ENG 221-02: Writing of Poetry: Introductory
MWF 10-1050 / Fall 2011 / MHRA 3204
Jennifer Whitaker / /336.256.0483
Mailbox: 3114 MHRA / Office:MHRA 3313
Office Hours:MW 12:30-1:30pm (in-person and IM), & by appointment
Our goal in this course is to fall in love. I hope that by the end of the semester you will have
become seriously attached to the works and words of a few, if not all, of the poets and writers
we will investigate in class. I hope from now on you’llwant to have literature near you, and I like to think that you might tape your favoritepoems in prominent places in your present and future dwellings, as you would display a painting,picture, or sentimental token of a past journey. Likewise, I hope you will come to fall in lovewith a few of your own poems and feel comforted by always having pen and paper near you.May you leave here excited by libraries and notebooks. I hope you find yourself inside thesesacred places time and time again. May awe be with you.
WHY YOU’RE HERE
If you’re interested in intensively studying how we read and write poetry, investigating what makes poems (and readers) tick, and starting to hone your craft, you’re in the right spot. The poet Billy Collins says, “I am less interested in what the poem means than in how it travels.” This gets to the idea that poems affect readers so fundamentally not just because of what they say, but because of how they say it.
This is an introductory course in the writing & study of poetry—focusing particularly on the how of the poem (in addition to the what and why). We will discuss what makes a poem, what makes it work well, & why/how it does so. We will workshop one another’s poems with enthusiasm & care. We will also discuss formal, technical, generic, & stylistic concerns through close readings. This course is reading intensive & we will use the three following books as our guides:
The Poet’s Companion. By Kim Addonizio and DorianneLaux.(W. W. Norton, 1997.)
ISBN: 0393316548
The Seagull Reader: Poems. Ed. Joseph Kelly.(W. W. Norton, 2007, 2nd Edition.)
ISBN: 0393930939
The Greensboro Review 89, Spring 2011. Available for purchase from the MFA Office (3302 MHRA), $8.
WHAT HAPPENS HERE
Classes will be conducted in a workshop/discussion format. You should come to class having read thoroughly the work under consideration & you should be prepared to share your opinions & questions.
In this course, you will spend roughly half the time reading others’ poems and half the time writing your own poems.If you are not prepared to study others’ poems through reading and writing, then this class is not for you.
All students are expected to have taken a college literature course in which poetry is studied (e.g., ENG 106)prior to enrolling. This course is for students beyond the freshman year.
STUDENT LEARNING GOALS
Throughout this course, you should expect to:
1.develop artistic abilities & a refined body of work by focusing intensively, under faculty guidance, on the reading and writing of poetry;
2.learn sophisticated models for revision, & sharpen reading, editorial, & analytical skills, as well as the ability to articulate matters of craft;
3.be familiar with formal possibilities for writing, including the historical development of prosody through a close study of the structure of poetry;
4.develop a broader knowledge base of contemporary works & of the literary canon; and
5.enhance your professional development with the support of a community of faculty, fellow students, & distinguished visiting writers.
UNCG GRADING SYSTEM
A: Excellent—Achievement of distinction & excellent; B: Good—General achievement superior to the acceptable standard; C: Average—Acceptable standard for graduation; D: Lowest Passing Grade—Work which falls below the acceptable standard; F: Failure—Failure that may not be made up except by repeating the course.
Classroom Manners: Please don’t be late.(More on that later.) We often cover housekeeping matters, due dates, criteria for assignments, etc., during the first part of class. If you are late, you will miss important information. If you have to leave class early, please let me know before class begins. Also, please be courteous to all speakers in class by not interrupting or talking to other people at the same time another person has the floor. Finally, out of courtesy, please keep your cell phones muted during class and resist the temptation to text. If you need to take a call during class, please step out of the room.
Classroom Community: This class will be a speaking and writing community and you will be responsible for evaluating and delivering constructive criticism to your fellow classmates. Although students should view the classroom as a safe place to express ideas, any behavior that is discriminatory or otherwise isolating to other students will not be tolerated. We have a responsibility to one another to create a healthy learning environment that does not promote hostility or discrimination. We must maintain a mutual respect and behave in such a way that does not disrupt our learning community.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Each class meeting, you will need to bring a notebook, journal, legal pad, or some other bound writing surface in which to keep your process work. Bring your textbooks to class every day that we have a reading to discuss. Your participation grade will suffer without them.
Your grade will be determined as follows:
Attendance & Participation/25%
Effort—your poems/25%
Effort—others’ poems/25%
Final portfolio/25%
Attendance: Since this course depends upon a full & lively classroom, we all suffer when seats are empty. Perfect attendance will be rewarded with a full extra point added to the final semester’s grade. You are allowed three absences during the semester (one full week of classes). After that, each additional absence will negatively affect your grade. (The terms “excused” & “unexcused absences” are not applicable for this course.)
