Page 15 - Point 5 Literature Program Option 1 Teachers Guide (2) (1)

Working Through the Unit

Pre-Reading Activity
the activity is intended to focus the students on how they feel about poetry, and prepare them to
read and understand Introduction to Poetry. A major theme of the poem is that analysis is subjective
and largely misunderstood and the poem communicates very definite feelings about the ways poetry
should be read.
Basic Understanding
this section offers a Key Vocabulary list, followed by Vocabulary practice. Questions test the
students’ comprehension of the literal meaning of the poem.

Key Vocabulary
Students may refer to the Key Vocabulary list when they do the Vocabulary practice exercise.
Vocabulary Practice

Answers:
1. light switch 2. confess 3. hose, torture 4. probing 5. surface

Questions
discuss these questions orally in class to ensure students understand the gist of the poem.
Answers might include:
1. The I in the poem is the narrator, probably the poet himself.

2. They are people who read poetry, particularly students.
3. a. Look at the poem carefully.

b. Listen attentively.
c. Enjoy exploring the poem.
d. Discover amusing ways to look at and understand the poem.
4. They ‘torture’ the poem to find out what it means.

Analysis and Interpretation
in this poem, collins wants to introduce students and other readers to the idea that poetry analysis
is often subjective when it comes to content. in other words, there are not always ‘right’ answers.
Make sure students pay attention to the explanations of the literary terms before they answer the
questions.

Answers might include:
1. The simile is hold it up to the light like a color slide. Examining and understanding a poem is compared to studying
a color slide, which requires looking at it in the light. Grasping the meaning of a poem likewise involves using the
senses as well as the mind to see.

2. The image is or press an ear against its hive.

3. The poem is compared to a dark room, where nothing can be seen. The light switch must first be found.
Discovering the light switch is a metaphor for finding an approach to uncovering the content and meaning of the
poem through the senses and the mind.

4. Torture a confession is a negative image of captivity and pain. He means that they destroy the poem.
5. I and they.

introduction to poetry 15