Week 1

Jun. 3

Introduction

Reading

• "Is Poetry Relevant?" by Kathryn VanSpankeren (essay about poetry in her life)

• "Against National Poetry Month As Such" by Charles Bernstein (article about the commercialization of poetry)

• "Is It Poetry or Is It Verse?" by John Barr (article on good bad poetry, bad bad poetry, serious poetry)

Discussion: What do you think of Bernstein's views of poetry compared to Barr's?

Jun. 5

Unit 1 Poetic Qualities

Reading

• W. S. Merwin, "Separation"

  • About W. S. Merwin

  • Interview with W. S. Merwin by Ben George (on the unity of poetry)

  • An Interview with W. S. Merwin by David L. Elliott (conducted in 1984; requires subscription to JSTOR)

  • A Wealth of Verse (bulletin on a poetry reading Merwin gave in 1997)

• William Carlos Williams, "This Is Just to Say"

  • On "This Is Just to Say" (two critical excerpts of the poem)

  • William Carlos Williams, "This Is Just to Say" (reading, re-reading, explorations, links)

  • Williams's "This Is Just to Say"--at Penn (a student comment to the poem)

  • Williams' Life and Career

• Billy Collins, "Introduction to Poetry"

  • Online NewsHour: Billy Collins (interview with Collins, he talks about this poem and about poetry in general: transcript, streaming video, audio)

Discussion: what poetry is, poetic qualities, reasons for reading poetry, the art of reading

Week 2

Jun. 10

Unit 1  Poetic Qualities

Unit 2  Making Sense of Poems

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 9

• Charles Causley, "What Has Happened to Lulu?"

  • "The Most Unfashionable Poet Alive: Charles Causley" by Dana Gioia

  • Charles Causley: Highly Regarded Poet and Children's Writer

  • Charles Causley Is a Winner (Causley wins the Heywood Hill Prize)

Discussion: how close-reading opens up William's "This Is Just to Say"; making inferences; exploring points of view

Jun. 12

Unit 3  Tone

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 12

• Stanley Kunitz, "The Snakes of September" (also audio of Kunitz reading)

  • On "The Wellfleet Whale" and "The Snakes of September"

  • "Pulitzer Prize Winner Stanley Kunitz Dies" by Hillel Italie (obituary)

  • "Pulitzer poet Kunitz dead at 100" (obituary)

  • Genesis chapter 1, 2, 3

  • Things to think about when reading Kunitz’s poem “The Snakes of September”

    • Compare what you know about snakes to Kunitz’s description of them. Does he present them in any way that is new or unexpected to you?

    • Lines 15–21 allude to the Genesis in the Bible. If you’re not familiar with it, you can read Genesis chapters 1–3 online.

    • Think about what you feel about snakes and the kinds of emotions and associations that you have when you encounter them. Pay attention to the feelings and associations that the poem evokes. What emotions run through the speaker’s account of his experience? One way you can examine this is to listen to Kunitz reading the poem with your eyes closed and envision each detailed scene along with him.

    • What do you think of the transition when the narrator is no longer a mere observer?

Discussion: words and feeling: tone, denotation, connotation

• Tone (discussion of tone in poetry, definition excerpts of textbooks)

• Tone (explanation of tone with examples from Many Worlds of Poetry)

Week 3

Jun. 17

Unit 3  Denotation and Connotation

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 17

• Peter Meinke, "When I with You"

  • "Meinke sheds light through small windows" (newspaper story)

  • Peter Meinke: An American Poet (2002 interview by Lissette Vega)

  • The power of poetry (2001 interview by Mary Jane Park; includes a poem "Treasure Island")

  • Peter Meinke: The Man and the Works (interview by Patricia Lieb)

  • An Interview with Peter Meinke by James Plath (1997)

• Robert Herrick, "Here a Pretty Baby Lies"

  • The Lyrical Poems of Robert Herrick: Preface (1876) by Francis Turner Palgrave (long introduction to Herrick's poetry)

• Margaret Atwood, "Dreams of the Animals" (with study guide)

  • Life and Times

Discussion: words and meaning: denotation, connotation

Jun. 19

Unit 3  Imagery

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 22

• Ezra Pound, "In a Station of the Metro"

  • A Brief Guide to Imagism

  • A Brief Guide to Modernism

  • Prose Paraphrase of the poem

  • On "In a Station of the Metro" (critical excerpts on the poem)

  • Pound's Life and Career by Clive Wilmer

• Denise Levertov, "What Were They Like?"

  • On "What Were They Like?"

