Penmen Press Volume XXVII Issue VIII

Volume XXVII

Issue 8

April 23, 2021

penmenpress.com

THE

PENMEN PRESS Writing SNHU’s Story

05

06

11

SNHU Reacts to Shortened Winter Break

SNHU’s Housing Process Campus Transition

Men’s Lacrosse is Attacking This Spring

2 | News

MEET THE

STAFF Co-Editor-in-Chief Grace Mage

Co-Editor-in-Chief Daniel Hopler

Business Manager

Events Manager

Marketing Manager

Sports Editor

Senior Copy Editor

News Co-Editor

News Co-Editor

Lifestyle Editor

Layout Editor

Online Manager

A&E/Opinion Editor

Faculty Adviser

Julie Armstrong

Bailey Arnold-Fuchs

Hailey Tremaine

Eliza Fandel

Stefan Karlberg

Ryan Barrett

Kyle Griffin

Andrew Wilson

Now Hiring!

Sofia Barassi

Now Hiring!

Jon Boroshok

The Penmen Press | 3

THIS SUMMER’S

EVENTS

Saturday, April 24

Wednesday, April 28

May 17 - 21

Baseball vs. Bentley

Last Day of Roommate Matching

Housing Selection Begins - Part 1

12:00PM

Softball vs. Bentley 12:00PM

Softball vs. Bentley

Don’t forget to match yourself up with your future roommate and future friend!

Friday, April 30 Textbooks Due to Bookstore

Times Vary

Make sure you know your selection time. If you forget to select your housing for the fall, you’ll need to wait until housing selection opens.

May 24 - 28

3:00PM

Make sure you return all of your rentals on time! As long as you send out your rentals on this day, you shouldn’t be charged. If you have questions, contact the bookstore at: sm8075@bncollege.com

Sunday, April 25

Monday, May 3

Baseball vs. Bentley

Start of Summer Term

Tuesday, June 1

Saturday, May 8

Housing Selection Open

2:00PM

Baseball vs. Bentley

12:00PM

Softball vs. Bentley 12:00PM

2021 Virtual Commencement

Softball vs. Bentley

2:00PM - Fall 2020 Grads

2:00PM

Baseball vs. Bentley 3:00PM

12:00PM - Spring 2020 Grads 4:00PM - Spring 2021 Grads Join SNHU graduates of the 2020 and 2021 terms for their virtual commencement ceremony and wish them luck for their futures!

Housing Selection - Part 2 Times Vary

Make sure you know your selection time. If you forget to select your housing for the fall, you’ll need to wait until housing selection opens.

If you forgot to select your housing for the fall, now is your chance to secure a room.

Sunday, August 22 End of Summer Term

Monday, August 30 Start of Fall Term

4 | News

News

The Penmen Press | 5

SNHU Reacts to Shortened Winter Break Taylor Posik Staff Writer SNHU came to the decision to shorten the traditional three-week winter break down to two for the 2021-2022 school year. The break will begin on December 21 and end on January 3, which is when classes resume for the 2022 spring semester.

“The change was a result of aligning the term start dates across the University for all 8-week and 16-week courses, both campus and online,” says Kyle Viator, Academic Affairs. “Prior to this alignment, campus students taking online courses had different start dates of courses in the same term and different add/drop dates.” In addition, SNHU administration took into account the number of undergraduate students on campus registering for online courses, where statistics show that for the past three years, up to 11% of campus students have signed up for online classes in the spring semester. “We want to make it as easy as possible for students to take the courses they need, when they need them,” says Viator.

Summer break was also considered in this decision. “This extra week during summer break not only allows students more time to recharge with family and friends; it also means that SNHU students will be able to secure summer internships or employment a week earlier, giving them a competitive edge on peers from many other institutions,” says Viator. The 2022 spring term is set to end on April 24.

Upon hearing the news, it has sparked conflict and concern among staff, students and SNHU community members. Although some claim they don’t mind the winter break reduction, a majority of staff and students are opposed to having a shorter break in between the fall and spring semesters.

