| Commentary and Philosophy Non-Fiction posted February 3, 2022 |
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a commentary
Grading a Haiku
by Bill Schott
Sometimes the haiku
gets lost in the translation
but you can smell it
Haiku # 74686, January 27, 2022 11:50 am ET
by Latrine Poet
I have written a lot of poetry and actually taught poetry in high school. That is not supposed to qualify me as an expert, nor raise my posted work here to more than it is. What I do know for certain is that there is a right way to teach poetry in high school, or sooner, and a wrong way.
If I were to ask a student to write a poem, period, then whatever he/she produced would be okay. That work is the baseline for what follows.
The average person, in my experience, does not admit to writing poetry. It is viewed anywhere from trivial to too hard to get right. Those opinions are not typically generated in a vacuum, but from outside observations with unsolicited input.
Rhymes in kid poems and jingles in advertisements are probably where we all get introduced to poems. Few begin with works requiring knowledge of meter or rhyming beyond the end words.
Success in writing poetry begins and ends, in my view, with the student's ability to see a potential for success.
Having said all that, let me do a quick bit on haiku.
Now you and I know that haiku is not just one thing. To know it, one will need to learn of its history, expectations, iterations based on purpose, and the extension into broader Asian culture.
For the student, however, the quality and quantity that is required for a grade needs to be measurable, identifiable both visually and in written form, and transferable to some other purpose or even another discipline.
For teenage students, the mastery of this poetic form, as in all they do, is the connection to the ability to excel or to simply achieve a passing grade.
A haiku will be presented in its most recognizable form: three lines, seventeen syllables, 5-7-5 formatting, and a connection to nature. Those simple requirements are gradable and understandable by anyone. In a diverse classroom, this would be the basic goal for understanding. The further reach into Asian poetry would be a matter of connecting other formats into scaffolded learning with the expectation of a greater appreciation of the art.
preparing to hop
frog recalls all prior jumps
assuming success
Now, what may be missing from this example is a kigo, which identifies a particular season. The satori, which I suggest is the third line, a moment of enlightenment, is debatable. Both of those comments would fall in the realm of observations and not corrections.
From this point, here-for-a-grade students would use only the 5-7-5 formatting and lose the limitations of the more restrictive discipline. They would find themes in other class subjects, life in general, etc.
Students, wanting to or willing, can investigate the broader "haikai" which involves senryu, haibun, tanka, and others.
There is definitely more that can be done with this form. It depends, nowadays, neither on the teacher nor the student, but the time allowed to each segment of the predetermined and common goals of the school district.
Sometimes the haiku
gets lost in the translation
but you can smell it
Haiku # 74686, January 27, 2022 11:50 am ET
by Latrine Poet
I have written a lot of poetry and actually taught poetry in high school. That is not supposed to qualify me as an expert, nor raise my posted work here to more than it is. What I do know for certain is that there is a right way to teach poetry in high school, or sooner, and a wrong way.
If I were to ask a student to write a poem, period, then whatever he/she produced would be okay. That work is the baseline for what follows.
The average person, in my experience, does not admit to writing poetry. It is viewed anywhere from trivial to too hard to get right. Those opinions are not typically generated in a vacuum, but from outside observations with unsolicited input.
Rhymes in kid poems and jingles in advertisements are probably where we all get introduced to poems. Few begin with works requiring knowledge of meter or rhyming beyond the end words.
Success in writing poetry begins and ends, in my view, with the student's ability to see a potential for success.
Having said all that, let me do a quick bit on haiku.
Now you and I know that haiku is not just one thing. To know it, one will need to learn of its history, expectations, iterations based on purpose, and the extension into broader Asian culture.
For the student, however, the quality and quantity that is required for a grade needs to be measurable, identifiable both visually and in written form, and transferable to some other purpose or even another discipline.
For teenage students, the mastery of this poetic form, as in all they do, is the connection to the ability to excel or to simply achieve a passing grade.
A haiku will be presented in its most recognizable form: three lines, seventeen syllables, 5-7-5 formatting, and a connection to nature. Those simple requirements are gradable and understandable by anyone. In a diverse classroom, this would be the basic goal for understanding. The further reach into Asian poetry would be a matter of connecting other formats into scaffolded learning with the expectation of a greater appreciation of the art.
preparing to hop
frog recalls all prior jumps
assuming success
Now, what may be missing from this example is a kigo, which identifies a particular season. The satori, which I suggest is the third line, a moment of enlightenment, is debatable. Both of those comments would fall in the realm of observations and not corrections.
From this point, here-for-a-grade students would use only the 5-7-5 formatting and lose the limitations of the more restrictive discipline. They would find themes in other class subjects, life in general, etc.
Students, wanting to or willing, can investigate the broader "haikai" which involves senryu, haibun, tanka, and others.
There is definitely more that can be done with this form. It depends, nowadays, neither on the teacher nor the student, but the time allowed to each segment of the predetermined and common goals of the school district.
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If you are looking for spelling or punctuation errors, there are none, or few, when compared to the number of words spelled correctly.
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