Reading - the first few seconds

I handed out a poem and after 10 seconds asked them to turn the page over and say what had passed through their mind in that time. I also asked them what they could remember about the piece. Did they read the title? Did they look at the author's name? One person had started at the title and was halfway through the piece when I interrupted. Another did more or less what I do: a 2 second skim to take in the length, form and nature of vocabulary, then (depending on my mood, and the form of the poem) reading through from the top, or looking at random stanzas and the final stanza before attempting a full read.

Two issues to point out are that

editors sometimes only have 10 seconds if that to decide whether a poem deserves a 2nd reading. If poets are sending material out they should consider what initial impact their work has.
The initial reading strategy will vary according to the reader's purpose (enjoyment, selecting for a magazine) but I think it should also vary according to the type of poem. Some people seem to read every poem in the same way: from beginning to end - only the speed depending on the poem. It might be useful to suggest that people try out different ways of reading.

See also Reader response theory (from the Voice of the Shuttle).

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Tim Love, August 1999 (from an idea suggested by Helena Nelson).

tpl@eng.cam.ac.uk