Essays and contemporary works

My Composition teacher was telling us in class today how most good writing didn't have what is normally expected to be put in an essay- the thesis in a particular spot, and so forth; 'good writing' doesn't require a format so much, my Comp teacher said, as long as it was interesting. He told us how students are trained with the format as they learn how to write. Otherwise, our essays would be unorganized and sloppy.

While he was discussing this, I began to realize that students are trained much the same way with poetry. In English class, when it comes time for the poetry unit, we're given specifically structured poems- limericks and haiku and the like- to write. We're trained, when writing, to use rhyme and meter a certain way. While this is true for some stereotypical good writers- Emily Dickinson, for example, among other poets we frequently hear about in English class. Let's not forget, though, that there is a more contemporary style found just as often. By reading the works of e.e. cummings, as well as more modern poets, it's plain to see that they lack what we've learned to expect from poetry, yet they certainly do not fail to be interesting.