Having Fun in Teaching and Learning English Through Literature (Poetry)

By: Jasmansyah)*

Language learning is closely related to the development of literary and art. Learners are introduced to literary works and getting use to with appreciating them through learning a language. A literary and the developments of human life go along together. Man may begin to appreciate literary works from early student hood, and it keeps going when a student enters a formal education. However, literary appreciation has been considered to be fail in language learning in our country (Alwasilah, 2004). The failure is probably caused by the content of language learning activities in the classrooms. Students have a very limited experience in literature because they have been led to understand literary works merely as texts and not more than that. They have never been given any opportunity to expose their own opinion, feeling, or argument toward literary works they read.

Language teaching and learning activities have been paying too much attention to text orientation or factual aspects. According to Rosenblatt (1991), a literary experience has to let students have freedom in paying attention to the text they are approaching. Students need to experience the poem or the story they read and express their feelings and their own opinion about the poems or the stories.

Poetry as part of literary works is important thing to be introduced to students early, since it has specific characteristics. Poetry is not only having specific characteristics, furthermore, it can be also used to say something (Musthafa: 2004). It is important to be learnt by students because most students in Indonesia don’t understand yet about poem in term of: how to understand it, how to appreciate it, how to read etc. Poetry makes us possible to know “how does it feel” to live in this world. It makes us to be able to answers hard questions in our life and to understand ourselves as well as the value system which is tightly kept in our consciousness.

Thus, poetry is our response and evaluation towards our experience with the real world and our opinion towards it. It is a multidimensional quality of experience, a world in which we respond our total sense, emotion, and thought, and its complete form can mobilize the whole soul in an activity. Teachers in general are more familiar with one single correct answer in reading activities (Musthafa, 2004). This is why students feel useless to explore a text from their own experience, and they consequently have less appreciation to literary works, especially poetry with its limited words format.

Poetry is emotion recollected in tranquility and by recollecting, we learn to feel, learn to experience nature in all its wild beauty, learn about the mysteries of the universe, and learn about love, happiness, joy and sorrow. We are enriched in more than one sense and are instinctively transported into a world where rhythm, harmony and creative forces integrate in the most delightful way possible. Unfortunately, poetry is found to be missing in many people’s lives. Teaching poetry is a means of establishing a link between mere existence and life itself, thereby uplifting mortals to a higher plane of excellence.

B. WHAT POETRY IS?

What exactly is poetry? There are as many definitions of poetry as there are poets. Wordsworth defined poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings;” Emily Dickenson said, “If I read a book and it makes my body so cold no fire ever can warm me, I know that is poetry;” and Dylan Thomas defined poetry this way: “Poetry is what makes me laugh or cry or yawn, what makes my toenails twinkle, what makes me want to do this or that or nothing.”

Actually, there are no comprehensive definitions of poetry. A good definition for the classroom is words in an enclosed form that call attention to themselves. The difference between poetry and regular speech is that most poetry has more meaning per word than prose. Words of a poem have an extra consciousness about themselves. Because a poem is more concise than prose and measured, every word counts. The words a poet uses are specifically chosen and “on purpose.” Poetry changes the way in which words normally refer to things in order to make us see things in a new way. “Poetry is concerned with the massiveness, the multidimensional quality, of experience” (Brooks and Warren 6).

C. CATEGORIES OF POETRY

1. The Confessional Poems

Confessional poetry is an intensely emotional, direct approach to autobiographical content in which the poet removes the mask of impersonality and candidly discusses a personal event or issue.

2. Socio-Political Poems

This poem is powerful in its political message and its use of figurative language to convey this message

3. Free Verse

Simply put, free verse is poetry that does not have regular, patterned rhythm and meter.

4. Sonnet

A Sonnet is a fourteen-line poem. The sonnet follows two basic patterns. The English or Shakespearean sonnet consists of three quatrains and a couplet with the rhyme scheme abab-cdcd-efef-gg. Traditional English sonnets are written in iambic pentameter, which has five feet of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. An Italian or Petrarchan sonnet has an octave, or eight-line stanza, followed by a sestet or a six-line stanza. The first octave asks a question and the sestet provides the answer.

