tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post3090644469803380450..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Engaging with Language and Literature by Neil McGowanKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-20831222448648821252021-03-12T17:32:37.239+00:002021-03-12T17:32:37.239+00:00Fine post, Neil. It struck home for me because rec...Fine post, Neil. It struck home for me because recently I spent a month trying to make sense of a long, obscure poem by Auden: The Age of Anxiety. Since he's one of my favorite poets--a master of form and pyrotechnics--I'd always blamed myself for not being able to 'get' it. So I ordered a hardcover text with a terrific Introduction and line notes at the back. One month later, I was left to wonder: why should I spend any more time on something that failed to move me or delight me except for a handful of brilliant lines? <br /><br />But the editor/explicator, Alan Jacobs, had written a brilliant Intro that let me to check out his writings. And I learned that he's a firm proponent of reading for pleasure and has written a book on that subject. Hey, I think I'll order it!Reb MacRathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03645014425062542505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-80312286832170025782021-03-10T11:21:27.998+00:002021-03-10T11:21:27.998+00:00Hi Neil, barrelling into this conversation again. ...Hi Neil, barrelling into this conversation again. I too teach adults, mainly poetry and novels (for the WEA) and have seen a distinct appreciation from them of how we teach poetry nowadays. I've used the Liverpool performance poets, Benjamin Zephaniah, and even Bob Dylan in a session on Ballads and Balladeers! Things really have changed. Eden who writes on this blog also knows about Slam poetry in Canada I think.<br /><br />And now Amanda Gorman at the inauguration of Joe Biden. It's all happening for poetry.Peter Leylandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07717370262319438102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-89891106006051798962021-03-10T08:50:55.158+00:002021-03-10T08:50:55.158+00:00Hi Ruth, I agree - I was talking about this last n...Hi Ruth, I agree - I was talking about this last night and my younger daughter piped up she'd enjoyed the poem Talking Turkeys by Benjamin Zephaniah which proves the point. In my case, the teacher had a serious love of the classics and seemed to think this would rub off on us via osmosis. Over the years, I've come to terms with the fact I'll never be the biggest fan of poetry but I do appreciate it much more now. I've even tried writing it (very badly - I doubt I'd ever make a poet. As a teacher myself (adults, not children), I've never been a fan of just memorising anything - I prefer to get people thinking about things rather than just being able to regurgitate things with no understanding, which sounds like how you were taught :)Neil McGowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07659530366368020908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-28208628986077061472021-03-09T19:13:09.982+00:002021-03-09T19:13:09.982+00:00This made me smile. From time to time, I tutor GCS...This made me smile. From time to time, I tutor GCSE students and I always kick off by asking them how much they loathe poetry. Once they realise I won't be cross, they sigh and say they hate it and can't see the point. I then ask them what they think a poem is and hit them right between the eyes with "An Unusual Cat Poem" by Wendy Cope. All of them end up liking it and even writing it, because it's meant to be fun and there is so much modern fab poetry out there. We were taught well at school, fortunately, but memorising the Rime of the Ancient Mariner? Why??Ruth Leighhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08003567520622418193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-86067641294773473242021-03-09T08:32:10.522+00:002021-03-09T08:32:10.522+00:00Thanks, Griselda, I think you've hit it on the...Thanks, Griselda, I think you've hit it on the head :) I was 14 at the time, and much more interested in the work of Stephen King and James Herbert. But I agree that everything is better with haggis and a good malt...Neil McGowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07659530366368020908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-3177825534332527042021-03-08T19:09:18.932+00:002021-03-08T19:09:18.932+00:00I'm appalled you were made to learn The Rime o...I'm appalled you were made to learn The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. That is an extremely long poem and I can't imagine how anyone can learn the whole thing by heart. It's also a difficult read, guaranteed to put young people off poetry for life. Your teacher would have done much better to introduce your class to the most famous verses, with their fabulous, spine chilling images eg 'And slimy things that crawled with legs Upon a slimy sea...' Brr makes me shiver just thinking it.<br /><br />Think your daughter makes a good point. I've just tried to read Tam O'Shanter. Um... the words are difficult and archaic, and it's a long poem (though not as long as the Ancient Mariner). Probably amazing if read and acted aloud! Accompanied of course by a generous helping of haggis and neeps and malt whisky. Griselda Heppelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09207965148074302337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-51966758420076502762021-03-08T13:38:00.296+00:002021-03-08T13:38:00.296+00:00Thanmks, Peter, and you're right - I was taugh...Thanmks, Peter, and you're right - I was taught (or perhaps had the teacher's choice forced on me) very badly. I still struggle with reading it, but am coming to appreciate it more in spoken form, and that was the point of this blog - forcing poetry (or anything, really) on someone and insiisting they will like it generally has the opposite effect :)Neil McGowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07659530366368020908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-78644269976367263512021-03-08T09:54:49.672+00:002021-03-08T09:54:49.672+00:00Ah Neil, you have his on a great interest of mine ...Ah Neil, you have his on a great interest of mine in you blog this morning - poetry!<br /><br />Having come of age to the tune of The Mersey Sound of three poets in the 60s I am a great lover of performance poetry. I recently watched a film about young people performing Slam Poetry at an FE college in Leeds and then going to a competition in Washington DC. Most were girls - That, I'm sure would make your daughter sit up.<br /><br />On of the main problems with poetry is that it is taught taught badly as it sounds like you were and I was years ago in a formal grammar school setting. You mention engineering and structure and we can have that too in poetry. I'm sure you are aware of the 14 line structure and rhyming pattern of the sonnet. This can be beautiful and I have written sonnets myself when I needed to explain chaotic emotions. <br /><br />There is also much to be said for free verse but often that comes of poets playing with structure like a builder might design a new house while keeping a secure foundation. e. e. cummings is one of the most well-known for this.<br /><br />This is beginning to sound like a lesson so I'd better stop but thanks for getting me thinking.<br /><br />Peter Leylandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07717370262319438102noreply@blogger.com