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For those who are familiar with the examination
for the British General Certificate of Education Advanced Level (G.C.E. A' level), they
certainly remember the section often referred to as "the unseen poem." This
simply means that while in other sections, students react to poems that they have studied
in class, this section treats a poem that has not been studied or "seen" before.
Some lucky students may have come across the poem on their own, but in the majority of
cases this is unlikely.
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The purpose of the "unseen poem" is to
see how well students can apply the principles of poetry appreciation to specific poems.
Needless to say, this section is a terror to students. In marking both class exams and the
G.C.E., teachers have realised that students have the lowest marks on this section, and
some fail woefully. So what can be done to allay this nightmare? Teachers have used
various approaches and techniques, and I would like to share mine here.
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Generally, students look at poetry as some kind
of mystery. So the first step I take is to "demystify" it. The obvious place to
start is with meaning. Students are encouraged to think of the ordinary meaning of a word
or expression, and then try to "relate" it to the poem. For example, when a poet
talks of pregnant clouds , you think of the implications of the word pregnant
. Just as we expect a pregnant woman to produce a baby, so must pregnant clouds. But what
are they likely to produce? Rain of course, not babies.
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Another poet describes the sun as peeping
thro' the blinds. Students should be able to conjure the image of someone peeping (or
struggling to see through a keyhole or a little opening). Relating this to the poem, it
would mean that the sun rays were still weak and struggling to pass through the little
gaps between the curtains. Further implications are that the inhabitants hadn't yet drawn
the blinds and were still probably in bed, or awakened by the intruding sun.
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The last example is that of a poet who doesn't
like the concept of a butterfly pinned down in a wooden box . Any living creature
pinned down certainly loses its freedom or life for that matter. The words a wooden box
arouse images of death and a coffin. Thus the poet definitely hates the idea of killing
butterflies and preserving them in wooden show- cases in insect shops. With this approach,
I noticed that students could at least get the basic meaning of any poem they met.
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One other problem area is that of the deeper or
implied meaning of a poem. Students have the erroneous impression that a poem must
necessarily have a meaning other than what is at the surface. If a poet writes a eulogy
about a beautiful woman or describes a war scene or a journey, what deeper meaning can
there be? I caution my students not to force meaning into a poem if they do not have
enough evidence from the text itself to substantiate their assertions.
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Another nightmare for students is the idea of
rhythm. This is probably because they are often scared of the scientific approach to
scansion with its iambic pentameters, etc. I only tell my students to determine if the
poem has a regular beat, and if it is slow or fast. How does this tie in with the subject
matter? A slow beat is appropriate for a sad situation and a fast beat for a joyful
occasion.
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With these main problems out of the way,
stylistic devices (rhyme, figure of speech, alliteration, etc.) structure, development,
and the poet's attitude usually fall in place.
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The next step towards demystification of the
"unseen poem" is dramatisation. Every student is asked to select a poem (not
from a prescribed anthology), memorize and dramatize it for the class, and then give a
brief appreciation. Usually this takes about one term with two or three students
performing each class hour. Some may think this is a random activity, but it is not. The
purpose is to bring students in contact with as many poems as possible. By the time a
student settles on what to present in class, he must have read at least two other poems.
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Closely related to this is group work where
students are asked to form groups of four or five. Each group is then supposed to choose a
poem, study it, write up a complete appreciation, and then "teach" the poem to
the class. Each member of the group will present one aspect of the poem: topic, style,
structure/development, poet's attitude, and total impression. Both the written and oral
work are graded, and each group member gets the same grade.
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The objection that could be raised here is that
students may plagiarize, but, this can easily be detected. The language, structure,
vocabulary, and arguments would be far above the level of your students. Moreover, during
the oral presentation, the rest of the class is required to question the panelists. If the
work is not theirs, of course they will not be able to explain their ideas convincingly.
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Another attempt to popularise poetry is to use a
poem written by their teacher for appreciation. Students often imagine poets to be
extraterrestrial, but when faced with the fact that their teacher is the poet, the poem
may sound more ordinary. Students should feel free to say whatever they feel about the
poem so long as they can substantiate their remarks from the poem itself. You'll be
startled to find that they bring out ideas you never even dreamt of when writing the poem.
To tell them this is to reiterate the fact that there is no "right
interpretation" for a poem. An interpretation is convincing only if it is supported
by the text of the poem itself.
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As a final step, students should write their own
poems to be used for study and appreciation by the class. To arrive at this stage, the
teacher should practice poetry writing with the class as a whole. Various topics are
elicited, and one is chosen. The class comes up with ideas at random; and each idea is put
into short, attractive, poetic lines, making use of imagery, rhyme, simile, metaphor,
alliteration, and so on. When the poem is complete, the class comes up with a title. This
exercise can be done three or more times before students are asked to write their own
poems.
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It is a great thrill to be elevated from the
level of a scared poetry student to that of a confident writer of poetry. As their poems
are discussed and appreciated in class, students gain a feeling of confidence and elation.
From this they'll also understand that there's no single interpretation to a poem.
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Finally, I decided to motivate the students
further and reward these beginning poets in two ways. First, I gave prizes to the five
best poems (or more depending on available funds). Since I shouldered the cost entirely,
the prizes were nothing expensive; but the students felt proud to have been singled out.
Secondly, I sent these prize-winning poems to a local newspaper and radio station. Imagine
how great the students felt to see their poems in print or hear them over the air!
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I can assure you that all these activities
awakened a keen interest in the students, and they showed a marked improvement in the
course. Moreover, they could now face any poem with confidence, most of all the
"unseen" poem on the G.C.E. exam. After all, it could have been written by one
of them!
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Gladys
N. Focho teaches English to high school students and English for Academic purpose
to University students. |
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