Many freshmen come to English courses thinking that they generally dislike poetry and that in particular they dislike writing critical essays about poetry. Two strategies which are effective in helping students overcome their own negative perceptions are to allow students to: (1) engage in transactional reader response; and (2) explore poetry through both creative and reflexive writing. Allowing students to share responses to poems in small-group discussions emphasizes the full interplay between book and reader. These discussions also allow students who are uncertain of themselves and their interpretations of poetry to become participants at this level. This same exchange of ideas can form the core of writing strategies. Focusing on multicultural ballads and narrative poems and exploring fresh perspectives on language and experience gives students confidence to make connections with a wide range of poetry. A two-part final writing assignment can involve creating an original ballad or narrative poem, and writing a short paper about this creative process, documented in a log. Within the process of creating their own poems, reflecting on the creative process, and sharing their writing within their groups, students are freed from the idea that poets and their poems belong to an alien and privileged discourse. Examples of students' poems and essays demonstrate that not only do students share their own voices and those of others, they also collaborate in a process which demystifies poetry. (Contains 17 references.) (NH)