Why Use Poetry in the Content Class?
 
 

· good content makes good poetry
· poetry writing taps into the imagination, the unconscious, underlying knowledge structures
· poetry allows students to make new connections, to look at course material from different perspectives, to think in new ways
· poetry allows the student to be surprised by new insights
· poetry helps students connect to the material on an emotional level.
· a poetic response brings content to life and makes it more memorable.
· this approach supports different learning styles
· reasoning through analogy and metaphor, which poetry encourages, are generally recognized as strategies of successful writers and thinkers in every discipline
· poetry writing about content requires synthesis of material
· writing a poem helps students to understand and internalize material in a different way
· poetry is a concentrated language—word choice matters, as does connotation, nuances of meaning.  Poetry is the perfect medium for language study.