5. Villanelles

A villanelle is a fixed-form that rhymes and repeats lines in a predetermined patter. It is typically 19 lines and is comprised of six stanzas: five tercets, three-lined stanzas, and a final quatrain. The first and third lines of the first stanza alternate as the last line of the next four stanzas and then form the final couplet in the quatrain.

6. Dramatic Monologues

“The Dramatic Monologue is a single speech by a fictional character or an historical figure relating a situation or important moment to a silent audience. The speaker usually reveals aspects of his personality of which he is unaware” (Rozakis 189). The tone of the dramatic monologue is conversational, and we get a real understanding of character. The character speaks, but is controlled by the constraints of the poem.

D. WHY LITERATURE (POETRY) IS IMPORTANT FOR PEOPLE’S LIFE?

Literary works such – as poetry, drama, novels, and so on, have a great influence to peoples’ life. As an example, poetry, in general is a way to say something (Musthafa: 2004). Furthermore Musthafa said that the uniqueness of poetry is that it does not only say something but it also says with a certain quality. The characterizations are among others the beautiful rhythm and rhyme. An interrelated rhythm with our human life experience can be revealed usually by poetry which touches people’s mind. Rhyme as a sound of poetry also relates with human life. It is shown by baby’s babbling and makes the baby satisfy. Rhythm and rhyme construct human natural language and shows the nature of poetry. In pre-literate society, rhythm and rhyme are manifested in a magic formula (Musthafa, 2004).

When people’s life is started with a close relationship with literary works, the beauty and the gentleness of the literary works would help them to think and act at least as gentle as the rhyme and rhythm of poetry. As a student introduced with a literary work for the first time, he may have opportunity to react toward the literary work – say a tale ­and this will let him give his own opinion or feelings about the message and the people or other characters described in the story.

Story telling is one of effective ways to encourage students to love goodness and hate wickedness (Lestari, 2003). Parents need to encourage students to enjoy listening to stories from books, magazines, and other sources. By doing this they have already plan a seed of reading as a habit. When the students are getting older and they are able to read by themselves, they will then love to read stories as much as they can, because experiencing literary works has approved to be something fun.

However, that is not the whole approach to motivate students having a habit of reading and let literary influence their life. The students need to have an opportunity to share their readings or the stories they have heard as well as their feelings and opinion toward the stories or the readings.

Parents have a responsibility to select the stories and provide their students with appropriate materials so that students would not pick up inappropriate books or any other reading materials. Discussion between parents and students about the content of the readings will also encourage students to think objectively.

Tales, as part of literary works, has its own story grammar. It has a potential power to stimulate students to use their emotion, intelligent, and imagination to learn moral values related to their attitude. The habit of listening to stories or tales, reading them from books or watching them on television (or any other electronic media), is a way to encourage students in developing their language ability and verbal thinking which considered to be very important for their life in the present as well as their future (Musthafa, 2003).

Besides story telling or reading stories activities, poetry reading is also a suitable way to encourage people to experience literary works. The problem is that people usually have already reacted wrongly toward poetry. Rosenblatt (1978) explains that students are more familiar with efferent reading. This kind of reading encourages readers to focus on the reading text, the factual information from the text, without relating the text to the readers’ own experience, feeling, or opinion.

Poetry makes us possible to know “how does it feel” to live in this world. It makes us to be able to answers hard questions in our life and to understand ourselves as well as the value system which is tightly kept in our consciousness. Thus, poetry is our response and evaluation towards our experience with the real world and our opinion towards it. It is a multidimensional quality of experience, a world in which we respond our total sense, emotion, and thought, and its complete form can mobilize the whole soul in an activity. Teachers in general are more familiar with one single correct answer in reading activities (Musthafa, 2004). This is why students feel useless to explore a text from their own experience, and they consequently have less appreciation to literary works, especially poetry with its limited words format.