One question people are wondering is how COVID-19 will affect their return to campus. Given

Lincoln and Conway Residence Halls in Winter. (image courtesy: SNHU ResLife) that classes begin on January 3, it gives little room to allow students to fulfill the recommended time to quarantine. Staff and students also question how the break reduction will affect cross-country and international students. Between planning for travel and work, students who live farther away from campus would have limited time with their families along with needing to make a quick return back to campus. Returning students traditionally move in the day before classes while new students would move in two days prior to the beginning of the new semester.

“I live in Colorado and with all of the hassle of traveling, it would shorten my break even more and also reduce that time with my family,” says Caela McCartney, ‘22. Winter break is a time for students to spend with family they haven’t seen in a while, especially

if they aren’t local. In addition, students often pick up extra work hours in order to pay for tuition and other needs.

There is also a concern for mental health. With students taking at least four classes per semester on top of extracurriculars, the winter break in between semesters is used as a time to rest and reunite with loved ones.

“The whole purpose of the break is [to] allow a mental health break and shortening that is going to make [students lose] all ambition. That break allows people to destress from the finals they just took and prepare for the next semester to come,” says Brooke Ryan, ‘21.

Many staff and students are concerned that the reduced break could put a damper to mental health and create burnout, which will cause a loss of motivation in class. After this past year of remote learning, having the chance to kick back has become essential to mitigate stress.

6 | News

SNHU’s Housing Process and Campus Transition for Fall Joshua Dinapoli Staff Writer

Kingston Hall. (image courtesy: SNHU External Affairs) Anticipating a total return, SNHU is now faced with the enormous undertaking of transitioning a portion of its virtual student body onto campus. Perhaps the biggest obstacle in this process is ensuring housing for as many students as possible.

Residence Life initiated this process on April 5. First, students need to sign a license agreement to start the procedure, followed by roommate matching, which runs from April 1428. After being grouped according to their number of credits, housing selection will run from May 17-21 and then again from May 24-28.

“We do think there is merit to students that have more experience in college to have more access,” stated Shannon Brown, Director of Residence Life, explaining why the college choose to structure housing priority based on credits. Every student is placed into a cluster that determines their order in the selection process. The lower range of numbers the cluster is in, the higher the priority. Each cluster is matched with a range of class credits, which is detailed in a table listed in the initial

email sent by housing. Ideally, those with more credits will get to choose their accommodation first. When students match with roommates, they are placed into a group where the average of their priority numbers will determine their group’s placement in the selection process.

This system has not been without error as some students have reported that their number of credits have been inconsistent with their priority.

Housing has acknowledged this in an email sent out stating that they are “working closely with our campus partners to confirm each student’s earned credits and any errors will be fixed in the housing system as soon as possible. We will be in touch when all numbers have been confirmed.”

While innovation scholars are mainly located at the bottom cohort, they will still select housing before incoming first-years who will instead have housing randomly selected for them in June.

With these upcoming semesters, SNHU is expected to welcome more students than ever on campus for the

first time, as both incoming first-years and sophomores will be having their first experience of life on campus.

“There is a shared sentiment; we are mindful of innovation scholars, newness on campus and experience as SNHU students,” explained Brown, recognizing that many students will have to adjust their college experience completely.

However, this sentiment is not only reserved for the lowerclassmen.

“No matter who comes to campus, everyone is coming off-year and half of a different life...there will be a transition for everyone.” Brown is personally working with the COVID-19 Campus Operation Team, coordinated by Interim Dean of Students Meagan Sage and Associate Director of Student Involvement Colleen Lubin to see how first-time students can get used to a radically different living experience.

For innovation scholars, one of these events is the First Days program.

While the program is still in the preliminary stages, it will hopefully get students accustomed to the layout of the campus and encourage further social engagement.

After students filled out their license agreement, they were sent an email outlining the significant policies.

Brown oversaw its writing and made clear on some of its policies, such as reassignment. Reassignment is a type of last resort policy when roommates cannot resolve a conflict in their dorm.

