Comments on: Commercial Poetry

By: Inner Education for Inward Educators

Inner Education for Inward Educators — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 01:43:09 +0000

InnerEd’s Edublog Award Nominations…

I am so proud to be doing this. Below are my nominations for a few of The EduBlog Awards. For those who aren’t in the know, the EduBlog awards are a series of awards given to education blogs in various categories. The winners are nominated and…

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:41:33 +0000

I don’t understand the dislike for things commerce. If the commercialization of poetry leaves a bad taste in your mouth, why would you design lessons around it?

Why not challenge your students to find the most compelling pictures to show while Whitman reads his own “pome” in the background?

I picture trailer parks, homeless people, the poverty-stricken.

Or make it about lost and abused pets.

Or make it about the sweeping changes that technology has brought across the nation.

But if you don’t like ads, avoid them.

By: Todd

Todd — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:00:40 +0000

Yup, conl, that’s Whitman on the bit from “America.” At least I can give Levi’s props for getting good old audio instead of making their own. But I wonder if I presented these videos with a different, high fidelity recording of the poem would students prefer it.

Tom, I like the way you’re thinking and I now want to make that exact video you describe! That’s very Adbusters of you.

By: conl

conl — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:52:41 +0000

Those commercials don’t just feature poetry by Whitman – That’s actually him reading, as recorded on a wax cylinder!

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:21:53 +0000

I wonder if you couldn’t try to undermine products as well (option?).

So you use the poem and alternate images to get at what the student sees as the real message while criticizing the company’s use of the poem.

Something like this stanza from Pioneers.

All the past we leave behind,
We debouch upon a newer mightier world, varied world,
Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

I’d have Levi’s founded in 1853 to match the first line.
The varied world line begs for a shot of lots of identical jeans, maybe some sweat shop scenes and then cap it off with lots of pretty models wearing Levis.