Understanding Poetry (2025-26)

Name: Understanding Poetry (2025-26)
SKU: UP256
Availability: InStock

Original price was: $475.00.Current price is: $427.50.

In this class, Junior High and High School students will be introduced to the art of reading poetry. Through reading and discussion of more than 75 classic poems, they will be equipped to recognize the poet’s tools, literary devices, and many prevalent poetic forms. Most importantly, they will be introduced to a Socratic list of questions for the study of poetry that will help them learn to observe and listen carefully to the poet, thinking his thoughts after him, searching out his symbols and images, his devices and diction in order to come to terms with his ideas. Lively discussion using this Socratic Method will follow readings of individual poems that exemplify key ideas introduced in class.

Classes meet on Tuesdays.

SKU: UP256 Categories: High School Courses, Online Academy Tag: Junior High Literature

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Students come to class having read the poems assigned, some of which will be closely studied in class and some of which will illustrate forms and devices. Additionally, students will be introduced to biographical details of each author as appropriate in order to understand the context of each poem. Although no textbooks are required for this course, students and parents may be interested in two books which inform our approach: An Invitation to Poetry by Jay Parini and The Roar on the Other Side by Suzanne Rhodes.

CenterForLit instructors use the Socratic method, as it is modeled in our basic seminar Teaching the Classics, to conduct online discussions of classic books. This method involves asking questions that force students to think carefully about their reading, and then to think carefully about their thinking. Using the author’s theme as the goal of the discussion, instructors encourage students to engage with the author’s ideas by discussing the structural and stylistic components that comprise his story. Once students have heard and understood the author, they are encouraged with further questions to critically examine their own assumptions about the author’s theme. As a result, students gain a deeper understanding of the book, and also of themselves as readers and thinkers.

Course Details

Instructor: Missy and Adam Andrews

Schedule: Monthly 2-hour Socratic discussions (see full schedule and topics below) are held at 11:00 AM Eastern Time (8:00 AM Pacific) on Wednesdays.

Live Webinars: Online meeting software (included in tuition) provides screen sharing and live audio with chat. Students raise hands to participate aloud, chat with the instructor, and see the instructor via live video.

Discussion Boards: Each month, students make regular contributions to a chat-style conversation about the last book discussed. Posts are monitored by course instructors.

Recordings: High quality video recordings of each class (with discussion notes in PDF format) allow students to participate asynchronously if desired. Students receive an email invitation to join the student database, where they have access to recordings and notes from each discussion.

Grades and Credits (optional): Upon request, students receive regular report cards and earn one High School credit in history and/or composition.

Tuition: $475 annually for the discussion-only class.

Discussion Schedule

All discussion classes meet one Tuesday per month at 11:00 AM Eastern time (8:00 AM Pacific), except the first class of the year, which meets on Wednesday at 11:00 AM Eastern (8:00 AM Pacific).

Tuition, Discounts, and Enrollment

Tuition is $475 annually.

Early Bird Registration: Students enrolling before June 1, 2025, receive a 10% discount on all tuition fees for every course.

Pelican Society Discount: Pelican Society members receive 10% off of all tuition fees for every academy course in addition to all other applicable discounts. Enrollment must originate while logged into the Pelican Society. Log in now or click here to join!

Sibling Discount: If you are enrolling more than one student from the same family, our system will automatically apply a sibling discount in addition to any other discounts or coupons. Simply make sure all registrations appear in the same shopping cart. You’ll receive a discount on each registration based on how many students are enrolling. Please note that our sibling discount structure amounts to a 100% tuition waiver for student number four!

Upon enrollment, the student will download a registration packet with complete instructions for joining each online discussion and participating in the discussion board. For more information, please email Megan Andrews at m.andrews@centerforlit.com.

Please consider purchasing your books for this course through one of our affiliate programs. CenterForLit earns a small profit from qualifying purchases with no additional cost to you. We appreciate your support! (See our official disclosure statement.)

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We appreciate the responsibility involved in choosing curriculum materials for your students, and we ask you to make this decision carefully. If your plans change and your student must withdraw from a class, CenterForLit can transfer your registration to a different class or to a future term; however, THERE ARE NO REFUNDS FOR ONLINE CLASS REGISTRATIONS.