English Language and Literature Commons^™

Using Music To Teach The Sounds Of Poetry: Some User-Friendly Advice For The Non-Musician, Jayme Stayer

English: Faculty Publications and Other Works

I will offer some suggestions here that address both the gap in our teaching of poetic sounds and the fears and prejudices of students. While I do foist, unapologetically, the entire apparatus of poetic terminology on my students, my use of music to reinforce such concepts is supplemental and non-technical. In fact, much of my use of music in the Introduction to Literature classroom has less to do with actually listening to CDs, and more to do with talking about what my students already know about music, and then applying that knowledge to poetry.