Chapter 11 Poetry Writing

Through this chapter, I’ve acquired two valuable facts. The first fact is that there are many types of poems and poetic devices and each type of them has its own advantages. Hart (2010) states, “Poets that are able to make the best statements use techniques that are able to get points and philosophies across.” Thus, when teaching students writing poems, teachers should emphasize the strong points of each poem so that they take advantage of it. The second fact is that the contents of poems are more essential than the forms or rules of poems because those formations might spoil students’ creativity and imagination. Tompkins (2000) indicates, “The need to adhere to the formula in these poems may restrict children’s freedom of expression” (p. 251). Also he adds, “The message of the poem is always more important than adhering to the formula” (p. 252).

According to Jaeun Kim, children should practice how to develop a poem under teachers’ help. That’s right. Knowing is one thing and doing is another. Once children learn basic information such as poetic forms, structures, and devices, they should try to apply what they learn to writing a poem because children learn by doing. In addition, practice makes perfect understanding of knowledge.

References

Hart, B. (2010). How to become a poetry writer. eHow, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/how_4779601_become-poetry-writer.html

Tomkins, G. E. (2008). Teaching writing: Balancing process and product. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.