To teach poetry successfully, focus initially on what is being said and why people care about it. The form of the poem should come last.
Tag Archives: Robert Scholes
Pitchers and Poets Avoid the Obvious
Sports Saturday Some of my favorite moments as a father came in watching my three sons play sports. Justin, my oldest whom I am remembering this week, was a fine baseball pitcher and outfielder. Two plays especially stand out for me: a diving catch he made as centerfielder in an all-star game when he was […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Pitcher", Baseball, Crafty Reader, Francis (Robert), Robert Francis, Sports Comments closed
You Don’t Have to Read between the Lines
Robert Scholes tells us to teach biography and historical context and the poems will become clear.
Saving Poetry from English Teachers
Poetry used to play a much larger role in our culture than it does today. That, at any rate, is the opinion of literary scholar Robert Scholes in his wonderfully provocative The Crafty Reader (Yale, 2001). Scholes’ book is provocative in part because of where he puts the blame: “I would like to suggest that […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Allen Tate, Crafty Reader, English teachers, New Criticism, poetry Comments closed
Dying Miserably for Lack of Poetry
Today I want to thank Chris Kalb, whose artwork on this blog was installed yesterday. And also to thank Discovering Oz, my son and his wife’s marketing company, which gave me the idea for setting up this website and blog and then helped me carry it out. In the illustration you see before you, the […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged American pragmatism, Asphodel That Greeny Flower, Bible King James version, Crafty Reader, Psalm 23, William Carlos Williams Comments closed
