I gave my class a Poem to read. The author’s Name — I hid.

I gave my class a Poem to read.
The author’s Name — I hid.
I said, “How would you recognize
A poet — edited?

“What if each Dash I have removed —
And lowercased each Quirk?”
The students said, “Well, Dr. Jerz,
Then you would be a jerk.”

 

The prose version:

The poem I showed them wasn’t actually a Dickinson poem, but based on the the content, some students guessed the author was she. Others pointed out the missing markers (the breath-catching dashes and the periodic, triumphant capitalization), and the class was just about to reject Dickinson as the author when I suggested that maybe it WAS a Dickinson poem, and maybe I had just removed the dashes and standardized the capitalization, and that made them grumble because it meant they had to look at the poem even more closely. (Which was, of course, my intent.)

Post was last modified on 17 Mar 2017 2:18 am

View Comments

Share
Published by
Dennis G. Jerz

Recent Posts

Representing the Humanities at Accepted Students Day.

Representing the Humanities at Accepted Students Day.

2 days ago

The daughter opens another show. This weekend only.

The daughter opens another show. This weekend only.

2 days ago

How to Disagree Academically: Using Graham’s “Disagreement Hierarchy” to organize a college term paper.

How to Disagree Academically: Using Graham's "Disagreement Hierarchy" to organize a college term paper.

2 days ago

A.I. ‘Completes’ Keith Haring’s Intentionally Unfinished Painting

After learning of his AIDS diagnosis, artist Keith Haring created the work, "Unfinished Painting" (1989),…

2 days ago

Seton Hill students Emily Vohs, Elizabeth Burns, Jake Carnahan-Curcio and Carolyn Jerz in a scene from “Dead Man’s Cell Phone.”

Seton Hill students Emily Vohs, Elizabeth Burns, Jake Carnahan-Curcio and Carolyn Jerz in a scene…

2 days ago

“The Cowherd Who Became a Poet,” by James Baldwin. (Read by Dennis Jerz)

Inspiration can come to those with the humblest heart. Caedmon the Cowherd believed he had…

3 days ago