Remarks on "Why Teaching Poetry is so Important"

In high school, I shared a similar experience with Andrew Simmons who wrote in an article, "So far this year, my 12th grade literature students have read nearly 200,000 words for my class. Poems have accounted for no more than 100."

During my junior and senior year, I wrote close to fifty analytical essays, read novels and several short stories, yet when I asked if we would review any poetry, I was disappointed with the response.

Simmons attributes the blame to an "image problem," then counts several cliché examples like scenes from the Dead Poet's Society and boring lessons on iambic pentameter. This is a fair observation. I know students groan at the sight of a Shakespeare playwright, or the sound of an Emily Dickinson poem. The truth is most high school students don't care about poetry and do not see the value in it, and it is in this that I see the true problem.

Ask a high school student what his or her favorite subject is; 80 % of the time you will hear, "lunch." Like poetry, students don't care much for math, or science, or other subjects taught, however teachers and society have convinced them math and science is valuable. This is the difference between poetry and other subjects. Poetry has been written off as too abstract for the average student; a subject that will, "get you nowhere in life."

Poetry, although it may not produce measurable financial results (which seem to be the focus of modern day schooling, quite contrary to what it used to be), does provide an environment for expression and creativity. Throughout my time writing analytical essays, my teacher gave me specific instructions: no first person pronouns, three paragraphs only, no introductions or conclusions, analyze and explain, use specifics. These were all rules I had to follow in order to have a chance at scoring an A. Never in my four years of English, was I given an opportunity to break away from these rules, or even set my own rules and then break them.

Poetry allows students to exercise their creative muscles through the language they speak every single day. It gives them the opportunity to explore English and like Simmons' says, "Students can learn how to utilize grammar in their own writing by studying how poets do—and do not—abide by traditional writing rules in their work." In this sense, poetry is used as a tool to enhance one's use of the English language, and it is important that it is offered to those who want to use it.

I understand why there is a heavier focus on analytical writing in high school, however I think poetry should find its place in the curriculum. Using both prose and poetry to teach the language could have an impact far greater than utilizing only one.

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/04/why-teaching-poetry-is-so-important/360346/