In this case, the university reserves the right to move people to other dorms to avoid conflict. However Brown made it clear that this was a rare occurrence. He also noted the overarching challenge facing everyone returning to campus. “Many of us are excited to come back to campus... It will come with strains; we haven’t had to congregate and live together with the way we have in the past.” ResLife wants to remain in touch with students and consider their input every step of the way.

The Penmen Press | 7

SNHU Honors Program Cuts Scholarships Sofia Barassi Sports Editor SNHU’s honors program has changed over the last year due to COVID-19 impacting the way that students have been able to complete honors requirements, attend events and earn scholarships.

Returning home meant that the $2,000 scholarship awarded to honors students would not be offered due to SNHU’s reduced tuition rate during remote learning. This caused concern from students because they are still required to complete all of the honors’ requirements to the same extent without that money.

This cut in scholarship money will remain indefinitely, according to SNHU honors advisor Dr. Lowell Matthews, since SNHU has lowered tuition for on-campus learning to the rate of $15,000.

“I was disappointed in the decision to remove the honors scholarship. It was a big incentive to join the program, and I feel we are now being asked to do a lot of extra work for little reward,” said Autumn Hendricks (‘22), a member of the SNHU honors program.

Students have had online events and meetings as online learning has progressed which is much different than in-person standard practices.

At other colleges and universities, instead of scholarships, other incentives are brought to the surface such as parking, housing, class selection and reduced class size.

“There are apartments with full kitchen starting at sophomores for

honors students at Bentley,” said Elizabeth Bonnette, Bentley University honors student. Additionally, Bentley has smaller class sizes for honors students as well as an advanced class selection period according to Bonnette.

Isaiah Donovan, an honors student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said that there are honors suites and apartments to live in which are much nicer dorms than the standard ones. This is not present at SNHU. From an administrative standpoint, the incentive to join the SNHU honors program is not meant to be entirely based on the scholarship that used to be offered.

“I started...interviewing every single student before they joined the honors program to really make [sure] that [they] were motivated for the right reason and not motivated for the scholarship. We wanted students to be a part of the program because they saw the potential for themselves, not because there was a $2,000 scholarship attached to it,” said Matthews. “We were already in discussion of removing the scholarships before COVID even came about because when we did a survey with our honors students, a majority of them said it was not a motivating factor.”

“The main mission of the honors program is to inspire students to change the world,” said Matthews.

He continued by saying that the

graduating students are to create an honors thesis that they can tangibly use to change the world when they are done at school.

From previous years, Matthews noticed that students were not intending to finish the honors program when they graduated, but rather to benefit from the scholarships during their four years until the end.

“We accept 60 students on average to the honors program...only about 20... [graduate] from the honors program,” said Matthews. “It takes away from the students who want to be in the honors program for the right reason.”

Becca Drager (‘23), an SNHU honors fellow, was interviewed by Matthews when joining the program and stated, “I did my in-person interview with doctor Matthews and [he was] excited about everything which made me really want to join.”

“We did not want the financial piece to be the main motivator for people to be in the honors program because, at the end of the day, if I’m telling you to change the world, you have to be frustrated because all you will get for changing the world is $2,000,” said Matthews.

With some students frustrated about the cut of the $2,000 scholarship for doing the same amount of work, the goal of the program has not changed. The indefinite removal of the scholarship remains officially unannounced to the honors program members of SNHU.

SNHU Honors Program. (image courtesy: SNHU Honors)

8 | Sports

Sports

The Penmen Press | 9

Women’s Track and Field Sprint Into Spring Sofia Barassi and Jack Drolet Sports Editor and Staff Writer The SNHU women’s track and field team have competed several times this year as they came back from a shortened 2019-2020 season. This one will only be three out of their usual six months of competition.

In their opening meet at UNH, on April 3, sprinter Meghan Stroh (‘22), placed 3rd in the 200m in her first year as an upperclassman on the team. Having this experience made adjusting to the new modified season easier for the upperclassmen but a bit harder for the freshman. “With practice starting in September, [in] those first months, you definitely get very close to each other so coming in and immediately being in meet season definitely took a lot of adjusting,” said Stroh.

