--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I teach a lecture course on American…" description: "\"I teach a lecture course on American poetry to as many as 150 students. For a lot of them, its their only elective, so this is their one shot. Theyll t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67a/robert-hass-3548_american-poetry_i-teach-a-lecture-course-on-american-poe_1415731.jpg" --- # I teach a lecture course on American poetry to as many as… ![“I teach a lecture course on American poetry to as many as 150 students. For a lot of them, its their only elective, so this is their one shot. Theyll take the Russian Novel or American Poetry, so I want to give them the high points, the inescapable poets.” quote by Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67a/robert-hass-3548_american-poetry_i-teach-a-lecture-course-on-american-poe_1415731.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67a/robert-hass-3548_american-poetry_i-teach-a-lecture-course-on-american-poe_1415731.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67a/robert-hass-3548_american-poetry_i-teach-a-lecture-course-on-american-poe_1415731.jpg) > “I teach a lecture course on American poetry to as many as 150 students. For a lot of them, its their only elective, so this is their one shot. Theyll take the Russian Novel or American Poetry, so I want to give them the high points, the inescapable poets.” [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The instructor aims to expose many students, many of whom have limited elective options, to essential American poets in a single course. **In simple terms:** Teach key American poets to large, diverse class. Key Takeaway Focus on essential poets. Themes education poetry curriculum exposure accessibility Mood inspirational practical Type educational instructional When to use this quote - College freshman orientation - elective selection - large lecture teaching - curriculum design Key Concepts Literary canon pedagogy cultural literacy Questions to Reflect On - How can essential poets be introduced effectively in a large class? - What strategies ensure lasting impact? A Different Perspective Limited time may restrict depth of coverage. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-poetry/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [High points](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/high-points/) [Lectures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lectures/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) ## Related quotes > [I teach a lecture course on American poetry to as many as 150 students. For a lot of them, it's their only elective, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/i-teach-a-lecture-course-on-american-poetry-to-as-many-as-150/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [The poem might come to you as you're preparing to teach a lecture, right? And when you say, "no" to that occasion, that poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/the-poem-might-come-to-you-as-you-re-preparing-to-teach-a-lecture/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [Of course, the American education system is very inefficient in many ways compared to other countries in Europe or Japan, but it works in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-forbes-nash-jr/of-course-the-american-education-system-is-very-inefficient-in-many/) [John Forbes Nash, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-forbes-nash-jr/) > [Screw poetry, it’s you I want, your taste, rain on you, mouth on your skin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/screw-poetry-it-s-you-i-want-your-taste-rain-on-you-mouth-on-your-skin/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“(W)hy is poetry wholly an elderly taste? When I was twenty I could not for the life of me read Shakespeare for pleasure; now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/w-hy-is-poetry-wholly-an-elderly-taste-when-i-was-twenty-i-could-not/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I want to branch out. I want to write. I write poetry. I want to see my children grow up well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-lennox/i-want-to-branch-out-i-want-to-write-i-write-poetry-i-want-to-see-my/) [Annie Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-lennox/) > [“Why do you always quote poetry at me when all I want is a straight answer?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mindy-mcginnis/why-do-you-always-quote-poetry-at-me-when-all-i-want-is-a-straight/) [Mindy McGinnis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mindy-mcginnis/) > [“The poet dreams of the mountain Sometimes I grow weary of the days, with all their fits and starts. I want to climb some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/the-poet-dreams-of-the-mountain-sometimes-i-grow-weary-of-the-days/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [One of the high points of my life was when I suddenly realized that this dream I had in my late adolescence of combining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/one-of-the-high-points-of-my-life-was-when-i-suddenly-realized-that/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [The more there is scandal and corruption in Washington, the better it is for McCain, so he's at a high point right now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-todd/the-more-there-is-scandal-and-corruption-in-washington-the-better-it/) [Chuck Todd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-todd/) > [Psychologists have found that we are more likely, in looking back at our lives, to remember high points and dramatic shifts in far greater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sissela-bok/psychologists-have-found-that-we-are-more-likely-in-looking-back-at/) [Sissela Bok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sissela-bok/) > [Humor does not include sarcasm, invalid irony, sardonicism, innuendo, or any other form of cruelty. When these things are raised to a high point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-thurber/humor-does-not-include-sarcasm-invalid-irony-sardonicism-innuendo-or/) [James Thurber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-thurber/) > [Extended families have never been the norm in America; the highest figure for extended-family households ever recorded in Americanhistory is 20 percent. Contrary to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/extended-families-have-never-been-the-norm-in-america-the-highest/) [Stephanie Coontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-coontz/) > [When lifting weights, nothing feels better than achieving a high point on the bench press with no help from your spotter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cheeke/when-lifting-weights-nothing-feels-better-than-achieving-a-high-point/) [Robert Cheeke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cheeke/) > […all the things and events we usually consider as irreconcilable, such as cause and effect, past and future, subject and object, are actually just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/all-the-things-and-events-we-usually-consider-as-irreconcilable-such/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) ## More by Robert Hass > [It's the same with this idea of a literate public, and also of a democracy in which people have access to and really read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/it-s-the-same-with-this-idea-of-a-literate-public-and-also-of-a/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [All the new thinking is about loss. In this it resembles all the old thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/all-the-new-thinking-is-about-loss-in-this-it-resembles-all-the-old/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [Poetry, when it takes sides, when it proposes solutions, isn't any smarter than anybody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/poetry-when-it-takes-sides-when-it-proposes-solutions-isn-t-any/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [When I was in college, I lost my scholarship one year. I had enough money for tuition, but not room and board. So I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/when-i-was-in-college-i-lost-my-scholarship-one-year-i-had-enough/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [As poet laureate, I