Fall 2006
T, Th 1:30 – 2:45 PM, SH 240
Phone: 924-4432 Office: FO 106
COURSE
SYLLABUS
Course Content
/Goals:
In this
course students will read selected works by a diverse group of Modern and
Post-modern poets. In a subject as
voluminous as twentieth century poetry, it is difficult to choose what poets
and poems to include for the course. Given the great number of poets whose work
is of significance and worth knowing, I have elected to examine several poets
in depth rather than to conduct a survey of the entire field. Such a survey could hardly do justice to the
rich poetic heritage we have carried forward from the last century. Students are urged to read as widely as
possible, beyond the poets and on the required reading list. By reading more than what is merely required,
students will inevitably discover new favorite poets and poems that did not fit
the narrow confines of the required list.
In putting
the reading list together, I have attempted to include the work of poets whose production
influenced all that has been produced since, or whose work has been so
innovative that it introduced something new into the canon of modern
poetry. Included on the reading list
are: William Carlos Williams, Wallace Stevens, Robinson Jeffers, Hart Crane,
Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Lowell, and James Wright. The course
will take students on a guided tour of some the most significant poetry written
in the twentieth century.
Texts:
REQUIRED:
Joel Conarroe, Eight American Poets.
Hart Crane, Complete
Poems of Hart Crane, ed. Marc Simon.
Robinson Jeffers, The Wild God of the World,
(Stanford Univ.).
Carey Nelson, editor, Oxford Anthology of Modern
American Poetry.
James Wright Above the River: Complete Poems.
RECOMMENDED:
Robinson Jeffers, Selected Poems, (Vintage
paperback).
William Carlos Williams, Selected Poems.
ON-LINE RESOURCES:
Modern
American Poetry Web Site:
www:english.uiuc.edu/maps.
American
Class Methods
and Procedures:
The class will
be conducted as a seminar, including participation by both undergraduate and
graduate students. All students will
closely read poems on the assigned reading list. Students will discuss these poems in small
study groups as well as with the whole class.
Each small group is required to make individual
seminar presentations on two of the poets on the reading list. These presentations will require members of
the small group to read additional poems by poet they have selected (or have
been assigned). Students in the small
group may wish also to read poems by poets on the supplemental reading list
associated with the poets they are working on.
The seminar presentations are to be based on papers students are writing
for the class. Each student is
responsible for a minimum of two seminar presentations. Extra credit will be given to any student who
wishes to write a paper on one of the poets on the supplemental reading list.
Course
Requirements:
ü Read the poems and articles on the required
reading list.
ü Give two 10-minute seminar presentations in
class.
ü Write two term papers (7 to 10 pages--a minimum
of 1,500 words).
ü Mid-term take-home exam (first have of the
semester covered).
ü Final take-home exam (second half of the semester
covered).
Due Dates:
First term
paper October 17
Mid-term exam October 24
Second term
paper December 7
Final exam December 13, 12:45
PM
Seminar Presentations / Term Papers
Each seminar presentation and term paper you complete should be considered two parts of a single project. Undergraduates will complete two of these projects during the semester; graduate students will complete three. You are required to give a 15-minute presentation in which you present material that will be included in your term paper. Before you begin work on each of your presentations and papers, be sure to submit and abstract for approval by the instructor. You will not allowed to give your paper unless I approve your project in advance.
The seminar presentations will be scheduled to coincide with the poet or topic to which they are most closely related.
First Presentation / Term Paper
An investigation and close reading of two or three poems (not discussed in class) by one of the poets on the required reading list. The guiding question is: “How do the poems you’ve chosen to discuss participate in—or resist—some aspect of literary Modernism. Read the poems in-depth, provide biographical information if and where necessary. Document any source material you use (MLA format), although secondary sources are not required for this project.
Second Presentation / Term Paper
First Option:
An investigation and close reading of two or three poems by a single poet (not discussed in class) who appears on the required or recommended reading list. The guiding question is: “How do the poems you chosen to discuss exemplify the poetic practice of this poet?” Read the poems in-depth, provide biographical and or historical information if and where necessary. Use secondary source materials, and document (MLA format) to support your arguments.
Second Option:
Write two poems in the style and on subjects/themes you find prevalent in work by a poet on the required reading list. Then analyze the poems you’ve written, comparing them to a poem or poems by the poet whose work you’ve emulated. If you use supporting quotes from secondary sources, document the materials following MLA format.
Graduate Students / Extra Credit:
First Option:
An investigation and close reading of several poems by a poet on the recommended reading list. Or a long poem by a poet on the required reading list recommended by the instructor, such as Hart Crane’s “The Bridge.” The guiding question is: “How does the poem(s) you’ve chosen to discuss exemplify the poetic practice of this poet? And of what significance to the poet’s reputation and/or legacy is this work? Use secondary source materials, and document (MLA format) to support your arguments.