She continued, “And for us [upperclassmen], we knew what to expect going into meets, but the freshman had no idea and

didn’t have that adjustment time to get practice meets in and time trials in. They kind of just jumped right into it. I think upperclassmen specifically took the role to help them navigate what to do.”

Teammate Jordan Woodford (‘22), hurdler, jumper andsprinter for the track team, continues on the subject by saying, “It’s tough because of COVID that we have to be physically separated, so that in itself is a barrier to try to get to know them and get everyone in one place and do actual physical team bonding.”

The Penmen have a few meets left before the NE10 championships on May 7 which they are currently working towards. “I want to see in general what I can do in a twomonth period...getting on the track and doing everything I can to get as much out of it,” said Stroh when

asked about what her goals were for the season.

Additionally, Woodford is focusing on her technique and seeing what she is capable of for the few months remaining in the season.

The team is doing their best to stay connected with one another through their shortened season since restrictions make it harder to bond with each other. “We’re a very close team but not having those months [at the beginning of the season] was crucial,” said Woodford.

When asked what positive has come out of the season Woodford stated, “Very basically, the opportunity to be able to compete because I know a lot of people didn’t get it and were very grateful to have that. It is such a short window but you have to take what you can get and we’re very happy we’re doing it.”

SNHU Softball Winds up for 2021 Season Steven Covey Staff Writer The SNHU softball team sits at a 2-6 record on their 2021 season as the team adjusts to their new schedule and new faces. After a few games were canceled in March, the team is striving to make improvements and carry on with the season.

When asked what the team needs to work on, outfielder and pitcher Chloe Griffin (‘21) said, “Playing offensively and stringing hits together.”

Griffin continues, “Sometimes we’ll get hits in the first inning and in the sixth but we don’t get them in a row. So it’d be nice to see more back-to-back hits. We started to do that in the last game so that was good.”

Looking ahead to the middle of the season, there are many positives that the team has seen so far that they hope to capitalize on.

Getting to connect with new faces on the team has been the key to SNHU’s success.

“It’s been really nice meeting the freshmen. They’re a really talented group and I think they’ve surprised a lot of people in a good way, so they’re definitely going to make a big impact this season,” says Griffin.

With great potential coming from the underclassmen, the overall chemistry and teamwork outshines the competition, according to Griffin.

“Our chemistry’s been awesome

this year,” she says. “It was very different not knowing half the team until March, but right off the bat, it’s been awesome. The underclassmen fit in really well and it shows. We’ve also had quite a few freshmen contributing this year and even cracking the starting lineup.”

After the abnormal sports season 2020 brought, the softball team is ready to get back into it. They’re working to make improvements to become a great competitor for this season.

Penmen Athletics shared, “SNHU is scheduled to play the next eight games (four doubleheaders) at home starting with Assumption University on Thursday, April 15 at 4 p.m.”

10 | Sports

Freshman Ronan DePaul Snags Rookie of the Week for Men’s Lacrosse Lance Legere Staff Writer The Northeast 10 conference (NE10) has awarded SNHU athletes in the past for their performance and it’s Ronan DePaul’s (‘24) turn to take the mantle.

Penmen lacrosse goalie and freshman Ronan DePaul made his debut between the pipes on March 31 against Assumption College where he recorded 22 saves in their 13-9 win. DePaul followed that performance with 16 saves in a 14-13 double-overtime thriller against Franklin Pierce University on April 3. For his efforts in leading the Penmen to two straight wins, DePaul was dubbed the NE10 Rookie of the Week on April 5, as reported by the NE10.

“Being named Rookie of the

Week was amazing,” said DePaul.

“I wasn’t expecting to see the field much knowing the talent of the other goalies on the team and knowing I’m the only freshman. I knew that if I got my shot at the starting spot, I’d do everything I could to make the most of it, and that’s exactly what I did.”

The Maryland native is looking to make these kinds of performances the standard going forward.

“I hope to build off of these games by looking at what I am still struggling with and working on fixing those issues,” said DePaul. “I also want to continue perfecting the things I do well with already to be sure those don’t become issues in the future,” he continued.

