Purpose vs Use of Poetry Writing Classes

I want to preface this post by saying that this is not a “attack” on our poetry class, but rather an examination of poetry classes in general. Because this is my first time sitting for a poetry class created with the intention of learning to write poetry, most of my reasoning and examples derive from our current class.

Classes that focus on poetry in traditional English courses are usually intended to instruct students on the styles and types of poetry through reading and critical writing of poetry. However, this class focuses on the students’s writing of poetry based from instruction and reading of poems. This distinction raises the question of what the purpose of establishing such courses is. Is it intended for students of creative writing poetry courses to garner a deeper understanding of the poetry language by attempting it ourselves, or are theses courses geared towards aspiring poets who would make poetry a career? It is possible that the courses were established with both goals in mind, but it should be noted that the odds that a future Auden or Dickinson is currently an adolescent blogging among us now is slim. The use of the class is clear, it provides an avenue of imagining and understanding of poetry that is not available only as a spectator of the craft, and the emotional release of feelings through language is a positive cathartic activity. I wonder if the “dream” underlying the creation of the course is for students to shed their identities as learners of the art and to become teachers through beautiful models of poetry they create.