English Language Arts and Reading.8.8.B

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The student is expected to

analyze the effect of graphical elements such as punctuation and line length in poems across a variety of poetic forms such as epic, lyric, and humorous poetry;

multiple genres TEKS talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--genres. The student recognizes and analyzes genre-specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts.

Prepare a poem without punctuation and line breaks. Have students add the punctuation and line breaks as they interpret the poem. Students should explain the intended effect their changes have on the poem. Then, provide the same poem with graphical elements and elicit a discussion about the poet’s decisions.

Questions a teacher might ask students:

  • How does the use of punctuation affect the flow of the poem?
  • How do the words and number of syllables in the poem affect the rhythm and meter?
  • Why do you think the poet chose to insert a line break at this particular place in the poem?
     

Further Explanation

This SE focuses on the different techniques poets use to emphasize, combine, or isolate certain details and/or ideas within a poem. Students should be familiar enough with techniques, such as punctuation and line length, to be able to examine their use and effects in poems. Students should know that poets establish a rhythm or flow to help the reader understand where the poet means to stress or subordinate parts of the poem. Students should be able to recognize that poets can and often do take poetic license with conventions rules that are more rigid in prose writing.

Students should know that poets establish a rhythm or flow to help the reader understand where the poet means to stress or subordinate parts of the poem. For example, the punctuation in a poem can create natural pauses or full stops that allow readers to reflect more carefully on what they just read. Students should recognize that poets can and often do take poetic license with conventions rules that are more rigid in prose writing.
long narrative poems, usually chronicling the deeds of a folk hero and written using both dramatic and narrative literary techniques
capital letters, line length, and word position; also called the “shape” of a poem
poetry that aims to be amusing about both serious and frivolous subjects and often features playful themes, puns, and alliteration; also referred to as light poetry
in poetry, the width of a block of typeset text, usually measured in units of length like inches or points or in characters per line
short poems expressing personal feelings and emotions that may be set to music and often involve the use of regular meter

Research

Peskin, J., Allen, G., & Wells-Jopling, R. (2010). The educated imagination: Applying instructional research to the teaching of symbolic interpretation of poetry. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(6), 498–507. doi:10.1598/JAAL.53.6.6

Summary: This article is a report on a collaborative project that tries to better understand how students learn and interpret poetry. The project includes applied cognitive science, cognitive psychology, and English literacy. The report addresses what to teach, how to teach, and a graphic organizer that provides an example of how to lead student to use symbolism interpret poetry.