E. TEACHING POETRY FOR STUDENTS

Poetry is emotion recollected in expressing tranquility. By recollecting, we learn to feel, learn to experience nature in all its wild beauty, learn about the mysteries of the universe, and learn about love, happiness, joy and sorrow. We are enriched in more than one sense and are instinctively transported into a world where rhythm, harmony and creative forces integrate in the most delightful way possible. Unfortunately, poetry is found to be missing in many people’s lives. Teaching poetry is a means of establishing a link between mere existence and life itself, thereby uplifting mortals to a higher plane of excellence. How then do we teach poetry?

Some students love poetry and have a natural flair for it. They love to read poetry and enjoy writing it too. Such students should be encouraged to write without drilling into them the mechanics of writing poetry. Rather than trigger an increased interest, it could actually turn them off. On the other hand, Students not really interested in poetry could become bored if the creative aspect is not instilled. In such students then the mechanics of writing poetry should be inculcated. Mechanical teaching of poetry does not really tax the little minds and it may actually stimulate them to appreciate the dynamism which poetry has. Other students may be interested only in the analysis of poetry and hence enjoy only reading. Their interests must also be catered to.

The important point to consider in teaching poetry is teacher’s approach to this subject as it relates to each student. It is not always true that the teachers must love the subject they are teaching to create an interest in Poetry. Some students are naturally gifted. Many are born with the interest in reading poetry, writing poetry or both. However, the teacher may help or hinder the student’s interest or otherwise provoke an unknown, hidden interest. If the student is very much interested in Poetry but yet receives too much teaching and focus on the mechanics, without allowing the student to try their own hand at writing, the student may become disinterested. If the teacher’s approach is from the creative aspect, not addressing enough mechanical teaching the student could very well become bored and disinterested or lose an unknown or hidden interest. A child not interested in Poetry or creative writing would become bored with anything more than the mechanical teaching. A child may be interested or enjoy reading and analysis but nothing more

Basically there refers tare 2 approaches to the teaching of poetry, the creative approach, which refers to how to write poetry and the approach of instruction, which seeks to inform the student about the mechanics, dynamics and analysis of poetry. It becomes important then to identify what kind of student you are dealing with and adopt the right approach. A balance between the 2 approaches is also possible. Whenever we teach poetry, choose poetry that delights and poetry that is suitable for their age. To capture and enrapture the little minds, you need to find poetry that is captivating and arresting—poetry that is individually delicate and sensitive.

When we teach poetry, read poetry aloud and encourage students to read aloud. Make them memorize and choose poetry that they like, make them recite and make them compose. Have the students write for magazines and have them make poetry greetings. Hold poetry workshops, organize poetry readings, tape poetry written by students and play the tapes back, have “poetry of the week” contests and be as imaginative as we can. Bring poetry to life and we will enliven the little minds and in the process be enlivened.

F. APPROACHING THE TEACHING OF POETRY

Sometimes teachers and students start from a position of ‘this poem has a hidden meaning that we have to find’. This approach, although enjoyable for some, often over-complicates the process. The best approaches to teaching poetry balance the enjoyment of the poem for its own sake, with exploration of the craft that has gone into its making.

Firstly, make sure that students are exposed to many forms of poetry, so that they see that there is a whole range of genres they can imitate or emulate. Draw out, early on, the key elements that differentiate poetry from most prose:

ð  A structure based on linesnot sentences;

ð The importance of shape, layout, rhythmand sound(the look of the poem on the page is not accidental, unlike most prose, where line lengths are determined by the size of the page);

ð The freedom of languageto operate beyond conventional grammar structures (e.g. to write in ‘non-sentences’).

It is also helpful if the students have a vocabulary at their fingertips for discussing and writing about poetry (the use of words such as metre, stanza, simile, image, and so on). However, be careful that in the introduction of these words, this doesn’t become a meaningless exercise. It is far better to look at a poem and a particular phrase or verse structure, discuss its effect and how it operates, and then provides the terminology.

