Ask students to point out the poetic features that they notice. If students have not mentioned any of the craft elements of the poem as they have responded, turn their attention to these features now.Work to shift students’ attention to the details and features of the poem by asking them what word, phrase, image, or idea were important to their reactions. Ask students to point to specific words and lines in the poem that triggered their reactions.Ask students if the poem recalls memories and how it connects to their own attitudes or perceptions. Ask students to share personal experiences, emotions, and beliefs that influenced their reaction.Ask them what they remember, feel, question, and see when they read and hear the poem. Begin discussion of the poem by asking students what stands out to them about the poem.Read “ the sonnet-ballad” by Gwendolyn Brooks, or another that you have chosen, aloud to the class.In the process, students determine the form of traditional sonnets. This lesson adopts just such an inductive strategy, providing students with examples of the sonnet form and asking them to find the similar characteristics that unite the poems. Actually begin with specifics (poems) that lead to generalizations-inductive teaching' (146). Somers suggests that teachers use the opposite strategy: 'Instead of definitions, begin with generalizations. Few recall it with affection, and fewer reflect upon it later as a source of insight and inspiration.' (146) Yet year after year, most of our students barely tolerate our efforts. In some ways, the method is logical and efficient.

'The most prevailing approach is deductive: define the terms, give examples, and have the students find them in poems. Teachers are left trying to find the instructional technique that reaches that balance. We find ourselves searching for a balance between 'analyzing poetry to death' and 'voices clamor for the teaching of culture and art and the way art-including poetry-works' (145). Albert Somers, author of Teaching Poetry in High School, asserts that the 'business of structure seems to be the poetry teacher's greatest bugaboo' (145).

Petrarchan sonnet examples by students