Missouri Western State College Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Journalism ENG 331-01 Studies in Poetry JGM 106, 1:00-1:50, MWF Spring 2004 "The crown of literature is poetry. It is its end and aim." --W. Somerset Maugham

Instructor: Dr. Roberts
Office: SSC 222G
Phone: 816-271-5810
E-mail: robertsi@missouriwestern.edu
Office Hours: 10:00-11:00 MWF; 2:00-3:00 MW

Course Description and Philosophy:
The focus of this course is on poetry as a distinct genre (and its many sub-genres). The number of pages assigned for each class is therefore considerably less than in a survey course, so that you will have time to read each work a minimum of two times—v-e-r-y  s-l-o-w-l-y and closely. You should heavily mark the pages; constantly use a dictionary for etymologies and varieties of meaning; analyze meter, form, lineation, diction, syntax, and other elements; write down questions, connections, and observations; interpret; evaluate; compare/contrast; synthesize; consider alternatives; and read aloud (the same things, significantly, that poets do when they write poetry). Hence, this class is designed to teach explication de texte and genre competency. 

You needn't have ambitions as a poet for the awareness of language that the close reading of poetry develops to improve your writing skills. However, if you want to be a poet yourself, you can't hope to write anything of real or lasting artistic value unless you have a full command of the elements of poetry we'll discuss. While the experience of writing verse may be satisfying to you, and while your poetry may be interesting to your mother or significant other, you can't write anything with a claim on others' time and attention without years of writing and close reading. 

Reading poetry is an active process that requires much time, effort, attention, knowledge, and imagination. Indeed, because reading and writing are correlative activities, the reading, analysis, evaluation, interpretation, and appreciation of verse require not only as much practice but as much creativity as does poetry writing. Conversely, if you can't read poetry well, you'll never be much good at writing it either. It follows that one of the best ways to become a better reader of poetry is to try your hand at verse. We will therefore do a variety of creative writing exercises, specifically designed to develop your understanding and appreciation of the elements of poetry encountered in our readings. These exercises may not make you a brilliant poet, but they help you become a better reader. Besides, they're fun!

In its various programs and offerings, the Department of English, Foreign Languages and Journalism works toward four goals: (1) an improvement of communication skills through practice in diverse types of expository and imaginative writing; (2) a development of critical thinking through exposure to and interpretation of the various world views offered in literary works; (3) an increased appreciation of literature, its backgrounds, history, and values through an analysis and discussion of authors and literary works covering a wide range of attitudes, perspectives, and expressions; (4) a deeper understanding of one's own culture and a tolerance and acceptance of things foreign through a study and appreciation of another language and culture. In all of its programs, the department encourages its students to grow in self-knowledge and the knowledge of others through its emphasis on the humane and liberal characteristics of its offerings.

Required Materials:

• The Norton Anthology of American Poetry. Shorter 4th ed. New York: Norton, 1997.
  
• Lennard, John. The Poetry Handbook. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1996.
• Behn and Twichell. The Practice of Poetry. New York: HarperCollins, 1992.
  
• An up-to-date unabridged college dictionary.
• Stamina and good humor.

• Holman, C. Hugh and William Harmon. A Handbook to Literature . 9th ed. New York: Macmillan, 2003.
• Stevens, Bonnie Klomp and Larry L. Stewart. A Guide to Literary Criticism and Research. 3rd ed. Fort Worth: Harcourt, 1992.

Preparation and Participation:
You are required to make significant contributions to class in the form of preparation and participation. Preparation includes completing the readings and daily assignments, as well as bringing your assignments, textbook, and other materials with you on the appropriate days. If you come unprepared, you will receive a zero for any work due that day.

Participation includes the help you give to fellow writers and the contributions you make to class discussion. Active and insightful contributions to class discussion are therefore not "extra credit." Like the written assignments, your tactful and substantive comments are part of the minimal requirements for successful completion of the course. If you are a naturally quiet person, force yourself to be more vocal; do not assume that if I do not call on you that you need not participate, as it is your responsibility to voice your observations at appropriate and relevant times. Conversely, if you are a naturally talkative person, you may have to restrain yourself so that everyone has the opportunity to contribute. Since you obviously cannot make up for discussions from which you were absent, attendance is again critical.

