Instructor: Jonathan Gourlay
Office Hours: MWF 2-3, TTh 1-2
Telephone: 320-2480 ext. 229
E-mail: jgourlay@comfsm.fm
Web site: http://www.comfsm.fm/~jgourlay/CoursesSpr08.htm

Course Description:

This course contains three major areas of inquiry. First, there is a selected analysis and review of English poetry from Chaucer to the present. Second, there is a practical study how poetry uses the sounds of language to convey meaning. Finally, the course contains a workshop component that allows the student to experiment with various poetic forms and concepts in their own writing.

In other words: 1) Reading and understanding famous poems, 2) Listening to and understanding the music of language, and 3) Writing poems.

General Objectives:

A: Reading

The student will be able to:

1. Identify and analyze poetic forms;
2. Determine literal and figurative meanings in poetry; and
3. Discuss themes, literary devices, style, and historical influences in poetry.

B: Writing

The student will be able to:

1. Write a poem in a given form;
2. Identify and analyze prosody and apply it in writing; and
3. Respond reflectively in writing, with a minimum of grammatical error, to poems.

C: Communication

The student will be able to:

1. Make informed language choices, with an understanding of the musicality of English.
2. Explore the prosody of a language other than English.

Required Texts:

Kelly, Joseph, ed. The Seagull Reader: Poems. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton and
Company, 2003.

Northrop, Kate. Back Through Interruption. Kent State University Press. 2002.

Assignments:

Homework assignments are to be turned in during the class period in the homework basket. No late homework is accepted.

Sometimes work will be turned in to me via e-mail. I will send you a receipt stating that I received the homework. If you do not receive a reply from me, you must come to my office!!

Quizzes:

There is a 10% (one grade) penalty for not taking a quiz on a scheduled date. If you miss a quiz, make an appointment to make up the test before the next class meeting. An additional 10% deduction will be made for each class period the test is not made up.

Attendance:

This is a MWF class. You may be absent six times. If you have more than six absences, you will fail or be withdrawn from the class. Three “lates” (more than 10 minutes late) equals one absence.

Plagiarism:

Anyone who willfully and knowingly uses another’s work as their own will fail this class and may face charges before the student conduct board. Depending on the nature of the plagiarism, the student may only fail the plagiarized assignment and not the class.

Classroom Rules:

Please don’t get up and walk out of the room in the middle of class (especially if
someone is talking). It’s not a huge problem, but it disrupts the class. No cell phones.
Your teacher expects maturity and mutual respect. Your teacher reserves the right to
remove you from class if you are disruptive.

Assessment:

Each homework assignment or quiz is worth a certain amount of points, based on the importance of the assignment. Your grade is calculated by dividing your points by the total possible points. Poetry class mostly consists of various projects that we will undertake as a class. The most important thing is doing the projects to the best of your ability. You will not be graded on how great your poems are, rather on how well you fulfill the requirements of the assingments.