Snakes and Rats and Recluses Oh My!

This past spring I taught a poetry (creative writing) course. Though intitially I had been a whole lot skeptical about high school students' poetry, I thoroughly enjoyed the class--and some of the students produced some solid works. We workshopped often, usually in a full class setting. Most of the early comments were expectedly weak and thoughtless: it's good, I like it, I can relate to it--without any further explanation or elaboration. Sometimes these comments were combined: "I like it...I can relate to it." In saying they related to a poem they typically meant "I too have felt/experienced that"; so they liked it because it was familiar, accessible, approachable. I quickly outlawed such responses. I wanted them to move beyond themselves, to get at how (and if) a poem worked. I wanted them to recognize alternative perspectives, styles--and in doing so come to relate (understand/appreciate). T. Coraghessan Boyle's short story "Thirteen Hundred Rats" (recently published in The New Yorker) allowed/forced me to relate--to feel sympathy first for a rat (I hate rats) and then a snake (I hate snakes) and then a recluse (I don't mind recluses).