I've noticed that when my students switch from writing poetry to the fiction unit, they feel more compelled to describe and provide detail when they write stories than when they write poems.
My first thought is that they see poems as compressed language. Because of that compression, they need to use shorthand (abstraction), in order to say what they want to say.
My second thought is that they view poetry as closely in league with philosophy. A poem is about ideas first and not about image.
Finally, as was stated in the previous post, the abstract language will allow the readers to interpret the poem in whatever way that reader wishes. It's the idea that the poem allows the writer AND the reader freedom. However, the reader is empowered in this model and ultimately, it's the reader who's writing the poem, it seems.
So . . . what to do? More in a few. I've got to teach in ten minutes. ;-)
4 days ago
2 comments:
O, how about writing the most generic, abstract poem you can, and giving it to your students and telling them to write their REAL poem (with concrete images) based on the abstractions? Seems like it might be a good exercise to show them how each person can write a poem that reaches more people with specificity. Just a thought.... Sue
Dear all,
It's not just that I have defiant students in this one particular class. I'm merely speculating about what exactly makes younger writers rely so heavily on abstractions in the first place. This little discussion with my students is making me meditate a wee bit on the idea. Anyway, Ryan, I'm at Utica College, which is in upstate NY. ASU was a world away. . . in fact, almost five years ago. Before that I was a visiting writer at Gettysburg College until I landed in Utica.
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