Poet: I can’t answer questions on Texas standardized tests about my own poems
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Re: Poet: I can’t answer questions on Texas standardized tests about my own poems
#2I agree that it's useful to expose children to literature and art, but it feels like there's no way to objectively test it...
Maybe creative writing/literature courses should give marks for the most upvotes on Reddit (kidding, but probably more objective than current methods).
Re: Poet: I can’t answer questions on Texas standardized tests about my own poems
#3cixin, your comment is presently [dead], it seems like you've posted too much since your account was created (your comments seem fine to me).
Re: Poet: I can’t answer questions on Texas standardized tests about my own poems
#4I thought a lot of what we learned about poems in school was overly prescriptive, and my friends and I could often invent and justify other meanings. But, unlike with multiple choice, in assignments and exams we were supposed to do exactly that. Exploring what something "might mean" is one of the ways to get into a poem. I mean, I still thought that how we studied poetry was not a very good way. But now I see it could have been much worse!
Re: Poet: I can’t answer questions on Texas standardized tests about my own poems
#5cixin, your comment is presently [dead], it seems like you've posted too much since your account was created (your comments seem fine to me).
I was wondering the same about why cixin was dead. Interesting heuristic in the HN codebase there. Is it a permanent death or does it back off after a cool down?
Re: Poet: I can’t answer questions on Texas standardized tests about my own poems
#6If she had known the answer, would that make the question any better?
I remember back when I was in high school, I always sort of assumed that the authors of the poems we were tested on wouldn't be able to answer the ridiculous questions on our assessments. But even if they did, I've never been able to figure out what skills these questions were testing. If poems are open to interpretation, isn't it reasonable to think that two equally skilled readers would arrive at different conclusions? Which is to say: Is the answer really objective?
In any case, the state of standardized testing is miserable, and unfortunately from all accounts I have heard it is worse abroad. I don't think this should be much of a surprise to anyone.
Re: Poet: I can’t answer questions on Texas standardized tests about my own poems
#7I thought a lot of what we learned about poems in school was overly prescriptive, and my friends and I could often invent and justify other meanings. But, unlike with multiple choice, in assignments and exams we were supposed to do exactly that. Exploring what something "might mean" is one of the ways to get into a poem. I mean, I still thought that how we studied poetry was not a very good way. But now I see it coul…
Indeed. I don't know why that sort of thing is on a standardized test anyway. We are having enough problems ensuring that all students have basic functional literacy.
If they can read a paragraph from a credit card application and understand it, that will go a long way towards increasing their overall successful functioning in society. Let them do poetry interpretation on their own time and according to their own interest.
I'm not saying that schools shouldn't teach poetry, but it shouldn't be on a standardized test either. What's the point? You want to expose kids to culture, but it may not stick, and that's OK.
Re: Poet: I can’t answer questions on Texas standardized tests about my own poems
#8Why are we testing anyone on poems? The point is to be exposed to the possibilities of inducing emotional transformation through cultural creation and consumption. What is there to test about that other than, "did you feel it? Could you make something yourself that would also feel like something was happening? Do it." There's no proper interpretation, no expert opinion worth anything at all except for the salary the expert manages to squeeze out of people overly wed to the concept of correctness.
Re: Poet: I can’t answer questions on Texas standardized tests about my own poems
#9cixin, your comment is presently [dead], it seems like you've posted too much since your account was created (your comments seem fine to me).
I was wondering the same about why cixin was dead. Interesting heuristic in the HN codebase there. Is it a permanent death or does it back off after a cool down?
Users with a fair amount of 'karma' can vote to bring it back (which is likely what happened here).
Re: Poet: I can’t answer questions on Texas standardized tests about my own poems
#10I remember my teacher teaching us a poem, dissecting it line by line. It took 1 month or more to complete the poem.
On most of the lines, he was overthinking and trying to find out some sort of hidden meaning in it. It was annoying.