How Do I Love Thee: Perceiving

I am teaching language arts this year and as previously mentioned, the topic within the area I have chosen to focus on is figurative language. For this assignment I have chosen a familiar poem to examine.

Travel

The railroad track is miles away,

And the day is loud with voices speaking,

Yet there isn't a train goes by all day

But I hear its whistle shrieking.

All night there isn't a train goes by,

Though the night is still for sleep and dreaming,

But I see its cinders red on the sky,

And I hear its engine steaming.

My heart is warm with the friends I make,

And better friends I'll not be knowing;

Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take,

No matter where it's going.

                                  - Edna St. Vincent Millay

Click the link below to discover my new view....

 Re-Imagined Representation

To me, the cognitive tool of perceiving is useful at opening up a new world of exploration. Practicing this tool gives us a chance to think outside of the box as we move into another realm of thought, beyond the usual. For this to happen we must first be willing to take the opportunity to examine things through various different lenses. This is the only way to allow for diverse views and unique observations of everyday images and objects in the world around us. 

My original observation of the poem I selected simply led me to read and then reread the text again and again. I repeated this process several times. I tried different strategies. I found myself closing my eyes. I then took several minutes to visualize the sights and sounds the language of the poem helped to create. I felt myself sitting on a train, daydreaming about my next great adventure. I then took off on a jet plane, destination unknown to me. Finally, I envisioned myself packing my bags to embark on a journey to a new and exciting place somewhere in the vast world of my mind. 

After taking some time to reflect on this process, I was unsure of how I could get others to see these wonderful visuals I had created for myself. For the re-imagination piece of this assignment, I wanted to represent a concrete visual of the variety of images I saw in my mind. I used Glogster as a tool to create a unique collage of ideas related to the poem, Travel. I made my work public so I could share my view with the world. The link to my work can be found above.

This new understanding of the poem through the creation of my visual piece gave me greater insight as to why the author may have chosen to write it in the first place. Maybe she just wished she could get away, escape the daily routine and simply explore her surroundings. I know that once I finished reading the poem I longed for a vacation myself. On another note, this assignment made me realize that there are many ways one can perceive figurative language. There are several choices as to how to use simple words in our writing. We have the potential to use our words as dynamic tools to express ourselves within our poetry and prose. With this said, it is clear that there is a lot of room for creativity within my topic. I believe that as long as I keep an open mind while interacting with the course content and assignments, I can discover new and interesting ways for my students to view this topic as well.