ENGL 101: Introduction to PoetryDe-crypting Poetry; or, the Revivification of an Unread Art Form

Section S • Tu/Th 2:00-3:15 • EB 69 • Fall 2010

Instructor: Claire BarberE-mail: cbarber3@illinois.eduOffice: 248 English Building (2nd floor)Office Telephone: 244-5350Mailbox: #104 (2nd floor, Eng Bldg)Office Hours: Tu 3:30-4:30 and by appointment

Course Texts:

• Required: Meyer, Michael, ed. Poetry: An Introduction. 6th ed. New York: Bedford/St.Martin’s, 2010. ISBN: 0312539193.

• Required: Nabokov, Vladimir. Pale Fire. New York: Vintage International, 1989. ISBN:0679723420.

• Recommended: Murfin, Ross C., ed. The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms. 3rded. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. ISBN: 0312461887.

Course Description:

“Poetry is boring [frightening, difficult,<insert other disparaging adjective>].

I won’t read it.”

Analysis: ORIGIN late 16th cent.: via medieval Latinfrom Greek analusis, from analuein ‘unloose,’ from ana-

‘up’ + luein ‘loosen.’

The sentiments expressed above are common. A poem, like any other text, can be all of these things,but students in this course will learn strategies to break its code by focusing on the analysis, or the“unloosening,” of language. As such, this course will address basic poetic devices (such as symbol,alliteration, and metonymy) and poetic forms (such as the elegy, ballad, and sonnet), while placinggreat emphasis on the specific linguistic choices made by each poet. We will also unloosen questionslike, “What characteristics define a poem?” and “Is poetry an outdated literary form?” This course isnot designed for English majors but aims to provide students with the analytical tools used by studentsof literature and to teach them how to apply these tools to their chosen fields of study. The syllabusincludes texts from a range of literary periods and movements, and readings will vary from poems toNPR podcasts to a postmodern novel, with the ultimate goal of helping students gain an understandingof the ways in which we read and write about poetry. Students must complete three reading responses,one longer essay, a midterm exam, and a final exam.

Classroom Etiquette

Students will be expected to respect both their teacher and their peers to foster a positive classroomenvironment. Disruptive behavior (i.e., interruption, overt rudeness, etc.) will not be tolerated and willnegatively affect your participation grade. Language or actions that show disrespect for the gender,race, religion, ethnicity, sexuality, ability, beliefs, or ideas of any member of this class areunacceptable. Please remember that each of your peers has a unique perspective to contribute, and(s)he should be given the opportunity to do so. Any student texting in class will be asked to leave.

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Assignments

All written assignments should be typed, double-spaced, and in 12-point Times New Roman with 1-inch margins and a header in the upper left hand corner of the first page. Additionally, all assignmentsmust use MLA citation style (see the Purdue Online Writing Lab if you have questions). Please followthis format; it facilitates both my grading and comment-making process, and you will lose points fornot formatting your document correctly. Example papers can be found throughout your Poetryanthology.

Grading

Your final grade will be calculated according to the following categorical breakdown:

Participation 20%Reading Responses (3 x 10%) 30%Midterm Exam 15%Final Paper 15%Final Exam 20%

University Grading Scale:

B+ 3.33 C+ 2.33 D+ 1.33 F…A 4.0 B 3.0 C 2.0 D 1.0 0A- 3.67 B- 2.67 C- 1.67 D- .67

Participation

I consider daily participation as important as the tests you will take and the writing you will produceover the course of the semester. Good participators ask intelligent questions, listen to and elaborate ontheir peers’ comments, and speak up but don’t dominate the class. Good participators don’t wait for abrilliant or complete idea in order to speak; instead they share reactions, questions that are genuinelypuzzling, and emerging ideas. Your participation grade will be based on your physical (and mental)presence in class, verbal contributions, group work, general preparedness (having read the assignedmaterials), submission of ungraded materials, and punctuality. Tardiness and sleeping in class will alsonegatively affect your grade.

