To writing, painting, drawing, and photography as artistic media, the author would like to add teaching as a creative endeavor as well. Especially in a classroom where English is not the first language for many students, the writing teacher needs to be creative with assignments and activities that address nontraditional ways of learning. Her…

Children and their parents--it is an ancient theme, a timeless attempt to unravel the mystery of the parent and the mystery of the child understanding itself as a distinct person apart, yet very much a part of the mother and father. Over the years, the author has had success teaching a unit on the father/child theme for various second-year…

Examines the poetry and prose of James Dickey, analyzing his departure from conventional rhyme and the experiences influencing his writing. (HTH)

Shows how the modeling of established poetic forms can help community college students to write poetry. (TB)

Provides objectives for teaching college English students the techniques of paraphrase, summary, and precis, particularly for the study of poetry. (HTH)

Presents a method for teaching poetry that attempts to make the (1) teachers' scholarship relevant to the students and (2) students' ignorance a source of knowledge for the teacher. Outlines an eight-step procedure that represents a useful introduction to poetry and gives students a technique with which to approach any poem. (JD)

Urges college English instructors to combine knowledge of subject matter with love of students to produce an enthusiasm that allows literary technique to be a natural instead of a learned experience for their students. (AEA)

Examines the invitations and speech situations implicit in lyric poetry that often alienate students with little poetry experience. Presents five conditions English teachers can provide that will make poetry more accessible to students, particularly the invention needed to accept the "invitation" of a poem. (HTH)

Describes an eight-step writing assignment that is a novel way to test students' writing skills in a way that is intriguing, interactive, and team-oriented, with built-in multiple deadlines requiring quick creativity and cognitive knowledge. Presents a poetry writing exercise in which the student is asked to write a short poem in the voice of…

Describes how a veteran writer and English teacher who only recently began writing poetry encourages others to invigorate their teaching by taking up a new writing genre. Details the lessons he has learned from poetry and passed on to his own students. Outlines six problems he encountered and presents solutions for each. (SG)

Describes a freshman writing course in which students practiced various forms of writing. Explains that students began by reading both a personal essay (Annie Dillard's "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek") and poems (such as works by William Wordsworth). Notes that students later prepared scientific research papers. Suggests that nature writing…

Argues that writing parodies of poetry is a productive, nonthreatening introduction to the creative effort of poem making. Provides several suggestions that may help in the parody-writing process. (RS)

Makes observations about how professional poets compose. Argues for the use of primary trait scoring and an interactive teaching method to guide students through revision while treating each poem as a unique piece of writing. Demonstrates how primary trait scoring and individual conferences assisted a student in revising his poems. (RS)

Describes a way of using history to teach poetry in the English classroom. Argues that coupling history and poetry is a powerful way to teach both topics to students. (HB)

Claims that the insights of reader response theory can be brought into the teaching of poetry in college literature courses. Outlines methods for utilizing reader response techniques to help students enjoy and understand poetry. (HB)