ø Approaches to Bear in Mind

Poetry can be approached from many directions:

Ü Poems by the same poet, investigating similarities and differences;

Ü Poems by different poets on the same theme (e.g. attitudes to town living, the birth of a student);

Ü Poems that share the same form or shape (e.g. Shakespeare’s sonnets to more modern versions);

Ü Poems that share similar sound patterns (e.g. use of alliteration, iambic pentameter), which may tie in with their shape, too;

Ü Poems or poets from a particular time, culture or society

øStructuring a Lesson

There are many approaches, and you might well use the structured English lesson, such as: starter activity, whole-class work, guided group work and plenary. Bear in mind that the lesson structure should not be seen as a straightjacket and can be adjusted to suit the objectives. The initial response you get from the students should be enthusiastic, so perhaps particular effort should be given to a lively starter activity.

øExample of a starter activity

Start by writing a few words or a phrase from the poem on the board. Ask students to ‘interrogate’ them. For example, taking a phrase from the Caribbean poet James Berry’s poem “Thoughts on my father” (without telling students the title, or the fact it is from a poem), we could write ‘my first god’ on the board. Ask students to explore the phrase, and say what it suggests or tells them:

• Ø ‘my‘: that the possessive pronoun suggests that the text is told from a personal point of view?
• Ø ‘first god‘: why a small ‘g’? Did the person have lots of gods?
• Ø ‘first‘: who would be your ‘first god’? The person you looked up to?
• Ø ‘first‘: what does this suggest? Did other gods replace the initial one?

Even before they look at the poem, the students can identify the use of language – a form of metaphor. In this way, students can see that, despite its difficulty, the language of the poem does convey meanings and effects. In fact, the whole poem can be seen through this one line.

Equally the starter activity could have begun with the title “Thoughts on my father”, by asking students to list, very quickly, the attributes and failings of a father figure close to them (parent, guardian, older member of the family).

øDealing with the whole text

Not all poems will have difficult language and ideas. However, with poems that do appear difficult, there are some simple techniques we can use to help students. The key thing is to get beyond the ‘blur of words’ on the page.

øAnnotating a poem

Annotate a poem, that is, smother the text with questions, underline the key words, or ones that don’t make sense, circle the sound patterns and so on. Annotation could be shown on an overhead projector with another poem, or the process could be a whole-class one with you making the annotations while the class suggests comments. Annotation is a particularly good technique for individual work as it helps students to formulate and marshal their own thoughts.

Once the ‘blur’ is overcome, often the more complex language issues, themes and ideas can be addressed. However, it is always helpful to get students to state what story the poem tells. The aim is not for deep meaning, which students often want to leap to first – and fail – but to state the obvious, which, until stated, might not be obvious.

G. HOW TO MOTIVATE STUDENTS TO WRITE POETRY?

A major problem facing teachers of creative writing is how to motivate their students to write poetry. Most teachers have heard one or more of their students complain, “I can’t write poetry” or “I don’t know what to write.” Either students have never had a positive experience with poetry and as a result they dislike it or they have never been exposed to poetry in their homes or in school. We, as teachers, can either ignore this area of creative writing or we can try to overcome this negative attitude toward poetry. If we don’t teach writing, whether it be poetry, prose, or compositions, who will in our schools? It is our responsibility to offer the students the opportunity to write as much as possible, for it is a lifetime skill essential for them to learn.

In this case, I do have my own viewpoints based on my own philosophy of education developed from years of teaching writing to students. I would like to share these basic observations:

(1) Students learn more when they are actively involved in a process than when they are sitting passively.

(2) Learning is enhanced when students are interacting with other persons and that students can learn from one another as well as the teacher.

(3) Because writing almost always involves self-disclosure, I am convinced it must take place in a climate that is free from threat. If the teacher provides the proper climate and practices writing on a regular basis throughout the school year, students will write.

(4) Writing of any type is a skill to be practiced and not a given gift. Students must be encouraged to discover and practice writing.

