Objective:
To learn what contributes to making a better poem.
There is a wide latitude of opinion as to what makes a good poem, being to some extent a matter of subjective inclinations and the era in which one writes, but trying to write a bad poem can begin a discussion of those very issues.
The Exercise:
- Invite students to write the worst possible poem, incorporating as many bad features as possible. Part of the exercise is that they must be able to explain all the ways that it is a bad poem. You might brainstorm some ways before they begin writing, depending on the level of students. For example:
mixed metaphors
words that are too abstract, vague, or archaic
grossly inconsistent meter in a metered poem
clichés
lack of flow or rhythm
forced rhymes
- Allow ample time for writing, adjusting time limits as appropriate for class level and size. Ten to fifteen minutes should be sufficient. You could also limit the number of lines of the poems. Remind them that good poems typically take far longer to write and usually go through numerous revisions.
- When time is up, ask each student to read his or her poem, explaining why it is bad. Then invite other students to identify any additional less-than-wonderful aspects.
- If time allows, ask students to vote (by secret ballot) on the worst poem. (Instructor’s vote counts!) If appropriate for the class, offer prizes (1st, 2nd, 3rd) for the worst poems. Give some thought to what the choice of prizes might mean – whether something silly or something more serious and encouraging of their efforts, such as books of poems or poetics.
- If more time allows, ask students to assess the exercise, mentioning as specifically as possible what they discovered in the process.
- If there is still more time or perhaps at a later date, save the bad poems and ask students to see if they can make good poems from the bad, either their own poem or someone else’s. Allow time for discussion about the process of revision and whether some poems cannot be salvaged at all. This can reinforce the idea of the importance of revision. Ask the students to compile from the exercise their own personal checklists against which they can measure their own future drafts of poems.
Grading:
If this exercise needs to be graded, do not grade the bad poems as poems (obviously) but on whatever other parts of this exercise the instructor wishes to emphasize, such as knowledge of poetic elements, thoughtful participation in discussion, and success at revision.
Features:
Pedagogically, thinking in opposites often clarifies an issue. Instead of trying to write a good poem, trying to write a bad poem is a refreshing change. One must know something about good poems to write a bad poem intentionally. Structuring the exercise as a contest may motivate students who like competition.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to C. Wright Mills for his suggestion of thinking in opposites to help develop the sociological imagination, and thanks to Carol Barrett for the germ of the idea about writing bad poems that she presented with Jan Lee Ande in a Union Institute workshop.
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Elizabeth Bodien, from Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania, holds degrees in anthropology, consciousness studies, religion, and poetry. Her poems, essays, and book reviews have appeared in publications in the USA, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and India. Her latest poetry collection is Blood, Metal, Fiber, Rock (Kelsay Books, 2018). Oblique Music: A Book of Hours is forthcoming (Shanti Arts Publishing, 2019).