Missing six or more days (2 full weeks of class) will make it impossible to receive a passing grade. You will not be excused for work due on a day you are absent; you are responsible for retrieving any assignments you missed.
Moreover, make sure to be here on time, because we’ll go over important housekeeping and class work matters at the start of each class period. Missing more than 10 minutes of any class will count as an absence, and of course excessive tardiness will negatively affect your participation grade.
NB: If you are absent when we would have workshopped your poem, your poem will not be discussed in class.
Absences for Religious Observance
The University allows for a limited number of excused absences each academic year for religious observances required by the faith of the student. Students must notify instructors of absences in advance of the date of the religious observance. To have an absence excused for religious observance, you must notify me at least 1 week in advance. As per the University’s policy, the nature of the religious observance should be specified and your participation needs to be confirmed in writing by an official of the religious organization.
Participation: I cannot emphasize enough the importance of discussion in this class. Your questions, comments, & active listening are not only an important part of your grade, but will also help in your own understanding of poetry—and are important to the other writers in the class.
If you’re not willing or if you don’t believe you’re able to speak regularly in front of others, this class is not for you.
On days when we are discussing readings from either of the books or Blackboard, we will have informal presentations from students chosen at random. Exciting! Details in class.
Tutorials: I will require that everyone meets with me once during the semester for a tutorial on a poem (not put into workshop) or on a poem revision. It is your responsibility to set up a meeting with me, and the meeting needs to be before Friday, 18 November. You are always welcome to schedule additional meetings to discuss new work, revisions, or to look closer at a poem alreadyworkshopped.
I will not hold a tutorial with you about a poem in the packet BEFORE it is workshopped. These meetings are important in fostering a different dialogue outside of the large group setting & will, I hope, offer you additional ways of exploring & revisiting a poem.
Poems: We will do much in-class writing, drafting, and reading that you will not turn in for critique. You will be expected to turn in a poem for each formal assignment. Poems are emailed to me as docx or doc files by 10am on the due date. Your poem must be:
- typed in astandard 12 point Times font
- left-justified (not centered)
- single-spaced, unless you want each line to be considered a stanza by itself
- free from spelling & grammatical errors, &
- with your name clearly legible in the top right-hand corner.
All poems will be collected in the final portfolio. Some work will be revised and some will not, and some poems will be “directed” & some will be “open.”
Effort: A large part of your grade comes from the time and attention you give to your own work, and also to your peers’ work. You must give this class your time. It will always be obvious to us if you write your poem the hour before class; it will always be obvious if you rush a critique of a poem. And this will without a doubt be reflected in your grade.
Final portfolio: Included in your portfolio, you should have: all original drafts of poems (that is, the version you turned in for workshop), draft comments from all class members, and a revision of three of the poems. More details as the semester continues.
ASSIGNMENTS—IN BRIEF
Reading Assignments: Read, reflect, take personal notes on what you’ve read, and be prepared to
discuss your thoughts, reactions, and feelings. If I feel as if class discussion is lacking in
enlightenment, thus inhibiting our growth, I will ask for tangible proof that you have completed
the reading in the form of short quizzes, journal entries, or papers. This will ensure that the work
was digested and reflected on enough to generate engaging and exciting class discussions. (SLO 1,2,3,4; LG 1)
Participation:Participate! Writers want to share and share in terms of language, so talk talktalk. Writershave something to say and are willing to bleed and undergo strange tortures to say whatever it is so imperative to say. Fortunately, in this course, you are expected to discuss yourthoughts freely and out of harm’s way. (SLO 1,2,3,4,5; LG 1)
Writing assignments:I expect you to have these done and emailed by the time it is due. If
your work is late, you will not be allowed to make it up, thus you will have a blank (and, therefore, a zero) in yourfinal portfolio. (SLO 1,2,3,4,5; LG 1, 3)
Written comments on classmates’ work: I will be discussing what I expect from you in terms of
written comments. These comments should be written directly on the work itself BEFORE
CLASS.(SLO 1,2,3,4; LG 1)
NB: If people are being weasels and trying to do the work in class itself rather than being prepared when class begins, we’ll change to a typed narrative for each poem due at the beginning of class.
WORKSHOP FORMAT & ETIQUETTE
On the day a poem is due, you will email a copy of the poem to me before class time (10am). If I don’t receive your poem through email before 10am on the due date, then you will receive a zero (0) for the assignmentand your poem will not be workshopped.I will assemble and order the poems into a single document following class, and will email it to you through Blackboard. Poems will be workshopped in the order in which they are arranged in the packet. We will not be able to workshop an entire packet in one class—it will take, typically, 3 classes. However, you should be prepared to discuss beyond the average, in case of absences. (We’ll talk about the average in class.) We will spend roughly 10-15 minutes on each poem. As is traditional, during the discussion of your poem, you will remain silent. At the end of the discussion, you will have 1-2 minutes to answer any questions, ask us questions that we have not addressed, or request further clarification.More information in class.
