The Good Reader: WAKE UP!! YOU’RE LATE FOR A POETRY DATE

In the creative writing classes I organize, one of my main focuses is building critical reading skills. The best place to practice reading is in a poem. A poem utilizes utterance and silence, it utilizes white space, they are often dripping with literary strategies for us to ponder and sift through. Our critical reading and thinking skills say a lot about us as teachers and students. If one is unwilling to look at the poem with a critical eye, I guarantee that they are also unwilling to look at their own lives with a critical eye. One could be on the road to destruction and miss the warning signs, and one could be at the threshold of success and happiness and also miss the signs if one does not have a critical eye. One must strive to become a better “reader.” If we can learn how to read the poem more effectively, it will also help us be better readers of the signs and symbols of our lives. I developed an equation in hopes to inspire the teacher or student who has a desire to strive to become a better reader: Intent + Strategy = Effectiveness. This paper will explore this equation and shed light on how this critical reading strategy be utilized across all learning disciplines and in our personal lives.