subtext

Almost everyday my students write at the beginning of class what I call, from the Folger Library’s Shakespeare Set Free, a Contemplation Question (CQ). Somedays I have them read a piece of lit, like a poem or passage from a novel, then they respond one of three ways, sometimes they have a choice, other times I tell them which way to go. (I adapted this from Linda Rief’s 100 Quick Writes): 1. Write whatever comes to mind when you read this passage. Write as quickly as you can, being as specific as possible;2. Choose a line or sentence you like for whatever reason, write that line down as your beginning and let the line lead your thoughts wherever they wish to go. Write as quickly and as specifically as you can; 3. I make up an open-ended question that has something to do with the themes or issues brought up in the passage. For example, after reading a passage from Ecclesiastes I asked them whether or not they believed in fate, if everything had a purpose like the passage said, and if so what was the purpose of disease, hate, war, and death? Other days I give them the question first, like with W. Blake’s “The Schoolboy” I asked them first what they thought was the purpose of school, and if learning outside of school was more important or less than what they were taught in the classroom. After I had voluteers read what they wrote, and invited comments from others, we read the poem. The initial conversation, opened up the poem to them, made them realize that their ideas are not new and that they have similar ideas to writer’s from “the canon,” the past, and to “genius.” None of which I belabor, because they would be bored by that as they should be. This takes anywhere from ten to twenty minutes depending on their response. Somedays nothing happens. Somedays more than I could imagine happens. In the same day, it works in one class and not another. Last year a poem by Wislawa Szymborska, “Could Have,” illicited no reaction except maybe negative ones like, “That’s stupid. How is that a poem?” This year the same poem, the same set up, and my students wrote a lot and the discussion came up again a few days later. That is one of the reasons I bring in stuff constantly, and don’t despair when it doesn’t work that day, because not every piece of lit will spark the students on any given day. Which I imagine is the same with most people who read. I have reread poems that have left me cold to discover meaning and insights I had never noticed before. One is never the same person from one day to the next; neither are poems.