F07-250-Group3

="Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins lines 7-8 ("or walk inside the poem's room / and feel the walls for a light switch")=

Group 3: Lori, Cathy, Marcus, Erika
Facilitator: Cathy Lally Polisher: //Erika Pearson//

__Expert move #1: identifying the figurative language__
In Billy Collin's "Introduction to Poetry", the lines 7-8, "or walk inside the poem's room/and feel the walls for a light switch," contains the metaphors "light switch" and "room" in comparison to a poem. Obviously you can't really walk inside a poem's room or physically feel a poem's walls. Collin's also uses the images of "walking" into the poem and "feeling" its walls. The speaker tells the reader to feel and to move through the poem. The language that prepared this metaphor and image, of a poem to a room, was hinted to in the previous two lines, "I say drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out"(5-6). These lines show that the speaker is thinking of the poem as a sort of physical space, one that a mouse could be dropped into, a shape with walls that can be felt and walked into. The language that sets up the metaphor of a poem containing a visual content or a "light switch" is referenced in the first three lines, "I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light like a color slide"(1-3).

__Expert move #2: exploring denotations__
"Walking" denotes a slow consistent physical pace. People walk when they are not in a hurry but want to get somewhere. The image of "feeling the walls" denotes how one surveys an unknown or dark place for some object. Relying on one sense to lead the others. In this case to touch to see, a sensory experience. The poet could have used "stumbling in the dark" instead, but that would denote an unpleasant experience. "Feeling the walls for a light switch" is a slow, deliberate process that brings you a reward--illumination. "Light switch" denotes the possibility to be either in the light or in the dark. A "room" and "walls" denotes a place determined for a certain function, a space to go into to, a space with boundaries. "Walls" also suggest invisible boundaries like personal ones of ethics or sensitivities.

__Expert move #3: unpacking the figurative and connotative meanings__
The image of "walking into a room" has an expression of inviting the reader in. Entering a room has possibilities. What is in that room, what can happen in that space. It is defined, it has borders and limitations. This connotes that the poem is inviting the reader into its space and the reader may choose to simply walk out too. The room may not have what the reader is looking for. The poet could of used a house or many different specific sorts of rooms, but he uses a generic "room". Whether it has other contents than walls is unknown until the "light switch" is ignited. The room may be a relaxing bedroom or a horrifying dungeon.

The reader cannot jump to any conclusions until this "light" is found. Until then the reader is blind, not knowing what the poem will impress. But, until the reader "walks" and "feel[s]" the perimeter of the "walls" and finds its "light switch", the reader cannot see what the poem has within it. The poet is saying that if you deliberately and carefully explore the the poem, you'll be rewarded with luminescence, or understanding. Afterwards, the reader knows how the poem feels and can see the poem. The speaker is saying that a poem should be searched and "lived in" for a while. The imagery of a darkened room that is washed with light is symbolic of the understanding a person would have if he looks around, 'feeling' the contents of the poem and turning them over in his mind until the meaning of the poem shines brightly.

In using the word "walk" the poet is saying 'take your time; amble through the poem and study its contents.' "[W]alking" connotes the aspect of reading the poem's text. Reading is also a step-by-step process that is quiet. The author could have said "run," but that would change the intent. Instead "walk" implies something leisurely and enjoyable.

The image of a room implies something with boundaries, however; the author invites us to "feel the walls" of his room (poem), which suggests a stretching of limits. The word "feel" can imply an emotion and/or a tactile experience. When the author suggests we "feel the walls" of the poem, he is suggesting that we look at the emotion within the poem, as well as look beyond the limits of the literal words or phrases. The word "feel" has many meanings in this context--the literal meaning isn't as useful to us as the connotative meaning. The metaphor to "feel " around the inside of the poem, searching for key words or phrases that will illuminate the poem's meaning--the "light switch" is the meaning unearthed by exploring the poem.

"Inside" is also another word that is important to this poem's meaning. Inside literally means "relating to or being on the side closer to the center or within a defined space" by definition (wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn). However, the connotative meaning is that we should immerse ourselves in the poem or surround ourselves with the structure (words) of the room (poem). By carefully looking at the words that frame the poem, we can understand what it contains inside--like an architect surveying a blueprint who can imagine the finished product.

__Expert move #4: recontextualizing within the whole poem__
Collin's lines 7 and 8 contribute to the overall theme of the poem, which is that poems are meant to be enjoyed while they are being studied. These lines have a direct relationship with the rest of the poem because they indicate the speaker's intent and better define that the reader's intent is confrontational. Also, the idea of walking into a room and turning on a switch reinforces the theme of exploring something ( a dark room) and being rewarded (with light/understanding). in lines 1-4, Collins writes, "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." The speaker is trying to get the students to look through the "room" of the poem and also try to listen through the walls for what it may contain.

In lines 9-11, Collins writes, "I want them to waterski/across the surface of a poem/waving at the author's name on the shore." This is representative of a fun experience, one that is learned with patience but rewards the student. It also creates a sence of imagery, gliding across the surface of the poem and enjoying as you read and analyze it. The speaker wants the students to enjoy their task and bring curiosity to it, like a "mouse" who "probe(s) his way out" (5-6).

The speaker desires, in lines 7 and 8, to relate to the rest of the poem by mentioning a litany of cordial and playful ways to engage with a poem. The reader may "walk" or "feel" the poem, like in lines 7 and 8, or to relate to the rest of the poem, they may "take" it, "hold" it, "press" it, "drop" it, and "watch" it. The reader may even "waterski" or "wave" to it. But after all the poem's diplomacy, the actions all take toward it are cruel and disrespectful, they "tie", "torture", and "beat" it.The poet shows us what can happen instead when students don't enjoy the process of reading and understanding poetry in lines 11-15:

But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with a rope and torture a confession out of it.

The begin beating it with a hose to find out what it really means.

The last stanzas reinforce the theme of gentle exploration with curious and patient eyes by showing us the opposite: a brutal, 'tortuous' experience that doesn't bring enjoyment. Instead, the speaker asks his students to "walk inside the poem's room/and feel the walls for a light switch" (7-8). With careful and patient study, the student will be rewarded with understanding and pleasure.

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