2/1/22, 12:26 PM CHAPTER:04 TEACHING OF POETRY

PEDAGOGY OF ENGLISH

CHAPTER:04 TEACHING OF POETRY

-
June 28, 2020

CHAPTER:04
Teaching of Poetry

This Chapter Deals with

Introduction
Definition of Poetry
Characteristics of Teaching Poetry
Argument against Teaching Poetry
Aims of Teaching Poetry
General aims of teaching poetry
Specific aims of teaching Poetry
Aims of Teaching Poetry at different levels
Methods
of teaching Poetry
Procedures
and steps of teaching Poetry
Advantages
of Teaching Poetry
Disadvantages
of Teaching Poetry
Difference
between Prose and Poetry
Conclusion

 “Poetry is made out of life, belongs to life

and exists for life” 

Introduction: Poetry and Prose reveal the

glimpses
of English literature. Teaching of
prose is an intensive study of language,
structures and vocabulary. It develops
language ability of the students, where
poetry
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is that part of language which is used for

getting pleasure and
enjoyment. Poetry is “a
thing of beauty” and “a joy forever”. Poetry is a
thing
of beauty, beauty of thought, and beauty

of form, mood and feelings. Teaching

poetry leads to an all round development of the
whole personality of pupils
particularly the emotional, imaginative, intellectual, aesthetic
and intuitive
sides. The study of poetry offers a great opportunity for those aspects of
personality to develop, which may remain underdeveloped in a purely intellect
curriculum.
Poetry is the best words in their best rhythmical order. It is a
musical and metrical form of
language. Poetry is the best form of English
literature without which literature is worthless
and tasteless.

Definition of Poetry: Poetry is sound

than sight. It appeals principally to the ear and heart
than eye. It is not so
much seen but heard. Poetry can be caught but cannot be taught. Let
us know
what poetry is in the words of great scholars -:

 “Poetry is the
spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”
Woodworth,
“Poetry is truth dwelling in beauty.”
Gilfillan,
 “All that is
worth remembering of life is the poetry of it.”
William Hazlitt
 “The
rhythmical creation of thought”
E.Allen
 “Poetry is simple,
sensuous and passionate”
Milton
 “Poetry is the
criticism of life”
Mathew
 “Poetry is an
expression of imagination”
Shelly

Characteristics of Teaching Poetry: On the light of the above definitions the

following
characteristics and advantages of teaching poetry have been indicated
-:
v  Poetry is the
best words in their best rhythmical order.
v  It is a musical
and metrical form of language.
v  Poetry is the
spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings and emotions.
v  Poetry is a thing
of beauty of form, beauty and ideas, thought and emotions.
v  It is the
rhythmical creation of thoughts in best words.
v  Poetry is the
best form of compositions for expressing feelings, thoughts and
emotions.
v  Poetry is the
criticism and appreciation of life.
vP t h th t i Rh th ti di i ti
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v  Poetry has three
aspects i.e. Rhythm, emotions and imaginations.
v   Poetry is the best form of English literature.
v  Poetry is the
sources of enjoyment and encouragement.
v  The soul of
literature is poetry.

v  It helps for
developing a healthy personality.
v  It helps in
developing aesthetic sense and pleasure in students.
v  It develops
understanding and imagination power of the students.
v  It helps in
educating the emotion of the students.
v  It helps in
creating love for English literature.
v  Poetry is simple,
sensuous and appreciation of life.
v  Poetry is made
out of life, belongs to life and exists for life.
v  It helps in
educating our feelings and emotions.
v  Poetry is more
memorable than prose.
v  Poetry is the
clear picture of human life and his problems.
v  It enriches the
vocabulary and structures of the students.
v  It helps in
improving pronunciation of the students.
v  It is the best
means for acquiring experiences.
v  It helps to
acquire speech.
v  It brings variety
in the English courses.
Argument against Teaching Poetry: Groups of
thinkers are of the view that English poetry
should not be included in the
school syllabus. They think teaching poetry as redundant and
unnecessary.
Despite the above the some educationists are of the view that teaching of
poetry in a foreign language is a fruitless exercise. They harp on the
following arguments-:
v  As English is a
foreign language for Indian pupils, it is very difficult to understand and
appreciate the beauty of English poetry.
v  It is not
facilitate the linguistic aims of teaching English.
v  It does not help
in increasing vocabulary because the words used in poetry are
generally not
used in day-today life.
v  Pupils have to
face vague idea, unusual words and different word order.
v  The foreign
environment described in poems is unfamiliar to Indian students.
v  Similes and
metaphors used in poetry are beyond pupils understandings.
v  The
ungrammatical, weird words and vague ideas used by the poet sometimes
confuse
the students.
v  The use of idioms
and phrases especially in their usage of figures of speech are very
difficult
to comprehend as they pertain to different cultures and social milieu, which
is
quite different from that of our culture.
v  Lack of good
teacher.
v  It is not helpful
in acquiring mastery over the different skills of language.
                                 
