This reflection paper explores a student's experience in a poetry course, examining the class's structured approach, the challenges of engaging with unfamiliar texts, and the personal growth that resulted. The paper discusses how studying diverse poets and reading peers' work built confidence and deepened appreciation for poetry as an art form. It also addresses the student's evolving understanding of self-expression, the connection between poetry and other literary and musical forms, and suggestions for improving the course, including greater attention to modern poets and the biographical contexts behind the poems.
Over the past weeks in this poetry class, there were certain aspects of the course that proved genuinely interesting and that motivated my learning. Poetry is an art form, and any attempt to describe and immerse oneself in it leads into different aspects of one's own personality. This personal exploration was meditative and demonstrated the practical power of words — their potential to become artful and meaningful.
The class itself was very structured and disciplined. While there are pros and cons to this approach, I generally approved of the pace and temperament of the course. The material was challenging, and I was exposed to writings that I quite honestly would never have approached in any other circumstance. The main critique of this approach is that, at times, the difficulty level left many students feeling dazed and overworked. A certain lack of confidence and interest was sometimes felt throughout the class, as some of the language and themes appeared to be well over our heads.
Eventually, I began to appreciate this style as my confidence grew and poems and poetry became more familiar to me. I soon began to notice that everything can really be poetry or art when viewed from a certain perspective. I found interest in all the poets we studied; however, the most important and revealing insight was that everyone is a poet in some way or another.
I eventually learned that poetry is more of a combination of feeling and intention that melds together into a compassionate or moving piece. The use of poetry to express oneself cannot be underestimated, as the act itself is liberating and removes fear and doubt in the practice of self-expression and personal evolution.
"Peer reading and shared classroom experience"
"Recommendations for modern poets and biography"
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