(5) Developing a skill such as writing poetry is generally most successful when the skill is broken down into small steps or sub skills and approached sequentially rather than randomly.

Creative expression in poetry is not easy to teach. The teacher feels he/she must be a juggler in order to provide a proper balance between the freedom to play with ideas and express feelings and the discipline of literary demands. In trying to establish this delicate balance, teachers may find a few principles useful.

Principle #1:

Create a motivating atmosphere in the classroom. The physical aspect of the room must be given careful thought. The most effective group and individual work can be accomplished in a room of sufficient size to provide for maximum comfort. Tables and chairs are preferred to conventional desks. Ample lighting is an absolute requirement.

Sample Activities

(1) Have the classroom take on the physical atmosphere of poetry. Poems should be visually available. A wall  space  could  be devoted to poetry. Put up bulletin

boards that stimulate children to think about poetry.

(2) Consider a “poetry corner.” This space would include books of poems, pictures, sculptures, models, objects, writing paper, pencils, etc.

Principle #2:

Allow students to freely express themselves. In all probability, students have not been encouraged to express their personal ideas and feelings. Teachers may need to place most of the emphasis at the beginning of the year on helping students feel comfortable expressing their genuine feelings. Students need to feel assured that they will not be exposing themselves to ridicule if others learn their inner most thoughts. The student must perceive their classmates as a unified group which will be responsive, respectful and nonjudgmental.

Sample Activities

(1) Have students introduce themselves to the group. Periodically test the students to see how well they are remembering names.

(2) Choose a partner and interview that person, trying to learn as many facts about him or her as possible.

(3) Conduct sharing times such as: what was your happiest moment, what qualities appeal to you in a friend, when did you experience fear for the first time, etc. Give students a writing attitude inventory.

(4) Assign students to groups of three. Have them determine two things that all three agree on, disagree on, etc.

(5) Have students self-appraise their writing process:

-What were the last four things you have written?

- How do you feel about writing poetry?

- Do you have any habits which help you get in the mood to write?

- How many hours do you spend writing?

- Do you write in one sitting or do you work on separate sections and at various times?

Principle #3:

Offer models of good poetry as a way to teach the skills and techniques that are the writer’s craft. This technique exposes students to a  variety  of styles, to the use

of literary devices and to the approaches a writer can take.

Sample Activities:

(1) Teacher should read famous poems to the class such as:

“Me”

Chairil Anwar,

When my time comes No one’s going to cry for me, And you won’t, either

The hell with all those tears!

I’m a wild beast Driven out of the herd

Bullets may pierce my skin But I’ll keep coming,

Carrying forward my wounds and my pain Attacking Attacking Until suffering disappears

And I won’t give a damn

I want to live another thousand years

or

MY HEART HAS TOLD YOUR HEART

By : Jid Thobhani

My heart has told your heart, I have fallen in love with you My life, my love, trust me As restless as I am, make yourself restless Understand my heartbeat, please love me also

My heart has told your heart I have fallen in love with you If you say so, I’ll tear down the moon and stars This wind, this earth, I’ll turn them back What sight is in my eyes, what experience is this? The river is close, the desert is far, why is there still thirst I’ll leave the world at your feet, meet my eyes As restless as I am, make yourself restless Understand my heartbeat, please love me also My heart has told your heart I have fallen in love with you In my memories, in my dreams you come everyday Why do you afflict me this way, my life? From your heart, from your way I won’t leave like that This is a vow, this is my promise, I’ll come back I’ll steal you from the world, just wait a little As restless as I am, make yourself restless Understand my heartbeat, please love me also My heart has told your heart I have fallen in love with you My life, my love, trust me As restless as I am, make yourself restless Understand my heartbeat, please love me also

http://www.poemhunter.com/p/m/poem.asp?poet

(2) Encourage students to read poetry aloud to themselves and to each other.

(3) Use choral reading of poetry in your classroom. It’s a technique which adds to children’s enjoyment of poetry by directly involving them.

