature and the English language. A little about myself, I am a 24-year-old student at California State University Northridge studying English while also earning my secondary education credential. As such, I have witnessed a lot of different technology being used in the classroom, and I have found that with the changing times, technology has and should play a much bigger part in education than before.

As an English major, I do feel that students do need to use pen and paper for the majority of the time, mostly to help with their writing. However, I also feel that technology could help those students who are struggling with writing. For example, work processors have become a great tool for students to help with their spelling and grammar. While some purists believe that this may be cheating, I believe that this could give students more confidence in writing and being able to articulate what they want to say. Also, I'd be a liar if I said that I don't find spellcheck and grammarcheck useful in everyday life. On top of that, certain programs available for ELD students could help them understand their schoolwork better, with translation being available when needed.

I feel that especially for secondary education, many teenagers are becoming obsessed with being on their smartphones 24/7. However, I believe that rather than force students to shy away from using technology, we as teachers should encourage it. For example, in my 525EN class, we were taught about the different apps a teacher could use in the classroom setting using the students' smartphones. One tool my teacher used was a poll program that allowed students to answer questions live using their phones, and the screen would show the results of the entire class. Things like this not only make it easier for a teacher to evaluate the whole class in an instant, but it keeps the students' attention and allows them to have a little fun with their phones in class.

 Overall, I can understand the argument that students are becoming obsessed with tech, but I also can see the world around us developing around this lifestyle. While students should be able to write an essay with just a pen and paper, there should also be prep and encouragement to learn how to type and use certain programs. I know for a lot a jobs these days employers find value in potential employees knowing certain programs, and I believe that by discouraging students to be interested in tech, we're only holding them back from the future.