Poetry Study Goals
1. Read the Title, and keep it in mind throughout the poem.
2. Be aware of who is narrating.
3. Read it aloud in my head.
4. Keep in mind the author and literary period.
5. Remember that poetry is first and foremost art.

So, I never read the title when I started on the diagnostic test, which was pretty foolish. So, that would be a good starting point. Being more aware of the voice and rhythm of a poem will make it more enjoyable as well as help me answer questions about it. My specialty for quiz bowl is actually literature, so I'm familiar with many of these titles and authors, and it helps to consider when a poem was written and which other works are in that author's cannon. As for my last goal, I actually really love reading poetry. One thing that has frustrated me in English classes over the years is when literature is merely used as a tool to teach about technique, rather than as art. I don't think that Shakespeare wrote his love sonnets so that students could analyze iambic pentameter. Before dissecting it as an academic exercise, a poem or a novel should be appreciated as a piece of art and as an experience you share in as a reader. I hope to learn things that will enrich this experience, and not impede it.

Hello! Here is my first post.
I just finished the diagnostic test from our textbook. It was quite challenged, and a lot of the vocabulary was from a lexicon I've only seen used on the SAT. Needless to say, my score was a little discouraging, but I loved the exerts! The poetry especially, I enjoyed, even if my interpretations weren't the 'correct' answers. That will be the challenge in a class based on such a subjective...subject as literature. Anyway, I am very excited to study literature at this level and of this quality.