English 682: The Structure of VerseOffice: MHRA 3310
Professor: David RoderickOffice Phone: 336-334-3979
E-mail: ffice Hours: Tuesdays, 12-2 and by appt.
Overview:This course is designed to develop your understanding of meter, rhythm, and other qualities constituting the structure of a poem.It also provides a context within which we can ruminate upon the idea of “structure” itself.Most importantly, we will study and write poems in metrical, accentual, and open patterns, with the expectation that these practices will enhance and inform your own unique method of crafting poems.
Attendance/Participation:Our MFA classes constitute the foundation of your education here at UNCG, and your work in them should be your highest priority.Attend every class and participate in our activities and discussions.Your required assignments include 9 poetry exercises, 1 research presentation, and 1 sonnet recitation.
Machinations: Submit your weekly writing assignment to the MFA office by noon on Monday.Packets will be distributed via e-mail later that afternoon.Before Tuesday’s class, print and read your peers’ work.We will likely select two or three assignments to discuss informally in class.
Required Texts:
House and Fire, Maria Hummel
Urban Tumbleweed, Harryette Mullen
Black Aperture, