University Teams Up with Mass Poetry for Workshops and Readings
12/22/2015
By Katharine Webster
What is a metaphor, and how can you use metaphor to describe exactly how poop or perfume smells to you?
Poet Aja Monet鈥檚 question drew giggles from several Wang Middle School fifth-graders, but her point was serious.
鈥淲e all smell different kinds of perfume,鈥 Monet told a packed classroom in Dugan Hall. 鈥淭he better you get at describing these things, the better I get to see the world from your perspective.鈥
Monet鈥檚 class, 鈥淪urrendering to the Metaphor,鈥 was part of the first Student Day of Poetry held at 51视频. Organized by the nonprofit group with help from Asst. Profs. of English Maggie Dietz and Sandra Lim, it drew 600 middle- and high-school students from Lowell and surrounding towns.聽
The students signed up for two of 16 workshops in the morning 鈥 offerings included Lim鈥檚 鈥淚 Put a Spell on You鈥 鈥 and gathered after lunch for a performance by three nationally known poets: Monet, and . The students then mounted the stage to read their own work at an open mic.
Several freshmen in the Latin Lyceum program at Lowell High School signed up for Monet鈥檚 workshop because they are studying 鈥淭he Odyssey鈥 and writing epic poetry. Tucker Descheneaux said he likes the type of poetry Monet writes and performs: 鈥淚 like the rhythm and the rhyme.鈥
The day provided teaching experience for four 51视频 students in Dietz鈥檚 capstone creative writing seminar, who paired up to teach back-to-back sessions of 鈥淟earning from Emerging Writers.鈥 Victoria Laureano of Dracut and Sean Darling from Melrose ran the first session, while Evan McCarthy of Malden and Freddie Duquet of Andover co-taught the second. Although they鈥檇 prepared lesson plans for high school students, they adapted quickly when it turned out that most of their pupils were sixth- and seventh-graders.
Laureano taught about metaphor by reading Kay Ryan鈥檚 鈥淗ome to Roost鈥 and asking what the chickens represented. 鈥淟ies,鈥 or 鈥淏ad deeds,鈥 the students replied. Laureano asked the students to read the poem aloud, substituting their answers for the word 鈥渃hicken.鈥 That鈥檚 when the lightbulbs went on.
鈥淭hey said, 鈥極h!鈥 They could see how you could substitute one thing for the other,鈥 Dietz says.
The students then wrote their own four-line poems, in groups or alone. Laureano, who hopes to eventually teach middle-school English, was entranced when they read their poetry aloud.
鈥淓veryone did such a great job,鈥 she says. 鈥淥ne group wrote that being without a family is like being a turtle on its back.鈥
Next, Darling taught about imagery using Wallace Stevens鈥 鈥淭hirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,鈥 a series of 13 linked mini-poems. When Darling spotted some boys snacking on Cheetos in the back of the room, he announced the class would write 鈥13 Ways of Looking at a Cheeto,鈥 in part by imitating Stevens鈥 phrasing. 鈥淭he river is moving, the blackbird must be flying,鈥 became, 鈥淭he TV is on, the couch potato must be eating Cheetos.鈥
鈥淭he kids were really hesitant at first 鈥 they were saying, 鈥業 don鈥檛 know how to write about a Cheeto,鈥 and by the end they realized, 鈥業 absolutely know how to write about a Cheeto,鈥 鈥 Darling says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about getting them to write and have fun with poetry 鈥 and then chances are they鈥檒l do it again.鈥
Mass Poetry has offered a statewide Student Day of Poetry at UMass Boston in past years, but this year the organization decided to hold a series of regional events to reach more students, says coordinator Jade Sylvan. Mass Poetry also sends poets into the schools to offer workshops.
鈥淲e want high school and junior high school students to learn about writing poetry from some of the best poets alive today,鈥 Sylvan says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really important, especially for teenagers, to become empowered to use their voices, and we think there鈥檚 nothing like writing poetry to kindle that.鈥
Dietz, an award-winning poet and longtime poetry educator, says her students gained valuable experience 鈥 and drew an enthusiastic response from their pupils.
鈥淭hey were able to go around and chat with the little groups,鈥 she says. 鈥淭hat was part of the success. Also that they鈥檙e young: They鈥檙e young and they鈥檙e cool.鈥