  • Note by Denise Levertov

  • Denise Levertov's Life and Career

  • Tribute: Denise Levertov by Robert Creeley

  • Denise Levertov (links to poems online and audio of Levertov reading)

Discussion: words and the senses: imagery

Week 4

Jun. 24

Unit 4  Figures of Speech: Simile, Metaphor, Personification

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 31

• William Drummond, "This Life"

• Walter Ralegh, "On the Life of Man"

  • Selected Works of Sir Walter Ralegh

  • Sir Walter Ralegh (1554–1618)

Discussion: words and associations: simile, metaphor

• Basics of Metaphor and Simile

• Kalliope: Focus on Metaphor (definitions, examples, exercises)

• The Logic of Tropes (metaphor, simile, metonymy, synecdoche, etc.)

Assignment 1 given

Jun. 26

Unit 4  Personification, Apostrophe

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 34

• James Stephens, "The Wind"

• Billy Collins, "My Number" (with study questions)

  • Billy Collins (his official website)

  • The Trouble with Poetry and Billy Collins (blog entry on Collins and his poetry)

• John Keats, "On Fame"

Discussion: making things human: personification, apostrophe

Week 5

Jul. 1

Unit 4  Overstatement, Understatement

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 36

• John Keats, "On Fame"

• John Keats, "To Sleep"

  • John Keats: Table of Contents

• Maya Angelou, "Woman Work"

• John Donne, "The Sun Rising" (poem notes)

  • John Donne, "The Sun Rising" read by Professor Kathleen Coleman (online audio)

  • Sample paraphrase: Donne's "The Sun Rising"

  • "Rhetoric's Inherent Contradictions: John Donne's 'The Sun Rising'"

Discussion: overstatement, understatement

Assignment 1 due beginning of class

Jul. 3

Unit 4  Allusion

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 41

• Langston Hughes, "Homecoming"

• Edwin Arlington Robinson, "Miniver Cheevy"

  • On "Miniver Cheevy"

  • Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935)

  • Edwin Arlington Robinson

  • Edwin Arlington Robinson (brief bio)

Discussion: intertextuality: allusion

Assignment 2 given

Week 6

Jul. 8

Unit 4  Metonymy, Synecdoche

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 47

• Louis Simpson, "The Battle"

• Gavin Ewart, "Ending"

Discussion: metonymy, synecdoche

Assignment 2 due beginning of class

Jul. 10

No Class (Graduation Ceremony)

Week 7

Jul. 15

Unit 4  Symbol

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 54

• Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken"

  • On "The Road Not Taken"

  • HarperAudio (link to audio files of Frost reading this and many of his poems)

  • "The Road Not Taken" (online audio of Frost reading this poem, a bit clearer sound than Harper's)

  • The Robert Frost Tutorial (places and poetry, research tips, hallmarks of Frost's poetry, the poetics of Robert Frost, the Frost Free Library, and more)

  • A Frost Bouquet (electronic exhibit by the University of Virginia)

• Christina Rossetti, "Up-Hill" (1858)

  • Christina Rossetti - Additional Biographical Information

  • Image and Symbol in Christina Rossetti's Poetry

  • Introductory: Christina Rossetti and the Poetic Vocation

  • Christina Rossetti and the Metaphysics of Spiritual Experience

  • Commentary on the poem

  • Rossetti's Avante-Garde Poetics

  • Death As Release From Pain in Christina Rossetti's Works

  • Metrical Complexity in Christina Rossetti's Verse

Discussion: symbol, allegory

• Definition of Symbol (with links to an exercise and studies of two poems)

• Allegory (short definition)

• Introduction to Medieval Allegory

• Definition of Allegory (with link to allegory exercise)

Jul. 17

No Class (Asalhapuja)

Week 8

Jul. 22

Midterm (Tuesday, July 22, 2007 in our usual room during regular class hours: BRK 303, 12–2 p.m.; there will be two parts: Part I (35 points) on material we have studied and discussed from the beginning of the coursebook to page 54; Part II (15 points) is on an unseen poem; read through the exam and pace yourself well)

• Writing Exam Essays

• Example of an 'A' Response to a Mid-Term Exam on Wordsworth's "The world is too much with us"

• Sample Exam Answer

• Pointers for Taking Essay Tests

• Writing Essay Exams (pdf file)

• Essay Exam Preparation (pdf file)

• Review literary terms

Jul. 24

Midterm Week (July 21–25, 2008)

Week 9

Jul. 29

Unit 4  Paradox, Irony

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 61

• William  Blake, "Eternity"

  • The William Blake Archive

  • An Emergency Online Glossary of Terms, Names, and Concepts in Blake

  • William Blake (1757-1827) (biography)

