In this course, we will be learning ways of describing the structures of different kinds of poetry as we look at how poets from a variety of times and places have thought and re-thought the art of poetry. In addition to reading poems, we will be reading essays, letters, and other writings about poetry from poets such as Aimé Césaire, Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, Frederico García Lorca, Marianne Moore, Gertrude Stein, and William Wordsworth.

As part of a “W” course, you will be writing and revising two papers of approximately 5-pages each. Shorter in-class writing assignments and homework writing assignments will provide opportunities with which to develop the two papers. Classes will include lectures from the instructor as well as discussions generated from your writing. Over the quarter, there will also be several short exams on key terms and concepts presented in the assigned readings and discussed in class.


Book List:


Jeffrey Wainwright, /Poetry: The Basics/, 2^nd edition, Routledge, 2011, 9780415566162

Melissa Kwasny, editor, /Toward the Open Field: Poets on the Art of Poetry, 1800-1950/, Wesleyan University Press, 2004, 9780819566072