As you all know, poetry month has swiftly descended upon us with the new semester. For many of us, this month is one of the most difficult to get through in terms of our English classes. And, let’s be honest, many of us despise poetry. Maybe because we don’t understand it or maybe because the punctuation is a little off-putting. All the while, we are here to give you some very helpful advice for surviving next year’s poetry month.
1. Pick a poem you actually like. Understanding a poem is key to reciting it well. When you like a poem, the ideas will grow in your mind until they consume your every move, or at least fill the little remaining brain space you possess. Just, please don’t pick “Catch A Little Rhyme” or “Fire and Ice.” Just Don’t.
2. Trick your brain into accepting poetry and liking it. Oftentimes, you may get stuck when learning poetry because you are so focused on needing to understand it and on thinking that understanding equates to liking. Think of poetry as a neutral substance from which you can extract information. If you like it, great. If you don’t, still try to accept poetry as an art form and defend your opinion.
3. Poetry is all about interpretation. Speak your mind in class because the teachers will often ask how the poems you read in class make you feel, or what you think certain ideas in the poem mean. Don’t be afraid to start a discussion because you might learn something from another student or the teacher, and you can learn to appreciate a new writing style. Or not.
4. Try to have some fun. Poetry presents itself in all different shapes, sizes, and forms. While there are a multitude of poems that are deeply philosophical and compare emotions to seasons for some reason, there are plenty more that are random, silly, and joke about life. If you need to recite a fun poem in order to thrive in poetry month, then pick a fun poem. Go for it.
5. Take it all one day at a time. This may seem like backwards logic, but taking it slowly will make the whole month pass quickly. At most, English class will take up a couple hours a week, and there is a three day weekend during the month of January, so make the most of your time. Before you know it, you’ll have recited your poem and will move on to a new book to analyze. So just try to push through the few days you have for the next however many years until you graduate, and then you’ll have successfully survived every poetry month. And, you’ve learned something new. A win-win!
Written by Sheela G and Kira Mc Neill, Editor in Chief and Lead Copy Editor