This is a simple poem that you could use to discuss, for examples, Gender roles, or Stereotyping. The last line is surprising because of what comes before, and will, for a lot of readers, turn the whole poem on its head, revealing conceptions about genders, what we associate with them in terms of physical appearance and strength, typical behaviour and the like. This in turn can be linked to stereotyping (French people eat frogs' legs; Americans are loud; women can't park; men like football), a useful topic of discussion when developing critical thinking and citizenship competencies.

But the point here is to illustrate another aspect: how to interpret.

You can use this poem first as a way to help learners identify a very important aspect of reading and interpreting: the way they react to a text, the ideas they find in a text, ultimately come from them, what they know and who they are. An interpreter is someone who uses different filters to look at something and make sense of it: those filters will be to do with upbringing, culture, personality, experiences, likes and dislikes, friends and interests, knowledge and ignorance.

Denying that those aspects play into interpretation is problematic, as going beyond those to approach a text in 'objective' terms is a very difficult thing to do - a specialised thing, in fact, and it is debatable to what extent that is needed, or useful, at school.

So you can point all that out through a concrete example, that is, using this poem in class. How? 

First, ask learners to read the poem but remove the last line (you can give them an individual copy of the poem, or put it on the board/electronic board) for all to read.

Then, ask them to complete the poem with one single line in the way they think best - make sure they understand that you are not asking them to predict the last line: they are definitely not trying to second-guess the writer, or you. You want them to write a honest line that would close the poem - and it doesn't have to rhyme.

Third, once they have written a line, make an inventory of those last lines - you may ask for as many as you like of course. The point here is diversity, so it's more important to write down (on the board) lines that are different from each other than write it all down (while of course acknowledging all contributions). You are not interested in identifying the line that's closest to the original: you want diversity of lines, because that diversity will reveal the diversity in seeing the world.

When I do this with my students, I typically get lines like: 

• that new kid is really sad

• that new kid is really bad

• that new kid deserves to be punished

• that new kid has problems at home

• that new kid has no parents

• that new kid is horrible

• I hate that new kid

• I should help that new kid

The diversity here can only be explained by the fact that different people think differently about the same topic - a pretty self-evident thing really, but one that readers must be aware of if they are to provide interpretations to a text. IF someone says 'That kid deserves to be punished', they have a certain view of the world that differs markedly from someone whose first response would be 'I should help that kid'. Again, it is important to remember that you are not looking for any truth about the poem, its topic and its writer: you are looking for ways to show your learners how their own mind works.

Since at this stage I am not (yet) interested in the poem itself, I use these examples of last line to elicit a personal reflection: what does it mean about you that you should think this, or that? Notice that I do not call this Reader's response, as that might be misleading: the personal, emotional, instinctive response of the reader is really useful only if you do something with it: in this case, reflect on what that response means in terms of seeing the world in general, and in terms of how one's mind actually works. After all, any reader who creates a closing line for this poem will do so on the basis of what and who they think the poem describes, and how they think about what is described - in this case, a very aggressive, physically imposing and bully-like figure. It is that reaction, that interpretation, which you want to bring to the fore, by linking that how to a why: why did you write that line and not another?

Again, it is not about which line is best, or fits best, it is about what the line says about the reader-as-interpreter, that is, the reader-as-individual.

The new kid on the block (J. Paretsky , 1984)

There’s a new kid on the block

and boy, that kid is tough,

that new kid punches hard

that new kid plays real rough,

that new kid’s big and strong,

with muscles everywhere,

that new kid tweaked my arm,

that new kid pulled my hair,

that new kid likes to fight,

and picks on all the guys,

that new kid scares me some,

(that new kid’s twice my size)

that new kid stomped my toes,

that new kid swiped my ball,

that new kid’s really bad, 

[I don't care for her at all.] That is the line you first remove