Reviews
How to Read Poetry Like a Professor: A Quippy and Sonorous Guide to Verse by Thomas C. Foster
dayface's review against another edition
4.0
I'll definitely be picking up his other books for his wit and engagement, alone. I enjoy a book that helps me love something by simply hearing a lover explain why they do. You can feel Foster's enthusiasm throughout, as he drifts from Homeric poetry through to Bob Dylan and Scarborough Fair discussions. He retains a contemporary sensibility, reaffirming me as a writer and reader of poetry, and constantly reflective of the relativity of art/poetry. I particularly appreciated the emphasis on Emily Dickinson, whose poetry I've been reading recently.
There's not much to say, really. It's a quick book filled with a few handful of examples, and operates as a good beginners guide. My biggest problem concerns order (for anyone who doesn't know what a stanza is, I'm sure they don't appreciate being told 100+ pages into a book rife with usages of the word) but...
Who knows. Beautiful poems.
There's not much to say, really. It's a quick book filled with a few handful of examples, and operates as a good beginners guide. My biggest problem concerns order (for anyone who doesn't know what a stanza is, I'm sure they don't appreciate being told 100+ pages into a book rife with usages of the word) but...
Who knows. Beautiful poems.
mrspenningalovesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
This is a great read to prepare me (and students!) for our poetry unit. Foster does a great job revealing the purpose and place of poetry in the classroom. He gives terrific examples of how to “unpack” a lyrical poem and how it truly is a snapshot of that moment in time, compared to an epic poem, which is more like a movie. Great, quick read to help organize my poetry unit for second semester!
adambwriter's review against another edition
4.0
Very brief thoughts: https://roofbeamreader.com/2019/07/30/a-successful-poetry-month/
elizaunderlined's review against another edition
2.0
The title of this book is, in my humble opinion, very misleading. This book is not going to teach you how to understand poetry. It's not going to give you some insight into the way a professor might interpret lines and how they came to that conclusion. It's not going to be at all useful for casual poetry readers, as the book is basically just going on (and on, without saying much) about the technical aspects of poetry. I doubt it would be very useful for non-casual readers either, as this is probably stuff they already know.
Not only did this novel ultimately provide nothing of substance for me, it regularly referenced poems—and sometimes songs—as though I knew them already, and then would go on to remark on said poems while I debated if I should Google them or not. Aside from a couple of terms I have no real need to know in order to read a poem (rondeau and triolet, spenserian stanza, etc), this was mostly an exercise in not falling asleep.
Not only did this novel ultimately provide nothing of substance for me, it regularly referenced poems—and sometimes songs—as though I knew them already, and then would go on to remark on said poems while I debated if I should Google them or not. Aside from a couple of terms I have no real need to know in order to read a poem (rondeau and triolet, spenserian stanza, etc), this was mostly an exercise in not falling asleep.
rebelqueen's review against another edition
3.0
This was fine. A little more technical than I needed, which made parts of it a slog, but there were some good tips for approaching poetry.
sobertyger's review against another edition
5.0
I have read three of Foster’s previous “How to...” guides, so I knew what to expect when starting his guide to understanding poetry. Foster is a college professor, so he writes with his undergrads in mind. His guides for understanding literature and novels could be easily read and understood by most high-schoolers, but I would hesitate before handing this one over to a student—even an AP one—unless the student was highly motivated and interested in poetry. Those students do exist, but most have to be coaxed and coddled through poetry. That being said, there was plenty of useful information, vocabulary, and examples in this guide to help a teacher through a poetry unit. Like in his previous books, Foster favors using familiar poems as his examples, making them more accessible to more readers. I enjoyed this one, took a lot of notes, and will be using my notes to guide me through poetry study with my own students.