Why is discussion so important? Because live classroom discussion:

• gives me an additional indication of how closely and thoughtfully you have read, enabling me to evaluate your knowledge and abilities more fairly and accurately.
• helps you think in terms of the subject matter by giving you practice in thinking.
• helps you learn to evaluate the logic of and evidence for your own and others' positions.
• helps you learn what counts as evidence and how to evaluate knowledge claims.
• helps you understand how knowledge is arrived at in the discipline.
• gives you practice arguing with others respectfully and professionally.
• gives you opportunities to formulate applications of principles.
• helps you construct knowledge you can recall and apply when needed.
• gives you prompt feedback on difficult or confusing issues and material.
• increases your retention of material through explaining, summarizing, and questioning.
• stimulates new ideas, approaches, questions, reading and research.

Assignment Requirements:
All out of class written assignments for this course must be word processed unless otherwise specified. Non-word processed submissions will be returned with no credit. Assignments should follow MLA format, using no larger than twelve point typ and one inch margins. Pages should be stapled together before you come to class (do not use folders or paper clips and do not fold down the corners of papers). Do not throw away any work you do for this class, from notes to drafts to final papers, and keep back-up copies of all papers you turn in to me.

All assignments are due at the beginning of the hour on the due date. Learning is a cumulative process, and each assignment is designed to build on the previous one. As late work disrupts this important aspect of the learning process, no late work is accepted without prior notification and approval.

Grading:
The standards for college English classes are higher than those used in high schools. All the guidelines and standards for classes at MWSC are similar to those used by other colleges and universities throughout the country. You, as a serious student, will appreciate the fact that we hold high standards for your work. Your grade will be determined by the quality of your daily work, short writings, and exams, as well as by your preparation and participation. Assignments will be evaluated according to how well they meet the requirements outlined in the assignment description and the following general scale.

A = Superior
B = Above Average
C = Average
D = Minimum = passing below average
F = Failing

Short Writings and Daily Assignments = 40%  
Mid-Term Exam = 30%
Final Exam = 30%

Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is a most serious offense and, therefore, will incur harsh punishment. Don't think you won't get caught; writing style is distinctive and verifiable. It is the student's responsibility to prove that all work is their own. Work with evidence of plagiarism, intentional or not, will receive a zero. Plagiarism may also result in failure of the course.

Disabilities:
Any student who has a disability that prevents the fullest expression of abilities should contact me immediately so that we can discuss class requirements.

General:
This syllabus is of a contractual nature, and by remaining in the course you acknowledge your acceptance of its stipulations in their entirety. If the goals, policies, procedures, standards, expectations, or obligations are unclear, then you should speak with me immediately. If they are clear but unacceptable to you, then you should drop the course.

If you choose to remain in the course, be sure to keep a copy of this syllabus with you and to refer to it regularly. Policies are enforced without exception to ensure uniformity and predictability, to avoid confusion and anxiety, and to facilitate fairness and objectivity for all students. In the interest of efficiency, however, I reserve the right to make necessary alterations to this syllabus and to make announced changes in daily plans. Any announcements made in class automatically supersede this syllabus. It is your responsibility to find out about announced changes.

Final Thoughts:
For further explanations, comments, and advice, I am available during office hours. For additional help outside of class, I strongly recommend the Center for Academic Support.

I genuinely want you to succeed in this class and at MWSC generally. I therefore urge you to keep in mind that what you gain from this course, and your from your education generally, is proportional to the amount of productive time and careful attention you devote to it. In the words of Abigail Adams (1744-1818), "Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence."

Course Outline:
This outline shows major readings and assignments, but additional readings and assignments will be given in class throughout the semester.

1/21 (W) Syllabus
23 Lennard, Chapter 1: Meter

26 Geoffrey Chaucer: Lines 1-18 of General Prologue to Canterbury Tales; Spencer: Sonnets 70 and
    75; Sydney: "What Length of Verse," Sonnet 1 from Astrophil and Stella; John Donne: "The
    Canonization," "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning," "The Flea, "Elegy XIX"
28 Lennard, Chapter 2: Form
30 William Shakespeare: Sonnets p. 156-162

2/2 Lennard, Chapter 3: Layout
4 Ben Johnson: "To John Donne," "To the Memory of My Beloved," "A Sonnet to the Noble Lady";
    Robert Herrick: p. 208-215
6 Lennard, Chapter 4: Punctuation

9 George Herbert: "The Alter," "Redemption," "Easter Wings"; John Milton: "Lycidas,"
    "On Shakespeare," "When I Consider How My Light is Spent"
11 Lennard, Chapter 5: Lineation
13 TBA

