SOURCE: "Literary Theory in the Classroom: Three Views of P. K. Page's 'The Permanent Tourists'," in Canadian Poetry: Studies, Documents, Reviews, No. 19, Fall/Winter, 1986, pp. 57–75.

The following excerpt contains essays by three writers of differing schools of criticism—Freudian Kay Stockholder, poststructuralist/feminist Shirley Neuman, and historical/practical scholar D. M. R. Bentley. Below, each author outlines his/her approach to teaching Page's "The Permanent Tourists" to undergraduate university students.

Kay Stockholder

This is a session on teaching poetry, specifically on teaching "The Permanent Tourists." But I find it difficult to separate my thoughts on how I teach a poem from my reading of it, though I modify the depth at which I present my reading, according to the level of my students. In general, however, to further my own and my student's sympathie apprehension, I begin what is finally a psychoanalytic approach to poetry by trying to...