DePaul credits the upperclassmen

on the team for making his transition onto campus and onto the team as easy as it has been, since the circumstances have not been as typical. “They always have the best interest in mind and are always there to help us,” said DePaul.

Since his accolade, DePaul has been the starting goalie for the Penmen, appearing in their most recent game against Saint Anselm on April 7. The freshman has seen 185:38 of field time and has 55 saves in three starts this year.

As the Penmen carry on with the season, DePaul looks for more wins in goal and as a team.

Team schedules, player stats and other Penmen athletics news can be found at snhupenmen.com

Rookie Ronan DePaul. (image courtesy: SNHU Penmen)

The Penmen Press | 11

Men’s Lacrosse is Attacking This Spring Lance Legere Staff Writer

Tristian Pietz of SNHU Men’s Lacrosse. (image courtesy: SNHU Penmen Athletics) It’s been nearly a year since the Men’s Lacrosse team took the field for practice. Now they are back and ready to play at the NE10 conference.

“The first day of practice, the energy was there,” says head coach Paul Calkins. The Penmen had taken the field thirteen times before their first game against Franklin Pierce University.

“We have been really creative with Zoom meetings. We had to fast forward on the basics and get into the nuts and bolts of our offense and defense,” says Calkins.

From a coaching perspective, it is quite the challenge to put a roster together and have the athletes ready to play in such a short time, but it is also a challenge for both new and returning players to get in the flow of things.

“To have last year taken away from us was devastating. We didn’t know if we would be back or not [this year],” says team captain Cole Jacobsen (‘21).

“We are thankful for what SNHU has provided us.”

The Penmen finished the 2019 season with an overall record of 4-10.

Calkins is excited with the group returning for this season. “We have a mix of new and old guys,” says Calkins.

With Tristian Pietz (‘22) out for the year due to injury, the Penmen offense will look a bit different this season.

“None of the guys in our starting attack were on our roster last season,” says Calkins. Graduate student David Weidenfeld will be paired alongside Jack Terrones (‘24) and Jackson Hounchell (‘22). A new attack with an experienced midfield of Jacobsen, Tim Krutz (‘23) and Stephen Dubois (‘21) has been a perfect fit up to this point.

“There is a lot of game experience with our midfield group. We knew those six would be our main guys,” said Calkins.

Defensively, Nolan Isabella (‘21) will be leading the charge. “He is becoming the leader back there,” said Calkins.

Every other defensive starter is either a freshman or a sophomore with little to no game experience. “We are having to mold guys back there, and Nolan has been very helpful being the on-field general.”

The lacrosse team is currently on campus, which has helped them

become closer. “Spending seven days on the same floor with your teammates forces you to become closer as friends,” said Jacobsen. “One of the best things about playing college lacrosse are the connections and bonds you make that will last a lifetime.”

The Penmen are hoping to improve in the NE10, as they finished the shortened 2020 season with a 3-8 record in conference play. “We can improve from two years ago,” says Calkins. “I think this group is going to help us take a bigger leap forward.” Every team will get a shot at the playoffs this season, but the Penmen are looking for more than a first-round appearance.

“The end goal is always going to be to compete for an NE10 Championship,” says Jacobsen. “While we want to win, I also just want to embrace this season and have a good time. Time flies when you’re playing a sport and this could be my last year. I’m taking every day with a grain of salt.”

The Penmen currently sit at 3-3 on the young season and look to make the most of their remaining seven games as the playoffs are quickly approaching.

12 | Lifestyle

Lifestyle

The Penmen Press | 13

Masks Are The New “It” In Fashion Julie Armstrong Business Manager

Mask Fashion. (image courtesy: New York Post) As the pandemic continues, masks have become much more than an essential tool to keep infection from spreading, exemplifying the saying “fashion meets function.”

With their various designs, colors and messages, masks are becoming a medium for self-expression. Some masks even attempt to cultivate art and positivity.

During lockdown, Hilary Taymour, a designer who runs the New York company, Collinda Strada, recognized an opportunity to help spread caution and to provide beautiful masks to her customers.

