American Women PoetsEn 157b, Fall 2016

Dawn M. SkorczewskiOffice Hours Tues 3-5

Rabb 143, ex 62131 and by appt

Course Description: In this course, we will attempt to trace the emergence of American women’s poetry from the 17th century to the present. Our focus will be on the imaginative representation of women’s lived experiences. We will read a variety of American women poets, with attention to poetic technique, the social contexts of women's lives, and the formal and thematic issues that make this literature such a rich and rewarding area of study. We will explore the possibilities of a “women’s tradition” in U.S. poetry, emphasizing its diversity and intersections with other traditions. Students should come away from the course with an understanding of the major trends in American women’s poetry. Students will also be introduced to the materials and methods of research in this area.

Course Objectives

  • To read significant U.S. poetry by women.
  • To become familiar with the broad outlines of U.S. women’s literary history.
  • To learn the intellectual, historical, and biographical backgrounds necessary to understand American women’s poetry.
  • To explore the genres, forms, conventions, and other special uses of language in women’s poetry.
  • To become aware of how race, class, and gender influence poetic production and interpretation.
  • To appreciate both commonality and diversity in women’s poetry.
  • To practice the skills of critical reading, research, expository writing, and intelligent discussion.

Format

The class meetings center on discussion. Lectures, when given at all, will be brief and informal. At least 1/3 of our discussion time will be student-led.Work outside of class will consume approximately 9 hours per week.

Textbooks:

  • Elizabeth Bishop, (1911-79), The Complete Poems (1927-79) (FSG)
  • Olga Broumas (1948) The Complete Poems
  • Emily Dickinson,(1830-1886)The Complete Poems
  • Robin Coste Lewis, Voyage of the Sable Venus (2015)
  • Rebecca Morgan Frank, Little Murders Everywhere (2012)
  • Sharon Olds (1942), The Dead and the Living
  • Sylvia Plath (1932-63), Ariel (Faber & Faber)
  • Claudia Rankine, (1963), Citizen (Greywolf)
  • Adrienne Rich (1929-2012), Diving into the Wreck(Norton)
  • Anne Sexton (1929-1974),Complete Poems (Houghton Mifflin)

Handouts may include Elizabeth Alexander,Jorie Graham, Joy Harjo, June Jordan, Marilyn Hacker, Marie Howe, Laura Kasischke, Olena Kalytiak Davis, Eloise Klein Healy, Marilyn Nelson, Mary Oliver, Gertrude Stein

Suggested Readings:

Alicia Ostriker, Stealing the Language: The Emergence of Women’s Poetry in America

Adrienne Rich, On Lies, Secrets, and Silence

Josephine Jacobsen, The Instant of Knowing: Lectures, Criticism, & Occasional Prose

Kelly Cherry, Girl in a Library: On Women Writers and the Writing Life

Patricia Smith (1955), Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Reading: Students are required to read all of the assignments listed on the syllabus for each day. The assignments will vary in terms of length and numbers of pages: do remember that poetry requires greater concentration and repetition, so be sure to set aside sufficient preparation time. (Read the poems out loud, read them often, and try to live with them.) Come to class prepared to participate in discussion about the works.

Class Participation is essential to this course. Though I will spend some time presenting biographical information and establishing religious, philosophical, and historical contexts these books are grounded in, during most of our class time we will be engaging in close consideration of the texts as a community of readers. Our focus will be as much on how the writer conveys her ideas as well as on the ideas themselves. Daily preparation should include formulating critical responses to the texts that you will share with your classmates. Your class participation grade will be determined by a number of factors: your brief essays / oral report; your daily attendance, preparation and contribution to discussion.

Writing Intensive Course Requirements:

  • Five short essays on a poem or theme of your choice (1 pagesingle spaced; use active verbs please). You must choose your own deadlines.
  • One memorized poem recited to class before November 1 (12 lines or more)
  • One class-led discussion of a poet of your choice (handouts required)

Write up the discussion after you teach (5 pages. This can be a first draft of final project if you wish.)

  • Final project of 12 pages (20 pages if you are a grad student).
  • Total pages written for course must equal 25 or more.

Term Project: Each student will write either an academic research paper or a sustained piece of creative writing as a term project. The final version of the project will be due on the last day of class. The project will count for 35 % of the final grade.

1. You may write an extended research paper/argumentative essay (12 pages) devoted to a writer, a collection of poems/stories or novel, or a recurrent theme, image, or idea that interests you. Please use the archives you have researched if you can. I will help you discover your topics.

