TY - BOOK AU - Benton, Peter. AU - Stratta, Leslie, ED - Southern Regional Examinations Board, Southampton (England). TI - Examining Poetry: Peter Benton U1 - 821 PY - 1986/// CY - Washington, D.C. PB - Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse KW - Educational Change KW - ericd KW - Educational Improvement KW - Educational Innovation KW - Evaluation Criteria KW - Evaluation Methods KW - Feedback KW - Foreign Countries KW - Guidelines KW - Ideology KW - Literary Criticism KW - Literary Devices KW - Literature Appreciation KW - Modernization KW - Poetry KW - Reader Response KW - Reading Comprehension KW - Secondary Education KW - Test Construction KW - Test Format KW - Test Interpretation KW - Test Reliability KW - Guides, Classroom KW - Teacher KW - Reports, Descriptive KW - Opinion Papers N1 - Availability: Southern Regional Examinations Board, Avondale House, 33 Carlton Crescent, Southampton, S09 4YL England, United Kingdom (35 pence); Practitioners; ericd; Teachers; ericd; Microfiche; [Washington D.C.]; ERIC Clearinghouse; microfiches : positive N2 - Elaborated as a response to a traditional set of secondary school poetry examinations that are called "sterile and outmoded," this report resulted from a series of seminars held in England by literature educators. The report offers extensive guidelines for modernizing the exams, examples of student critical writing about particular poems, and student responses to the educators' modernization plans. Part 1, "Exploring Possible Achievements," assesses the efficacy of current exam guidelines, offering concrete examples using student comments on several poems. Part 2, "Experimenting with Guidelines," discusses strategies for the improvement of the guidelines, such as changing the wording or offering alternate sets of guidelines for different students. Part 3, "Ideological Issues: A Further Experiment," considers a particularly complex question, ideology, and focuses on the most accessible use of the concept--consciously committed poetry, and especially satirical criticism and protest about political and social mores. Part 4, "Questions on Poetry Anthologies," argues against exam questions that generalize about poetic texts and for a less rigid system which would enlist the collaboration of the students and allow for a more independent response. (NKA) ER -