  • Songs of Innocence and of Experience (plates)

  • Illuminated Printing

  • The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake (Edited by David V. Erdman, Commentary by Harold Bloom)

  • Blake Digital Text Project

  • The William Blake Page (poem texts and illustrations)

  • Blake, William (Blake as an artist, role of his wife in producing his work, images)

  • Tate Learning: William Blake Online

  • Madman, Journeyman, Genius, Prophet... (biography illustrated by several of Blake's prints)

  • All Religions Are One (7 principles)

• Alice Walker, "Women"

• Marge Piercy, "Barbie Doll"

  • Marge Piercy, "Barbie Doll" (reading, re-reading, explorations, links)

  • Marge Piercy (brief bio, external links to articles and interviews)

  • Marge Piercy (her official homepage)

  • Selected Poetry of Marge Piercy (1936–)

Discussion: paradox, irony

• Paradox (short definition and example)

• Paradox

Jul. 31

Unit 4  Irony

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 62

• William Blake, "The Chimney Sweeper" (1789)

  • William Blake Online: "The Chimney Sweeper" (look, listen, think, summary, analysis)

  • Notes on Blake (includes discussion of irony in "The Chimney Sweeper")

  • Blake List Archive discussion thread (online discussion of the poem)

  • Blake Digital Text Project

  • William Blake (brief bio)

  • Poet! Poet! Burning Bright: An Ode to William Blake on the Eve of his 250th Birthday (an op-ed article by Philip Pullman)

  • The William Blake Archive

Discussion: irony

• Ironies and Paradoxes (paper by Hugh Bredin)

Week 10

Aug. 5

Unit 4  Irony

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 65

• Sharon Olds, "Rites of Passage"

• Billy Collins, "The History Teacher"

• Laurence Perrine, "Janus"

Discussion: irony

• Irony (classical rhetoric)

• Literary Devices: Irony (verbal, dramatic, situational)

• Irony (verbal irony, dramatic irony, irony of situation)

• Irony (dramatic, structural, verbal)

• Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Irony

Assignment 3 given

Aug. 7

Unit 5  Sound and Meaning

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 71

• William Blake, "Infant Sorrow"

  • "Infant Sorrow": An Annotated Bibliography of Criticism

  • Romantic Audience Project: "Infant Sorrow" (commentary)

Discussion: rhyme, rhythm, meter, scansion, formal pattern

• Rhyme (short definitions and examples of different kinds of rhymes)

• Rhyme (intro, simple rhyming, not-quite-rhymes, rather-more-than-rhymes, special kinds of rhyme, locations for rhyme)

• Rhyme (benefits, disadvantages)

• Meter (examples of traditional accentual-syllabic meters)

• Meter and Scansion

• Scansion

• Scansion Definitions

• The Down and Dirty Guide to Scanning Verse: Some Hints to Help with Sounding Shakespeare's Words (good to keep in mind when reading non-Shakespearean verse as well)

Week 11

Aug. 12

No Class (Mother's Day)

Aug. 14

Unit 6  Types of Poetry

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 76

• William Shakespeare, sonnet 138 ("When my love swears that she is made of truth"

  • Commentary

  • "Loves of Comfort and Despair: A Reading of Shakespeare's Sonnet 138" by Edward A. Snow (Chula network access)

  • A Note on Shakespeare's Sonnets (by Ian Johnston; a good introduction)

Discussion: types and forms of poetry, sonnet

• Basic Sonnet Forms

• INTRA - Interactive Tutorial On Rhythm Analysis

• Meter and Scansion

Assignment 3 due

Week 12

Aug. 19

Unit 6  Ballad

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 79

• Elizabeth Barrett Browning, sonnet 21

  • Cuckoo (includes audio clip of the bird's call)

  • The Life of Elizabeth Barrett Browning

  • Elizabeth Barrett Browning (brief bio, poems, external links)

  • Elizabeth Barrett Browning (brief bio)

  • Robert Browning Letter to Elizabeth Barrett

  • The Brownings: A Research Guide

• "The Two Ravens"

  • "The Twa Corbies" (the Scottish version with English translation, analysis)

  • The Twa Corbies (text of ballad with vocabulary gloss)

• A. E. Housman, "Is My Team Ploughing"

  • Housman’s ‘Is my team ploughing’: A Guilty Conscience (an interpretation of the poem)

  • A.E. Housman's Rejected Addresses (lecture by Dr Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Magdalen College, Oxford; you can listen to the lecture online)

Discussion: ballad

• Ballad (folk and literary ballad definitions from The Columbia Encyclopedia on Bartleby)

• Ballad (description of the folk and literary ballad)

