Introduction to Poetry

Dr. R.-J. Frontain

English 2380-2040

Office: Irby 118B

Fall 2003

Office Hours: MWF 1-2 p.m. TTH 1:30-2:30 p.m.

Irby 312

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Poetry is the suggestion of a larger meaning. Its "creating ambiguity" makes it the most effective channel by which humans can come at the things that matter to us most, those values and experiences which cannot be accessed referentially with their resonance intact. Poetry is a gesture made on the brink of something happening. Making, even reciting, a poem makes a person more whole. This course aims to help students live more poetically by making them more attuned to language (both its resonant caves and black holes) and by asking them to read with their whole person.

TEXTS

Petrarch’s Lyric Poems: The "Rime Sparse" and Other Lyrics, trans. Robert M. Durling (Harvard UP)

John Donne’s Poetry: A Norton Critical Edition (second ed.), ed. Arthur L. Clements (Norton)

The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Reading Edition, ed. R. W. Franklin (Harvard UP)

Anne Sexton, The Complete Poems (Houghton Mifflin)

SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS

F 22 Aug. Language, Sex, and the Sacred: An Introduction to Poetry

M 25 Aug. Petrarch, Rime 3, 5, 11, 20, 52, 54, 61, 62, 72, 87, 90, 107, 132, 164, 181, 186, 189, 190, 191, 363, 364, 365

W 27 Aug. "

F 29 Aug. "

M 1 Sept. LABOR DAY HOLIDAY

W 3 Sept. Continue with Petrarch

F 5 Sept. "

M 8 Sept. "

W 10 Sept. "

F 12 Sept. "

M 15 Sept. "

W 17 Sept. EXAMINATION #1

F 19 Sept. John Donne, "The Good-Morrow," "The Sun Rising," "The Canonization," "Lovers’ Infiniteness," "Love’s Growth," "The Flea," "A Nocturnal upon St. Lucy’s Day," "The Apparition," "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning," "Elegy XIX. To His Mistress Going to Bed," Holy Sonnets (pp. 112-20), and "Hymn to God the Father"

M 22 Sept. "

W 24 Sept. "

F 26 Sept. "

M 29 Sept. "

W 1 Oct. "

F 3 Oct. "

M 6 Oct. "

W 8 Oct. "

F 10 Oct. EXAMINATION #2

M 13 Oct. Emily Dickinson, Poems 68, 122, 178, 181, 204, 205, 207, 236, 260, 269, 320, 325, 340, 355, 372, 383, 409, 411, 466, 519, 591, 620, 675, 706, 764, 820, 935, 1263, and 1489

W 15 Oct. "

F 17 Oct. "

M 20 Oct. FALL BREAK

W 22 Oct. Continue with Dickinson

F 24 Oct. "

M 27 Oct. "

W 29 Oct. "

F 31 Oct. " (Film)

M 3 Nov. "

W 5 Nov. EXAMINATION #3

F 7 Nov. Anne Sexton, The Awful Rowing Toward God (pp. 415-74)

M 10 Nov. "

W 12 Nov. "

F 14 Nov. "

M 17 Nov. "

W 19 Nov. "

F 21 Nov. "

M 24 Nov. "

***EXPLICATION PAPER DUE IN CLASS***

W 26 Nov. THANKSGIVING RECESS

F 28 Nov. THANKSGIVING RECESS

M 1 Dec. Conclude Sexton

W 3 Dec. EXAMINATION #4

F 5 Dec. STUDY DAY

F 12 Dec. (10 a.m. to 12 noon) FINAL EXAMINATION PERIOD

OBSERVATIONS

1. Final grade. There will be four essay examinations, one per poet studied, and each worth 20% of the final grade. The remaining 20% will come from the student’s term paper and the recitation/oral commentary that will take place during the Final Examination Period. After the final average is figured, that grade will be adjusted to reflect excessive absences/tardies and/or disruptive behavior.

2. Paper/Recitation. The student may choose any poem in any of the four texts not marked for classroom discussion. The paper, due in class on Nov. 24, should be a 4-5 page, double spaced, typewritten analysis of that poem that follows MLA documentation format. During the Final Examination Period the student will have 3-5 minutes to recite his/her chosen poem, and to briefly introduce it to the class.