1. Introduction to Poetry
By Billy Collins

2. Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.

3. Independent Work
1. Read the poem first to enjoy it. Read it straight on through, preferably aloud. Then read it again (and again), looking for any of the following literary devices or features:
Language: tone, style, diction (word choice)
Conventions: punctuation, grammar, poetic forms
Devices: structure, organization of content (e.g., stanzas, past to present)
Connections: How might this relate to the other works we are reading, conversations we are having in class lately?
Purpose: Is the poet trying to explain? Define? Persuade? What, why, and how do they do this?
Mark up the poem. You must show evidence of close reading—for example, underlined words, questions, connections, suspected patterns.
3. Answer the questions on your worksheet in complete sentences.
15-20 minutes?

4. Group Analysis Introduction to Poetry
What is the significance of the poem’s title?
Introduction to Poetry
After revealing the picture, talk about how many undergraduate courses are titled “Introduction to…”

5. Group Analysis (line by line)
I ask them to take a poem
Who is the “I”?
Who is the “them”?
How do you know?

6. Group Analysis (line by line)
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
Notice they aren’t being asked to read the poem. They’re being asked to examine the words in a non-traditional way.

7. Group Analysis (line by line)
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
Why did the speaker use this metaphor?
Color slides hold information, but the information can be difficult to see without light. How might that relate to understanding poetry?

8. Group Analysis (line by line)
or press an ear against its hive.
What words do you associate with a hive?
What might you hear if you put your ear against one?
The speaker wants them to listen for the sounds in a poem.
The S’s and V’s even give an approximate buzzing sound when read out loud.
or preSS an ear againSt itS hiVe

9. Group Analysis (line by line)
I say drop a mouse into a poem
Notice the preposition choice. The speaker wants them to drop a mouse into a poem.
A poem is something you can get into, and the speaker wants them to examine the space (form) of the poem.
The speaker wants readers to consider why the poet shaped the poem the way he or she did.

10. Group Analysis (line by line)
I say drop a mouse into a poem
Poets like E. E. Cummings use deliberate syntax and word placement to create images within his poems.
“The Sky Was” by E. E. Cummings

11. Group Analysis (line by line)
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
What associations do you make with mice trying to get out of something?
What is the speaker saying about readers of poetry?

12. Group Analysis (line by line)
or walk inside the poem’s room
Now it's time for Collins to take the idea of a poem having physical space even further.
Instead of a mouse in a maze, now we, the readers, are "walk[ing] inside the poem's room.”
The word “room” is important here. Poems are broken up into stanzas. The word stanza is an Italian word that means room.
The units, or stanzas, of a poem are like joined rooms in a house. It could be a 500-room mansion or a one-room shack. Either way, Collins wants us to take the grand tour and get a good feel for the place.

13. Group Analysis (line by line)
or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
What might the light switch be a metaphor for?
How might this metaphor relate to the poem’s earlier instruction to “hold [the poem] up to the light like a color slide”?
Understanding, illumination

14. Group Analysis (line by line)
I want them to waterski
What words/feelings do you associate with waterskiing?
What might the author be telling us to look for in poetry?
Fun, whimsy

15. Group Analysis (line by line)
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
What does it mean to complete a surface reading?
What is the speaker suggesting poetry readers should do at times?
Enjoy surface beauty. Don’t always have to examine a poem’s depths

16. Group Analysis (line by line)
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.
What might the author mean by “waving at the author’s name”?
Does he want us to spend a lot of time thinking about the author? Does he want us to ignore the author completely?
Acknowledge the author, but give more attention to the poem.

17. Group Analysis (line by line)
But all they want to do
Poems commonly contain a shift in topic or tone. A shift is a common tool that poets use to create meaning in their work.
Can you explain the shift that takes place just before this line?
Shift from what the teacher wants to what the students want
Before this line: “I ask them”, “I say drop”, “I want them to”

18. Group Analysis (line by line)
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
How do these lines make you feel?
What associations do they bring up?
In what way has Collins’s imagery changed and how does that affect the poem’s overall tone?
Poem is being restrained, restricted

19. Group Analysis (line by line)
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
How does Collins feel about “all they want to do”?
How do you know?
What would he prefer they do?
Poem is being restrained, restricted

20. Independent Reflection (1/2 page minimum)
How did our group analysis differ from your independent analysis?
Billy Collins is a teacher. Based on this poem, would you like to take a class from him? Why or why not?
Poem is being restrained, restricted