English 205: Introduction to Poetry
Required for all English majors (not required for English/Creative Writing majors)
Content: This course is designed for students, including advanced placement students, who wish to develop their reading and writing skills through the study of poetry and poetic forms, and for students who may wish to become English majors. Though the topics of this writing-intensive course vary, the primary goal of each section is to develop the arts of reading and writing about poetry with interpretive skill.
Students are strongly encouraged to take English 205 in their freshman or sophomore year.
Eng 205S 00P: Poetry
White, TT 11:30-12:45, Max: 15
Content: This Freshman seminar focuses on developing skills in the reading and interpretation of poetry. It is suitable for all students, but also fulfills a requirement for the English major. The class will give special attention to the ways in which poems reflect on their own operations and to the idea “genre” – the specific category to which a poem belongs. The poetry on the syllabus will also serve to introduce a range of periods in literary history from the Renaissance through today.
Texts: Readings to include works by Shakespeare, Spenser, Milton, Gray, Wheatley, Wordsworth, Tennyson, Browning, Bishop, and Walcott.
Particulars: 3-4 short papers, class presentations, and a final exam.
English 205S can be used to fill the English Major requirement for English 205.
Eng 205WR:000 Poetry
Elliott, MWF 12:50-1:40, Max: 15
Content: This introduction to literary studies surveys a range of poets and poetry in English. The semester will begin with consideration of the basics of studying poetry, such as analyzing rhyme and meter, reading for metaphor and simile, and identifying poetic forms. We will work through a series of poems from both the canon of English and American literary history and more recent poets. In the second half of the course, we will focus on three poets who will help us to hone our reading skills: Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Bishop, and Sherman Alexie.
Particulars: Course requirements will include several short paper assignments; in-class writing; memorization and recitation.
Eng
205WR:001 Poetry
Peterson, MWF 9:35-10:25, Max: 15
Content: However we define poetry—as “memorable speech” or “the expression of excited passion” or “a stay against confusion” or “a machine made of words”--poems speak to us. As we read, we hear/imagine a voice which is separate from that of the author and partly created by us. This course focuses on how poets construct this voice and the emotions it expresses and enacts. Through structured writing assignments and close analysis of poems composed during various historical periods and in different modes, we will explore the possibilities of poetic language and form.
Texts: The Norton Introduction to Poetry (Hunter) and volumes by Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, and Suji Kwock Kim.
Particulars: writer’s logs, test, four short essays, and 1-2 oral presentations including a recitation.
Eng 205WR:003 Poetry
Higgins, TT 2:30-3:45, Max: 15
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