I really enjoyed sitting down in the quiet of my bedroom to totally immerse myself in poetry. As I read through the concrete poems my head was flooded by thoughts of how I could make my concrete poem better. I also thought, there is no reason why my students could not benefit from doing the same type of poems. As I looked at these poems. I did not think about how complicated they were, I thought about how simple yet thought provoking they were.
I also enjoyed reading the acrostic poems. I loved the way that the book Silver Seeds began with dawn and ended with the stars at night. It makes perfect sense. I can remember doing acrostic poems in elementary school and thinking that there was not much to them. But as I read through that book, I realized that there is so much more to the poem that I first thought. I guess acrostics aren’t that difficult if you are using one word to describe each letter. But to use sentences and phrases is much more difficult but meaningful.
I loved the I poems. There was so much information in Sierra and Atlantic. My first read of the story was just to experience the rhythm and the expressive language. I had to read them several times to get the information out of them. I could not believe how much information was contained in these two poems. I have been talking with my students this week about author’s purpose. We talked about how authors can have more than one purpose for writing a selection. I can show them that Sierra’s purpose is to give information but also to entertain with an outstanding poem. I can also share that Atlantic is to give information, entertain with a great poem, but also persuade the reader to care for the ocean. I loved I am the Mummy. What beautiful language. It is full of information, yet tells a wonderful story. I loved how the first lines were repeated. It really gave great emphasis on the statement, “I am the mummy Heb-Nefert.”
After reading the I poems, my definition of an I poem would be a poem that is written from the point of veiw of some type of object. This poem shares this object’s point of view and perspective. This type of poem also shares information about that object.
Thank you for sharing your experiences of immersion. Ah, yes, the language is lyrical and evocative; you are right. To add to your definition of I POETRY, don’t forget the emotional connection to the subject of the poem; I think it is through the thought-provoking language that the connection to the subject is emphasized. What do you think? I also think it is interesting that you reread the books to gain additional information…hmmm…that causes me to pause and think; I would like to continue this conversation; is it possible that the language is too complex? Thanks for such thoughtful posts!
Comment by fryeem — February 27, 2008 @ 12:06 am