Poems About Emotions

Constant, Clare.  Poems About Emotions.  Capstone/Heinemann  2014  64p  $35.00  ISBN 978-1-4329-9556-0  ms/hs  series: Experiencing Poetry  Nonfiction  E-BNS   

Poems by Gary Soto, Nikki Giovanni, Langston Hughes and Shakespeare grace this wonderful collection in which the author instructs students how to analyze and study poetry about emotions to glean the maximum meaning from each author’s work.  Clare Constant has the heart of a teacher.  She creatively put together a volume of poetry that instructs students on every aspect of poetry, from soup to nuts.  She first teaches readers how to read a poem, analyze imagery and note other literary devices within each poem.  Literary devices and other terms are presented in green text boxes for clarification.  She then presents a specific poet’s work, followed by biographical data that helps the reader set the context for the creation of the poem.  She completes each chapter with an analysis of all of the most important features of the poem.  There is something wonderful about the book: not her layout and photographs being impeccable, though they are, not the choice of poems being superb, which, by the way, it is.  But her success in creating the perfect poetry analysis lies in her thorough coverage of each poem and the way that she breaks down each work for study.  One could easily envision a classroom in which the teacher presents one or two of these poems before directing his/her students to fly solo, whether creating an original poem or dissecting a famous writing sample.  It just so happens that Constant also chose an eclectic mix of both famous and not-so-famous poetry; yet all of her choices are spot on, directly tied to the title Poems About Emotions.  The list of resources to consult is extensive, the glossary is helpful and the index is thorough.   Classroom teachers will undoubtedly use this book!

Experiencing Poetry is a masterful series with volumes about choice, the natural world, sports and other topics.  Each volume provides an analysis of a poem complete with photographs, textual support features, lessons on poetic devices and authors’ biographies.

Summary: Poems by Gary Soto, Nikki Giovanni, Langston Hughes and Shakespeare grace this wonderful collection in which the author instructs students how to analyze and study poetry about emotions to glean the maximum meaning from each author’s work.      

Poetry-Study and Teaching                       --Martha Squaresky