In spite of all
arguments against poetry teaching, many scholars think it essential keeping
in
view the various advantages of it. According to Billows, “To leave poetry out
of language
course is to renounce an extremely effective and labour saving
method of absorbing useful
language.”
Ai fT hi P t A di t M d P t l “I t hi t i t h
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Aims of Teaching Poetry: According to
Menon and Patel, “In teaching poetry is not so much
to improve the child’s
knowledge of English as to add to his joy and increase his power of
appreciation of beauty”. According to Dev Singh, “In teaching poetry, the aim
is mainly to
enjoy the music, rhythm and rhythm of the verse, the beauty and
the force of phraseology,

the witchcraft of the figures of speech and the

emotions of the poet. Learning of words and
phrases is incidental only”. Poetry
is an important mode of expression in language. Without
the study of poetry, a
person cannot be considered to be well read in language. Poetry is
that aspects
of language which fundamentally provides entertainment to the readers. The
chief aim of teaching poetry is not so much to improve student’s knowledge of
English as
to his joy and increase the power of appreciation of beauty and
imagination. The teaching
of English poetry is pursued with the following
general and specific aims-:
General aims of teaching poetry
v  To enables the
pupils to appreciate the poem.
v  To enable the
students to recite the poem with proper rhythm and intonation etc.
v  To enable the
students to enjoy recitation of the poem.
v  To enable the
students to understand the thought and imagination of the poet
contained in the
poem.
v  To create love
for English poetry among the students.
v  To develop the
students aesthetic sense.
v  To develop all
round personality of the students.
v  To develop a
taste for poetry reading and writing.
v  To train the emotion
of the students.
v  To develop the
imaginative power of the students.
v  In the words of
Eastman, “To leave the child with a sense of satisfaction that comes
from play,
from absorption or from a spontaneous activity”.
Specific aims of teaching Poetry: Specific aims of
teaching poetry vary with poems
because each poem is exclusive in its treatment
of situations, feelings and emotions. The
following can be the specific aims of
teaching poetry-:
v  To enable the
students to grasp the exclusive message that the poem/poet want to
convey.
v  To enable the
students to appreciate the poem.
v  To enable the
students to recite the poem with correct pronunciation and rhythm.
v  To enable the
students to understand central ideas of the poem.
v  To enable the
students about the grammatical deviations that the poet has taken.
Aims of Teaching Poetry at different levels: The aim of teaching poetry is vary in
different
levels. The aims of teaching poetry in primary, Secondary and higher
level is given below-:
Primary Levels
v  To enables the
pupils of lower classes to enjoy a poem.
v  To enables the
pupils to read aloud the poem with proper rhythm and intonation.
v  To enable the
students to enjoy recitation, individual or chorus of the poem.
v  To develop a
taste for poetry reading and writing.
Secondary Levels
v  To enable the
pupils of secondary classes to enjoy and appreciate the poem and its
t l
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2/1/22, 12:26 PM CHAPTER:04 TEACHING OF POETRY
style.
v  To appreciate
music, rhythm and beauty of the poem.
v  To develop the
understanding levels of the students.

v  To make the
students understand the thought and imagination contained in the
poem.
v  To train the
emotion of the students.
Higher Secondary
Levels
v  To enable the
students to appreciate the poem.
v  To appreciate the
subject matter of the poem.
v  To appreciate the
image that presents the experience.
v  To appreciate the
rhythmic and musical touch of the poem.
v  To train the
emotion of the students.
v  To develop the
imaginative power of the students.
v  To create
aesthetic sense among the students.
v  To create love
for English literature in them.
v  To help the
students for composing small poems base on their thought and their
feelings on
a particular theme.
Methods of
teaching Poetry: The following methods and techniques which can be used for
teaching poetry in different levels -:
v  Lecture method.
v  Lecture-cum-song
method.
v  Question-answer
method.
v  Review method.
v  Meaning and
understanding method.
v  Question-answer
techniques.
v  Model reading.
v  Explanation
techniques.
v  Parallel
quotation techniques.
v  Review
techniques.
v  Narration
techniques.
Procedures and
steps of teaching Poetry: No uniform method can be laid down for teaching
of
poetry. Each poem has to be treated individual. So, a good teacher has to make
plans his
lesson well before he goes to the classroom. Planning lesson is one
of the vital pre-action
of a teacher to solve the problems that he may have to
face in the class. Not only planning
helps the teacher to solve his classroom
problems but also it helps in making our teaching
more interesting and
effective. A poem should be seen as a whole and not in parts. While
teaching
poetry teacher should be sparing of explanation as it is usually done by our
language teachers. According to Max Eastman, “A successful poetry lesson should
leave
the pupils with some insight into the delight or beauty that is portrayed”.
The steps involved
in teaching poetry can be enumerated as under-:
STEP-I:          OBJECTIVES.
STEP-II:         PREPARATION.
STEP III PRESENTATION
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STEP-III:       PRESENTATION.
STEP-IV:        ASSIGNMENT.
STEP-V:         BLACK-BOARD
WORK.
STEP-I:
OBJECTIVES

