ENG 221-01: Writing of Poetry
TR: 2:00-3:15
330 McIver Building
Instructor: Terry L. Kennedy
Office: 136F McIver Building, Mailbox: 133 McIver Building
Office Hours: TR: 7:00-8:00 am
E-mail: tlkenned@bigfoot.com
Phone: 336-334-5311
FAX: 336-334-3281
Course Description: This is an introductory yet intensive course in poetry writing. Students will be responsible for interpretive as well as creative work with the first half of the semester consisting of directed assignments and presentations. The remainder of the course will be spent critiquing and discussing work submitted by the members of the workshop. At the end of the semester, each student is to submit a final interpretive paper as well as a portfolio of his or her best work. All students are expected to have taken a college literature course in which poetry is studied prior to enrolling. This course is for students beyond the freshman year.
Student Learning Goals:
To develop artistic abilities and ultimately produce a refined body of work by focusing intensively, under faculty guidance, on poetry.
To learn sophisticated models for revision; sharpen reading, editorial, and analytical skills; and cultivate the ability to articulate matters of craft and literary theory.
To become familiar with formal possibilities for writing and explore the historical development of prosody through a close study of the structure of poetry.
To develop a broader knowledge base of contemporary works of and the literary canon.
To enhance professional development with the support of a community of faculty, fellow students, and distinguished visiting writers.
Attendance: ATTENDANCE IS REQUIRED! You are allowed ONE absence during the semesterno exceptions. If you miss two days, you will lose 2 points from your final total; if you miss three days, you will lose 4 points; four days, 6 points; if you miss five or more days, you will automatically fail the course.
If you are late to class or leave early from class, it counts as ½ an absence.
Absences include illness, sporting events, car accidents, acts of nature, etc. In other words, an absence is an absence is an absence. I do not need a note from the health center or police department, as it will make absolutely no difference at all.
If you are absent on the day of a conference, a paper is due, a workshop, etc., you not only receive two absences, you also get a zero for the missed assignment.
If you do not miss a class (and you are on time each day) you will receive five extra points toward your final grade.
Class Work:
Your Responsibilities are to:
Read each assignment carefully and come to class prepared to discuss it. (Note: always bring your texts to class.)
Participate ACTIVELY in large-group and small-group discussions.
Attend regularly scheduled conferences.
Turn in nine "directed" poems and four "open" poems.
Turn in weekly critiques.
Turn in six revisions: 1 revision for each of your four "open" poems, and 1 revision for each of the two directed poems you workshop.
Hold two forty-five-minute group presentations/class discussions
Write a five-to-six page comparison of two collections of poems.
Turn in a final portfolio of your best work.
Extra Credit:
Extra credit assignments will be posted on our Web Page periodically throughout the semester. (Note: I will not discuss the extra-credit assignments in class. It is YOUR responsibility to check the website and e-mail me for details.)
Assignment Miscellany:
Excluding original poems, all assignments should be typed, double-spaced, with a size 12 "times" font, 1inch top & bottom margins, and 1.25 inch left & right margins.
Assignments failing to use the specified spacing, font, or margins will not be accepted.
It is your responsibility to bring the required number of copies of each assignment to class. Failure to bring in the required number of copies will result in your receiving a zero for the assignment.
Late assignments will not be accepted.
Texts:
The majority of our texts (including homework assignments and handouts) for the semester will be made available on-line via our website. It is YOUR responsibility to make sure that you have all of the required texts well in advance. Failure to bring the required texts to class will result in ½ an absence. (Note: I couldn
Other texts:
A good dictionary!
Dancing on Canaan
Handiwork by Jim Clark
Good Hope Road by Stuart Dischell
Evenings & Avenues by Stuart Dischell
(Note: The books should be available at the University Bookstore and can sometimes be found by following the link from our website to Barnes&Noble.com or Amazon.com. Additionally, 1 copy of each book will be placed on Reserve at the Jackson Library for 2-hour checkout.)
Other materials:
Large three-ring binder
Stapler
Grading:
Your final grade will determined by the following breakdown:
Schedule:
8/21: First day of class Presentation sign-up
8/23: Introductions
Essay: Spoken Arguments
"Favorite Poem" reading Presentation sign-up (cont.)
8/28: Reading: Essay on Rhythm
New World by Scott Momaday
For the Marriage of Faustus and Helen by Hart Crane
Love Song by William Carlos Williams
Overland to the Islands by Denise Levertov
Seeing Mercer, Maine by Wesley McNair
Childhood of the Invisible Woman by Jeanne Marie Beaumont
Somewhere Near Phu Bai by Yusef Komunyakaa
Who Burns for the Perfection of Paper by Martín Espada
A Few Days by James Schuyler
Middle Age by Robert Lowell
Bix Beiderbecke by Dana Gioia
Directed poem: Rhythm (Note: If you are presenting, bring copies for the entire class. Everyone else, bring 2 copies.)
Presentation on Rhythm
8/30: CLASS CANCELLED
9/3: LABOR DAY HOLIDAY
9/4: CLASS CANCELLED
9/6: Workshop directed poems: rhythm (Bring 3 copies of each critique to class!)
9/11: Reading: Essay on Sound
Meditation on Song and Structure by Charles Wright
Domesday Song by W.H. Auden
Junk by Richard Wilbur
A Terre and Exposure by Wilfred Owen
River Road by Stanley Kunitz
Overhearing Two on a Cold Sunday Morning by Robert Francis
Blackie, the Electric Rembrandt by Thom Gunn
Directed poem: Sound (Note: If you are presenting, bring copies for the entire class. Everyone else, bring 2 copies.)
