LANG 473: Poetry: Possibilities for Poetry

Fall 2002, Chess

Instructor:  Dr. Richard Chess
Office: KH 219
Phone: 251-6576
E-mail: rchess@bulldog.unca.edu
Website: www.unca.edu/~rchess
Office Hours: Wednesday and Friday, 10 – 11:30 a.m. and by appointment

Required Texts:

The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism
The Poet’s Work, Reginald Gibbons

Overview:

In this class, we will read and discuss statements of poetics written by various poets through the ages.  Then, we will attempt to put the theories into practice in our own poems.  We will also discuss and experiment with other ways of using the source material as points of departure for our own poems. 

For each assigned reading, one student will be asked to summarize the main points of the argument.  Another student will be asked to lead a discussion of a poem of his or her choosing in relation to the theory.   This student should make copies of the poem, including bibliographical information, for members of the class.  Note: we'll have about 10 students in the class.  Each student will make two presentations in response to two different primary readings: one summarizing the poetic statement, the other applying the theory to an exemplary poem.

In workshop format, we’ll discuss our poems in class, looking for, among other things, ways in which they exemplify, oppose, or otherwise respond to the theories.  We’ll set up a schedule of whose work will be discussed when at our first or second meeting.  When your work is scheduled for discussion, please make enough copies of your poem for the entire class.

Over the semester, you’ll write drafts of about 12 poems.  You will submit a manuscript including all 12 poems (or however many we write) near the end of the semester.  Also toward the end of the semester, you’ll write a two-page statement of your own poetics.  We'll distribute these statements in class and read and discuss them toward the end of the semester.

Finally, each student is required to read a statement of poetics (this could be an essay on a single element of craft) by a contemporary poet and to summarize the main points of the essay for the entire class.  Once again, you should provide a handout to accompany your presentation.  Be sure to include bibliographical information on this handout.

Grading:

Primary Readings Presentations:

          summary of theory:                                 10%

           application of theory to poem:                10%

Individual Presentation:                                     10%

Personal Statement of Poetics:                            20%

Poems:                                                               40%             
Participation:                                                      10%

Schedule

Week 1

Aug 14             Introduction

Aug 16             Introduction continued

Week 2

 Aug 19             “Ars Poetica,” Horace 125 - 135

 Aug 21             poetry workshop #1

 Aug 23

 Week 3

 Aug 26             “An Apology for Poetry,” Sidney 326 - 362

 Aug 28             poetry workshop #2

 Aug 30

 Week 4

 Sept. 2             Labor Day: No Class

 Sept. 4             “An Essay on Criticism,” Pope 441 - 458

 Sept. 6             poetry workshop #3

 Week 5

 Sept. 9

 Sept. 11            “Preface to Lyrical Ballads,” Wordsworth 645

 Sept. 13            poetry workshop #4

 Week 6

 Sept. 16            Class Cancelled (Yom Kippur)

 Sept. 18            “A Defense of Poetry,” Shelley 699 - 716

 Sept. 20            poetry workshop #5

 Week 7

 Sept. 23            “The Philosophy of Composition,” Poe 742

 Sept. 25            poetry workshop #6

 Sept. 27          

 Week 8

 Sept. 30            “Crisis in Poetry,” Mallarme 845 - 850

 Oct. 2              poetry workshop #7

 Oct. 4             

 Week 9

 Oct. 7

 Oct. 9               Fall Break

 Oct. 11              Fall Break

 Week 10

 Oct. 14                        “Tradition and the Individual Talent,” Eliot 1092

 Oct. 16                        poetry workshop #8

 Oct. 18

 Week 11

 Oct. 21                        “Notes on Poetry,” Machado 161

 Oct. 23                        poetry workshop #9

 Oct. 25

 Week 12

 Oct. 28                        “A Poet’s Notebook,” Valery 170

 Oct. 30                        poetry workshop #10 

 Nov. 1

 Week 13

 Nov. 4             “Projective Verse and The Practice,” W. C. Williams 191

 Nov. 6             poetry workshop #11

 Nov. 8

 Week 14

 Nov. 11            “Writing,” Auden  240

 Nov. 13            poetry workshop #12

 Nov. 15

 Week 15

 Nov. 18            “Some Notes on Organic Form,” Levertov 254

 Nov. 20            poetry workshop #13

 Nov. 22

 Week 16

 Nov. 25            personal statements of poetics

 Nov. 27            Thanksgiving

 Nov. 29            Thanksgiving

 Week 17

 Dec. 2              personal statements of poetics

 Dec. 4

 Dec. 6              Last Day of Class

 Week 18             Finals Week

 Dec. 9              Final: 8 – 10:30 a.m.