Class Project on Effective Poetry and Theme Usage
Class Project on Effective Poetry and Theme Usage
I was angry with my friend;
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not. my wrath did grow.
And I waterd it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears:
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright,
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine.
And into my garden stole.
When the night had veild the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretchd beneath the tree.
In the 1997 school year I decided to introduce students to the Enneagram in conjunction with our unit on poetry. My objective was to enlist Enneagram understanding to help focus discussions of poetry, and to allow poems to raise issues of concern for each Enneagram-type (E-type) of reader. Several considerations prompted this fortuitous decision. After attending the National Educators Institute for Enneagram Studies in July 1997, I was encouraged by Janet Levine and her colleagues to begin Enneagram studies at my school. There is more flexibility in presenting poetry than in other area of our English curriculum, so I felt fairly safe launching an experiment here.
"Together,
over time, we
figured out the
power and paradox
of our experiment.
The poems stood as
objective texts
for analysis and
commentary hich
laid back Nine
Peacekeepers
(or introspective
Five Observers)
might need to
filter or channel
the intensity
of personal
interactions."
I introduced the Enneagram with one class of seventy minutes, which included: a self-scoring indicator test (as a suggestion, not a strict definition); then brief descriptions of each type, starting with my own number Point Nine, the Peacekeeper; some family stories of my husband (Point Five Observer), mother (Point Two Helper), father (Point Six Questioner), so on; and an explanation of the Triads and Arrows. Within the "frame" of teaching the Enneagram, I felt quite free to let my motives and emotions surface. I hoped modeling such open self-disclosure would set a tone for others of trust, respect and safety. Almost all of the students found an E-type to suit them during this class.
Most seemed surprised, intrigued, amused, amazed, and relieved to find their personality described with such clarity. Even the few who were not sure where they fit, wanted to learn more about the system. They wondered whether my Point Nine character required poetry to structure classes on personality. Of course I responded...