Poetry and Rhetoric: Arguments and Verse [S4 E95]

poetry-and-rhetoric

Listen to the full episode below:

Are you ready to nerd out with us today on argument and rhetoric? I hope so, because we are really digging in!

Also, if you haven’t already listened to episode 87, go check that out because we talk all about teaching argument with Shakespeare’s works.

As teachers, poets are uniquely positioned for us in the context of history in a different way than authors are. With that, comes a lot of really great opportunities. For example, most poetry is doable in just one or two class periods. It can be layered into thematic units of study. 

So today, we really are discussing the potential for looking at poetry as an argument, and looking at poetry through the lens of rhetorical analysis. We want to help you see poetry from a different angle, and consider where you can incorporate this into your units. 

Obviously, we absolutely love poetry, but that’s not necessarily the case for most teenagers. Our job is to help our students build their skills, think deeply, and ask thought-provoking questions. In order for them to do this, they need to have a really clear “why” and understand the context within that why. This will lead to richer conversations and overall higher engagement in your classroom.

What we have found using rhetorical analysis, and breaking apart things that are more challenging, is that it makes the piece more approachable and accessible for our students who are daunted by the original task. This is true for even the seemingly simple poems that are tiny in length but mighty by meaning. 

This process has the ability to take your students from vulnerable and intimidated to confident as they create their own interpretation and analysis of a poem. 

If you need some resources to implement this in your classroom, check out this example of a podcast that "dissects" lyrics from albums. It’s great for rhetoric analysis and poetry analysis.

Here are some great poems that can be used to teach argument:

If you have a topic that you’d like us to cover on an upcoming episode of Brave New Teaching, send us a message on Instagram @bravenewteaching. We would love to hear from you!

Topics Covered:

  • The top three priorities of literary analysis, rhetorical analysis, and synthesis argumentation

  • The progression of reading and writing skills

  • The potential for looking at poetry as argument

  • Defining an argument as a claim or opinion vs. “a fight”

  • How Amanda analyzes poetry through the lens of The Big Six

  • What rhetoric and poetry should have in common

Resources

Related Episodes:

More about Brave New Teaching:

Join hosts Amanda Cardenas (Mud & Ink Teaching) and Marie Morris (The Caffeinated Classroom) in discussions about being brave, trying new things, and all things teaching! As seasoned classroom teachers, Amanda and Marie bring their experience, insight, energy, and oh, so many opinions and ideas... It's time for all teachers to take their classroom and teaching practice into their own hands!

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Amanda Cardenas