Teaching Poetry in EFL Class: A Detailed Teaching Plan for

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

By Laura Chao

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Teaching Poetry in EFL Class: A Detailed Teaching Plan for The

Lake Isle of Innisfree

INTRODUCTION: THE REASONS FOR TEACHING POETRY IN EFL

CLASS

Traditionally, poems are included in the textbooks for senior high school students in

Taiwan. Nonetheless, most of the English teachers here would skip the lesson or finish

it in a very short time, for they tended to think it less important compared with the

other lessons. It is a great pity to underestimate the role of poetry in language

teaching.

In fact, poetry is terrific material for EFL class. As we know, most of the materials

written for EFL class are centered on some topics for grammar or for communicative

competence. Being exposed to the kind of material for a long period of time, students

will inevitably become tired of them for lack of intellectual inspiration. But poetry can

turn the dullness into excitement, for it can offer “many pleasures---pleasures of

sound and meaning, of image and symbol, of speech and feeling and thoughts.”

(DiYanni, 1998) With the teaching of poetry, students can be motivated not only to

learn English but also to appreciate the deeper dimension and exquisiteness of the

language.

In addition to the linguistic benefits poetry provides, it can foster the aesthetic sense

of students. Poems are usually composed of condensed words and vivid images.

Reading them can make us more receptive to imagination and improve our ability in

appreciation of beauty (DiYanni, 1998). Moreover, our experience and feeling will be

strongly evoked to look into ourselves and look around the outer world. It is the kind

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of mental process that makes one a lifelong reader.

Therefore, the poems in textbooks should not be regarded as empty units; on the

contrary, they should be taught with more care. In this article, I will present detailed

examples of strategies and activities for the poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” by W.

B. Yeats.

TEACHING PROCEDURES

I. Vocabulary

According to research, vocabulary is the main reading problem for second language

learners (Mckinley, 1974). This is not surprising, considering the extensive English

lexicon. Thus, to prepare students for a poem, the teacher should define vocabulary

items critical to understanding the text as a whole. However, only the most critical

items need to be taught in advance. Students should be encouraged to use context

clues to derive meaning by themselves. Besides that, it is necessary to allow the

students to practice the pronunciation and usage.

In teaching the poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” the teacher should give the

meanings of glade, cricket, and glimmer to students beforehand, for these words form

very important images in this poem which may affect the students’ appreciation of it.

Definition of Vocabulary:

glade: open space in a forest

cricket: small brown jumping insect that makes a shrill sound by rubbing its front

wings together

glimmer: weak faint unsteady light

Then, the meanings of arise, hive, linnet, lapping, pavement, and core can be

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guessed:

a) I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

(Students can get the meaning of arise from the phrase arise and go.)

b) Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee,

(The phrase honey bee indicates the meaning of hive.)

c) And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

(From the word wings, students can define the word linnet as a kind of bird.)

d) I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;

(By using their schema, students can easily know lapping is the action of lake water.)

e) While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,

(The words roadway and grey can be connected with pavement.)

f) I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

(The meaning of core can be guessed by deep heart.)

Ⅱ. Grammar

Grammatical complexity does not seem as a great problem as vocabulary in reading

to students. As a result, the key to dealing with grammatical structures is to clarify

them when encountered. They should be analyzed within the reading to facilitate and

thereby deepen the students’ understanding of the material (Stern,1991), and at last to

enhance their writing ability. Sometimes, grammatical irregularities occur in poems;

the teacher can forewarn students to pay more attention to them and try to work on

their own to see what they can make of it.

In teaching poems, restructuring and simplifying can help students master the

irregularities and unfamiliar grammatical structures.

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Restructuring

a) Nine bean rows will I have there,

→ I will have nine bean rows there. (The unusual front of the noun in the beginning

is to emphasize what the poet has. It may be small but important to him.)

b) And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;

→ And a small cabin made of clay and wattles builds there. (The ungrammatical

division of the adjective clause is to impress the readers with the picture, where there

is no other building except the small cabin.)

Simplification

c) I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;

→ I will arise and go to Innisfree now, where a small cabin of clay and wattles is

build.

d) And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;

→ And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slowly from

morning till night.

Ⅲ. Reading

(A) The experience of poetry

In teaching poetry, the reader response theory is an effective approach to keep the

students interested in the text (Maxwell, 1993). In Taiwan, most students feel afraid of

reading poems for lack of touch with it. Thus, to evoke their feeling about poems, the

teacher’s job is to get rid of their fear and create a relationship between poems and

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them. The first step of teaching should be about the experience of poetry.

In teaching “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” the teacher can ask the following

questions after the first reading:

1. Is there any place you desire for?

2. What do you yearn for in life?

It is easy for students to think of what they really wish because of the strong emotion

expressed in the poem. Teenagers as they are, they are under heavy pressure from

their family and society. Traditionally, they are expected to do well in studies; it

means that they have to cram a lot of books and take a lot of tests to prepare for the

Joint College Entrance Exam. Most of them feel unhappy, but they accept the fact as

their responsibility to their family. Anyway, they must have some dreams in their

minds just like the author, who lives in a big city but longs for the peaceful country

life.

