Special Topics: Mouth to Mouth--A Workshop in Contemporary African American Poetry
ENGL 395
Spring 2023
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
AFAM 394 |
This course aims to survey the work of contemporary 20th- and 21st-century African American poetry. Sparked by essays from Charles Henry Rowell and the late Amiri Baraka in conversation with each other, this class will examine arc and trajectory of African American poetics from the poetry wing of the Black Arts Movement (mid-1960s or so) to our current contemporary moment. The works in this course offer a variety of aesthetic leanings and linguistic terrains that incorporate voices that dig deep into the African American experience. It is a workshop course, designed to facilitate the production of original creative works of poetry. While the content and style of the poems generated in this course are ultimately up to the individual student, each student will be encouraged to lean into the stylistic terrain of the poets covered in the course by borrowing, stealing, or otherwise allowing themselves to be influenced and inspired by work covered in any of the texts presented in this course. This course also incorporates a critical component that will ask students to offer brief close readings and short, conference-style papers in response to some aspect of the movement or group of poets at hand. These papers are intended to stir conversations around the aesthetic, political, historical, and/or ethical issues surrounding any movement, poet, or group of poets. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ENGL |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: ENGL216 |
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Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (ENGL)(ENGL-Creative W) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 50% - 74% |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Primary Texts/Collections
Angles of Ascent (Norton anthology) edited by Charles Henry Rowell
¿A Post Racial Anthology¿ by Amiri Baraka (essay provided)
ZONG! by M. NourbeSe Philip
Recyclopedia by Harryette Mullen
The Essential Etheridge Knight by Etheridge Knight
The Tradition by Jericho Brown
here is the sweet hand by francine j. harris
Supplementary Texts
In The Wake: On Blackness and Being by Christina Sharpe (provided excerpt of an essay within)
¿Two Modes of Disclosure¿ by H. L. Hix (essay)
Lorde, Audre¿¿¿Poetry Is Not a Luxury¿ (essay)
Mullen, Harryette¿¿¿Imagining the Unimagined Reader¿ (essay)
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly Craft Discussions
Short Conference Paper and presentation (2-3 pages)
Portfolio of 5 poems produced/written in workshop
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Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Student Option Grading Mode: If planning to pursue the Creative Writing path in English, students should choose the graded option for this class to fulfill requirements.
This course contributes to fulfillment of ENGL Major requirements: CW requirement, CW 300-level course, CW upper-level workshop, AL, LH3, elective.
The English department highly recommends that students be enrolled in only one CW course in a semester. If you are admitted to more than one CW course, the department requests that you choose one and let the instructors know during Adjustment Period. By doing so you will be considerate of instructors and other students.
Please contact the instructor if you have not completed the prerequisite course and would like to request a perquisite override. |
| Instructor(s): Avant,A, H. Jerriod Times: .M..... 09:20AM-12:10PM; Location: RUSSMILLET; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 4 | JR major: 4 | | |
| Seats Available: 9 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 3 | JR non-major: 2 | SO: 2 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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