Maybe something like Turco's Book of Forms? I think the variety is sort of eye-opening, and all the examples he uses are good poems.
From what you describe, it sounds like what he needs to do is to look at a bunch of poems that are not the kind of thing he'd typically read but that someone with credibility has judged to be a good poem, and think about why that would be. What effect is each poet going for? What makes that poem tick?
I think that's what was the most valuable in the poetry workshop class I took as an undergraduate, was having to read poems that I didn't necessarily like, but try and give useful critique anyway. Because it forces you to step away from your own tastes and think about what works, and why.
And it also sounds like he just needs to read a lot of poetry. Maybe just give him a three-inch-thick anthology and tell him he needs to rate each poem in it on a scale of 1-5, with one sentence of explanation. Is that stupid, or would that actually work?
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From what you describe, it sounds like what he needs to do is to look at a bunch of poems that are not the kind of thing he'd typically read but that someone with credibility has judged to be a good poem, and think about why that would be. What effect is each poet going for? What makes that poem tick?
I think that's what was the most valuable in the poetry workshop class I took as an undergraduate, was having to read poems that I didn't necessarily like, but try and give useful critique anyway. Because it forces you to step away from your own tastes and think about what works, and why.
And it also sounds like he just needs to read a lot of poetry. Maybe just give him a three-inch-thick anthology and tell him he needs to rate each poem in it on a scale of 1-5, with one sentence of explanation. Is that stupid, or would that actually work?