• Ballad

• The Music in Poetry (pdf) and accompanying soundtrack

• Traditional Ballads (what is a ballad, web resources)

• "Negro Folk Expression: Spirituals, Seculars, Ballads and Work Songs" by Sterling Brown

Aug. 21

Unit 7  Paraphrase

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 81

• William Butler Yeats, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree"

  • Hear the poem: a teacher's reading by A. Tony; Yeat's own reading

Week 13

Aug. 26

Unit 8  Theme: Death

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 85

• Alan Seeger, "I Have a Rendezvous with Death" (1916)

  • Alan Seeger (Pete Seeger remembers his uncle; audio clip)

  • Letters and Diary of Alan Seeger

• John Donne, "Death, Be Not Proud" (1633) (poem notes)

  • John Donne (brief bio)

  • Death Be Not Proud by John Donne: An Analysis of Donne's Divine Sonnet X

  • Discussion thread on the poem

Discussion: theme, the interpretation of poetry

Aug. 28

Unit 8  Theme: Death

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 85

• Emily Dickinson, "Because I could not stop for Death"

  • Emily Dickinson (1830–1886): On "Because I could not stop for Death" (critical writings on the poem)

  • Dickinson Electronic Archives

  • "'Soul at the White Heat': The Romance of Emily Dickinson's Poetry" by Joyce Carol Oates

Discussion: theme, the interpretation of poetry

Assignment 4 given

Week 14

Sep. 2

Unit 8  Theme: Life

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 88

• Thomas Campbell, "The River of Life"

  • Thomas Campbell (bio)

  • Thomas Campbell (bio)

• Sara Teasdale, "Barter"

  • Sara Teasdale (brief bio, a few poems)

  • "The Strange Victory of Sara Teasdale" by Marya Zaturenska

  • A Hyper-Concordance to Sara Teasdale

Discussion: theme, the interpretation of poetry

Sep. 4

Unit 8  Theme: Life

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 89

• Robert Frost, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"

  • Salon.com Audio: Robert Frost (download Frost reading this poem, 40 seconds)

  • Robert Frost (1874–1963) (a few words on Frosts poems)

  • On "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" (criticism on the poem)

Discussion: theme, the interpretation of poetry

Assignment 4 due beginning of class

Week 15

Sep. 9

Unit 8  Theme: Life

Reading

• Read coursebook to page 93

• Stevie Smith, "Not Waving but Drowning" (1957)

  • Stevie Smith (brief bio)

  • BBC: Interviews (audio clips; Stevie Smith talks about her inspiration and her poem V)

  • The beautiful melancholy of Stevie Smith (blog entry on her novels)

Discussion: theme, the interpretation of poetry

Sep. 11

Poetry Conference

Session 1: Does Anger End?  The Warning in Meter and Rhyme Scheme in William Blake's "The Poison Tree"

Session 2: Toward Eternity in Sonnet 18: How Shakespeare Gives Life with Words

Final paper due, 7–10 pages (see some sample papers and writing guidelines below)

• "Appearances and Verbal Paradox: Sonnets 129 and 138" by J. Bunselmeyer (accessible on Chula campus computers)

• "To Know Well" by Jane Smith (Word file)

• "The Value of Restraint" by Amy Skerry (on Raymond Carver's short story "Cathedral"; Word file)

• "Othello: The Tragedy of Human Nature" by Zakia Al-Amin

• "Some Matters of Form" by Yale University (writing guidelines; pdf file)

Week 16

Sep. 16

Poetry Conference (bring potluck)

Student Poetry Readings:

Sessions

3:  Life Beyond Words: Atwood's Variations on the Word "Love" and "Sleep"
4: Student Poetry Reading

Sep. 18

Review

Sep. 23

Final Exam 1–3 p.m. in BRK 401. It has 2 parts: Part I (worth around 45 points) consists of three essay-type questions on seen poems from p. 56 to the end of the coursebook; Part II (worth about 25 points) expects responses of short and medium length to five questions on an unseen poem.

• Preparation

  • Writing Exam Essays

  • Pointers for Taking Essay Tests

  • Writing Essay Exams (pdf file)

  • Essay Exam Preparation (pdf file)

• Sample Responses

  • Sample Poetry Question on Kvlividze's poem "In the Metro" (with sample responses)

  • Example of an 'A' Response to an Exam on Wordsworth's "The world is too much with us"

  • Sample Exam Answer

• Reading Strategies

  • TP-CASTT (brief), Poetry Analysis: TP-CASTT (more detailed)

  • Tone and Detailed Explanation of DIDLS

  • S.O.A.P.S. Document Analysis

• Review literary terms