I will grade participation according to the following scale:

A= Daily, thoughtful participation in class discussion.B= Frequent to occasional participation in class discussion.C= Infrequent to rare participation, some attendance problems.D= Participation only when called on, attendance problems.F= Refusal to participate even when called on, sleeping in class, consistent lack of preparationfor class, severe attendance problems.

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Please refer to this scale throughout the semester to gauge your own participation grade. I do notcalculate grades until after the final exam.

Moodle

All course documents will be available on Moodle. Any student not logged onto Moodle by the endof the first week of class will lose participation points. For any class period in which the readingswere on Moodle, students need to either bring a laptop or hard copy of the document.

Response Papers

You will be required to complete three response papers over the course of the semester. These papers(2-3 pp.) will focus on a single poem and must be turned in before the end of the class period in whichwe discuss this poem. The purpose of these responses will be to help you prepare questions orcomments for discussion that day, in addition to improving your writing skills, so turning in theseresponses after we have already discussed a poem will not meet this goal. You may choose the poemsto which you will respond according to your own schedule, and you will be responsible for keepingtrack of the number of responses that you still need to turn in to me. I will hand out additionalguidelines during the second week of class.

Attendance

You will decide whether or not to attend this course consistently; I will not badger people aboutcoming to class. However, this course will be discussion-based, so if you are absent, you cannotcontribute to the classroom conversation and will not receive credit for that day. You have fourabsences to use as you wish, and I do not differentiate between excused and unexcused absences.After you have exceeded that number, your final grade will drop by one letter per additionalabsence. I will give three extra credit points to anyone with perfect attendance for the semester,which can often raise your final grade by 1/3 of a letter.

If you have an extenuating circumstance that will cause you to miss more than four class periods,please contact me immediately; I reserve the right to amend this policy for such situations. You will beresponsible for making up any work, whether it was due during your absence or in the next classperiod. Please contact your absence partner, not me, to see what you missed.

Absence Partner:

Name: ______________________________Email: _________________________

Late Work

I accept late work only if the student has requested an extension prior to the assignment’s due date.You will receive a zero for any assignment turned in late without prior extension approval. Extensionswill only be given under extenuating circumstances to students who have established integrity andcredibility by attending and participating in class and by completing prior assignments on schedule.You will not receive credit for late ungraded work (i.e., in-class assignments or Moodle posts).

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If you find yourself dealing with a particularly difficult situation (i.e. extreme sickness, a death in yourfamily, etc), you may consider contacting the Emergency Dean (333-0050) or McKinley Health Center(333-2701). You are welcome to come discuss any situation with me prior to taking these steps.

Rewrites

If one of your written assignments presents issues that would make it difficult for me to grade it, I mayoffer you the chance to rewrite. If I offer a rewrite, the alternative would typically be a grade of Fbecause key elements of the assignment have, in effect, not been completed. The final grade for thatpaper will be lowered one letter grade to reflect the problem with the original assignment. If youreceive a graded paper and feel a rewrite should have been offered—i.e., if you receive a B- orlower—you should set up an appointment with me and write a one-page explanation of why youbelieve a rewrite should have been offered. If I agree with your argument, I will offer you theopportunity to rewrite. You cannot rewrite a paper that was not turned in by the original due date.

Plagiarism/Academic Integrity

Plagiarism, defined in UIUC’s Code of Policies and Regulations Appling to All Students as“representing the words or ideas of another as one’s own in any academic endeavor,” is a seriousoffense in any academic setting. We will discuss proper use of sources this semester, and I expect thatyou will employ the strategies we discuss. If I find evidence that you have deliberately committed anyform of plagiarism, such as obtaining a paper from an online paper mill or fraternity file, havingsomeone else write a paper for you, or paraphrasing or copying from an outside source withoutacknowledging the source, I will penalize you according to University policy, which usually means afailing grade for either the assignment or the class.

See the UIUC Student Code, Part 4 for the full plagiarism policy:http://www.library.illinois.edu/learn/research/academicintegrity.html.

I take this policy extremely seriously, as does this university. If you have questions or concernsregarding source use at any point in the semester, do not hesitate to come discuss them with me. I amhappy to give you all help necessary to ensure plagiarism does not occur.

