COML 1134: Reading Poetry (FWS) #
The first four sessions will meet on Zoom. Use the Zoom tab in Canvas to access the meeting link.
Week 1: January 24, 26 – Introduction #
We will collectively discuss several poems and the reading strategies we use when discussing them. Then, we will discuss the gap or concordance between the "poem" and the "poetic." Your task will then be to write about what the "poetic" means to you, and to follow this with a discussion of how a poem you have read or written concords with or fails to live up to your notion of the "poetic."
1/24: What Do You Notice?
Discussion Board — Introduce yourself (name, pronouns, hometown, prospective major, anything else you’d like to share) and write a brief reflection on your most recent writing course. What did you read and write? How was the experience overall? Was there anything about the course design that worked well for you or which didn’t work? What would you change if you could go back in time? What do you hope to work on in this course? Post by today, 1/24 at 22:00.
1/26: Poem, Poet, Poetry, Poetics
Essay 0 - “First Day” (Due 1/28, 22:00)
Essay 0 - Peer review (Due 1/30, 22:00)
Week 2: Jan 31, Feb 2 – Rhyme #
1/31: “Rhyme” (PEPP), “Repetition” (PEPP)
We will continue discussing the poems from the slides, with an emphasis on discussing repetition and rhyme within each. Read the above entries, under > Files > Encyclopedia.
2/2: Orality and Rhyme
Discussion of rhyme and repetition in written and oral poetries. Discussion will likely include: Alexander Pope, Gertrude Stein, R.A.P. Ferreira, Eminem, Wally McRae, Harryette Mullen, and Christian Bök.
Writing Tasks — What makes a good poem? How do you go about writing one?
Discussion Board — Think about our discussions of rhyme and repetition this week and identify an idea you would like to respond to. Then, find an excerpt from the PEPP entries or a poem which addresses that idea. Finally, write a poem responding to that quotation. Here’s a topical constraint: Write about something you fear. You may certainly begin by writing your poem first, before connecting it to a particular idea on rhyme/repetition. Regardless, write a brief paragraph afterwards sharing the quote and reflecting on your process, and how satisfied you are with your response to the cited text. Post by 2/4 at 22:00.
Week 3: Feb 7, 9 – Line #
2/7: Robert Hass: Introduction, Chapters 1-3, from A Little Book on Form
- Prior to class, put in the #line slack channel a favorite quote from Hass or favorite quoted poem from the reading. Briefly comment on why you chose it, or not (in which case I will probably call on you in class to comment further).
- Keep a list of favorite lines mentioned in these chapters, in previous or future readings, and in poems you may have independently found. Try to figure out why you like a given line, couplet, or tercet of poetry. How does it “embody the energy of the gesture of its making”?
2/9: Poems by Robert Hass, A.R. Ammons
Writing Tasks — What makes a good sentence, paragraph, essay? How do you move between sentences? How do you move between paragraphs?
Discussion Board — Draft a poem or a stanza from a poem. It could be an extension or revision of last week’s post, or something new. Show three different ways of writing it on the page (using line breaks, stanza divisions, or virgules) and see if you can determine which one you prefer. Write a paragraph describing how you came up with the three arrangements and why you prefer the chosen one over the others. Cite Hass or another poem where necessary. Post by 9/12 at 22:00.
Week 4: Feb 14, 16 – Meter #
2/14: Hass: “A Note on Stress,” “How to Scan a Poem”
Read these chapters, but we'll discuss some of the quoted examples.
2/16: Whitman, “Song of Myself”
We'll continue discussing some poems written in a fixed meter, but also ask: are there metrical patterns in Whitman's free verse?
Essay 1 “Rhyme, Line, Meter” (Due 2/19, 22:00)
Writing Tasks — How do you write the first paragraph of an essay?
Week 5: Feb 21, 23 – Sonnet (Early Modern) #
**Individual Conferences (Feb 21-25)**
(Schedule using calendly.com/dp625)
In this conference, I will give you feedback on Essay 1. The earlier we meet, the more time you have to work on revisions. The final deadline for revisions is 3/5, 22:00, but if you turn them in earlier and request it, I can provide additional rounds of feedback. You may also come up with other questions or topics to discuss during the conference.
We will take an “inductive” approach to the sonnet form this week by reading a wide range of sonnets by Petrarch, Shakespeare, Rilke, Berrigan, Toomer, Hayes, Hopkins, Sor Juana, Pessoa, and others. Given these poems, we might ask: what do sonnets do? What subjects do they gravitate toward? What makes this form so robust and versatile? A small "reader" has been uploaded on Canvas ( > Files > Sonnet > 1134-sonnets.pdf ).
