Blog #4--Decoding Strategies for Difficult Text

In considering which difficult text I would use to develop my decoding strategies, I chose a poem called "The Pretensions of Poverty" written by the English poet, Thomas Carew (1595-1640). The poem is actually contained within Henry David Thoreau's book entitled "Walden" on pg. 87. (My husband likes to read Thoreau.) Now, I've never been a passionate poetry lover; however, I do enjoy reading poems which are easier for me to understand, such as, Poe's "The Raven." I have a tough time, though, with deciphering the level of writing difficulty contained within Carew's work. The first four lines aren't too bad; but, once I got past "...Nurses some lazy or pedantic virtue..." things started to get a little hairy--so here's what I do to unravel difficult text:

• Choose a small amount of text to focus on at a time;
• Read the text first to see what I do understand;
• Check for a summary at the end of the text (obviously, poems will not have this);
• Try to summarize what I've read repeatedly as I move along while closing my eyes;
• This one is HUGE--look up unfamiliar words in the dictionary if I have to;
• Read all the way to the end of the section or piece--don't quit!;
• Take notes or make a graphic organizer;
• Read the section/piece over and over again until I get it;
• If the above just doesn't clear things up, then I'll ask someone else (i.e. friend, instructor, etc.);
• Don't panic!!

The only way I can make meaning out of Carew's "Pretensions..." is by reading, rereading, and looking up words (i.e. benumbeth, pedantic, etc.) in order to insert the more familiar forms of the English words within the existing text which I already do understand. Furthermore, it's not only some of Carew's language I don't understand, it's also how he combines his sentences. Consequently, I must rearrange the order of the stanzas so that I can scale back the difficulty of the text in addition to looking up words, reading and rereading, as well as consulting "experts" on the internet (i.e. commentary from "poetry folks"). Even at that, I'm hard pressed to make what I would call an appropriate interpretation of Carew's poem.

In regards to the implications of decoding text for the classroom teacher, it drives home how important it is to understand our students' current stages of second language acquisition (Hill, p. 15) as well as each individual stages' characteristics. Another vital implication is the need for level appropriate scaffolding to encourage a student's growth from one stage to the next. I can see how the scaffolding sequence provided in Gibbons, chapter 3, would benefit me greatly in understanding unfamiliar text, such as, Carew's "Pretensions..." poem. For instance, doing some kind of intial activity related to the poem for stage 1, introducing key vocabulary for stage 2, teacher-guided reporting for stage 3, and journaling for stage 4. If led by an experienced instructor, my capacity to understand and retain difficult works would be greatly improved.