Poetry Parallax

Seattle

Lake Superior

Hawaii

California

"Poetry Parallax: An Exploration of Poetry"

Poetry, wrote Robert Frost, is "where an emotion finds the thought and the thought finds the words." A poem can change the way we think about, and see, the world around us. "Poetry Parallax” is an in-person class that introduces students to classic and contemporary poetry specifically chosen to engage readers in meaningful discussion. Liking poetry is not a prerequisite :-).

Students will read seven poems each week, in advance of class, and then meet to discuss the poems, make their case for which poems they liked best and why, and vote. The two poems earning the most votes each week meet up in a playoff round in the last two weeks of the class. The class also weaves in a generous dose of poetry vocabulary (e.g., anaphora, enjambment, iambic) -- as well as asides about history, poets, and artistic movements -- but the goal of the class is to share with students that poetry can be fun and meaningful (and doesn’t have to rhyme).

“Poetry Parallax” is for strong readers willing to participate in spirited group discussion. Although students might try writing a couple of their own poems, discussion, interpretation, and analysis rather than writing is definitely the focus of this class.

There are two versions of "Poetry Parallax": a class for 7th-9th graders and a class with somewhat different content for 9th-12th graders. For high school students, there is an optional honors essay project.

Enrollment in this class is limited to seven students per semester. Classes will be held at my home in Bethesda. Tea and cookies will accompany each class.

$225 for the 10-week in-person class

"It has been so lovely to have [my son] read poetry to me over the past several weeks, just for the joy of sharing a poem with me. That never happened before (even though we used to have poetry tea times when they were younger). I am so grateful to you for offering this opportunity to these [students] to "study" and cherish poetry...and it sounds like they were really engaged! ❤️."