Special Topics: The Poem as Document
ENGL 316
Spring 2012 not offered
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What is the relation between a poem and its context? What responsibility do poets have to represent the world they inhabit? To what extent can a poem--like a photograph or a documentary film--be representative of that world? What role does artifice play in the project of representing reality? What are the possibilities--and limitations--of poetic form? In this course we will discuss works that position themselves as documentary texts or objective records of their sociopolitical, economic, and/or eco-historical world. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Writing
This course requires a substantial amount of creative and critical writing distributed throughout the semester; this work will culminate in the production of a long poem or series of poems.
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ENGL |
| Course Format: Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Major Requirement for: None |
Major Readings:
Required reading will include works by Walt Whitman, Claude McKay, William Carlos Williams, Aime Cesaire, Charles Reznikoff, Lorine Niedecker, Melvin Tolson, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Amiri Baraka, Theresa Cha, C. S. Giscombe, Brenda Coultas, Mark Nowak, and others.
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Examinations and Assignments:
In addition to discussing and responding to the course texts, students will propose, complete, and revise their own semester-long creative projects. Each student will develop, complete, and revise a coherent 15-20-page poem or sequence of poems. Written responses to the course texts will be both critical and creative. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
To be eligible for admission to this course, students must have taken a techniques course in Creative Writing or an intermediate or advanced workshop in creative writing; or they may apply electronically for permission of the instructor (ewillis@wesleyan.edu).
This course contributes to the English major Theory and Literary Forms concentration. |
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