I’ve always been fascinated by the Catholic tradition Lectio Divina: intentional, contemplative reading. Maybe it’s because this type of reading resists critical study and analysis, and it seems to operate differently than a lot of academic reading as it asks the participant to sit with the text for a while, reflect on it, and contemplate its teachings. I have used this type of reading in my literature classes for several years, but I’ve also begun to see its fruits in my own creative writing and with creative writing students. Here are the four parts of Lectio Divina: Lectio (Read); Meditatio (Reflect); Oratio (Respond); and Contemplatio (Rest). The exercise below is designed for four different sessions, whether each session is conducted over one longer class period or over a week of shorter class periods. I recommend at least 30-45 minutes per session to emphasize steady, slow, contemplative, and repetitive reading. The hope of reading with an emphasis on reflection and contemplation, instead of analysis and criticism, is to create a fertile emotional and mental space to generate new work.
First Session: Lectio
In class, choose any exemplary poem for your students—one you want them to think about as they consider their own craft. One semester, I used Lectio Divina for Judith Sornberger’s “Now I Lay Me Down.” Read the poem several times (silently and out loud), using different readers each time. Next, have students write down all of their observations. What do they notice in the poem? This is actually a tricky task for many high-performing students who move directly to analysis. They are poised and ready to tell you what the poem “means.” Resist. Ask them to list questions they have about the poem. Ask them to underline words that jump out. After you’ve given them at least five minutes to write their observations, invite them to share their lists with one or two other students. Help them expand their lists by listening to what other students noticed. Give them five minutes to share. Lastly, bring the class together and facilitate a longer conversation about their observations. Taking almost 20 minutes to notice a poem will drive some of your students crazy. But, this is the point, and you may need to remind them. Slow down. When you are satisfied with their ability to attend to the reading, simply end this session.
Second Session: Mediatio
Begin this session with reading the poem. Have students spend ten minutes reflecting on the poem in writing. In this session, it’s important for students to flesh out what they observed during the first reading. In the first session, they made lists of observations. In this next session, preferably after they’ve slept, ask them to go back to the list to make changes or add observations that have come to them after another round of reading. Again, resist analysis. Ask them to invite the poem into their lives—their imaginations; their emotional landscapes. After you believe that they have spent quality time in quiet reflection, have them share their reflections with someone else. You might close this session asking students to articulate how their thinking of the poem has changed after these two sessions.
Third Session: Oratio
Begin this session by reading the poem once or twice. As you can guess, if you don’t pick a great poem, students will get downright nasty at this stage. Pick a poem that demands lots of rereading. Trust me. Now, in this session, it’s time for them to respond to what they’ve been reading and observing. Ask them to write full sentences about their initial observations. What is the poem teaching them? How is the poem connecting with their life? What can the student not stop thinking about? This might be a time for students to synthesize all of their disparate observations. Have them write full sentences for 10-15 minutes. Again, this should be their fullest response to a poem that has consumed their imagination for two previous class sessions. After you are satisfied with their responses, have them share, again, with one or two other people. Then, after five minutes, bring the class together for a larger conversation where they can respond to the poem. At this point, they may turn to analysis and criticism; or, they may remain in personal and/or social reflection. No rules here. Just respond. You may end this session with instructions for the fourth session, or you can wait until they return to class.
Fourth Session: Contemplatio
In the Catholic tradition, this is usually the moment of prayer—sitting in silence and listening to God after having spent quality time with Holy Scripture. For these students, whether in sacred or secular spaces, I wonder if Lectio Divina can be a restful place to discover new content for writing poems. Can the silence, in light of what they’ve just read, be a fertile ground to generate new material? The simple assignment is to have students write their own poem in response to the poem they have lived with for three different sessions. Have them use any parts of their reflections or responses to create a poem. The hope of this long exercise is that students, usually so quick to judge and choose, may find themselves in a more reflective and thoughtful space to write—more contemplative.
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Jacob Stratman teaches in the English department at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, AR. His book-length collection of occasional poems for his sons, What I Have to Offer with Two Hands, was recently published by Cascade Books.