Page 14 - Point 5 Literature Program Option 1 Teachers Guide (2) (1)

INTRODUCTION TO POETRY
Billy collins

Student’s Coursebook, page 10

HOTS taught: Explaining patterns
HOTS spiraled: Distinguishing different perspectives
Literary Terms taught: Simile, Alliteration, Imagery

Background Information

Biography

Billy collins, a professor of english in the Bronx, was born in 1941 and has lived in new york
city ever since. His poems, which are often based on thoughts that just happen to come into
his head, are well known throughout the united States. in fact, he was twice appointed national
poet Laureate (2001–2003). A poet Laureate seeks to raise the national consciousness to a
greater appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry. As poet Laureate, collins instituted
a program, Poetry 180, for high schools. collins chose 180 poems for the program – one for
each day of the school year – to be read aloud to the students. Introduction to Poetry is the first
poem in this collection.

General Interpretation
this is a poem about poetry and how to read it. collins keeps it simple, writing stanzas of
1, 2 or 3 lines, of irregular length with no rhyme scheme. He believes that poetry should be
accessible to and enjoyable for everyone. He creates images to draw the attention of student
readers to ways to understand poetry, using witty descriptions and humor.
collins introduces the notion of a poem as an entire world of undiscovered meaning that needs
to be explored and experienced to be understood and appreciated – something to be examined
like a color slide, and listened to carefully: … press an ear against its hive. A poem is like a dark,
unknown room with a light switch to be discovered, and something to enjoy exploring, like a
mouse in a maze. With a great deal to master skilfully, even on the surface, reading a poem can
be a fun and exciting experience, like water skiing.
collins admits, however, that what usually happens when students tackle poetry analysis
is something quite different. they fail to understand that it is largely up to them to ‘make
meaning’ and can become quite aggressive in their frustration – tie the poem to a chair, torture
a confession out of it, … beating it with a hose – all in a desperate attempt to understand what
the poem really means.
collins’ perspective, then, is that a poem is an esthetic work of art to be appreciated subjectively
– each of us relating to it in our own way – and not something upon which one common
meaning needs to be imposed. the theme of this poem should encourage students to express
their own interpretations of the poems and other literary texts they study, given, of course, that
their interpretations relate to the text in question.

14 introduction to poetry