Second Option:
A personal essay in which you offer a close reading or a
detailed appraisal of a group of thee to five poems by a poet on the
recommended reading list. The guiding
question is: “How do you read these poems and of what significance are these
poems, in your estimation, to the development of Modern or Postmodern
poetry?” (Robert Hass’ essay “
You are to keep a notebook or a journal in which you make notes on each of the poems assigned. You should write at least a short paragraph per poem. Divide your notebook into works by each poet, and include in your notes biographical details about the poet or secondary source references on a poem that helps you to better read the text. You should use these notes when you take your exams. You may keep your notebook either on your computer or handwritten in a composition book or small loose-leaf notebook. You will be asked to turn in your notebook when you complete your mid-term and your final exam. The notebook will be graded on a Credit (high pass, pass, or low pass) or No Credit basis. The notebook will represent 10 percent of your final grade. In the notebook, I am looking for clarity and precision of your close reading, and that you practice close reading the poems for their literary features and attributes.
Notebook grade (10%)
Seminar presentations—two (20%)
Term papers—two (40%)
Mid-term take-home exam (15%)
Final
take-home exam (15%)
*Graduate
Students Only
Graduate Students
most complete a third scholarly or creative project as part of their
requirement. The project counts as part
of the seminar presentation / term-paper grades for the course. Undergraduates may request to complete a
third project to earn extra credit, with the instructor’s permission. An option for the third project is to write a
parody of one of the poet’s on the reading list, accompanied by a short,
informal paper that discusses the poem you’ve written.
NOTE: In English
Department courses, instructors will comment on and grade the quality of
student writing as well as the quality of the ideas being conveyed. All student writing should be distinguished
by correct grammar and punctuation, appropriate diction and syntax, and
well-organized paragraphs.
Grades given conform to the English Department and university grading
policy. The Department of English is
committed to the differential grading scale as defined in the official SJSU Catalog (“The Grading System”). Grades issued must represent a full range of
student performance: A = excellent; B = above average; C = average;
D = below average; F = failure.
Course Calendar:
(The works assigned will be read and discussed in class on the date they are listed. It’s important to read the work before the class meeting. You will get much more from the discussion that way. The schedule may be adjusted to better accommodate class discussion or because of other scheduling changes. All poems listed on the calendar are required to be discussed in your notebook unless you are instructed otherwise.)
Aug. 24: Class orientation. Writing criticism about poetry (handout). William Carlos Williams, introduction (handout). Background to Modernism, Y.B. Yeats, T.S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams.
Aug. 29: Video from Voices and Visions. (handout). William Carlos Williams poems in Modern
American Poetry: “The Young Housewife,” 165; “Spring and All,” 167 – 168;
“To Elsie,” 168 – 170; “This Is Just to Say,” 191 – 192. (These poems are discussed on the video.)
Aug. 31: T.S. Eliot in MAP (to compare with
Williams): “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” 278 – 282; “The Wasteland Pt. I,” 285 –
288. William Carlos Williams poems in MAP
continued “Spring and All,” (handout); “The Yachts,” 192 – 193; “The
Descent,” 193 – 194. (You are not
required to write about the Eliot poems in your notebook.)
Sept. 5: William Carlos Williams in MAP continued:
“Asphodel, That Greeny Flower,” 194 – 200; Williams essays/letters
(handout). Student presentations on
Williams.
Sept. 7: Wallace
Stevens introduction. Wallace Stevens
poems in MAP: “
Sept. 12: Wallace Stevens poems in MAP continued: “The Snow Man,” 132; “Emperor of Ice Cream,”
132; “Sunday Morning,” 135 – 138.
Sept. 14: Wallace Stevens poems in MAP continued: “Study of ‘Two Pears,” 141 – 142; “Of Modern Poetry,”
142; “The Course of a Particular,” 142 – 143; “The Plain Sense of Things,” 143;
“Of Mere Being,” 144.
Sept. 19: Wallace Steven’s essay, “The Noble Rider and the Sounds of Words” (handout). Student presentations on Wallace Stevens.
Sept. 21: Robinson Jeffers introduction. Albert Gelpi essay "Jeffers and the
Sublime” from Wild God of the World, 1-19. Soldofsky essay on Jeffers, “(handout). Robinson Jeffers poems from WGW “Shine,
Sept. 26:
Robinson Jeffers continued: “The Purse-Seine,” 157-158; “
Sept. 28: Robinson Jeffers continued (in Selected
Poems) “Roan Stallion,” 14 – 34; (in
WGW) “Love the Wild Swan,”
152; “Cassandra,” 170, “Original Sin,” 172; “De Rerum Virtute,” 176 – 178.
