What is Poetry?

Poetry is a type of literature with meter.  It is typically a condensed form of literature that portrays a certain message.  Some poems rhyme and some have a rhythmic beat, but all should make you feel.  All poems should bring out a certain emotion from inside of you.  Every word in a poem matters, as poets carefully select each insightful word to help convey the meaning behind the poem.  Oftentimes, poetry is not black and white, meaning that it can be interpreted many different ways by different people. This could be bothersome to certain people who enjoy concrete meanings behind works.  In my opinion, the meaning of a poem and what it is saying is really left to the interpretation of each reader.  Some people, however, prefer to be told what it is they are reading about and what they should be feeling while reading a work of literature.

One cannot just passively read poetry.  Poems are active and require one to pay attention to each word on the page.  This could turn some people away from poetry, especially if they are on a beach reading for leisure. People might also dislike poetry because of the confusing, complex nature of some poems.  For example, Emily Dickinson’s poems are not the easiest to understand and requires a lot of thought to find the meaning behind each of her poems.  This could definitely turn a person away from poetry because they do not want to spend so much time trying to figure out what in the world the poet in trying to say or mean with their poem.

I personally love poetry, but I would have to say that I do not enjoy the AP poem multiple choice.  They suck the fun out of reading poetry, and oftentimes try to make the poems come across as black or white with their tricky questions.  I like reading poetry and doing written analyses on poems, but answering multiple choice questions about Emily Dickinson’s poetry is definitely not my favorite part about poetry.