Understanding Poetry: Previous Users

"It made me dig deeper into the poem and not really just look at the words."

"It made me see things in the poem that I evidently did not understand the first time. I did not have any technical problems working through the poetry web. I liked the poetry web because it explained things in the poem I did not understand, such as what 'flak' meant."

"What I liked about the poetry web was the explicit way the web allowed you to view different pictures, words, and the comparison charts. In each section you were allowed to explain what a word or phrase meant to you. I was able to print out my viewpoints for future purposes."

"It was like having a class discussion with at least one other person. I saw some things in the poetry web that I didn't see [in the poem] before."

"I like that the poetry web helps you along, yet you can move at your own pace."

"If I had not read the poetry web, I would not have read and re-read the [next] poem aloud."

"I liked the fact that it is computer based and therefore catches my interest much more than a normal white piece of paper. I am a computer-literate person who has been working on computers for years with great interest. To provide education through the computer is an excellent way to get through to me."

"Some of the most important information lies on the fourth page in the section 'in brief'; I feel those four statements are the key to get to the core of any poem."

"It's nice to be able to have a place to type in your thoughts as you go along throughout the lesson."

"I found the pictures especially interesting and a helpful tool in creating more accurate, dramatic images of the poem."

"Reading and rereading the poem, as well as the explanation, I found this to be an excellent site. I have not read much poetry because much of it I find difficult to understand. After reading this lesson, many of my questions are answered as to how to understand what I am reading, and that I need to read the selected work more than one time."

"The format of this lesson has been well thought out. The fact [that] the poem can be accessed from any page, at any time, is extremely helpful. Each page is well written with good explanation, questions for thought, and an easily accessible answer area."

"Overall, I spent two hours navigating and perusing the associated sites, as well as composing the responses . . . to the questions. My favorite suggestion would be to consistently present new works of poetry and compile a library of these that we can go to at any time and use the module to learn more about each particular piece of work."

How does reading through the unit on "Understanding Poetry"--and specifically the poem "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner"--change your view about poetry from before?

From: a J. Sargeant Reynolds CC student

"Before I read this poem and went through the Understanding Literature module I would have told you that I would never read a poem that I did not have to read. The reason for this is simple. The bulk of most (if not all) of the poems I have ever read in my years of school were all of the "stars in her eyes" and "fire of my love" variety. Don't let my girlfriend in on this but I hate reading poems like that. This lesson however changed my outlook on poems in general. Finally a poem that though it contains a morbid story is very beautiful to me. Finally a poem that is not trying to shove someone's love for another down your throat. Here is something that has a great newness to it. I would have to say that reading this poem has caused me to take my chances with poems in the future. I believe now I will skim a few lines now before I simply turn the page."

Sample response to a question in "Understanding Poetry"

Why is the tone of the last line so cold?

"The tone of the last line really sums up the tone of the whole poem. It really helps emphasize how terrible war is--people dying in vain simply because they are commanded to. The speaker died hunched up in a ball, similar to the way he was born. It is not going too far to compare this to an 'abortion' of sorts. How sick and sad it is to think he was washed away with such disregard for life, only to be replaced with another pawn of war. This line is very effective as an ending statement and is what makes the poem leave a lasting impression about life and war . . . ."