Harkness & Poetry

The goal of the Harkness is to foster a student-centered learning environment where learners actively participate in discussions, leading to deeper critical thinking and effective communication. Students take ownership of their learning through peer-to-peer dialogue, rather than relying solely on teacher instruction.

Libby K. ‘29 writes about how poetry has been integrated into our Harkness program:

“In Kelly’s Harkness class, we have been learning about poetry by discussing poems about identity. We have studied different parts of poetry, like imagery, tone, and structure, to see how poets express their ideas. Along with analyzing poems, we have also practiced writing our own. We have learned different techniques to make our poems more interesting, such as metaphors, alliteration, and line breaks. This has helped us understand poetry better and improve our writing skills as we work towards answering the inquiry question, How do poets express concepts of identity through poetry?”

Poem by Yu Yang, modelled on the poem The Table by Turkish poet, ​​Edip Cansever

A woman filled with tiredness comes home.

She puts her work bag on the floor.

She feels lighter.

She puts her documents onto the table,

her phone slides across its surface.

Next, she puts down the sound of people debating,

the humming sound of a printer,

the smell of a morning coffee.

She feels even lighter.

Now, she puts down the harsh word she heard this morning,

the sadness of a mistake she can’t forget,

the guilt from something she didn’t do,

the weight of apology.

The floor accepts it all without complaint,

carrying all her bad memory.

Her, without them,

smiling and dancing gracefully.