"Eating
Poetry" Mark Strand
"A Word" Kihachi Ozaki
"Ars Poetica" Archibald MacLeish
"Between What I See and What I Say"
Octavio Paz
"Poetry" Nikki Giovanni
TO
THE TEACHER-ONE WAY TO USE THIS EXERCISE: After students
write their answers, form a group for each poem, or two
groups per poem; they can elect a spokesperon for each
group, and have them discuss the poem. Then they can share
their answers with the class; to prevent this from becoming
a recitation, ask questions of other members in the group
to further explain what the spokesperson means. You can
also encourage the spokesperson to ask questions of the
class, and not simply, "Explain what I just said."
(You could offer extra credit points for asking pertinant
questions.)
This exercise has taken a 90 minute high school writing
class; sometimes it is completed the next day. This can
be a study that preceedes an actual Ars Poetica assignment,
or used at the opening of a class that sets the tone for
poetry study.
