8. Introduction to Poetry Blog #1

In Billy Collin's "Introduction to Poetry," the narrator wants his students to take the time and discover the poem through many different senses rather than only searching for the meaning. While the students want to fugure out the meaning of the poem, they do not want to go through the required process. Throughout the poem Collin's says many impossible phrases such as, "I say drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out." Although this is physically impossible, Collin's is going about motivating his students in a visual way. An example of kinesthetic imagery is,"They begin beating it with a hose to find out what it really means." You can picture a student physically beating up a poem trying to get it to reveal it's meaning, portraying the poem as being alive. This visual shows how students are not willing to put forth the effort required when working with poetry. "Or press an ear against its hive." This quotation is an example of auditory imagery. The narrator wants the students to listen to the words of the poem rather than simply reading them. "I say drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out." This visual imagery is relating the reader to a mouse. The mouse is setting an example of how to go about reading the poem, by "probing his way out." The author ends the poem in hopes that the students will quit beating up poems and begin using their senses in a productive and educational way.