She spent her free time transforming her line, Psychedelic Exuberance,

which features “whimsical patterns made from deadstock [never-beenworn] fabrics and tied with theatrical bows,” says Max Berlinger, who wrote “How the Face Mask Took Over Fashion.” Through her unique designs, Taymour encourages her consumers to wear masks to stop the spread of the virus and spread happiness. In addition, Taymour has stated that creating the line of masks, “helped [her to] stay optimistic during a really dark time for fashion.”

The world is in the age of the mask, so everyone may want to start embracing this new trend. Try simple colored masks to match the primary colors in your outfits. After

coordinating colors, adding patterns will become easier. Even disposable black and pink masks are great options for people wanting to explore new things about mask fashion.

Here is a simple guide that you can follow: Mix and match an array of colors, tones, and prints to create an artistic approach to styling.

Include neutral tones with print in an outfit to make sure everything is complementary. Another bold choice is a completely monochromatic outfit. Other creative approaches may include matching masks with accessories such as: headbands, shoes, and bags. Make something enjoyable out of necessity.

14 | A&E and Opinion

A&E and Opinion

The Penmen Press | 15

Disney’s Content Flood Causing Success and Concern Devin Pouliot Staff Writer With the finale of The Mandalorian Season 2, The Walt Disney Company stated they will be releasing 20 new Marvel and Star Wars series over the next few years.

According to starwars.com, President of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy announced ten new titles for the Star Wars series, ranging from an Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries following the Jedi master, to a Rogue Squadron film about X-wing pilots in the Galactic Civil War. Kennedy also announced ten additional new shows and movies that are projected to be released concurrently. Two of these shows, WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, have already sparked interest and popularity as the first of the announced titles to

be released on Disney’s streaming service, Disney+.

While relatively new, Disney+ has seen remarkable success from its host of titles across multiple Disney-owned studios. According to Elaine Low in her article, “Could Upstart Disney Plus Eclipse Netflix in the Streaming Wars?” the success is seen in the subscriber count for the service, which reached 86 million subscribers in a year and is projected to rise to over 300 million by 2024. For reference, Netflix, which started streaming in 2007, has 197 million customers and is only projected to increase to 295 million subscribers in 2024.

With the creation of more content to entice new subscribers, it seems Disney+ will easily achieve this projection. However,

SNHU students have shared mixed opinions on the flood of new content to Disney+.

One student, Marlon Ascencio (’22), stated he doesn’t like that so much content is being released from multiple studios. “They’re pumping out so many it feels like there would be a lack of quality. It feels inhuman,” says Ascencio.

Other students, like Matt Lavallee (’22), say they don’t find an issue with the volume. “I don’t mind it. The things Disney has released don’t have a lack of quality…I don’t think there’s been a downside,” says Lavallee.

Regardless, Disney will continue to unroll new content, continuing with weekly episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier every Friday on Disney+.

Disney Announcing Upcoming Star Wars titles. (image courtesy: Disney)

16 | A&E and Opinion

Poetry Should Be Open For Interpretation Taylor Posik Staff Writer

Poetry Blocks. (image courtesy: Insight Puplications) “Is poetry dead?” It’s one of the most asked questions as mankind moves through the twenty-first century.

People are drifting away from traditional poetry and turning to Instapoetry such as the #1 bestseller of 2017, Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur, which had sold millions of copies worldwide within the first three months of being released.

While this question can be interesting to ponder, it’s not the only question that should be asked.

Teachers incorporate poetry into their lectures to improve children’s reading and writing skills from an early age. In addition, it can help develop speech, creative skills, understanding of real-life situations and help children to get in touch with their emotions.

However, it has not gone unnoticed that English teachers have a habit of guiding students through a poem while correcting students’ viewpoints.

This behavior can be noticed as early as elementary school and persists throughout college, begging the question: is poetry really open for

interpretation?

Firstly, an interpretation is not an opinion, it is an understanding of what’s being viewed. For example, someone can make an interpretation that a poem is about love and connect their claim to evidence within the poem.

