Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Entry #10 "Bless, Address, or Press"

I'm not sure why I don't have all these negative feelings towards writing poetry but I do know that it is crazy to hear about all of the negative experiences people have had when it comes to this genre of writing.  When we were first asked to write down on an index card different genres I don't exactly remember how I choose to order the different genres I was interested in.  However I do know that I have always enjoyed poetry and have always been interested in gaining more knowledge about the genre as well as teaching and implementing within my future classroom.

I would like to BLESS Alyse for her latest Blog entry, I don't want to write a poem and you can't make me...  The more I think about it, I realize that when individuals are faced with choosing to write a poem or use a different genre of writing is seems as though they almost always choose to write any genre BUT poetry.  In the beginning of Alyse's blog she talks about her response to thinking about writing a poem,  "Hmmm... naaaaaooooo. I don't think so. I don't really like poems"...it may be because I have had a couple of classes with Alyse and have gotten to know her but I loved reading this because I could visualize her responding exactly like this.  It seems as though most poetry related experiences I have read about students only explore the poetry genre when asked, it isn't something one tends to discover on their own.  Is this because of all the negative experiences people have had in the past? 

According to Tompkins, "many students have misconceptions about what writing poetry is, they think it has to rhyme, or they're unsure of how it should look on a page...students need to develop a basic understanding of the genre as they begin to write poetry." (p. 171)  I agree with Tompkins that students need a basic understanding of what the genre of poetry is.  When talking with people about their poetry experiences I believe that they haven't been given the opportunities to properly learn about this genre.  Unfortunately because of experiences like this many feel the same as Alyse and "learn to SHUN the genre" (By the way I love the use of the word shun!)  I'm happy that you enjoyed our presentation and that it was able to INSPIRE you to give poetry another CHANCE!  I can't wait to hear about your POSTIVE experience using this genre for your project!

Maybe the reason I have always enjoyed exploring the poetry genre is because it's exactly what Alyse states, "Poetry is a celebration of the unconventional. It allows people the freedom to construct a  message in a unique way, placing more emphasis on the meaning of the text instead of following traditional form." Thanks Alyse for sharing and putting yourself up to the challenge of writing in the poetry genre!


Tompkins, G. E.  (2012).  Teaching writing:  Balancing process and product 
            (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Merrill

3 comments:

  1. Yes, I agree with you Jaci. And I really appreciate how you highlighted some key points in her blog and emphasized your own reflections as well. Nicely said.

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  2. Hey Jaci, Just thought I'd comment since you mentioned that you couldn't see my blog. Let me know if it ends up showing up.

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    1. Lexi, I see your Blogs now!...Thanks for commenting :)

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