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WRITING ENGLISH A312-051 FALL 2005 WEDNESDAY 4:55-7:35PM Prof. Katie Ford Office: Bobet 324 Email: [email protected] Phone: office (865-2260) Office Hours: MF 1-2:30 and by appointment.

Prerequisites: Introduction to Creative Writing

Required Reading: Contemporary American Poetry, Seventh Edition. Edited by A. Poulin, Jr. & Michael Waters; The Country Between Us by Carolyn Forche; Dancing in Odessa by Ilya Kaminsky; The Beauty of the Husband by Anne Carson; Claims for Poetry. Edited by .

Course Objectives/Learning Outcomes: This course is designed to teach the art of reading and writing poetry. Each week a new poem will be written alongside a reading assignment. Assignments will be gleaned from techniques used by the poets we are reading, so some formal imitation will be involved, especially at the beginning of the semester. This is a seminar course in which all students are expected to contribute to discussion and sharing of work. Each week we will begin class with “Rounds,” during which time each student will read passages from the prior week’s readings that they feel resonated in some way for them. We will travel around the table three times, each reading our three chosen passages of 5 lines or less. Please type these out and hand them in for credit. This will aid in the art of recitation and the discipline of listening to poetry. We will then do writing exercises and discuss specific poems from the readings. Reading is an integral part of this course. Your participation grade will be determined by how deeply you have engaged the poetry and how eagerly you articulate that engagement in discussion. By the end of the semester you will be versed in prosody, figurative language, various poetic forms, and the language of critical poetic analysis. You will also leave the course having drafted thirteen poems, five of which will be brought to completion.

Course Requirements:

Weekly assignments: 40% These will include poem drafts, revisions, memorization of poems, and reading. Each week you will get an assignment sheet stating what you need to accomplish for the following class. If you miss class, you need to stop by my office to pick up this sheet outside my office door. I will not send it by email. Late assignments will drop one grade per day and will not be accepted one week past their due date.

Class Participation: 20% You need to show each week that you have done the required reading and writing through thoughtful participation in discussion. Your participation grade will also include your response letters to students once we begin workshopping. Each week, three people will be assigned to write a critical response to one peer poem. We will do three poems during each week’s workshop. This will begin in late September. Your response will be graded according to its engagement with the poem, aptness of criticism, and articulation of which poetic devices are meaningfully employed in the poem. You will get no credit if this response is late, as we build that evening’s discussion around your initial comments.

Conferences: 10% You are required to come to my office hours for two individual conferences over the course of the semester. One conference must be before October 1. Please bring two poems to closely edit with me. I will not make sign up sheets or create intricate schedules for this. You may drop by my office hours or, if those do not work for your schedule, we can make an alternate time to meet.

Final portfolio: 30% The final portfolio will be due the last day of class. It will include 5 finished poems with at least 5 rough drafts placed behind the final draft. The portfolio will be titled and will also include a table of contents and a 2-page essay discussing how the readings of the semester have influenced your writing.

Grading: Final grades will be calculated on the following scale: 93-100: A 82-92: B 71-81: C 60-70: D 59 and below: F

Attendance: If you never miss class you will have 3% added to your final grade. Missing 4 or more of the total 14 classes, for any reason, will result in failure. You will be encouraged to withdraw from the course if you are having attendance problems.

*Students with disabilities who need to receive accommodation in this class should contact Disability Services at 865-2990 and should also speak to me about specific needs. Disability Services is located in the Academic Enrichment Center in Monroe Hall 405.

*Please do not eat in class. We will have a 10-minute break mid-class. *Please turn off all cell phones and pagers before entering the classroom.

Reading Assignments: Contemporary American Poetry designated as CAP; Claims for Poetry as Claims

August 31: Introduction

September 7: CAP: p. 575-583; Marvin Bell p.33-39; Naomi Shihab Nye p. 387-393; Ai, p.3-9; p. 329-337; Claims: p. 1-8, 9-12, 186-191

September 14: CAP: C.K. Williams p.555-563; Louise Gluck p. 155-161; Richard Hugo p. 237-243; Galway Kinnell p. 261-269; Claims: p. 250-272

September 21: The Country Between Us, all; Claims: p. 282-285,

September 28: CAP: Yusef Komunyakaa p. 287-293; Li-Young Lee p. 313-319; p. 429- 437; Anne Sexton p. 439-445; p. 347-353; Claims: p. 219-237

October 5: CAP: Ellen Bryant Voigt p. 539-545; p. 547-553; p. 565-573; Gerald Stern p. 521-529; Claims: p.50-61

October 12: Dancing in Odessa, all; Claims: 141-150

October 19: CAP: Robert Creeley p. 93-99; p. 119-125; Donald Hall p. 183-189; p.201-209; Claims: p. 151-164

October 26: James Merrill p. 363-369; W.S. Merwin, p. 371-377; Carl Philips p. 411-419; Elizabeth Spires p. 493-501; Claims: p. 78-94

November 2: The Beauty of the Husband, first half; Claims: p. 407-416

November 9: The Beauty of the Husband, second half; Claims: p. 104-116

November 16: No class. Thanksgiving Holiday.

November 23: CAP: p. 59-65; p. 67-73; Lucille Clifton p.85-91; p. 217; Claims: p. 38-49

November 30: CAP: p. 19-31; David St. John p. 503-511; Claims: p. 238-249

December 7: Last Class. Portfolios Due. Dinner Party at Professor Ford’s.