English Poetry – 5 Effective Ways to Teach the Masters to Your Student

English poetry for non-English majors. This subject may sound intimidating to you as a homeschooling parent.

As a homeschooling mother who earned a Bachelor of Arts in English/Creative Writing, I know I would be intimidated if I had to teach my son biology.

So let me share a few secrets I’ve learned from my lifelong passion of understanding and reading poetry. And be assured, you CAN teach this subject effectively.

Here are five ideas to get you started:

1) Choose a mixture of fun and serious.

John Milton, who wrote Paradise Lost, can be very heavy. Balance Milton with some fun English poetry. Really, they exist! William Blake is a great source for interesting poems, especially his poem that begins “Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright.” If you want to expand your poetry lessons, also cover American poets such as Robert Frost and Walt Whitman. These are classic poets that greatly influenced this great genre!

2) Start chronologically and relate it to history.

My favorite English poem to start with is Beowulf. Yes, this is very hard to understand since it is written in Old English, but with a good translation it can be done. This gives your student an appreciation for Western civilization, for linguistics, and history.

Research what was happening in England at the time of Beowulf’s writing. What was happening in the rest of the world? What kind of music was common then? What kind of art? This will help you and your student understand the poem and studying the poet at hand will be a lot more interesting! Then, after you have studied all these disciplines and you are in a co-op, create a play or skit! This will give your student a chance to directly apply all he has studied.

Did you know that Beowulf inspired J.R.R. Tolkien to write The Lord of the Rings? Combine the modern blockbuster movie hit with Beowulf and you will have a very interesting lesson indeed!

3) Learn how to read the poem correctly.

There is a definite way to read and understand a poem. It’s really a lot like studying the Bible! Find out the appropriate steps, learn it yourself, and then teach it to your student. Be sure you understand literary terms like metaphor, simile, iambic pentameter, etc. The Internet is full of wonderful resources, so get a solid grounding in the vocabulary and this will enable you and your student to excel in understanding English poetry.

4) Let your student explore poetry for herself.

Include some time in your lesson plans for writing poetry. For instance, have your student write a Sonnet. Learning about all the literary terms is one thing, but it is always more instructive to apply it by composing a poem yourself.

5) Have your students write comparison essays.

Comparing Milton’s L’Allegro and Il Penseroso poems is a great instructive lesson. It really makes your student dig deep and find out the meanings in the poems. Plus, your student will learn and apply essay writing skills. This is a college level lesson, something my professor had us do in our English poetry class.

I hope my ideas on English poetry have contained several gold nuggets for you! Have fun with English poetry!