Disability Accommodations

The University will make every practical effort to ensure that no person is denied educational accessbecause of a disability. Any student who has a disability and can benefit from any adjustments to theclassroom should speak with me. If you haven’t already, you should also contact the Division ofDisability Resources and Educational Services (333-1970) for assistance with accommodations.

Office Hours

I will hold office hours once a week; however, I am willing to make accommodations for any studentat a mutually convenient time outside of those hours. Additionally, you are welcome to contact me viae-mail at any point with questions, comments, or concerns.

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Writing Resources

For additional help with your assignments, the Writers Workshop (located in room 251 of theUndergraduate Library) provides one-on-one writing tutoring by graduate and undergraduate students.I strongly recommend that you take advantage of this free service to supplement the assistance I canprovide you during my office hours. To make an appointment, please call the Workshop at 333-8796.

**The policies outlined in this syllabus, as well as the following course schedule, are subject tochange. You will be given written notice of any changes in advance.

Course ScheduleP = Poetry, An Introduction

    Daily Theme Key Terms Text(s) to Be Read for This Class

Week 1 Tu, Aug. 24

Course Introduction;What Makes Somethinga Poem, and Is PoetryStill Important?

Line, Stanza,Cliché,Sentimentality

"Poems?" (Moodle);Bruce Wexler, “Poetry Is Dead”

(Moodle)NPR Interview with Edward Hirsch

(Moodle)

  Th, Aug. 26

What is "CloseReading,"and How Do I Do It?

Genre,Free verse,Blank verse,Couplet

P (19-30);"Poetic Forms" (242-244);Billy Collins, "Introduction to Poetry"

(40);"A Sample Close Reading" (60-66);"Suggestions for Approaching Poetry"

(38-39);"Formalist Strategies" (666-668)

Week 2 Tu, Aug. 31 Words, Words, Words

Diction, Syntax,Etymology,Denotation,Connotation,Ambiguity,Dialect, Tone

P (67-72);Paul Laurence Dunbar, "To a

Captious Critic" (78);Barbara Hamby, "Ode to American

English" (85-86);Robert Burns, "A Red, Red Rose"

(619)

  Th, Sept. 2The Importance ofSound

Alliteration,Assonance,Ballad,Consonance,Prosody

P (186-192);Gerard Manley Hopkins, "God's

Grandeur" (199-200);Lewis Carroll, "Jabberwocky" (202-

203);Helen Chasin, "The Word Plum"

(212);Christian Bok, "Vowels" (56-7)

Week 3 Tu, Sept. 7The Importance ofSound, Pt. 2

Rhyme(End, Eye,Feminine,Masculine,Internal, Slant)

P (194-199);A. E. Housman, "To an Athlete Dying

Young" (631-632);W. B. Yeats, "The Second Coming"

(655)

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  Th, Sept. 9

How to Turn a CloseReading into a Paper;or, Writing Argumentsabout Poetry   P (58-66, 684-718)

Week 4 Tu, Sept. 14 Scan-What?

Rhythm,Scansion,Meter,Stress,Caesura,Enjambment

Clip from Renaissance Man(Moodle);

P (217-225);Rita Dove, "Fox Trot Fridays" (228);Ben Jonson, "Still to Be Neat" (230-

231)

  Th, Sept. 16

A Button Is NotAlways What ItAppears To Be

Symbol(Conventional,Literary)

P (157-159);Walt Whitman, "From Song of

Myself" (182-183);"Robert Hass: On Whitman's 'Song of

Myself'" (Moodle);Carl Sandburg, "Buttons" (170)

Week 5 Tu, Sept. 21Thinking Beyondthe Text

Allusion,Allegory,Irony,Satire

P (160-167);John Keats, "Ode on a Grecian Urn"

(94);Wallace Stevens, "Anecdote of the

Jar" (171);W. B. Yeats, "Crazy Jane Talks with

the Bishop" (657-658)

  Th, Sept. 23 Figures of Speech

Metaphor,Metonymy,Synecdoche,Simile

P (133-140);John R. Searle, "Figuring Out

Metaphors" (155-156);William Carlos Williams, "To Waken

an Old Lady" (146);William Wordsworth, "London,

1802" (149);Elaine Magarrell, "The Joy of

Cooking" (154)

