05/12/2020
So far, through our reading of Peter Skrzynecki’s ‘Old/New World’, we have:
- Connected to our existing knowledge as a means of making visible and framing our thinking of some of the key concepts and themes in the poetry. This has included breaking down the concept of ‘world’, and discussing the importance of traditions and rituals.
- Observed poetic devices/techniques; specifically: word choices (diction) and the way in which the poet has arranged his poems into lines that run over to the next (enjambment).
- Made connections within the poem by: grouping word choices together, categorising them, and articulating our thinking behind these categories, and linking different lines of a poem together and articulating why we’ve linked them.
- Formed conclusions (interpretations) of a whole poem, and of different sections of poems based on what we’ve observed, the connections we’ve made, and the explanations that we’ve built up.
Something that has been very encouraging to me is the range of voices and contributions in class so far. Some of you may think that you haven’t really contributed at all, but you don’t need to speak to provide input to the collective thinking and understanding we’re building up (take the word cloud above for instance!).
Further on, not only will we be doing more reading, but also writing based on what we’ve read in terms of the poet’s ideas and writing style. Some examples:
- The connection and tension between two things that seem like opposites: constant movement/feeling stuck, universal human need to find belonging/segregating into groups based on nationality, being alone/while being with others etc.
- The importance of rituals, habits, and routines.
- The word choices that express these things.
- The way a poet breaks sentences into lines that flow onto each other for a variety of effects (drawing attention to something, forcing the reader to pause, creating a specific mood, creating a specific voice).
Is there anything I’ve missed or anything that’s come to mind for you? Leave a response if so!