Once students gain the confidence in writing their own poetry, the teacher can introduce adult poems into the classroom. The teacher can make this transition knowing that students already know what it’s like to write poetry. Students will have enough experience to make them feel like poets and feel close to poetry; this should help them in reading and understanding what other poets have written. The purpose of teaching poetry to students is to experience what so many other people have found in poetry, not just so you will know more, or understand more, but so you will enjoy more. Surely one of the major purposes of education is to increase people’s capacity to enjoy life.

H. TEACHING READING THROUGH POETRY & HOW TO READ IT

ø How to get started

Before teaching poetry to the classroom, the first step that must be done is preparing a pocket folder for each student labeled “Poetry” and preparing copies of two poems. On the first meeting, begin this activity by reading a poem to the students. Then pass out a copy of the poem to each student and reread it to the students as they follow along. Then read the poem together chorally. Poetry lends itself to choral reading because of its rhythm. Follow the same procedure with the second poem.

On the next session, reread the poems chorally. Use the poems to do some word study activities. You might have the students search for rhyming words, or synonyms of words you give them. On the third meeting, a teacher might introduce another new poem by reading it to them, passing out the poem, reading it again, and then have the students read it chorally. Then read the old poems.

By the third meeting the students usually will have become fluent reading the old poems. So if the poem contains conversational parts (and try to pick many poems that have this feature) assign an individual student to read a character’s part. The remainder of the class chorally reads any parts that would be considered narration. The students will enjoy the opportunity to read the individual parts. They have to be really alert and tracking to come in at the proper place.

On the next day, teacher could introduce a new poem by reading it to the class. We try to do this with lots of expression to give the students some idea of the possibilities of the poem. We may want to pick poems that go with the subject matter we are studying or the season of the year. Pass out the poem and have the students follow along as we reread it to them. Ask students to read the poem chorally. In this case, a teacher might be as a leader to keep the class together.

If there is new vocabulary in the poem that is crucial to comprehension, discuss it the first day the poem is introduced. As poems become old poems, use them to work on word skills. These can be done orally, or as pencil and paper activities. Allow students to read individual character parts during the group choral reading.

Read old poems as mini-Reader Theater scripts. This should be done after the students are very familiar with the poem. A student is assigned to each of the character/narrator parts or to a particular stanza of the poem. The group of students presents the poem at the front of the classroom. If we have too many poems to read them all at once, have the students take turns picking an old favorite to read. This can go on as long as we need.

øUsing poems to practice skills

Relating skills to what is actually being read is always a good practice. Skills practiced in isolation on a worksheet do not always transfer to actual reading. The one caution here is that we do not do this to excess. The main purpose of reading the poems is to create enthusiasm for reading. Always turning it into a skills drill can defeat that purpose.

Examine the poem to decide which skill to work on. If the poem has numerous contractions, then use that poem to work on contractions. If it has many short vowel words, use it to work on short vowels. We can make these oral activities or make up a worksheet for the students to complete as a written assignment.

Some of the skills I worked into these sessions:

Ä Find synonyms/antonyms. We would say a word and the students would search for a synonym/antonym. Sometimes we told them in which stanza to search.

Ä  Work on alphabetical order using words from old poems.

Ä  Use words from old poems in word sorts.

Ä  Find the nouns, verbs, adjectives.

Ä Find the contractions and possessives. Since both have apostrophes, the students had to use the context to decide which it was.

Ä Paraphrase a short poem. We can see the rhythm of the poem disappear as it turns to prose. It really illustrates the difference.

I. CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING & LEARNING POETRY

• Literature Circles: Give each group of students’ different anthologies or different copies of individual poems to read and discuss. The teacher may request that students find poems that all focus on a specific theme or allow students to select poems that appeal to them as a group.
• Poetry Journals: Have students keep a poetry journal throughout the unit in which they copy or paste poems that appeal to them, along with their responses to the poems. Their responses may be written answers to questions such as the following: What interests you about the poem? Do the ideas in the poem connect with other selections that you know? Does the poem connect with a personal experience you have had? Encourage students to add illustrations or pictures to extend their responses. As well, they may wish to include their own poetry.
• Children’s Poetry Anthology: Have students assemble a collection of poems. Encourage them to illustrate these with their own drawings or cut-out pictures. Extend this project by having students practise reading these selections aloud, then visiting an elementary school to read aloud to students of the appropriate age.
• Oral Reading or Recitation: Have students choose a poem to read or recite aloud to their Literature Circles or the whole class. They may do this individually or in Readers Theatre or choral reading groups.
• Poetry Partners: Have students in the same or different grades partner to share their own and other poetry. Provide opportunities for them to read aloud to their partners and to discuss their experiences with each selection. Have partners develop an anthology of favourite selections, including partner dialogue responses recorded next to each poem.
• Teacher Read Aloud: Read poetry aloud to the students daily. Talk about why you enjoy the poems. This provides opportunities to introduce and discuss specific poetic formats, styles, techniques, and language. For example, one way to introduce how description is used in poetry to evoke images is to give students copies of the poems so they can follow along as they listen, and ask them to draw what they think the poem describes. Then have them circle the words that helped to evoke the images that they drew. Discuss how the circled words created the images and how students can use the technique in their own writing.
• Prose and Poetry – What’s the Difference?: One way to help students understand what differentiates a poem from other forms is to have them read and compare a short story and a poem about a similar topic. Have them create a chart or Venn diagram on which they list the similarities and differences between the two genres. Another way to help them discover distinguishing characteristics of a poem is to give them short paragraphs that paraphrase the poems they will read; then have them read the paragraph and match it with the poem it paraphrases. Follow up with a discussion about the similarities and differences between the prose paragraph and the poem.
• Writing Poetry: Use models of various types of poetry and have students experiment with writing each type. Some types of poetry include haiku, limerick, lyric, sonnet, diamante, concrete, ballad, and free verse. Encourage students to go through the writing process just as they do when writing other genres.
• Looks Like … Sounds Like: Audio and video recordings are useful as models of oral reading of poetry, and demonstrate the need for expression and clarity. As well, video recordings combine words with images to give students one interpretation of the poem. Encourage students to create their own audio or video interpretations of favourite selections (their own and/or others’ poetry).
• Sounds Like – Teaching about Similes and Metaphors: Have students close their eyes and listen to the sounds around them. Then ask them to isolate one sound and focus on it for several seconds, imagining what it sounds like. Have them create sound pictures by writing what the sound is like (e.g., A tapping pencil sounds like a clock ticking.).
• Set to Music – Performing Poetry: Select poems or song lyrics that can be, or have been, set to music. Have students work out the meaning conveyed through the words and rhythm by speaking or singing the poem to the music chosen. Encourage them to involve the audience by having members participate  in  the  chorus  or  repeated phrases.   Have  students  develop

appropriate actions to accompany the words.

• Poetic Dialect: Read several poems that use distinctive dialects. Examine the words and phrases and discuss the differences between standard English and the dialect, or between the students’ use of language and the dialect in the poem. Explore how the dialect affects the meaning and enjoyment of the poem for each student.
• Meet the Poet: Have students select several poems by one poet, then research the poet and share their findings with the class in written, oral, and/or visual form. If possible, invite a poet to class to read his or her poetry.

J.  CONCLUSION

Ï Poetry as part of literary works is important thing to be introduced and taught to students early, since it has specific characteristics.

Ï Literary works such – as poetry, drama, novels, and so on have a great influence to peoples’ life;

Ï When people’s life is started with a close relationship with literary works, the beauty and the gentleness of the literary works would help them to think and act at least as gentle as the rhyme and rhythm of poetry;

Ï It is not always true that the teachers must love the subject they are teaching to create an interest in Poetry.

Ï Poetry is not only having specific characteristics, furthermore, it can be also used to say something (Musthafa: 2004).

Ï  Poetry is meant to be read, heard, and enjoyed, rather than “studied”.