Please remember that it is a privilege for you to have the opportunity to present your work. However, showing our work makes us vulnerable, especially in an introductory class where many of you may not have shown your poetry to anyone before. Be constructive & kind while critiquing and workshopping, even when your goal is to let a writer know what can be improved. Please note: While I think it’s great if you’ve written poems prior to this class, the work you turn in for workshop must have been written during the current semester.
Students are expected to abide by the terms of the student code of academic conduct & UNCG’s honor policy. I urge you to examine these materials (in the undergraduate bulletin or online at & welcome any questions you may have.
Before the workshop, you are expected to read each poem several times, and to make comments on the poems themselves for discussion & for the writer.
Make substantial comments and articulate your concerns. At the bottom or on the back of the poem, pull your main thoughts about the poem together in a note. This is a thoughtful, narrative version of your rough comments on the poem itself. Consider the following:
- How does the title work in regard to the poem?
- How does the poet use line breaks, stanza breaks, and white space?
- How does the poet use imagery and figurative language?
- What is the tone of the poem? What is the mood of the poem? Does it change? How could it be more effective?
- What do you notice in terms of word choice, syntax, and other details?
- How does the poem employ assonance, alliteration, or other sound devices?
- Who is speaking the poem and to whom is the poem addressed?
- How would you characterize the pacing of the poem?
Don’t forget to KEEP EVERYTHING. Your peers’ comments will be included in your final portfolio.
Note: This critique isn’t a place for reader response in the general sense. In other words, saying “the title is good” or “I like your poem’s word choice” is NOT adequate. Instead, these critiques ask for your analysis—not merely your reaction.
I will be sharing some examples of great and examples of inadequate poem critiques with you, to give you an idea of what I’m expecting and what you should expect from yourself and others in the class.
Student Counseling Center: If you have difficulty meeting the demands of this or any class because of personal or family problems, anxiety, or any other emotional distress, please contact the Student Counseling and Testing Center: (336) 334-5874.
Special Needs: If you have special needs, please let me know and contact the Office of Disability Services—334.5440.
The University Writing Center and Online Writing Centerare available for all students at any point in the writing process. They’re quite nice and friendly, so take advantage of this free service. The Writing Center lets professors know when a student visits, and I will take note of your extra effort. The Writing Center is located in 3211 MHRA, and is open Tuesday, 6 September through Reading Day. Normal hours are Monday through Thursday, 9am-8pm; Fridays, 9am-3pm; and Sunday evenings, 5-8pm. For more information, talk to me, call the Center at 334-3125, or visit the website:
ENG 221-02 Poetry Calendar (subject to change)
August
Week 1
M22Introduction to the course; discuss the syllabus; assign favorite poem assignment
W24Small group favorite poem assignment; assign reading 1 and workshop rules
F26Discuss reading 1 and workshop rules
Week 2
M29Establish groups; in-class writing; assign Levertov and Gregg essays
W31Discuss Gregg and Levertov essays; assign sample critiques
F9/2Discuss sample critiques; in-class writing; assign reading 2
September
Week 3
M5Labor Day!
W7Packet 1, group 1 due (I.1); discuss reading 2
F9in-class writing; review workshop etiquette
Week 4
M12I.1
W14I.1
F16I.1; Packet 1, group 2 due (I.2)
Week 5
M19I.2
W21I.2
F23I.2; assign reading 3
Week 6
M26Discuss reading 3
W28in-class writing; assign reading 4
F30 Discuss reading 4; SG1 due; assign reading 5
October
Week 7
M3SG1
W5Discuss reading 5; assign reading 6
F7Class canceled; professor at academic conference
Week 8
M10Fall Break!
W12Discuss reading 6
F14in-class writing; Packet 2, group 1 due (II.1)
Week 9
M17II.1
W19II.1
F21II.1; Packet 2, group 2 due (II.2)
Week 10
M24II.2
W26II.2
F28 II.2; assign reading 7
Week 11
M31Discuss reading 7
W11/2in-class writing
F4Portfolio assigned; Packet 3, group 1 due (III.1)
November
Week 12
M7III.1
W9III.1
F11III.1; Packet 3, group 2 due (III.2)
Week 13
M14III.2
W16III.2
F18III.2; assign reading 8
Week 14
M21Discuss reading 8; SG2 due
W23Thanksgiving!
F25Thanksgiving!
Week 15
M28SG2; assign reading 9
W30Discuss reading 9; assign reading 10
F12/2Discuss reading 10
December
Week 16
M5Poem readings; last day of class