Directions: look back on the entire poetry unit and the explication you just wrote. What new aspects of poetry did you discover, either through class discussions, the blogs or the readings? Be specific about the lesson and the mode. What do you still wish you knew about poetry? Do you feel like you were prepared to write your explication? What do you think might have helped you become more prepared?
Reflection due by 5pm on Saturday, September 27th. Write your blog after you have dropped your paper.
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ReplyDeleteI don’t think I learned any completely new aspects of poetry but I definitely deepened my understanding of all of the aspects through assigned reading, lectures and small group discussions in class, and explicating poems. Small group discussions helped me the most because my classmates where usually confused about the same things I was, and so we could find an answer together. I wish I knew how to more quickly gain understanding of what the poem is about and how to explicate it, but I think the only way to do that is through practice. I did not feel prepared to write this explication. I think getting to spend more time on poetry in general and getting to explicate our personal poems in small groups in class would have really helped me to understand explication more.
ReplyDeleteThrough the poetry unit I discovered a whole new vocabulary, I enjoyed looking at and pulling out the symbolism, metaphors and irony. I found it interesting that even a poem that is familiar can have a much deeper meaning when it is explicated. I could learn a lot more about meter, and the different styles that poetry is written in. I find it frustrating when I read something and it doesn’t sound right. For me, writing the explication was difficult; it was hard to get the concepts down in a written form. It might have helped me if I explicated my own poem each week and then wrote a small explication on that particular subject.
ReplyDeleteSince I grew up with literature, I always had a decent understanding of what poetry was. Especially classic poetry. However, I was never completely aware of all the details and thought that went into writing it. The class discussions, blogs, and explications helped me to better understand the different aspects of poetry. I learned so much about vocabulary, structure, meaning, and just all the different literary devices that go into poems. The explications allowed me to really get into a poem and develop an interpretation. The class discussions taught me to understand other interpretations of the poetry we read. The discussions also revealed to me that your interpretation will not always be right. The literary devices that we learned helped broaden my outlooks towards writing poetry. In addition, I also have more respect for modern day poetry. Though I may enjoy classic poetry more, modern day poets still put in extensive effort towards their writing. Honestly, I have no idea if there is anything more I wish to know about poetry. I have a long road in front of me, so I intend to just take it all as it comes. I felt very prepared to write my explication. Nothing more could have helped me prepare, other than taking everything I learned and applying it towards the essay. Finally, I realized that there are areas where I will need to focus more on. Interpretation and critical reading are two of those areas. I am ecstatic to learn and challenge myself more about poetry. Through both reading poems and writing them.
ReplyDeleteIn the poetry unit, I lived up to what I thought at the beginning, which is that I'm clearly not made to nail poetry on the head. On a good note, it didn't stop me from learning new things through classmates and of course Ms. Taylor. It was helpful seeing how other people perceive a composition. For myself if I was right or wrong about a piece; nit-picking in class helped me a great deal to push through the explication. Now, looking back at the unit I wish I knew more about the exact difference between certain vocabulary words. It's almost like poets think what their saying is clear, but, it needs to be complex first to have that sentimental meaning. In my eyes, that's a literature troll. Because of that I'm very iffy of how I did on the paper. Maybe if I had given myself more credit for analysing in the beginning maybe I would have felt more prepared for the explication.
ReplyDeleteI have gained a greater appreciation for poetry through this unit. Through the blog I discovered how songs can fall into the category of poetry, as many people chose songs to discuss. Meter and irony are things I struggle with and are something I wish I knew better about poetry. I felt adequately prepared to write the explication as we talked about every facet of poetry and what to look for when explicating. More time would have helped me to really dive into the explication process, my poem, and the author. I am glad to have completed the poetry unit.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the poetry unit, I have learned that the elements of poetry are used much more deliberately than I had originally perceived. A poem is so much more than simply rhyming; alliteration, allusion, enjambment, metaphor, personification, and tone all take a small part in delivering a profound message. Each piece is used in different styles and amounts in order to deliver the desired outcome. Perhaps the most interesting lesson was that of rhythm (consonance, assonance, alliteration, etc." Through both the readings and discussions, I was astounded to find that a phrase, word, or even syllable stressed in a different way could alter the entire meaning of a poem.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I'm quite disappointed that we couldn't spend more time covering songs. Songs aren't just words translated to music; both the music and lyrics are equally important, and often work in conjunction with each other. I wish that I had learned about the role of music in songs in addition to the elements of poetry. As it were, I feel that I was well prepared to cover the literary elements in my song explication. Perhaps if I had looked at other examples of song explications, I could have picked out which elements of poetry and music were important to cover in my own.
