Sp08-250-Group1

="Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins lines 1-3 ("I ask them to take a poem / and hold it up to the light / like a color slide")=

Group 1: Kelly, Amber, Amy, Tristin
Facilitator: //Kelly Blindauer// Polisher: //Amber Booth//

//Type your contributions below the instructions for each "expert move." As the Polisher is polishing, she or he will remove the instructions and leave the subheadings and everyone's comments.//

__Expert move #1: identifying the figurative language__
In Billy Collin's "Introduction to Poetry," the type of figurative language used in the first stanza is a simile. The speaker uses the word //like// to compare a poem to a color slide. He feels that a poem should be held "up to the light," and considered just as one would do when trying to decipher a specific image on a color slide. In this way, the speaker wants the reader to take a good look at a poem and imagine all the different ways a piece can be read and interpreted. The use of simile in these lines is also an example of imagery. A reader can easily picture themselves holding a color slide up to the light. This usage of imagery also projects a feeling of someone attempting to uncover the essence of what has been captured on a slide, or, in this instance, what a poem will reveal.

__Expert move #2: exploring denotations__
A color slide is a special type of transparency intended to be projected onto a screen using a slide projector. When someone holds a color slide in his hands, he knows that there is an image on them that can be seen if only it is held up to light. A color slide is also used to demonstrate things. In school, speakers come to class and present a slide show while they discuss certain topics. The color slides are used as visual aids to help process information. However, a color slide is also obscure. Someone has to hold it just perfectly to be able to make out the image it holds, and even then it can be difficult to see the details.

There are other objects similar to color slides that the author could have used metaporically. Like a color slide, a kaleidoscope also contains hidden visuals that can be discovered when aimed at a light source. A kaleidoscope does not contain images, though, unless someone is able to lend meaning to the abstract. The visuals from both a color slide and a kaleidoscope can be beautiful, but as the picture on a color slide becomes more apparent when held up to light, the kaleidoscopic colors can be confusing, and overwhelming. The author could also have likened the poem to film negative, but film negative does not bring out the sense of wonder that the phrase "color slide" evokes. What types of people tend to hold color slides up to the light? Children do this with a sense of awe and wonder. This could be what the author wants us to feel when we are reading the poem.

Another example of what was //not// used is the fact that the speaker does not compare the reading of a poem to placing a color slide on a projector. He instead asks the reader to "hold" the color slide, which is more personal, as opposed to the use of a projector, which does all the work for you.

Whether uncovering the subtext of a poem, or discovering what image is held on a color slide, both of these actions are about learning, and discovery.

__Expert move #3: unpacking the figurative and connotative meanings__
The comparison of exploring a poem, and holding a color slide to light lends a lot of meaning to what the speaker is trying to convey. In the first stanza, the color slide can be thought of as a treasure. It is an object that holds a mystery, and that mystery can unfold if the color slide is viewed from the right angle. Holding a color slide up to light allows the image to pop out much easier than if someone tries to discern the image while in a dim room. When someone does this, the picture is not immediately apparent. Although it becomes clearer, the slide must still be turned a little, this way and that, in order to fully understand the image. A color slide can also be thought of as having captured a moment in time, which can also relate to how a poem can capture a part of history, or culture.

Another aspect that the speaker wants "them" to grasp is the idea of independent interpretation of a poem. The speaker wants "them" to manually hold the slide to discover the hidden picture, instead of the other alternative, which would be to use a projector. Using a projector is common in classrooms, but it also entails a dynamic of one person, usually a teacher, leading a class to come to one specific conclusion or thought. Instead of //group-think,// the speaker seems to encourage each individual to examine a poem and form their own interpretations and conclusions//.// Just as an image captured on a slide has many facets, the speaker show us that there are many different ways of thinking about one poem. An English major might extract a different meaning from a poem than a blacksmith, or a politician would. The speaker gives the reader permission to do this. Each individual holds a store of personal knowledge to be brought into the reading of a poem; each person can thus be enlightened in a different way.

__Expert move #4: recontextualizing within the whole poem__
"Introduction to Poetry" begins with a simile, and sets the stage for frequent metaphorical use throughout the poem. The first five stanzas ask "them" to subtly and carefully examine a poem; the speaker uses different images and comparisons that provoke feelings of curiousity, wonder, and excitement. These images and comparisons also provide clues to how the speaker himself feels about poetry, and help the reader to see, feel, and hear what he is trying to say. The speaker coaxes "them" to feel the same way he does; unfortunately it seems to have no effect. The final two stanzas contain metaphors of violence and torture to contrast the lighter feeling throughout the rest of the poem. The poem concludes with an air of frustration by telling the reader that they "begin beating it with a hose/to find out what it really means." This lets the reader know that most people ignore the speaker's advice and simply try to force the meaning out of a poem.