How to Teach Poetry

Compared to a short story or a novel, a poem can seem like an abstract form of writing that’s difficult to understand. Teachers often have as hard a time teaching it as students have reading it. Here is a basic outline for teaching almost any kind of poem.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Discuss the literal meaning. Take the poem phrase by phrase and talk about the basic ideas the writer is trying to convey with each sentence.
2. Discuss the imagery of the poem. Why did the writer choose to use these particular words, and what kind of atmosphere or mood do they lend to the poem?
3. Discuss the poetic form. Figure out whether there is a meter or a rhyme scheme to which the poem adheres.
4. Discuss the speaker of the poem. Is the author speaking, or has he/she created a character who acts as the poem’s voice?
5. Discuss the poem’s story. What happens in the poem?
6. Discuss the symbolism of the poem. Often the writer will use one image to represent another, so your students should discuss whether any of the poem’s lines remind them of something else.
7. Reread the entire poem. After going through the previous steps, the overall meaning of the poem will become clearer as it’s read again.