How to Lead Poetry Discussions
When discussing poetry, first consider your audience. A novice audience may be unfamiliar with poetry and need more guidance, particularly in terms of assuring them that their opinions are relevant. A more experienced audience usually has more confidence, but sometimes what they've learned about poetry may be nonsense; there is some very bad advice floating around. An audience comprised of unofficial poetry fans is often a good balance, enthusiastic without being dogmatic.
Second, consider your material. It works differently if you are discussing poetry in general, a type of poetic technique or genre, a batch of related poems (such as a book or magazine), or an individual poem. That will affect the mix of general and specific questions you can ask. Also keep in mind whether or not people will actually have read the material you're discussing -- some will and some won't, even if they're supposed to. So it helps to have some talking points that will make sense even without the background material.
The basic goal of a discussion is to get people engaged and make them think about the topic. One challenge with poetry is that it's often said to be subjective, so make sure to call attention to the objective aspects. With a batch of poetry, you might look for similarities of technique across the board. With an individual poem, you could look at form and structure, word choice, rhyme or meter if present, and so forth. Ask questions about specific features or details to encourage the audience to look more closely at the sample. Any major literary features such as plot, theme, character, mood, etc. can inspire good questions of this type.
On a wider scale, invite people to connect what they are reading here with a wider genre or with their personal insights. A poem may relate to other fields of literature that deal with similar motifs. A poet's gender, religion, nationality, or other traits may influence the content of the writing. One reader may prefer rhymed, metered poems while another favors free verse. It often helps to begin with questions aimed at specific details and then broaden the scope of the discussion to larger issues; once you have people warmed up to a topic, they're more likely to run with it. Here you can suggest comparing and contrasting different poems, imagining how a poem might have ended differently, or relating poetry to some other medium such as a movie or a painting.
Use these ideas to create a list of questions or talking points before launching your discussion. Make sure people have access to the recommended reading materials -- usually one or more poems, but for a general discussion you may want to list resources to be explored afterwards. Begin with your outlined topics, but don't be afraid to change directions if the audience gets excited about something else. It's more important that people have fun talking about poetry than cover a particular approach to it.
For comparison, consider the lists of discussion questions that I wrote for my two poetry collections, From Nature's Patient Hands: A Collection of Poetry (see questions) and Prismatica: Science Fiction Poetry Spanning the Spectrum (see questions).
Both of these deal with a large batch of poems with a central theme. You can see how some questions deal with poetry in general, some with the topic at hand, and others invite readers to explore specific poems of their choosing.
What kinds of questions do you like or dislike in a discussion?
What do you enjoy most about discussing poetry?
What do you wish people would do more of that you rarely see?
Second, consider your material. It works differently if you are discussing poetry in general, a type of poetic technique or genre, a batch of related poems (such as a book or magazine), or an individual poem. That will affect the mix of general and specific questions you can ask. Also keep in mind whether or not people will actually have read the material you're discussing -- some will and some won't, even if they're supposed to. So it helps to have some talking points that will make sense even without the background material.
The basic goal of a discussion is to get people engaged and make them think about the topic. One challenge with poetry is that it's often said to be subjective, so make sure to call attention to the objective aspects. With a batch of poetry, you might look for similarities of technique across the board. With an individual poem, you could look at form and structure, word choice, rhyme or meter if present, and so forth. Ask questions about specific features or details to encourage the audience to look more closely at the sample. Any major literary features such as plot, theme, character, mood, etc. can inspire good questions of this type.
On a wider scale, invite people to connect what they are reading here with a wider genre or with their personal insights. A poem may relate to other fields of literature that deal with similar motifs. A poet's gender, religion, nationality, or other traits may influence the content of the writing. One reader may prefer rhymed, metered poems while another favors free verse. It often helps to begin with questions aimed at specific details and then broaden the scope of the discussion to larger issues; once you have people warmed up to a topic, they're more likely to run with it. Here you can suggest comparing and contrasting different poems, imagining how a poem might have ended differently, or relating poetry to some other medium such as a movie or a painting.
Use these ideas to create a list of questions or talking points before launching your discussion. Make sure people have access to the recommended reading materials -- usually one or more poems, but for a general discussion you may want to list resources to be explored afterwards. Begin with your outlined topics, but don't be afraid to change directions if the audience gets excited about something else. It's more important that people have fun talking about poetry than cover a particular approach to it.
For comparison, consider the lists of discussion questions that I wrote for my two poetry collections, From Nature's Patient Hands: A Collection of Poetry (see questions) and Prismatica: Science Fiction Poetry Spanning the Spectrum (see questions).
Both of these deal with a large batch of poems with a central theme. You can see how some questions deal with poetry in general, some with the topic at hand, and others invite readers to explore specific poems of their choosing.
What kinds of questions do you like or dislike in a discussion?
What do you enjoy most about discussing poetry?
What do you wish people would do more of that you rarely see?
Further Reading
English 102 Poetry Questions
Leading a Class Discussion
Leading an Effective Discussion
Poetry Questions
Questions for Analyzing Poetry
Reading and Discussing Poems
Serial Poetry -- links to many poems visible online for discussion
Tips for Leading Discussions
This article originally appeared in the Poetree community on 4/26/12.
Leading a Class Discussion
Leading an Effective Discussion
Poetry Questions
Questions for Analyzing Poetry
Reading and Discussing Poems
Serial Poetry -- links to many poems visible online for discussion
Tips for Leading Discussions
This article originally appeared in the Poetree community on 4/26/12.