MWF 12:00-12:50 Scie 203
Instructor: Rhett Iseman Trull
Phone: 256-0484 (office)
Office: McIver 334L
Email: Rhettreep@aol.com
Mailbox: 132A McIver
Office Hours: MWF 9-10 or by appointment
English 106 will expose students to the genre of poetry. The course is
designed to foster your critical thinking skills as you examine different poems
in
terms of language, structure, and contextual tools. My goal is for you to grow
as careful, analytic
readers.
Texts: (BRING YOUR NORTON BOOK TO EVERY CLASS)
The Norton Introduction to Poetry, 8th edition (ed, J. Paul Hunter)
Course Requirements: Grade Breakdown: midterm and final project (anthology; analytical paper) (50%) oral presentation & paper on poetry book of your choice (25%) paper on campus poetry reading, oral pres., quizzes, etc. (15%) participation (attendance, discussion) (10%)
Essay Format: All essays should be typed, double-spaced, with one-inch margins and 12-point font. If you are going to be absent, turn the paper in to me (or my mailbox) before class on the due date. If you are going to have trouble meeting a deadline, please come to me early. Late work is a hindrance to me, to your classmates, and to your grade.
Attendance: Basically, come to class. And come on time. Three tardies equal one absence. More than three unexcused absences could mean being dropped from the course. If you know you are going to be absent beforehand, please let me know. In all cases, a student is responsible for making up missed class work and coming prepared to the class following the absence. If you miss a pop-quiz during an unexcused absence, you will have to accept a zero for that grade. Remember, attendance is a factor in your partcipation grade.
Conferences: If you need to talk to me at any point in the semester, I encourage you to come by my office hours or make an appointment. I’m always happy to talk to my students, and you should seize every opportunity to take an active role in your education.
Policies: The biggest rule in my classroom is respect. You should come in with an attitude of respect for yourself, your peers, and for me. Our class will be built around discussion, and everyone should feel welcome to state his/her opinions and beliefs in a non-threatening, open-minded atmosphere. Please arrive on time, turn in your work on time, and avoid plagiarism. Please respect one another’s different perspectives. Be open to new ideas.
SYLLABUS (subject to change): (Please read the assignments prior to the date/class under which they’re listed.)
8/16 Mon: introduction
8/18 Wed: What is poetry? How do we read it?
8/20 Fri: read Norton p. 1-13
8/23 Mon: DUE: response sheet on 3 poems
8/25 Wed: tone; read Barbie Doll (26), Leaving...Motel (28), Hard Rock
Returns...(31), Woodchucks (34)
8/27 Fri: tone; read Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers (35), After Making Love (37),
Persimmons (42), Mother...Groom (46), Heaven (53)
8/30 Mon: speaker; read Letters...(62), Death...Drowning (65),
Soliloquy...(66)
9/1 Wed: speaker; read Needs (71), She Dwelt...(72), Praying Drunk(73),
Hanging
Fire (76); DUE: rewrite from different P.O.V. and/or tone
9/3 Fri: situation/setting; read Cherrylog Road (86), Dover Beach (96), How
I
Discovered...(98)
9/6 Mon: NO CLASS (Labor Day)
9/8 Wed: situation/setting; read Porphyria’s Lover (104), Morning (109),
Evening (110),
Evening in the Sanitarium (111)
9/10 Fri: quiz
9/13 Mon: word choice; read At the San Fran. Airport (126), After Great Pain
(131),
My Papa’s Waltz (131)
9/15 Wed: word choice; read Sex Without Love (133), The Red Wheelbarrow
(135),
This Is Just to Say (135), in-Just (138), Morning (139);DUE:
choice for
independent book report/paper
9/17 Fri: poetry workshop (optional)
9/20 Mon: language; read Home Movies (149), Bluebonnets (151), The Beautiful
Changes (153), To Paint a Water Lily (154)
9/22 Wed: language; read Love:Youth (155), That Time of Year (159), Marks
(161),
My Father’s Garden (162)
9/24 Fri: language; read Batter My Heart(167), Death of...(169), Other (171)
9/27 Mon: imagery; read Leningrad...(174), The Leap (176), Dancing...(182)
9/29 Wed: sound; read The Word Plum(190), What the Motorcycle..(192),
Metrical(197)
10/1 Fri: sound; read The Raven (201), Break...(205), Spring...(205),The
Blues (213);
DUE: homework--examples of sound devices
10/4 Mon: review for mid-term
10/6 Wed: MID-TERM
10/8 Fri: NO CLASS (enjoy Fall Break)
10/11 Mon: NO CLASS (Fall Break)
10/13 Wed: Oral Presentations: Memorized Poems
10/15 Fri: Oral Presentations: Memorized Poems
10/18 Mon: Oral Presentations: Independent Book Review
10/20 Wed: Oral Presentations: Independent Book Review
10/22 Fri: Oral Presentations: Independent Book Review
10/25 Mon: Oral Presentations: Independent Book Review
10/27 Wed: Oral Presentations: Independent Book Review
10/29 Fri: poetry workshop (optional)
11/1 Mon: organization/structure; read Mr. Flood’s Party (223), The
Goose
Fish(226),
and text p.223-234, 247-249
11/3 Wed: organization; Arrangements...(231), The Victims (233)
11/5 Fri: form; read Sir Patrick Spens (235), Auto Wreck (236), The Pardon
(237),
The Dance (238), Save Us From (240)
11/8 Mon: sonnet; read Nuns...(254), The New Colossus (257), The White House
(257),
First Fight (260), In the Park (261), Harlem Dancer(262), Yet Do
I...(262),
My Mistress’ Eyes (264)
11/10 Wed: sestina, villanelle; read Do Not Go...(266), Sestina (267)
11/12 Fri: haiku; read p. 347-352
11/15 Mon: how to write about poetry
11/17 Wed: how to write about poetry
11/19 Fri: CONFERENCES
11/22 Mon: CONFERENCES
11/24 Wed: NO CLASS (Thanksgiving Break)
11/26 Fri: NO CLASS (Thanksgiving Break)
11/29 Mon: Oral Presentations: international poetry
12/1 Wed: Oral Presentations: international poetry
12/3 Fri: reading party; DUE: Anthologies
12/6 Mon: NO CLASS
Final papers/anthologies will be returned by the end of the exam period. Come by my office to pick them up.