What would it be like to be in the presence of some of the most celebrated poets like William Blake, Walt Whitman, and William Shakespeare? Mr. Mendez’s Advanced Placement Senior English classes have been exploring this, and at the same time, have been learning about the lives of many of the most inspirational artists with the help of their recent poetry seminars.
These seminars, which have mainly taken place in the Mullins Theater, are presented by the Honors students. As part of their grade, the students are required to complete research on a given poet, and then present what they have found to their class. They must also attend eight seminars, including their own, and take notes to help them prepare for the AP English Exam this coming May.
The Poetry Seminars are composed of a moderator who conducts the presentation, and continuously asks the poets and critics for their interpretations of the poems being read. The critics state their opinion on the poet’s works, as well as defend their views with the other critics. The poet is a student who attempts to embody the chosen versifier.
“The fact that we worked in groups was helpful because that way everyone was responsible for learning about the poet, and we pushed each other to do our work,” says Leslie Ramos, who portrayed poet, painter, and printmaker of the Romantic Age, William Blake. “Learning by yourself is boring, but when you learn with others, you have fun.”
These presentations are not only for the AP English class, but are open to the entire school. Audience member and one of Mr. Mendez’s students, Araceli Maldonado, said it was very interesting to listen to the critic’s opinions, how the poet responded, and how well prepared they were.
Mr. Mendez says that the students seem to be intrigued by this new way of learning because they constantly ask questions that show they are interested. He also added that there will be similar seminars in the spring dedicated to authors from all periods of English Literature.