"A Camel in the Harbor": Poetry and Prediction

One essential feature of poetry is its violation of the expected, through the unpredicted word, image, syntactic structure, or idea. At the same time, prediction is necessary to success in learning to read. An attempt is made to reconcile a psycholinguistic theory of prediction with a view of poetry reading as involving the ability to anticipate the unexpected. Children's poems are cited which appeal both to the predictive sense & capacity for appreciating surprise. How these poems, through use of conventional rhyming patterns & familiar themes, set up the reader for the appropriate twist or turnabout is discussed. Implications for teaching concern the need for activities & reading materials which help students make logical predictions & anticipate & appreciate the unusual & unexpected. AA