(B) The interpretation of poetry

After the previous reading and discussion, the teacher can lead the students to learn

more about the poem. This further interpretation should rely on our intellectual

comprehension and rational analysis rather than on our emotional response.

In “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” the author uses many visual and sound images to

express his longing for returning to nature. The teacher can inspire students to read the

poem more slowly and carefully to find them and form the connections:

Visual Images: a small cabin, nine bean rows, the various scenes from morning till

night.

Sound Images: bee, cricket, linnet, water lapping.

In more details, the teacher can indicate the following phrases to students:

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a) the veils of morning: Veil means a covering by women to protect or hide the face,

and here, it means Morning opens her face from the darkness. It becomes a process

of daybreak.

b) where the cricket sings: As we know, crickets sing only at night, so the phrase

vividly refers to the abstract noun—night.

c) midnight’s all a glimmer: The definition of glimmer is weak faint unsteady light.

Thus, it implies the twinkling stars in the sky.

d) and noon a purple glow: Originally, purple is the color of scarlet, so that it means

the sun shines brightly at noon.

e) and evening full of the linnet’s wings: Birds use the wings to fly, so the author tries

to describe the scene that the linnets are flying to their nests in the evening.

Ⅳ. Writing

Poetry can be a rich and inspiring source for writing in EFL. The teacher can use it

as a model or as subject matter in guiding students to practice writing.

(A) Reproducing the poem

The teacher can ask students to rewrite the poem in narration. Students should

describe the poem in their own words. Here is an example.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

I wish I could go to Innisfree now. Innisfree is my dreamland. If I go there, I’d like to grow

some beans and have a hive for bees, for the busy bees can keep me company in the beautiful

place. Here, I could enjoy peace by myself and admire the various scenes from morning till night.

In the morning, I could see the daybreak; at night, I could hear the crickets singing; at midnight, I

could watch the star twinkling in the sky. At noon, I could feel the sun shining brightly, and in the

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evening, I could watch a great number of linnets flying to nest.

How I wish I could go to Innisfree right now. I think of it every day and night. Sometimes,

when I stand on the roadway, or on the grey payment, I can hear the lake water lapping softly by

the shore in my heart.

(B) Imitation

This is the most advanced stage of model-based writing. However, it will be

interesting for students to imitate the pattern of the poem and write their own one. In

the beginning, the teacher can give them a cloze test, but different from the real test,

there is no correct answer. Here is the example.

I will arise and go now, and go to ,

And there, of made;

will I have there, a for the ,

And I live alone in the .

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from to ;

There midnight’s all , and noon a ,

And evening full of .

I will arise and go now, for always night and day,

I hear ;

While I stand on the road way, or on the payments grey,

I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

Besides that, the teacher may ask students to create their own poems freely. Students

can follow the pattern of the original poem, or just use the same theme. However,

creating a poem is difficult. Before assigning the kind of practice, the teacher should

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estimate carefully the students’ abilities.

(C) Writing on the poem

Writing on the poem includes the traditional assignments—written responses to

questions, in-class essays, and take-home compositions (Stern, 1991). Such

assignments may be appropriate for all students. As with reading, questions and topics

for writing can be found at all three levels of literary understanding. First, the literal

level can be for short writings dealing with comprehension of the poem. Second, the

inferential level can be writing topics requiring analysis. Third, the personal level can

be the basis for essays in which students express their personal reactions to the poem

and comments about it.

(1) The literal level

1) What is the cabin made of?

2) What will the poet have in Innisfree?

(2) The inferential level

1) How many insects and birds are found in the poem? Do they have any special

meanings?

2) Try to find the visual images used by the poet, and explain them.

(3) The personal level

1) What do you yearn for in life?

2) If you yearn for some place, what kind of place is it?

Ⅴ. Oral reading

Poetry is distinguished from other kinds of literature by its sound and rhythm. Thus,

the teacher should make good use of this characteristic in teaching language. The

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teacher may play a tape or read the poem himself in class to make listening

comprehension. Or he may have students read the poem aloud to practice

pronunciation and rhythm. Having students read poems aloud helps develop not only

speaking but also listening ability.

CONCLUSION

Poems can serve as excellent material in language teaching as long as the teacher

knows how to make the utmost of it. If the teacher can adapted the integrated

approaches presented in this article to teach the poems in the textbooks, students will

be stimulated not only to take an interest in language learning but also to love

literature. As a teacher, we should not neglect the benefits literature offers. After all,

besides teaching English, we expect the students to be a lifelong reader after leaving

school, which is our responsibility and ultimate goal.

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REFERENCES

Cross, David. (1992). A Practical Handbook of Language Teaching. Prentice Hall.

DiYanni, Robert. (1998). Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay.

4th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Lee, Chu-tai H., and Wang, Shih-ping, (1999). Integrating Language-based and

Learner-centered Approaches into Poetry Teaching. The Proceedings of the

Eighth International Symposium on English Teaching, pp. 203-211. Taipei: The

Crane Publishing Co., Ltd.

Maxwell, Rhoda J. (1993). Teaching English in Middle & Secondary Schools. New

York: Macmillan.

Stern, Susan L. (1991). An Integrated Approach to Literature in ESL/EFL. In:

Celce-Murcia, Marianne (Ed.) Teaching English as a Second or Foreign

Language. Boston, Massachusetts: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.

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