ONE OF THE USES FOR POETRY IN THE CLASSROOM IS THAT OF STUDYING THE WAY A POET EMPLOYS FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE AND THE CONCRETE, SENSUAL IMAGE TO BRING INTO SHARP FOCUS, OR SUGGEST BY CONNOTATION, THE DEFINITION OF A SINGLE WORD. THIS, IN TURN, CAN LEAD TO STUDENT EXERCISES IN DEFINING WORDS IN CONCRETE SENSUAL LANGUAGE. BY TAKING A POEM WHICH SEEMS TO GIVE EMPHASIS TO ONE WORD ("LOVELINESS" IN SARA TEASDALE'S "BARTER," FOR INSTANCE) AND ASKING STUDENTS TO DESCRIBE WHAT THE POET MEANT BY THE WORD, WHAT THEY MEAN BY THE WORD, AND WHAT SOME LITERARY CHARACTER THEY HAVE STUDIED MIGHT MEAN, THE FULL RANGE OF LANGUAGE ARTS EXPERIENCES ARE BROUGHT INTO PLAY. (THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE "ENGLISH JOURNAL," VOL. 56 (SEPTEMBER 1967), 845-847.) (DL)