However, if they make the same claim without any way to back up their reasoning, it’s an opinion.

Furthermore, an opinion can be as simple as someone being drawn to a particular piece.

“In a poem, the evidence is every word...It generally helps to read a poem several times, looking up words or allusions, and then most readers will ‘get’ the poem— unless it’s a very difficult poem,” says English Professor Dr. Allison Cummings.

In a class at SNHU, students were asked if poetry is meant to “teach or delight.” Depending on the way a person looks at a poem, it could be both. The “delight” aspect is as simple as reading a poem for fun. When a poem “teaches” something, it can have several meanings. It can use

technical forms and allow people to “consider all the words, their arrangement (syntax), and implied or double meanings, to arrive at a solid interpretation. If a reader overlooks some lines or words and arrives at a misinterpretation, it’s like a lawyer overlooking a key piece of evidence and losing a case,” says Cummings.

Whether in the classroom or on one’s own, poetry should be open for interpretation. As an art form, the main purpose of poetry is to make a person feel something, and individuals’ feelings shouldn’t be invalidated. There’s a reason why people have differing interpretations of certain art forms.

Sometimes they are reminded of what they’ve experienced, other times they may be based on desires or fears.

Unfortunately, students are hesitant to speak up in class because they don’t want to be told they’re wrong. A teacher can explain a key part of the poem a student may be missing, but they shouldn’t immediately reject the student’s analysis. As long as they’re backed

The Penmen Press | 17

up with evidence, students should be allowed to come to their own conclusions on what the poem represents.

“I think people have fear around poetry because it takes a different level of grammatical understanding (or help from a professor) to feel accomplished enough to analyze and really get the poem. So many people have had experiences where poetry (or the people teaching it to them) has made them feel dumb because of the level of complexity that they avoid studying it further rather than trying again,” says Elaana DePina, ‘21.

The reason behind why teachers incorporate certain poems in the lesson plans may vary. High school teachers may intend to teach about a certain poet or literary form. College professors’ agendas may focus on different eras, such as Modernism, to create an understanding of that period in time. Because of this, poetry can be tainted by a lesson plan in order to teach the students,

which can leave little room for interpretation and enjoyment of the piece. Additionally, being asked to analyze the various literary devices and forms is not the same as interpreting the piece as a whole. While it can be helpful to understand the purpose of those aspects of poetry, the big picture and how people see it is much more important.

“A lot of teachers I’ve had in the past, though, especially in high school, tend to push their own meanings on what they’re having their students read, and it takes all the fun out of interpreting the poetry for yourself,” says Rosa Valente, ‘21.

Learning how to decode poetry can take years of practice to master, especially considering how they are written in metaphors or may use juxtaposition to express differing ideas. However, if a student logically backs up their reasoning with evidence, then why are their ideas still being shot down?

Having different views on

Poetry. (image courtesy: The Province)

one poem can help others to consider ideas they haven’t thought about before. If everyone agreed on a certain viewpoint, then there wouldn’t be room to grow and learn. After all, over time everyone’s viewpoints change as they encounter new experiences.

Without having the chance to justify an argument on a subject, the world would be a lot blander.

A healthy debate on the meanings behind a poem, along with other various subjects, can prove beneficial to how a person sees themselves and the world.

It’s understandable that there’s always a bigger picture or a personal behind the poetry that teachers want to explain, but teaching students to find their own voice and how to find the evidence in the poetry is more valuable than insisting on one interpretation.

At the end of the day, everyone has a unique mind and story and students should have the free will to share their own interpretation of poetry.

The Penmen Press |18

The Southern New Hampshire University Penmen Press is a news publication produced by Southern New Hampshire University students and funded largely by the Student Government Association of the University. It is our responsibility to inform the SNHU community about events on and around campus. The Penmen Press will print any material found to be factual and in good taste by the editorial staff of the paper. The views published do not necessarily reflect the views of Southern New Hampshire University. The Penmen Press is published monthly during the academic year and is printed on campus by Copies Plus. To contact the newspaper, please email us at penmenpress@snhu.edu