ABSTRACT
Reading pictures is a more sociable activity than reading print. Pictures are usually viewed and discussed by groups of students more readily than are poems and novels because the visual medium is more invitational. Talking about pictures builds confidence, and more so than with an ekphrasis: coming to a poem after talking about the painting that inspired it helps to demystify the poem and render it available both as a parallel response to a shared experience and as an autonomous entity in its own right. Equally, the experience of learning how a painting is made gives students greater access to the construction of its sister art, particularly when the poem deals with the same subject. In addition to the motivation afforded by the inherent interest of the two related art forms, one main educational benefit lies in the enhanced historical and cultural awareness they offer. Spectatorship is endemic in the activities of poets, painters and pupils.
