How To Peel A Poem

Here’s a handy way to introduce a poetry or descriptive writing unit.

Take a large navel orange, the kind with the thick skin, into class. Ask for a volunteer to come to the front of the class, and have him or her peel the orange slowly as the other students watch. As your volunteer is holding the orange, ask him or her to describe what the orange looks like and how it feels. Ensure that he or she describes the shape of the orange, its colour, and the texture of the skin. Then as he or she begins the peeling process, again ask what he or she feels, what he or she hears, and what he or she smells. As the process continues, eventually ask the student to taste the orange and describe for the class what he or she tastes.

In this simple demonstration, you have excited all the student’s senses, and you have paved the way to explaining how poetry or descriptive writing seeks to do the same. Of course, not every poem or descriptive piece excites all of the reader’s five senses, and I’m not even sure either should.

When your students read a poem, they should remember the orange demonstration. What we do, as readers, is peel away the exterior of a poem to appreciate the way in which a poet tries to excite our senses or imagination. The good stuff is always below the surface, and if your students can recognise the process of entering into a poem, then they will certainly find the whole process of reading poetry more rewarding.

You should tell them, however, that an orange is not a poem and never will be. After all, nothing rhymes with the word, “orange.”