was asked to be a spokesman for literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/as-poet-laureate-i-was-asked-to-be-a-spokesman-for-literature/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [After Pope, in the beginning of Romanticism, people developed the idea that imagination rather than reason was a special form of knowledge and its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/after-pope-in-the-beginning-of-romanticism-people-developed-the-idea/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [They are the kinds of things that make us a community: attachment to place, attachment to local arts traditions, the ability to read literature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/they-are-the-kinds-of-things-that-make-us-a-community-attachment-to/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [I think that were I in the middle of an obsession to write about, say, sudden oak death in California or my grandchildren or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/i-think-that-were-i-in-the-middle-of-an-obsession-to-write-about-say/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [I suppose there's something to be said for the sheer reinforcement of our beliefs, but really I think poetry is more useful as disenchantment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/i-suppose-there-s-something-to-be-said-for-the-sheer-reinforcement-of/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [If you were making poetry out of convictions - trying to convince other people - you were in the territory of rhetoric, and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/if-you-were-making-poetry-out-of-convictions-trying-to-convince-other/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [Milton was the first person who really experimented with putting politics into sonnets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/milton-was-the-first-person-who-really-experimented-with-putting/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [When I came into the job, funding for the humanities at the federal level was being drastically cut. This was the high tide of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/when-i-came-into-the-job-funding-for-the-humanities-at-the-federal/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [One may prefer spring and summer to autumn and winter, but preference is hardly to the point. The earth turns, and we live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/one-may-prefer-spring-and-summer-to-autumn-and-winter-but-preference/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [“ A Faint Music by Robert Hass Maybe you need to write a poem about grace. When everything broken is broken, and everything dead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/a-faint-music-by-robert-hass-maybe-you-need-to-write-a-poem-about/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [“When everything broken is broken, and everything dead is dead, and the hero has looked into the mirror with complete contempt, and the heroine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/when-everything-broken-is-broken-and-everything-dead-is-dead-and-the/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) [Explore all 128 Robert Hass quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) ## More American poetry quotes > [I'm educating myself more about world poetry. I know a lot about contemporary American poetry, so I felt I needed to learn more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-joseph/i-m-educating-myself-more-about-world-poetry-i-know-a-lot-about/) [Allison Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-joseph/) > [ Probably the high-watermark of \[Bob\] Dylan's career came after he plugged in his guitar ("Judas!" one fan shouted during a concert) and exploded American… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-michaelson/probably-the-high-watermark-of-bob-dylan-s-career-came-after-he/) [Jay Michaelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-michaelson/) > [I think the best American poetry is the poetry that utilizes the resources of poetry rather than exploits the defects or triumphs of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/i-think-the-best-american-poetry-is-the-poetry-that-utilizes-the/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [“Mr Rutger cornet de Groot. Never read any American poetry or any other foreign poetry, which is why he always mentions 2 poets as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martinus-hendrikus-benders/mr-rutger-cornet-de-groot-never-read-any-american-poetry-or-any-other/) [Martinus Hendrikus Benders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martinus-hendrikus-benders/) > [Kerouac: You're ruining American poetry, O'Hara. O'Hara: That's more than you ever did for it, Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-o-hara/kerouac-you-re-ruining-american-poetry-o-hara-o-hara-that-s-more-than/) [Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/) > [From reading a previous answer, you know that I consider all those aspects to be part of American cultural myth and thus they figure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-wakoski/from-reading-a-previous-answer-you-know-that-i-consider-all-those/) [Diane Wakoski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-wakoski/) > [Mandelstam is the sort of poet who comes along very, very rarely. Even the two Russian poets whose work is often linked with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/mandelstam-is-the-sort-of-poet-who-comes-along-very-very-rarely-even/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [American poetry is always about defining oneself individually,claiming one's right to be different and often to break taboos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-wakoski/american-poetry-is-always-about-defining-oneself-individually/) [Diane Wakoski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-wakoski/) > [Distinctly American poetry is usually written in the context of one's geographic landscape, sometimes out of one's cultural myths, and often with reference to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-wakoski/distinctly-american-poetry-is-usually-written-in-the-context-of-one-s/) [Diane Wakoski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-wakoski/) > [American poetry, like American painting, is always personal with an emphasis on the individuality of the poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-wakoski/american-poetry-like-american-painting-is-always-personal-with-an/) [Diane Wakoski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-wakoski/) > [“LIFE IS NEVER OVER.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-king/life-is-never-over/) [Amy King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-king/) > [“Tell this to ladies: how a hero man Assail a thick and scandalous giant Who casts true shadow in the sun, And die, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowe-ransom/tell-this-to-ladies-how-a-hero-man-assail-a-thick-and-scandalous/) [John Crowe Ransom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowe-ransom/) > [The Astonishment Tapes will now take its place within the growing field of international research about postwar American poetry's important contribution to world literature.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-gizzi/the-astonishment-tapes-will-now-take-its-place-within-the-growing/) [Peter Gizzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-gizzi/) > [I don't think the creative writing industry has helped American poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-morgan/i-don-t-think-the-creative-writing-industry-has-helped-american-poetry/) [Robert Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-morgan/) > [I definitely wish to distinguish American poetry from British or other English language poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-wakoski/i-definitely-wish-to-distinguish-american-poetry-from-british-or/) [Diane Wakoski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-wakoski/) [Browse all 62 American poetry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-poetry/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I teach a lecture course on American poetry to as many as 150 students. 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