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https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/115631
Title: | Mountain climbing in the poetry classroom in Malta : teaching a Stevens metapoem |
Authors: | Xerri, Daniel |
Keywords: | English language -- Study and teaching -- Malta English literature -- Study and teaching -- Malta Poetry -- Study and teaching -- Malta |
Issue Date: | 2017 |
Publisher: | Johns Hopkins University Press |
Citation: | Xerri, D. (2017). Mountain climbing in the poetry classroom in Malta: Teaching a Stevens metapoem. The Wallace Stevens Journal, 41(2), 270-277. |
Abstract: | The critical reading of poetry in a number of international secondary school contexts seems to be restricted to paraphrasing a poem, device-spotting, and discussing themes. This approach seems divorced from a consideration of the aesthetic qualities of poetry. My PhD research at the high school where I used to teach until recently has revealed that teachers’ and students’ approaches to poetry in class are driven by an intense concern with what a poem means. The emphasis placed on a poem’s meaning is partly due to their entrenched belief that a poem has a hidden meaning that can be unearthed by means of a teacher-led, line-by-line analysis. This approach places the teacher in the position of a gatekeeper to meaning, especially since the class discussion of the poem is mostly characterized by the teacher’s explanations of what the lines mean. The belief that poetry is a difficult genre that can be mediated to students only via teachers’ intervention leads the latter to adopt a pedagogical approach to poetry that consolidates their role as gatekeepers. This article illustrates the idea that one way of challenging such beliefs an |
URI: | https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/115631 |
ISSN: | 21600570 |
Appears in Collections: | Scholarly Works - CenELP |
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Mountain_climbing_in_the_poetry_classroom_in_Malta.pdf Restricted Access | 753.99 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open Request a copy |
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