Content area
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine whether students were better prepared to compose meaning from poetry as a result of having to generate written responses based on their reading of poems. It was hypothesized that if readers were allowed to respond in writing based on what they subjectively feel and know, their comprehension would be enhanced.
Participants were 85 eleventh-graders in a small, midwestern public high school; they were enrolled in one of five English classes and represented a variety of abilities. Responses of three groups to two poems (probe and transfer poems) were compared. Students in an extended writing group wrote guided responses to three different poems over a three-day training period and then discussed each poem with their peers. A restricted writing group completed a series of short-answer questions over each poem prior to discussion. A third group discussed the training poems after reading them. Written pre- and posttests were administered for the probe and transfer poems.
Written responses to the probe and transfer poems were scored for holistic quality, engagement in text or realization, and length; results were analyzed using analysis of covariance. Preliminary analysis showed high correlations among probe and transfer writing measures and relatively large experimental differences among groups. The analysis of covariance comparing the groups indicated the extended writing experience seemed to have the greatest effects on readers' engagement in text, and these effects extended to the transfer poem; however, the presence of pre-experimental differences among groups suggests caution in interpreting these results.
The importance of transactions between readers and text was supported by the results, suggesting that writing, particularly extended writing based on subjective reactions of individuals, may help readers construct meaning from poetry. The results further suggest that the present curricular arrangements separating reading and writing may be inappropriate. Writing may be used profitably with reading to increase reader involvement and assist readers in creating meaning from poetry.
