Why do students hate poetry so much? Is it because they think that it is boring? Is it because people believe it is too complicated to understand? Or is it all of the above?

In my opinion known poems from the advanced years such as, “The Road Not Taken” have a very deep meaning that is in fact, very difficult to understand. Moreover, I know that students don’t really enjoy reading old poems that have very complicated words in them, and just tons of difficult figurative language. 

Students right now prefer to read poems that are easy to understand but also have a lesson or some kind of theme in them. 

I asked some students in freshman year about their opinions on poems, and received these responses: 

• Xavier Antonio – “They can be confusing and long.”
• Keenan Weston – “They are old and make no sense”
• Karson Kiser- “I just hate poems in general”
• Alieah Johnson – “Eww”
• Ritisha Patro – “They have too many figurative symbols, it’s hard to figure out what’s literal/figurative”
• Faith Carmen – “They don’t make much sense”
• Ashna – “They’re too long and confusing to read”
• Summer – “They’re hard to understand, normal writing is more simple to understand.”
• Aiden Kottyan – “The words they use don’t make a lot of sense”
• Kristin Knowles “They’re okay, not really much into them.”

I also asked a staff member and teacher of English 1 honors, Mrs. Malady, to state her opinion on why students don’t like reading poems:

• Mrs. Malady – “Students don’t understand the structure”

Mrs. Malady stated her opinion on poems regarding how students don’t enjoy understanding the meaning and structure behind the poems. There are different types of structures and themes in poems that students have to figure out and understand the meaning behind the poem. However, students find it hard to analyze and understand the meaning behind the poems which takes a lot of time and effort.

Furthermore, In my opinion, poems are made to get you thinking and trying to understand the hidden meaning behind them. Just because you don’t like one type of poem doesn’t mean that you don’t like all the poems in the world. Poems have different structures and themes to them and you might enjoy one theme and might not get engaged in the other theme. However, that is not the reason for you to “hate poems” and not get into them. When you read poems more and more you will start to comment on content, themes, ideas, and attitudes as well as form. It will help you get engaged and sum up your thoughts on ways in which the poems are similar and different in your conclusion. Moreover, it will help you find a structure you like and enjoy reading.