16 President's Day (No Classes)
18 Anne Bradstreet: "To My Dear and Loving Husband," "The Author to Her Book";
    Margaret Cavendish: p. 279-80; Katherine Philips: p. 289-90; Anne Finch: "Adam Posed";
    Lady Montagu: p. 350-352
20 Lennard, Chapter 6: Rhyme

23 Andrew Marvell: "To His Coy Mistress," "The Definition of Love"; Edward Taylor:
    "Upon a Spider Catching a Fly"; Alexander Pope: "Rape of the Lock": Canto I
25 Lennard, Chapter 7: Diction
27 Thomas Gray: "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard"; Phillis Wheatley: "On Being Brought
    from Africa to America" (vs); William Blake: Introduction to Songs of Innocence, "The Lamb,"
    Introduction to Songs of Experience,  "The Tyger"; Robert Burns: "To a Mouse,"
    "A Red, Red Rose"

3/1 Lennard, Chapter 8: Syntax
3 William Wordsworth: "Lines: Composed...", "Ode: Intimations...", "I Wandered Lonely
    As a Cloud," "The World Is Too Much with Us," "Scorn Not the Sonnet"
5 Samuel Taylor Coleridge: "Kubla Khan," "Dejection: An Ode"; Percy Bysshe Shelley:
    "Ozymandias," "To a Skylark"; John Keats: "On the Sonnet," "Ode on a Grecian Urn"

8 Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Intellect", "Days," "Fate"; Edgar Allan Poe: p. 531-534; Matthew Arnold:
    "Dover Beach"; Lewis Carroll: "Jabberwocky"
10 Alfred, Lord Tennyson; "The Lady of Shalott," "Break, Break, Break," "Ulysses," "The Eagle,"
    "Tithonus," "Crossing the Bar"
12 Mid-Term Examination

15-19 Mid-Semester Break

22 Robert Browning: "My Last Duchess," "The Bishop Orders His Tomb..." (4.5); Elizabeth
    Barrett Browning: p. 520-524
24 Voices and Visions: Whitman
26 Walt Whitman: "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer," "Vigil Strange I Kept," "Beat! Beat!
    Drums!," "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd"

29 Voices and Visions: Dickinson
31 Emily Dickinson: p. 629-641

4/2 Thomas Hardy: "Drummer Hodge," "The Darkling Thrush," "The Ruined Maid," "Channel
    Firing"; Gerard Manley Hopkins: "The Windhover," "No Worst, There Is None"; A. E.
    Housman: "Terence, This Is Stupid Stuff..."; William Butler Yeats: "Leda and the Swan"

5 Voices and Visions: Frost
7 TBA
9 TBA

12 Edwin Arlington Robinson: p. 692-695; Robert Frost: "Mending Wall," "The Road Not Taken,"
    "Birches," "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," "Acquainted with the Night," "Design"
14 Wallace Stevens: "Sunday Morning," "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"; William Carlos
    Williams: "The Red Wheelbarrow," "This Is Just to Say," "Poem"; Robinson Jeffers: p. 759-760;
    Marianne Moore: "Poetry," "The Fish"
16 T. S. Eliot: "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," "The Burial of the Dead" from The Waste Land

19 Edna St. Vincent Millay: p. 795-796; Siegfried Sassoon: p. 758; Wilfred Owen: p. 796-799;
    e. e. cummings: "next to of course god america i," "since feeling is first"
21 Voices and Visions: Hughes
23 Langston Hughes: p. 822-826; Stevie Smith: p. 828-830; Countee Cullen: p. 830-833; Gwendolyn
    Brooks; p. 904-906

26 W. H. Auden:"Musee des Beaux Arts," "In Memory of W. B. Yeats"; Theodore Roethke: "My
    Papa's Waltz," "I Knew a Woman"; Elizabeth Bishop: "The Fish," "Sestina"; Dylan Thomas: p. 898
28 Voices and Visions: Plath
30 Denise Levertov: p. 945-948; Anne Sexton: "The Truth the Dead Know"; Adrienne Rich: "Aunt
    Jennifer's Tigers"; Sylvia Plath: p. 1030-1036 

5/3 Robert Lowell: "For the Union Dead"; Richard Wilber: p. 926-931; Allen Ginsberg: p. 958-963