Ï Poetry is emotion recollected in tranquility and by recollecting, we learn to feel, learn to experience nature in all its wild beauty, learn about the mysteries of the universe, and learn about love, happiness, joy and sorrow;

Ï The basic problem in teaching literature s well as poetry in Indonesia is the lack of teachers’ competencies in teaching it to the students, so teachers have reluctance to teach by means of literature (poetry);

Ï Some students assume that literature is only for students who have language program, rather than social and science program;

Ï In teaching poetry as well as drama, tales, etc, could be applied in teaching four skills of language (reading, writing, speaking and listening). Moreover, by means of poetry, we might transfer to the students some vocabularies, structure, pronunciation as well as the four skills in English.

Ï Teaching English using poetry can be proper alternative in teaching English for students, to increase students’ motivation and interesting in learning English;

Ï By means of poetry, we can expand and promote the important of literary work as well poetry to color people’s life, so that literary work can interested thing to be learnt by every people;

Ï In terms of teaching poetry, a teacher must be more active and innovative to design teaching material, teaching aid, teaching methods in order to have the process of the instruction is more vary and also interested;

Ï Teaching poetry means have students to be able to understand the  values from the poem, students are able to read (aesthetics reading) and also experience to the full of the poems’ content;

Ï Before teaching poetry, teacher could select which of the four skills in language would be emphasized to, so, the goal of the instruction is measurable and assessable;

Ï Teachers’ understanding of approaches, methods, in teaching poetry is very important to ensure that our students like and interested in learning it. Besides, it is usable to proof that  literary works is only for particular group/people is wrong;

Ï The most important thing to know that, in teaching poetry for SMA students should be more emphasized on practice rather than theory.

Ï The awareness of every people is highly necessary to make literature as well as poetry is liked by people (learners or public society).

Ï By understanding some information above, as a language teacher we are holding a key position, what we are going to do to keep the existence of poetry as part of literary works;

Ï Language teachers might also give some explanation for students the important of literary works as well as poetry in this life.

)*Penulis adalah Mahasiswa Pascasarjana (S.3) UIN Bandung, guru SMAN 1 Cibadak Kab. Sukabumi, Ketua IGI Cab. Sukabumi, Ketua MGMP Bahasa Inggris SMA Kab. Sukabumi dan dosen di beberapa PT di Sukabumi.

REFERENCES

Alwasilah, A. Chaedar. 2003. Revitalisasi Pendidikan Bahasa. Bandung: CV. Andira.

Alwasilah, A. Chaedar. 2004. Mendidik Publik Melek Seni. Pikiran Rakyat Rabu 18 Pebruari 2004.

Hernadi, Paul, ed. 1978. What is literature? Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Brown, H. Douglas. 2001. Teaching by Principles. An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.

Brown, H. Douglas. 1987. Principle of language Learning and Teaching. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Harmer, Jeremy. 2002. The Practice of English Language Teaching. England: Pearson Education Limited.

Langer, Judith A. 1997. Thinking and Doing Literature. An 8-Year Study. NY: University of Albany.

Langer, Judith A. 1994. Language Arts. Vol. 71 March 1994. Focus on Research. A Response-Based Approach to Reading Literature

Laudano, D.M. 1981 Vol. IV. Teaching Poetry in New Formats: To Intermediate Grade Students

Musthafa, Bacharudin. 2004. Beningkan Jiwa dengan Fuisi Healthylife. Edisi O5/III, Mei 2004.

Musthafa, Bacharudin. 2003. EFL Course Materials. Jakarta: Due-Like Project. DGHE. Ditjen Dikti.

Rosenblatt, Louise M. 1978. The Reader, The Text, The Poem. Southern Illionis University Press.

Rosenblatt, Louise M. Literature – S.O.S! 1991. Language Arts, Vol. 68, October 1991.

Tutut M. Lestari. 2003. Mengapa Dongeng Masih Perlu Didongengkan? Healthylife. Edisi 8/II, Agustus 2003.