The initial thoughts I get when I read poetry:
-Deep
-Shallow
-Too simplistic
-Way too much depth
-There's too many allusions I cannot make connections
-Oh--I think I know where the author is talking about--oh wait...I really don't. Do I?
It seems that there are antithetical ways of viewing poetry that coexists in a paradoxical swirling of emotional and cognitive knee jerk reactions.
Mr. Staunton mentioned that it was frustrating teaching poetry with a either/or method. Either students read poetry and TRULY UNDERSTAND the truth about the poem through neatly package processes skills. OR they write poetry or write about the poetry in non-poetic form.
What interests me about this article is the motivation for the study: it was fueled by an interest in learning about poetry as well as noticing the frustrations about poetry himself.
As I've learned in this class, whenever something is confusing or frustrating, it usually is IMPORTANT.
I really like the definition of poetry being a concise ordering of word choice. I'd like to take a poem and have my kids cut up all the words and RE-CREATE a poem using ONLY the words used in the poem. I'd have them be required to use at least 90% of the words.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Teaching Outside of Your Ethnicity--Minefield or Goldmine?
In Lucy's article, I found a particularly interesting answer to WHY teaching African American Literature IS NOT appropriate for the non-black:
"some knowledge is inaccessible to those of us who have not lived the experience of being black"
--this is NOT Lucy's ideology, but a counterpart at the University level where she originally formulated her doctoral thesis and dissertation.
My thoughts: In my research paper, I used Meyer's critiquing of authoritative voices in the classroom. He argues that the "privileged" and "unprivileged" statuses in the classroom are hindrances to making greater strides forward in education.
I think that this notion of "who is privileged?" does not just involve teacher and student, but when it comes to race, or any other human experience--let's say the Holocaust or the My Lai Massacre--for that matter, that ONLY those who have been THROUGH it or EXPERIENCED, or "know a lot about it" have the privileged voice on the topic.
It is true that race is a sensitive topic in our world--especially because of the loaded terms and ideologies that we've been exposed to regarding each race. It seems to be a wonderful opportunity to explore those boundaries (because our aim as students and teachers should be to deconstruct prejudices and not fortify them).
Literature TEACHES me as well as it teaches my students. I think that we can use literature as a voice in the classroom and treat IT as privileged and we are the participants in the literature.
In a very strict sense--no one is privileged in the classroom except the texts we teach. We have our experiences that can help us UNDERSTAND the text and perhaps the historical context that they speak from.
"I also aim to create a space in which students can learn to theorize and talk about race: its construction and its effects, how and why it is constituted and shapes our everyday and individual experiences."
This quote from Lucy was very insightful. Key words that jump out at me is SPACE; THEORIZE; SHAPES EVERYDAY/INDIVIDUAL experiences.
These are loaded words: What kinds of space? What does theorizing look like? Will someone be criticized for theorizing something that may/may not be appropriate? What parts of race or racial experiences shape our lives? How can sharing those stories be helpful or enrage others?
I shared a poem last week that I KNOW was controversial (Paul Lawrence Dunbar's "We Wear the Mask") and I thought that more of my classmates could have and might have shared ideas if my text was not so "racial."
Why is that so? What's the harm in sharing texts? Sometimes I think that bringing in sensitive material is taboo! I've felt that way with my students and when discussions crop up, I am quick to segway if I'M NOT PREPARED for the dialogue.
-Travis
"some knowledge is inaccessible to those of us who have not lived the experience of being black"
--this is NOT Lucy's ideology, but a counterpart at the University level where she originally formulated her doctoral thesis and dissertation.
My thoughts: In my research paper, I used Meyer's critiquing of authoritative voices in the classroom. He argues that the "privileged" and "unprivileged" statuses in the classroom are hindrances to making greater strides forward in education.
I think that this notion of "who is privileged?" does not just involve teacher and student, but when it comes to race, or any other human experience--let's say the Holocaust or the My Lai Massacre--for that matter, that ONLY those who have been THROUGH it or EXPERIENCED, or "know a lot about it" have the privileged voice on the topic.
It is true that race is a sensitive topic in our world--especially because of the loaded terms and ideologies that we've been exposed to regarding each race. It seems to be a wonderful opportunity to explore those boundaries (because our aim as students and teachers should be to deconstruct prejudices and not fortify them).
Literature TEACHES me as well as it teaches my students. I think that we can use literature as a voice in the classroom and treat IT as privileged and we are the participants in the literature.
In a very strict sense--no one is privileged in the classroom except the texts we teach. We have our experiences that can help us UNDERSTAND the text and perhaps the historical context that they speak from.
"I also aim to create a space in which students can learn to theorize and talk about race: its construction and its effects, how and why it is constituted and shapes our everyday and individual experiences."
This quote from Lucy was very insightful. Key words that jump out at me is SPACE; THEORIZE; SHAPES EVERYDAY/INDIVIDUAL experiences.
These are loaded words: What kinds of space? What does theorizing look like? Will someone be criticized for theorizing something that may/may not be appropriate? What parts of race or racial experiences shape our lives? How can sharing those stories be helpful or enrage others?
I shared a poem last week that I KNOW was controversial (Paul Lawrence Dunbar's "We Wear the Mask") and I thought that more of my classmates could have and might have shared ideas if my text was not so "racial."
Why is that so? What's the harm in sharing texts? Sometimes I think that bringing in sensitive material is taboo! I've felt that way with my students and when discussions crop up, I am quick to segway if I'M NOT PREPARED for the dialogue.
-Travis
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)