The objectives of
the poem are to written in behavioural terms, the objectives may be vary
from
poem to poem depending upon the main theme of the poem. Here the English
teacher
should acquaint himself and to acquaints the students with the general
and specific
objectives of teaching poetry. Objectives of teaching poetry
should be well known before
hand as it helps in guiding our teaching learning
activities.
STEP-II:
PREPARATION
To realize the
above aims, it is necessary for the English teacher to prepare material aids
for
teaching poetry. Preparation of teaching poetry entails the following
sub-steps-:
Material Aids:   The English
teacher should select a material aid that is suitable for the
poem. It can be a
picture depicting the scene. Material aids can also be used to explain the
difficult words used in the poem. The material aids should be economical.
Previous
knowledge: Before teaching the poem, the teacher should know the age,
previous
experience, mental development and linguistic abilities of the
students. The teacher should
introduce the new poem on the basis of the pupil’s
previous knowledge. Asking previous
questions helps the teacher to make a
bridge between the past experience and new
experiences.
Introduction: The teacher should arouse interest of the students by
creating situation for the
poem. A poem can be introduced by many ways-:                                              
v  By showing
picture and asking questions based on it.
v  By playing music.
v  Recite a parallel
poem to the students preferable from the same poet.
v  Explain the gist of
the poem and ask relevant questions confirming their
comprehension. Here the
teacher may use mother tongue if the students do
not follow the English
language.
v  The life sketch
and other interesting incident from the poet’s life can be given.
v  The poem can be
played on an audio-video aid so that the students are able
to enjoy it.
v  Explain the
situation under which the poem was written.
v  If the poem to be
learnt is descriptive, a picture can be shown and two or
three questions on the
picture should be asked.
Statement of the
Aim: After introducing the poem, the next step is to give the statement of
aim
by giving the title of the poem. The aim should not be only passing the
examination.
STEP-III:
PRESENTATION: Ryburn says, “A good poem is complete whole”. So the poetry
should be taught in one unit. Again he rightly says, “A good poem should be
taught whole, “if ,
of course, it is very long, it should divided into units.
The presentation stage consists the
following points-:
v Model Reading: The teacher reads
the poem loudly and the students are instructed to
listen carefully in reaction
to the model reading by the teacher. The teacher should
always remember that
the medium of poetry is music and the subject matter is
ti S th t h h ld it th f ll b hi h th t d t
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2/1/22, 12:26 PM CHAPTER:04 TEACHING OF POETRY
emotion. So, the
teacher should recite the poem carefully by which the students can
easily
follow the musical tone of the poem.
v Gist of the Poem: To make the
students familiar with the theme and matter of the
poem, the teacher tells the
gist of the poem. It is presented in short, generally in few

lines. According
to Ryburn, “A good poem is a complete whole”. At the time of
presenting the
gist of the poem, the teacher can use mother tongue if the students
needed.
v Pronunciation Drill: In this step, the
teacher should derive the meaning of the difficult
words and phrases in the
poem with the help of material aids such as drawing
sketches, pictures or
explain the meaning directly. The teacher also conducts
pronunciation drill of
the difficult words. First he himself pronounces the difficult
words one by one
and asks the students to pronounce the words correctly. He repeats
this
exercise till the students learn to pronounce the word correctly.
v Model Reading (II): A second reading
should be done by the teacher to create an
atmosphere and to respond to the
emotions of the poem. When the poem has been
fully explained and discussed, the
teacher should read the poem once again. This
reading will have a great effect
on the pupils because much as already been said
about the poem. At the time of
second model reading by the teacher, the students
should be asked to look after
their books and listen attentively.
v Reading Aloud: After second model reading by the
teacher, two or three students
should be asked to read the poem loudly with
correct stress and intonation pattern.
During the time of loud reading by the
students, the teacher should not check them
because it will hamper in the
rhythm and the flow of the poem. The teacher should
encourage the students to
recite not to read simple.  
v Silent Reading: After loud reading by the students, now
the students should be
allowed judicious time for silent reading. The students
should be able to enjoy the
poem. Silent reading helps the students to grasp
the meaning of the poem. During the
time of silent reading by the students, the
teacher should observe the students in order
to know whether the students read
the poem carefully or not.
v Comprehension questions: At this stage,
the students should be asked questions in
order to know whether the students
comprehend the poem entirely. The question
should be simple and relevant. The
number of comprehensive questions depends
upon the feelings and ideas of the
poem.
v Appreciation questions: Appreciation
questions seek to make clear the -: (i) Beauty (ii)
feelings and (iii) Main
idea of the poem. These questions are used to test the following
appreciation.
                                         -:
beauty of thought
                                         -:
beauty of images
                                         -:
beauty of emotions
                                         -:
beauty of style and language