2/21: Art of the Sonnet, selected sonnets
Read the Introduction (p. 5-25) from Art of the Sonnet. Start reading poems from the Sonnet Reader; post poems that catch your eye in #sonnet. We'll pick out some quotes from the AoS Intro and look at some poems in the Sonnet reader in class. A few questions we will address: Why 14 lines? Why these rhyme schemes? Why and how did this form emerge? What are common topics addressed by the sonnet? What are its rhetorical stances and social, political, and/or aesthetic functions?
2/23: Early Modern Sonnets
Continue posting sonnets in #sonnet, particularly those from the 19th-21st centuries. We will discuss the Early Modern sonnets (e.g., Petrarch, Shakespeare, Quevedo, Sor Juana) and look at some associated paintings. Why are death and eros such common topics, and how do these poets approach them?
Writing Tasks — How do you provide context and historical breadth in an essay? How do you conduct preliminary research on a complex topic or time period?
Week 6: Mar 2 – Sonnet (19th-21st c) #
2/28: No class (February break)
3/2: 19th century sonnets
Read Post-Petrarchism, Introduction (p. 1-13) and Chapter 1 (p. 22-27). Post sonnets of interest in #sonnet.
Writing Tasks — How do you write an essay that involves comparison? How do you paraphrase, define, and write in response to another person’s text?
Week 7: Mar 7, 9 – Sonnet (Comparisons) #
Essay 1 Revisions (Due 10/8, 22:00)
3/7: 20th-21st century sonnets
3/9: Sonnets + External Readings, cont.
Writing Tasks — How do you provide context and historical breadth in an essay? How do you conduct preliminary research on a complex topic or time period?
Discussion Board — Pick two sonnets to discuss in relation to one another. Your comparison may relate to the poems’ differing takes on a similar topic, their enunciative apparati, the degree to which they are “hyperbolic,” differing uses of ritual and fictional elements, and/or their respective takes on a similar conceit. Post by 3/12 at 22:00.
Week 8: Mar 14, 16 – Review #
Essay 2 “Poems in Dialogue” (Due 10/22, 22:00)
10/14: Review - What is “Lyric”?
Writing Tasks — How do you write a strong thesis statement?
Discussion Board — Update your DB post with either an introductory paragraph or notes on the poem. If you already wrote an introduction, you may want to update your thesis statement after having collected your notes.
Week 9: Mar 14, 16 – Apostrophe #
We will discuss the function of apostrophe in the lyric. Does apostrophe come with ethical stakes?
3/14 - Keats, Césaire
Read the selected poems, alongside Barbara Johnson's "Apostrophe, Animation, and Abortion"
3/16 - Hughes, Baraka, Plath
Writing Tasks — How do you identify a poetic “problem”?
Week 10: Mar 21, 23 — Image #
**Individual Conferences (3/21 - 3/25)**
(Use calendly.com/dp625)
In this conference, I will give you feedback on Essay 2. The earlier you schedule it, the more time you have to work on revisions. The final deadline for revisions is 4/1, 22:00, but if you turn them in earlier and request it, I can provide additional rounds of feedback. You may also come up with other questions or topics to discuss during the conference.
3/21: Ezra Pound, H.D., Mina Loy, William Carlos Williams, etc.
3/23: Secondary readings: William Carlos Williams
Essay 2 Revisions (Due 4/1, 22:00)
Week 11: Spring Break #
Week 12: April 11, 13 - Image, cont. #
Essay 3 (“Literature Review”) (Due 4/16, 22:00)
4/11: Secondary readings: H.D.
4/13: Secondary readings: Richard Wright
Week 13: April 18, 20 - Sentence #
Essay 3 Revisions (Due 4/23, 22:00)
4/18: Baudelaire, Paris Spleen, Ponge
4/20: Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge
Discussion Board — Essay 4 Proposal. Post by 4/23 at 22:00.
Week 14: Apr 25, 27 — Page #
11/16: Mallarmé, Haroldo de Campos
11/18: Emily Dickinson, Rupi Kaur
Week 15: May 2, 4 — Workshop #
Essay 4 Drafts (Due 4/30, 22:00)
Week 16: May 9 — Workshop #
Course-Teacher Evaluations due (online)
Essay 4 “Final” (Due 5/14, 22:00)