Week 6 Tu, Sept. 28 Figures of Speech, Pt. 2

Personification,Apostophe,Hyperbole,Paradox

P (140-143);Sylvia Plath, "Mirror" (148);Carl Sandburg, "Chicago" (233-234);Gary Snyder, "How Poetry Comes to

Me" (143)

  Th, Sept. 30 It Looks Like…Image,Imagism

P (106-107);Amy Lowell, "The Pond" (115);H. D. "Heat" (115-116);Walt Whitman, "Cavalry Crossing a

Ford" (109);Wilfred Owen, "Dulce et Decorum

Est" (121)

Week 7 Tu, Oct. 5 Midterm Exam

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  Th, Oct. 7 Everyday Poetry Haiku

P (260-261);Ezra Pound, "In a Station of the

Metro" (130);"Haiku Takes to Twitter" (Moodle);Writing Exercise

Week 8 Tu, Oct. 12 Everyday Poetry? Sonnet

P (245-249);Edna St. Vincent Millay, "I will put

Chaos into fourteen lines" (249);Claude McKay, "America" (Moodle);Dylan Thomas, "Lie Still, Sleep

Becalmed" (Moodle)

  Th, Oct. 14Poetry We Wish Wasn'tEveryday Elegy

P (261);Brendan Calvin, "An Evel Knievel

Elegy" (263-264);W. H. Auden, "Two Songs for Hedli

Anderson" (Moodle)

Week 9 Tu, Oct. 19 Interpreting a Poem Open form

P (272);William Carlos Williams, "The Great

Figure" (Moodle);Williams, "The Red Wheelbarrow"

(281);Charles Demuth, "The Figure Five in

Gold" (Moodle);MAPS, "On 'The Great Figure'"

(Moodle)

  Th, Oct. 21

Biographical andHistoricist Approachesto Interpretation  

P (668-670, 672-676);Robert Frost, "Mending Wall" (370-

371);W. H. Auden, "September 1, 1939"

(Moodle);Rosie Schaap, "In Search of the

Auden Martini" (Moodle)

Week 10 Tu, Oct. 26

Deconstructionist andReader-ResponseApproaches toInterpretation  

P (680-683);Robert Pinsky, "Ode to Meaning"

(Moodle);Langston Hughes, "I look at the

world" (Moodle);Review "Mending Wall"

  Th, Oct. 28Extended Reading: T. S.Eliot's Love Song  

"T. S. Eliot's 'The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock'" (491-498);

Roz Chast, "The Love Song of J.Alfred Crew" (11)

Week 11 Tu, Nov. 2Extended Reading: T. S.Eliot's Love Song  

"Perspectives on T. S. Eliot" (498-509)

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  Th, Nov. 4Who Is Allowed toWrite Poetry?  

Phillis Wheatley, "On Being Broughtfrom Africa to America" (555-557);

Henry Louis Gates, Jr,. "PhillisWheatley on Trial" (Moodle);

"'Operation Homecoming': TheWritings of War" (Moodle)

Week 12 Tu, Nov. 9 Pale Fire  

Foreword,Canto 1 (33-38),Commentary (73-147)

  Th, Nov. 11 Pale Fire  Canto 2 (39-51),Commentary (148-222)

Week 13 Tu, Nov. 16 Pale Fire  Canto 3 (52-63),Commentary 222-262

  Th, Nov. 18 Pale Fire  

Canto 4 (64-69),Commentary (263-301),Index (305-315)

Week 14 Thanksgiving Vacation—No Class

Week 15 Tu, Nov. 30Is Finnegans WakePoetry?  

1-Page Excerpt (Moodle);"Finding Music in Finnegans Wake"

(Moodle)

  Th, Dec. 2

Is PostSecret Poetry?;ICES CourseEvaluations  

Look at PostSecret;"Bless Me, Blog, For I've Sinned"

(Moodle);"More 'PostSecrets' Revealed, in

Book Form" (NPR);Final Paper Due

FinalExam M, Dec.13 1:30–4:30 PM, Room TBA