Introduction to Poetry Discussion by Ms. Walter https://padlet.com/megan_walter1/uywhemdz9i0y en-us 2017-03-14 23:48:18 UTC 2026-03-10 03:01:57 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Brightnessdown.png "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins megan_walter1 https://padlet.com/megan_walter1/uywhemdz9i0y/wish/160132521 I ask them to take a poem 
and hold it up to the light 
like a color slide 

or press an ear against its hive. 

I say drop a mouse into a poem 
and watch him probe his way out, 

or walk inside the poem’s room 
and feel the walls for a light switch. 

I want them to waterski 
across the surface of a poem 
waving at the author’s name on the shore. 

But all they want to do 
is tie the poem to a chair with rope 
and torture a confession out of it. 

They begin beating it with a hose 
to find out what it really means. 

]]> 2017-03-15 00:14:04 UTC https://padlet.com/megan_walter1/uywhemdz9i0y/wish/160132521 Question #1 megan_walter1 https://padlet.com/megan_walter1/uywhemdz9i0y/wish/160132775 In group 3, someone asked the question in reference to the line "or press an ear against its hive."

She asked, "Why does [the author] use the hearing sense?"]]> 2017-03-15 00:17:16 UTC https://padlet.com/megan_walter1/uywhemdz9i0y/wish/160132775 Question #2 megan_walter1 https://padlet.com/megan_walter1/uywhemdz9i0y/wish/160133415 In group 1, someone asked a question in regards to these lines: 
"I want them to waterski 
across the surface of a poem 
waving at the author’s name on the shore."

He asked, "What is the point of including this part?"
]]> 2017-03-15 00:24:39 UTC https://padlet.com/megan_walter1/uywhemdz9i0y/wish/160133415 Question #3 megan_walter1 https://padlet.com/megan_walter1/uywhemdz9i0y/wish/160133903 In group 2, a person asked a question regarding the overall poem. 

He said, "Why does the author personify what a poem can do and what people do with a poem?"]]> 2017-03-15 00:29:53 UTC https://padlet.com/megan_walter1/uywhemdz9i0y/wish/160133903 Question #4 megan_walter1 https://padlet.com/megan_walter1/uywhemdz9i0y/wish/160134541 In group 4, someone asked the question in reference to the title of the poem, "Introduction to Poetry."

She asked, "What kind of introduction is this?"]]> 2017-03-15 00:36:33 UTC https://padlet.com/megan_walter1/uywhemdz9i0y/wish/160134541 Question #5 megan_walter1 https://padlet.com/megan_walter1/uywhemdz9i0y/wish/160135177 In group 5, a person asked the question in regards to the part of the poem which says, "I say drop a mouse into a poem 
and watch him probe his way out."

She asked, "Why did the mouse have to be dropped into the poem?"
]]> 2017-03-15 00:42:58 UTC https://padlet.com/megan_walter1/uywhemdz9i0y/wish/160135177 Question #6 megan_walter1 https://padlet.com/megan_walter1/uywhemdz9i0y/wish/160136129 In group 6, the group members linked the words "Torture," "Confession," and "Beating."

Why does Collins use such negative language towards the end of this poem?]]> 2017-03-15 00:51:20 UTC https://padlet.com/megan_walter1/uywhemdz9i0y/wish/160136129 Question #7 megan_walter1 https://padlet.com/megan_walter1/uywhemdz9i0y/wish/160137477 In group 7, several group members discussed this stanza: 
"or walk inside the poem’s room 
and feel the walls for a light switch."

One person pointed out that this description is a metaphor that compares the poem to a dark room. From this idea, another group member asked, "Is this a way of trying to get the reader to think?"

What does this accomplish?
]]> 2017-03-15 01:01:06 UTC https://padlet.com/megan_walter1/uywhemdz9i0y/wish/160137477