Oct. 3: Robinson Jeffers continued: “The Deer Lay
Down Their Bones,” 179 – 180; “Vulture,” 183. Student presentations on Jeffers.
Oct. 5: Introduction to Hart Crane. Harold Bloom, introductory essay on Hart Crane….
Soldofsky paper “A Bright Logic: Metaphorical Invention and the Vernacular of Compression in Hart Crane’s Early Poetry.” From White Buildings “ Legend, 3; “Black Tambourine,” 5; “Possessions, 25.
Oct. 10: Hart Crane continued. In White Buildings
“Paraphrase,” 24; “At Melville’s Tomb, 45”; “Voyages, 49 – 58.”
Oct. 12: Hart Crane continued. In White Buildings
“Voyages,” 49 – 58.” In MAP
“Proem to
Oct. 17: First term paper due. Student presentations on Hart Crane. First term-paper due. Mid-term take home exam distributed. (Extra-credit paper on Hart Crane’s “The Bridge” due).
Oct. 19: Introduction to Confessional poetry. Discussion: Robert Lowell and the
mid-century. Robert Lowell poems in MAP: “To Speak of Woe That is in
Marriage,” 755; “Man and Wife,” 755; 757
– 759.
Oct. 24: Mid-term exam due. From Eight American Poets (also
handouts will be available): “Quaker Graveyard Near Nantucket,” 73 – 76. Robert Hass, “
Oct. 26: Robert Lowell Continued: In MAP “Memories
of West Street and Lepke,” 756 – 757; “Skunk Hour,” “For the Union Dead,” 759 – 761; “Central
Park,” 763 – 765; “Epilogue,” (handout).
Oct. 31: Student
presentations on Robert Lowell.
Introduction to Marianne Moore (handout). Marianne Moore poems in MAP:
“Poetry,” 251; “The Fish,” 252 – 253; “A Grave,” 254; “Silence,” 255, “The
Pangolian,” 269 – 272.
Nov. 2: Marianne More poems in MAP: “The
Paper Nautilus,” 273 – 274. “The Steeple Jack” (handout). Robert Pinsky: “Marianne Moore: Idiom and
Idiosyncracy” (handout to read but will not be discussed). Student presentations on
Nov. 7: Elizabeth Bishop poems in MAP: “At the
Fish Houses,” 634 – 636; “Filling Station,” 636 – 637; “Questions of Travel,”
637 – 638; “In the Waiting Room,” 639 – 641; Robert Pinsky, “Elizabeth Bishop’s
Complete Poems” (handout).
Nov. 9: Bishop continued: “Crusoe in
Nov. 14: O’Hara’s manifesto “Personism” (read online
line http://www.uh.edu/~ghawkins/nys/texts/personism.html). Also: read about the
Nov. 15: O’Hara
continued: “Day Lady Died,” 829 – 830; “Why I am Not a Painter,” 830 – 831; “A
True Account of Talking to the Sun on Fire Island,” 831 – 833.”
Nov. 21: O’Hara continued: “On Seeing Larry Rivers’ Washington Crossing the Delaware at the
Nov. 28: James Wright poems in Above the River: James Wright poems in Above the River: “At the Executed Murderer’s Grave,” 82 – 84; “Saint Judas,” 84; “As I Step Over a Puddle at the End of Winter, I Think of an Ancient Chinese Governor,” 119; “Autumn Begins in Martin’s Ferry, Ohio,” 121; “Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota,” 141; “A Blessing,” 143.
Nov. 30: “Minneapolis Poem,” 147 – 149; “Speak,” 157 –
158; “Three Sentences for a Dead Swan,” 163 – 164; “To the Muse,” 175 – 176;
“Many of our Waters: Variations on a Poem by a Black Child,” 210 – 215; “Ohio
Valley Swains,” 233 – 234; “The Old WPA Swimming Pool in Martin’s Ferry, Ohio”
236 – 237; “October Ghosts,” 258 – 259.
Dec. 5: James Wright poems in Above the River:
“To the Creature of the Creation,” 260 – 261; “On a Phrase from Southern Ohio,”
300 – 301; “Hook”; “To a Blossoming Pear Tree,” 316 – 317; “Lightning Bugs
Asleep in the Afternoon,” 342.
Dec. 7: Second
term-paper due. “Ohioan Pastoral,” 348; “A Winter Daybreak Above Venice,”
375 – 276.Student presentations on James Wright. TAKE HOME FINAL HANDED OUT.
Dec. 13: FINAL
MEETING 12:15 – 2:00 PM.
TAKE-HOME FINAL DUE. Make-up
student presentations.