2. You may write a creative piece (or a series of pieces) in a genre of your choice. This includes memoir, fiction, poetry, and/or drama. The project should amount to approximately 10-15 pages of considered/revised writing and 12 pages in which you discuss what you are attempting in this collection.

Assignments and Grading:

1)Attendance/participation in class: 10%. If you miss a class, a 2-3 page essay on missed material is due in the following class)

2)Five Mini 2 page papers: 25% (five points each)

3)Class Poet/Archive Presentation20% w paper

4)Final project: 35% (quality of revision counts in grade)

Grades: A grade in the “A” range means that you have done outstanding work of originality, sophistication, and high analytic acuity relative to other undergraduate work. A grade in the “B” range means that you have aimed high and performed well. Work in the “B” range is solid but not as deeply insightful, as skillfully argued, or as consistently attentive to the texts as work in the “A” range. A grade in the “C” range means that your work is fair but lacking in some key area, such as originality or analysis.

Disabilities:If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately.

Academic Integrity: You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. Please consult Brandeis University Rights and Responsibilities for all policies and procedures related to academic integrity. Students may be required to submit work to TurnItIn.com software to verify originality. Allegations of alleged academic dishonesty will be forwarded to the Director of Academic Integrity. Sanctions for academic dishonesty can include failing grades and/or suspension from the university. Citation and research assistance can be found at LTS - Library guides.

Course Schedule:

All poems are from course anthologies unless otherwise stated. Each poet’s work will be supplemented by presenters’ handouts and sometimes by additional required (short) critical essays.

August 25Introductions Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)

Phyllis Wheatley (1753-1784)

August 30Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Sept 1Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Sept 6Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)archive at Houghton

HD (1886-1961) handout

Marianne Moore (1887-1972) handout (NYPL)

Sept 8No class

Sept 13Elizabeth Bishop (1911-79), The Complete Poems: 1927-79 Poems in North & South (1946) 3-52 and A Cold Spring (1955) 55-84 Focus on “This Fish,” “At the Fishhouses,” “The Prodigal” (Archive at Vassar)

Sept 15Elizabeth Bishop (1911-79), The Complete Poems: 1927-79 Poems in Questions of Travel: Elsewhere (1965) 121-34 Geography III (1976) 159-81 Focus on “Sestina,” “In the Waiting Room,” “Crusoe in England,” “The Moose,” “One Art”

Sept 20Muriel Rukeyser (1913-1980)--handout (NYPL)

Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000)—handout (U Illinois)

Maya Angelou (1928-2014)—handout(NYPL)

Sept 22June Jordan Papers (1936-2002)

Sept 27Adrienne Rich (b.1929), Diving into the Wreck

Rich Essay: “When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Revision”

Sept 29 Adrienne Rich (b.1929), Diving into the Wreck

Adrienne Rich papers

Oct 4No class

Oct 6 Anne Sexton (1928-74), The Complete Poems To Bedlam and Partway Back andAll My Pretty Ones (1960-2)

Oct 11 Anne Sexton (1928-74), The Complete Poems

Live or Die and Transformations(1966-1969)

Oct 13 Anne Sexton therapy tapes and papers

Oct 18 Sylvia Plath (1932-1963), Ariel

Oct 20 Sylvia Plath (1932-1963), Ariel

Oct 25Monday Schedule---no class

Oct 27Jean Valentine papers

Lucille Clifton (1936-2010) (Emory)

Audre Lorde (1934-1992) (Spellman)

Nov 1 Sharon Olds (b. 1942), The Dead and the Living

Recite your poem today if not before.

Nov 3Olga Broumas (b. 1948) Class Visit

3 page overview of Final Project due by today (or before)

Nov 8 Claudia Rankine, Citizen (2014)

Nov 10Claudia Rankine, Citizen (2014)

Nov 15Robin Coste Lewis,Voyage of the Sable Venus (2015)

Nov 17Rebecca Morgan Frank, Little Murders Everywhere(2012)

Nov 22Rebecca Morgan Frank,class visit

Nov 24 No Class, Happy Thanksgiving

Nov 29 Dramatic Reading of a chosen poem + discussion

[Natalie Diaz,My Brother Was an Aztec

Cathy Lin Che,Split

Kiki Petrosino,Ada Limon,Bright Dead Things.]

Dec 1Final Presentations

Dec 6Final Presentations