ENGL 310
Poetry Writing
Catalog Entry
ENGL 310. Poetry Writing
Three hours lecture (3).
Prerequisites: ENGL 111 and ENGL 112.
For students who plans to teach creative writing at secondary level and needs introduction to poetry writing methods; for a student who, regardless of background and vocational plans, is interested in developing poetry writing potential; or for a student of literature interested in writing poetry and sharpening critical appreciation.
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Note(s): Humanistic or Artistic Expression designated course.
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Detailed Description of Content of Course
Students write approximately one poem per week with no restrictions on content or style. Some instructors may require students to work with metrical form (e.g., sonnet, dramatic monologue, villanelle) whereas others may choose to work strictly with more contemporary free verse.
Detailed Description of Conduct of Course
Students turn in poems with copies for each class member and the instructor. The class proceeds workshop style, and each student reads his or her poem aloud to the group; the group then responds critically in positive fashion with the instructor mediating.
Students are encouraged to read assigned texts on the creative writing process as well as assigned poetry anthologies. Students will learn about literary form, the transformation of image to metaphor and symbol, literary structure, rhythm, poetic archetypes, ambiguity, paradox, irony, poetic tradition, etc.
The class will focus on copy-editing and revision and the effective use of words for poetic power, effect and eloquence.
Students must participate in the collective editing experience of the class. Students will turn in a chapbook of their revised work at the end of the semester. Students may also be required to submit periodic reading/writing logs consisting of analyses of professional poems, analyses of student poems and poetic drafts of their own work.
Goals and Objectives of Course
To develop a sense of being a writer by experiencing a full range of writing experience, including invention, drafting, revision, performance, editing and production. Students learn how to analyze and judge the quality of their own work and that of others. Students should become familiar with the fundamental elements of craft in poetry and should become more sophisticated, sensitive readers and writers.
Assessment Measures
Student performance in this course may be evaluated in areas including but not necessarily limited to the following: 1) workshop contributions; 2) reader-response journals involving the drafting process or assessments of professional poetry in texts; 3) public readings and publications in university or national journals; 4)receipt of awards for poetry in varied poetic contests; 5) the production of a final chapbook of work at the end of the semester.
Other Course Information
While this course focuses upon the inventive and editing strategies of writing poetry, it also serves as an introduction to the strategies of invention and editing in general, which can therefore be applied to fiction, creative non-fiction, expository prose and technical writing.
Review and Approval
October, 2009
March 01, 2021