Writing and Reading Poems

Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Sessions: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

Description

This class teaches the understanding of poetry from the outside in and from the inside out. It is both an essay writing and a creative writing class. In the essay part students write one-page responses to a poem or poems. They then read these responses in class to focus class discussion. One-page because the emphasis is on concise expression of what students think and feel about the poems under discussion. Following this “outside” look at a given poet’s work, students will write imitations of that work. The syllabus makes clear just what aspects of these poems are to be imitated but as students work from the inside they have considerable latitude. Imitations will be read and discussed in class. This version of the course looks at poems from Donald Allen’s The New American Poetry, 1945-1960. Allen chose poets who broke with tradition, and while several of them are now established figures their work is still creating waves in American poetry.

Readings

Allen, Donald, ed. The New American Poetry, 1945-1960. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999. ISBN: 9780520209534.

Grading

ACTIVITIES	WEIGHTS
Assessment of One-page Essays	1/3
Imitations	1/3
Class Participation	1/3

Attendance

Since this class is effectively a writing workshop, attendance is mandatory. You are also required to attend two Poetry @ MIT events.

Conferences

We will meet for two conferences, but my office door is always open to you. Please email me with any questions about assignments or other class business.

Plagiarism

Samuel Johnson defined plagiary as “A thief in literature; one who steals the thoughts or writings of another.” In academia plagiarism is a serious crime punishable by failure of the course and withdrawal from the Institute. All of the work you present to this class must be your own and written for this class alone.

T. S. Eliot famously wrote, “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.” Theft in art raises a number of interesting questions many of which will be explored in class.

Calendar

WEEK #	TOPICS	KEY DATES
1	Introduction
2	Favorite Poems
3	Charles Olson’s Poem	Poetry response due
4	Olson Imitations	Imitation due
5	Robert Creeley’s Poems	Poetry response due
6	Creeley Imitations	Imitation due
7	Barbara Guest’s Poems	Poetry response due
8	Guest Imitations	Imitation due Poetry @ MIT: Poetry reading by Alice Notley
9	James Schuyler’s Poem and Letter	Poetry response due
10	Schuyler Imitations	Imitation due Poetry @ MIT: Poetry reading by Clayton Eshleman
11	Frank O’Hara Poems	Poetry response due
12	O’Hara Imitations	Imitation due
13	Philip Whalen’s Poems	Poetry response due
14	Whalen Imitations	Imitation due
15	Your Own Poems