Presentation on Sound
9/13: Workshop directed poems: sound (Bring 3 copies of each critique to class!)
9/18: Reading: Essay on Line
Skonoke
The Arrest of Oscar Wilde by John Betjeman
After Apple Picking by Robert Frost
The Three Susans by Jane Kenyon
For an Exchange of Rings by Donald Hall
The Cracks by Robert Creeley
Slow Drivers by Gerald Barrax
Braiding by Li-Young Lee
Praises by Thomas McGrath
A Domestic Poem for Portia by Jim Harrison
Critics and Connoisseurs by Marianne Moore
Loneliness: An Outburst of Hexasyllables by Hayden Carruth
Lady Bates by Randall Jarrell
Directed poem: Line (Note: If you are presenting, bring copies for the entire class. Everyone else, bring 2 copies.)
Presentation on Line
9/20: Workshop directed poems: line (Bring 3 copies of each critique to class!)
9/25: Reading: Essay on Syntax
Of a Sun She Can Remember by Eleanor Wilner
Self-Employed by David Ignatow
What a Boy Can Do by Alberto Rios
Notes on the Death . . . by Ted Kooser
The Room by Mark Strand
Lee Morgan by David Henderson
Boxing by Leo Connellan
Hay for the Horses by Gary Snyder
Directed poem: Syntax (Note: If you are presenting, bring copies for the entire class. Everyone else, bring 2 copies.)
Presentation on Syntax
9/27: Workshop directed poems: syntax (Bring 3 copies of each critique to class!)
10/2: Reading: Essay on Grammar, Punctuation, and Capitalization
Street by George Oppen
Soliloquy: Man Talking to a Mirror by Yusef Kommunyakaa
Continuum: a Love Poem by Maxine Kumin
Sunday Greens by Rita Dove
Directed poem: Grammar, etc. (Note: If you are presenting, bring copies for the entire class. Everyone else, bring 2 copies.)
Presentation on Grammar, Punctuation, and Capitalization
10/4: Workshop directed poems: grammar, etc. (Bring 3 copies of each critique to class!)
10/6-10/9: FALL BREAK
10/10: Conferences
10/11: Conferences
10/12: Conferences
10/15: Conferences
10/16: Reading: Essay on Word Choice
English Flavors by Laure-Anne Bosselaar
The Miser by Mona Van Duyn
Gwendolyn Brooks by Haki Madhubuti
Watching Fire by John Haines
Winter Bouquet by W.D. Snodgrass
The Spirit Ink by Frank O
For the Union Dead by Robert Lowell
Directed poem: word choice (Note: If you are presenting, bring copies for the entire class. Everyone else, bring 2 copies.)
Presentation on Word Choice
10/18: Workshop directed poems: word choice (Bring 3 copies of each critique to class!)
10/23: Reading: Essay on Details
The Last Class by Ellen Bryant Voigt
Thanksgiving Day Downstairs by Gjertrud Schnackenberg
A Job on the Night Shift by Greg Pape
The Regulars by C.K. Williams
St. Peter Claver by Toi Derricotte
Ending Green by Belle Waring
Love Calls Us to the Things of This World by Richard Wilbur
Break of Day by Galway Kinnell
Directed poem: details (Note: If you are presenting, bring copies for the entire class. Everyone else, bring 2 copies.)
Presentation on Details
10/25: Workshop directed poems: details (Bring 3 copies of each critique to class!)
10/30: Reading: Essay on Metaphor
#875 by Emily Dickinson
#889 by Emily Dickinson
Cinderella by Anne Sexton
One Eye, Two Eyes, Three-Eyes by Anne Sexton
Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane by Etheridge Knight
Night Over Birkenau by Tadeusz Borowski
Directed poem: metaphor (Note: If you are presenting, bring copies for the entire class. Everyone else, bring 2 copies.)
Presentation on Metaphor
11/1: Workshop directed poems: metaphor (Bring 3 copies of each critique to class!)
Open Workshop sign-up
11/6: Reading: Essay on Image
In a Station of the Metro by Ezra Pound
Preludes by T.S. Eliot
Skunk Hour by Robert Lowell
Taking Leave of a Friend by Ezra Pound
Snowfall in the Afternoon by Robert Bly
Rain by James Wright
On the Murder of Lieutenant Jose Castillo . . . by Philip Levine
The Assasination of John F. Kennedy by Gwendolyn Brooks
The Dahlia Gardens by Amy Clampitt
Directed poem: image (Note: If you are presenting, bring copies for the entire class. Everyone else, bring 2 copies.)
Presentation on Image
Open Workshop sign-up (cont.)
11/8: Workshop directed poems: image (Bring 3 copies of each critique to class!)
Open Poems for 11/13 Due (Bring copies for the entire class!)
11/13: Open workshop (Bring 3 copies of each critique to class!)
Open Poems for 11/15 Due (Bring copies for the entire class!)
11/15: Open workshop (Bring 3 copies of each critique to class!)
Open Poems for 11/20 Due (Bring copies for the entire class!)
11/20: Open workshop (Bring 3 copies of each critique to class!)
Open Poems for 11/26 Due (Bring copies for the entire class!)
11/21-11/25: THANKSGIVING BREAK
11/26: Conferences
11/27: Open workshop (Bring 3 copies of each critique to class!)
Open Poems for 11/29 Due (Bring copies for the entire class!)
11/28: Conferences
11/29: Open workshop (Bring 3 copies of each critique to class!)
12/4: Conferences
12/6: Class Reading
12/13: Final portfolioincluding final paperdue no later than NOON (Note: Failure to turn in final portfolio on time will cause you to fail the course)