Department of English

"Approaches and Alternatives in Poetry"

Students will write a poem a week, following assignments focusing on various strategies and forms, from prose poems to dramatic monologues, from individual mini-fieldtrips to gather material, to strategies for revision. You'll present your work for discussion and friendly critique by the workshop, and will be encouraged to revise your work over the semester. There will be occasional in-class writing exercises; most writing will be done outside of class. There will be weekly reading assignments of published poems by established poets, mostly but not exclusively modern and contemporary, having to do with the writing assignment. You will also be required to attend a poetry reading given by an established poet, and to memorize and recite poems a few times during the semester. There will also be a mini-session on how to submit poems to magazines: you'll learn how to identify journals most likely to welcome your work, and will submit poems to two of them. Course Requirements: Class attendance and participation; completion of assignments including but not necessarily limited to those described above; conferences with the instructor; a final portfolio.