Poetry and Potatoes: A Rhizomatic Approach to Teaching Creative Writing and Literature

Middleton, Rowan ORCID: 0000-0002-5729-0171 (2020) Poetry and Potatoes: A Rhizomatic Approach to Teaching Creative Writing and Literature. In: Responding to Creative Writing. Cambridge Scholars Press, Newcastle upon Tyne, pp. 27-39.

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Abstract

The approach to teaching discussed here engages with literary texts as part of a rhizome that includes places, people, and other texts such as letters, diaries, and life writing. The emphasis on place as part of the rhizome is developed through field trips to locations connected with the texts, including museums, landscapes, and archives, which can help deepen students’ relationship with the subject. Using creative writing to respond to the rhizome enables students to learn through the practice of writing, while simultaneously adding their own contribution to the rhizome. This approach can enrich students’ understanding of a subject, and help build a relationship with it in the manner of Parker Palmer’s idea of a circle of truth. The chapter describes how this approach has been used on a course on the Dymock Poets, whose heterogeneous output and existing rhizome of related texts make it particularly appropriate. Nonetheless, this approach can be applied in other contexts, and the chapter also describes how it has been used on a course that focuses on 19th century American literature.

Item Type:	Book Section
Subjects:	L Education > L Education (General) L Education > LB Theory and practice of education L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education P Language and Literature > PR English literature P Language and Literature > PR English literature > PR500 Poetry P Language and Literature > PS American literature
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Education and Science
Research Priority Areas:	Culture, Continuity, and Transformation
Depositing User:	Rowan Middleton
Date Deposited:	21 Oct 2020 14:58
Last Modified:	04 Feb 2022 17:01
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/8914

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