v  Choral recitation: The students will recite the poem with

chorus. It helps them in
overcome shyness. Later on they can recite it
independently. It also heightens aural
ff t hi h i f i ti B id it h l i ti l l
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effect which is necessary for
appreciation. Besides, it helps in emotional release,
development of eloquence
and fluency. Moreover children find it a source of
enjoyment.

v  Assignment: The assignment should be related to

some creative work. The teacher
may ask to memories the lines of the poem or to
write the gist of the poem. The
assignment should be relevant and to the
knowledge of the students.
Advantages of
Teaching Poetry: Teaching of poetry has the certain following advantages -:
v  Poetry helps in all
round development of the students. According to S.
Subrahmanyam, “The value of
teaching poetry in English language course at the
secondary school level is
immense. It leads to an all round development of the
whole personality of
pupils, particularly the emotional, imaginative, intellectual,
aesthetic and
intuitive sides.
v  It enables the
students to acquire natural speech rhythm through the rhythm of
poetry.
v  Poetry is for
enjoyment and pleasure.
v  It helps in
increasing the power of imagination.
v  Poetry has cathartic
value as it helps in training the emotions.
v  The repetition of
certain pattern in a poem helps in learning pattern sentence.
Disadvantages of
Teaching Poetry: Teaching of poetry suffers from the following limitations
which are given below-:
v  English being a
foreign language, the Indian pupils cannot understand and
appreciate the beauty
of poetry, even the foreign background described in the
poems is unfamiliar to
them.
v  Poetry does not
facilitate the linguistic aims of teaching English.
v  In poetry, pupils
have to face vague ideas, unusual words and different word
order. The metaphors
and similes used in the poem are also not understood.
v  It does not help
in increasing vocabulary because the words used in the poems
are generally not
used in daily conversation.
v  There is a lack
of good English teachers who can explain the meaning of the
poem clearly.
Difference
between Prose and Poetry:  A poem contains
the same elements as a prose
composition. The differences between the two must
therefore consist in a different
combination of words. This is because the
object proposed is different; the object of the
poem may be to give pleasure or
simply to aid the memory. Thus the main differences in
teaching prose and
poetry are as follows-:
v  While prose
appeals to the head and poetry appeals to the heart.
v  While prose
appeals to the intellect only, poetry is more powerful form of expression.
It affects
the whole man, his sense, intellect and emotions.
v  Prose is more
sight than sound but poetry is more sound than sight. It appeals
principally to
ear than eye.
v  Unlike prose,
poetry is not so much read but sung. It is not so much seen but heard.
The poet
uses music for expression of his ideas.
vI t th i li h th th t i t th i
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v  In poetry, there
is peculiar rhythm that is not there in prose.
v  It is a thing of
beauty, beauty of language, beauty of thought, beauty of mood and
feelings.
v  Prose provides
information where as poetry provides delight.

v  While prose is
for knowledge and poetry is for appreciation.
v  Prose cannot be
sung but read where poetry cannot read but sung.
v  Prose is seen
mere where poetry is not seen but heard more.
Conclusion: It is a fact that
the aims of teaching and learning English in India are utilitarian.
it is true
that the language and content of English poetry are unusual yet there is not
any
justification for excluding poetry from the school English course. Poetry
can help all round
development of child, if it is taught well in the school. No
doubt, there is immense value of
teaching poetry in schools. According to
Alexander Haddow, “Read each poem twice, give
the children time to form their
own impressions, invite them to criticize and help them in
doing so. Let the
poetry period be, as far as possible, a period of joy, a period of pondering
over things they love already. Let them choose for themselves the poems they
are to learn
by heart, each choosing his/her own favourites. Thus, only then
can we develop a taste for
poetry and train their ear to the variety of
beautiful sounds. Thus, only can we rouse in
them some idea of the wealth of
poetry that lies before them. Remember that we must aim
at turning out readers
of poetry, not students of poetry.” Menon and Patel says, “The matter
and
method of teaching poetry to Indian children should be completely re-oriented,
if the
teaching of poetry is to be of any value to them.”

……………….

CHAPTER:05 TEACHING OF COMPOSITION 

TEACHING OF POETRY

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