Having studied classic forms of art for quite some time, I was very familiar with the nuances of poetry. However, explication was very new to me, never have I looked so closely at a poem I learned quite a bit from our discussions of poetry explications,and the poetry we explicated in class. I suppose I never looked at poems that deeply before.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the samplings of poetry we read, some of them will stick in my head for sometime. I also have been motivated to find and read other poems. Now I am equipped to better understand what I am reading. My vocabulary was improved, aswell. I find my self using worlds like "anaphora" and "apostrophe" properly in my everyday speaking.
Given time I could certainly write another explication, I enjoyed the process: the research, the dissecting, the writing. My appreciation of my poem grew greatly as I worked at it.
I greatly appreciate Ms. Taylor's work, and for drawing us in to the world of poetry. I look forward to the next modules.
English has always been my favorite subject. However, Poetry has never been a strong area of mine. During the poetry unit, I have learned how approach and explicate a poem without trying to over think the true meaning. I also learned that before reading the poem, it could very helpful to know some of the author’s background in order to understand where and why the poem was written. In addition, I have gain a new amount of vocabulary, and the strongest point during the unit that has helped the most were the small group and classroom discussions of the poems. I still struggle with understanding meter, but I have gained confidence to approach poetry in a new light.
ReplyDeleteI learned how to explicate a poem. I have explicated other papers and ideas but never a poem. I had no idea that a poem had so many aspects. All I knew was that poems always seemed to have a hidden meaning. Leaning about meter, word choice, and how to look for stressed syllables. I do wish that I understood meter better. It is easier for me to see meter in music than in poetry. I did feel prepared to write my paper and I hope it shows. I also learned that one poem can look or read completely differently to different people.
ReplyDeleteI learned a lot this semester about poetry. I learned a lot more about similes and metaphors then I thought I would. I still don't like poetry though because I am not good at interpretation. It doesn't come naturally to me. I feel like you gave us all the tools necessary to complete project. But because this was my first explication it was still hard. I think we should have done more songs instead of just old poems.
ReplyDeleteThrough the course, so far, I've gained a deeper appreciation for poetry. I haven't learned any entirely new concepts or vocabulary but was able to dig deep into some poetry and look at it from a different angle. I have begun to understand that poets really write with intention. I wish that we could have spent more time on poetry. One thing that really helped me grasp our concepts and appreciate this unit was having our discussion groups, being able to discuss with a variety of thinkers, and then come back as a class to discuss. The major thing that I learned in this unit was how to explicate a poem. I feel that I was prepared to write this explication and actually found it interesting. I think we spent the perfect amount of time on poetry and wouldn't change anything about the course. I think everything is well-organized.
ReplyDeleteNew aspects I discovered in the poetry unit is not to look at poetry like it is evil. I have always been easily overwhelmed by poetry and this unit helped me to realize that it actually isn't that scary if you take it line by line. We took every poem we learned as a class line by line and that was extremely helpful in this unit. I wish I knew more about the history of poetry and more about the old poetry. I wish I was more well rounded when it comes to poetry. I do feel like I was well prepared to write my explication. Everything we learned in class all contributed to making the explication easier. The handouts that described the different techniques when writing or reading poems was very helpful for me and when I was writing my explication those were helpful to look back on.
ReplyDeleteThis unit has helped me improve my skills in looking for deeper meaning in poems and seeing how techniques like metaphor, rhyme scheme, meter, and word choice contribute to the meaning of the poem. It was interesting to me to look at a poem one line at a time, and study it carefully to get the whole meaning from it. I wish I knew more about the background of some of the poets we read, I think knowing some details about their lives gives even more insight into the poetry they wrote. I felt very well prepared to write my explication.
ReplyDeleteI had a hard time with this unit because I am not a fan of poetry and I just couldn't pull out the deeper underlying meanings of the poems. I appreciated seeing the techniques such as metaphor and word choice implemented and seeing how they affected the overall theme of the poem but I was confused a lot of the time and didn't actually understand how other students came to the conclusion that they did with certain poems. If it wasn't because we went over it in class I would have never understood "His Coy Mistress" and what it was about, it didn't make sense to me. I felt that "Dulce et Decorum Est" was easily understood but more so for me because I was in the military so I could relate some what and I learned a lot about warfare and the things Soldier's went through back in that time. I will say that knowing the background of some of the poets helped a bit but I really didn't feel prepared, I was lost 90% of the time. If it wasn't for going over the poems in class I would have never understood 99% of them
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