David Cappella Melts “Freeze Reaction” to Poetry

Already co-author of two books on the writing of poetry, Dr. David Cappella, assistant professor of English, won the 2004 Bright Hill Press Poetry Chapbook Competition for his manuscript Gobbo: A Solitaire’s Opera. This first collection of 98, 14-line modern sonnets, centers on a poetry persona, Gobbo (meaning “hunchback” in Italian), who is loosely based on the life of Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1836), considered one of Italy’s outstanding poets. 

“I’m pleased to have received a CSU grant to do further research on Leopardi and pursue the possibility of having my poems translated into Italian,” states Cappella, who is enjoying the attention his poetry is getting. Cappella’s poem “The Walnut” was recently reviewed and will be forthcoming in the Providence Journal in a column written by Tom Chandler, former poet laureate of Rhode Island. Plus, Diner, a literary magazine, will feature an interview with Cappella and publish 10 of the Gobbo poems.

With A Surge of Language: Teaching Poetry Day by Day (Heinemann, New Hampshire, 2004), Cappella teamed with Baron Wormser, Maine’s poet laureate, to create a fictional teacher, Mr. P, and his journal entries as he teaches reading and writing poetry. “It reads like a novel,” says Cappella. “We wanted a user-friendly book with a fresh approach to integrate poetry into the language arts 7–12 English curriculum. Mr. P’s voice makes the pedagogy more palatable.” He elaborates, “We wanted to overcome the Freeze Reaction, by which we mean that many students and their teachers are made anxious, even apprehensive, by poetry. Typically, readers try to garner meaning through analysis of poetry. We suggest they feel the language and emotion first before trying to articulate responses.” To aid teachers, practical exercises and strategies, full-length poems, and a table of contents with a “calendar” of daily topics are included.

Again addressing the intimidation factor in teaching high school poetry, Teaching the Art of Poetry: The Moves (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000), co-authored by Cappella and Wormser, aimed to change how poetry is taught and how students think about it. “The premise of this book is that because poetry is the art of language, it should be used to teach language arts in the classroom,” commented Cappella. “A series of essays deals with specific ‘moves’ or elements of poetry, such as rhythm, sound, line, syntax, grammar, word choice, details, and so on. At the end of each chapter, exercises demonstrate that move. A writer’s repertoire expands by mastering more moves or skills.”

Cappella reflects that the teaching of contemporary poetry is neglected. “We’ve started the process of demystifying poetry as esoteric and elitist, but Baron and I believe it’s a long, slow arduous task. Still, melting the resistance to reading and writing poetry is worth it, because we hope to unveil poetry as a multi-faceted artistic process in search of meaning.”

— Geri Radacsi

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