The Theory Headed Poem
Year: 2018 Authors: Carol Dorf
Core claim
Starting from math theory can generate poetic writing and classroom exercises for students and teachers.
Topics
mathematical poetry, writing games, theory-based composition, classroom exercises
Domains
combinatorics, geometry, trigonometry, polya-style problem solving, poetry, creative writing, workshop pedagogy, literary composition
Methods
syllabic poem prompts, word-list mixing, quoted-line recomposition, discussion and brainstorming
Media
poems, math texts, George Polya’s How To Solve It, Eileen R. Tabios’ Murder, Death, Resurrection
Paper text
The text below is the locally extracted OCR/Markdown version of the paper. Raw PDF files remain local and are not published here.
Bridges 2018 Conference Proceedings
The Theory Headed Poem
Carol Dorf
Mathematics Department, Berkeley High School; carol.dorf@gmail.com
Abstract
Often in mathematics theory is a starting place while in poetry theory is often seen as antithetical to the process. In the series of experiments in this workshops writers will begin with mathematical theory as well as sensory experience and see where it leads in the creation of poems.
Workshop Goals and Exercises
The workshop will consist of writing games, exercises and discussion of techniques for creating future work. Participants will experiment with mathematical writing games and develop an understanding of techniques to create mathematical writing exercises for themselves and their students. Furthermore the presenter will discuss how she developed these ideas through working with high school and adult students.
Initial Experiments. For the first segment of the workshop, students will write simple syllabic poems including HayNaKu (1, 2, 3 words or syllables), Haiku (5, 7, 5 syllables), and American Sentences (17 syllables.) To start these we will focus on objects within the writing space and its immediate environs.
Theory Poems
How to Solve It Poem. For this poem, participants will first list three concerns of theirs. For example some might consider the challenges of travelling, a family dilemma, and a project they are working on. Then each participant will list 6-10 mathematical words, and share the words with each other. During the sharing, participants will be allowed to “steal” others’ words, and add them to their lists. The next step of the process is to choose two lines or phrases from George Polya’s How To Solve It [1] Summary. Then participants will choose one of the initial challenges they listed and use the words and phrases in writing about the dilemma.
Combinatorial Poem. Participants writing to this prompt will choose two lines from Eileen R. Tabios’ book, “Murder, Death, Resurrection[2],” which was designed as a book for readers to approach as a combinatorial text. They will then choose two lines from a math text, either a book they teach from or another example book. They will be asked to put these lines in any order, and as they are playing with the order write 4 to 6 additional lines of their own.
Discussion and the Creation of Exercises
Participants will consider further model poems. Then while discussing the topics they study and teach in mathematics, they will brainstorm new exercises for themselves and their students.
649
Dorf
Example Poems
Note. The How To Solve It poem, and the Combinatorial Poems were written by students in the author’s IB Math SL2 class at Berkeley High School.
A light-hearted How To Solve It poem.
Can You See It At A Glance?¹
I need to pick the best mango to make the best smoothie It has to be the most prime and just right. I know I need to factor in ever perfect characteristic. The base needs the parabolic curve. The too-hard and the too-soft can only be differentiated with a slight squeeze to prove one’s ripeness. I’ve been looking for too long. I need a sine, a solution. Maybe the perfect mango is not in my domain. It is imaginary. I’m just being obtuse.
– Isabel Gerrard
Two examples of Combinatorial Poems with italicized lines quoted from Eileen R. Tabios[²].
”If”
“If” is a daunting word, the beginning of every nightmare. “If” spirals me into my subconscious worries. If aliens come to earth and conquer this world, If sea levels rise and drown our land, If monsters are real and walk into our school! I forgot the glue of if’s If an unknown appears as an exponent!
– Mayaan Ziv
”I Forgot”
I forgot whether love was relevant. Every day, waiting Waiting for something To make a change. Nothing. Time stretches on forever, Stuck in a vicious cycle; How long does it take for the wheel To complete a full cycle?
– K.G.
A prose poem that encounters theory:
Compass Rose in San Francisco[³]
Forgot that North Beach was filled with live nude neon (I navigate by bookstores). “Tacos?” I ask but Compass Rose wraps her hand my waist like a latitude line and swivels me 45 degrees (according to her protractor boutonniere): “West, west, to the sea!” “Dead seagulls,” I say. “Graffiti. Nudists. Fog,” but the N Judah arrives. Compass Rose presses her nose to the glass, lectures about zoning. “I love your urban form.” I finger the creases in her suit, the same pink as the painted lady atop the hill.)
We walk along a path of broken sand dollars. “When does west become east?” I ask. “That’s not the question.” She traces an angle in the sand with her heel. Bioluminescent organisms make it glow. “Ask me how to represent a sphere in two dimensions.”
– Rebecca Landau
Summary
Through writing a series of mathematically based poems, participants will begin to see ways to incorporate mathematical writing into their own writing practice and their classrooms. Participants will also be able to create new exercises for themselves and their students.
References
[1] Polya, George. How to Solve It. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1957. [2] Tabios, Eileen R. Murder, Death, Resurrection. Dos Madres Press, 2018. [3] Rebecca Landau. *82 Review, Issue 5.3, 2017.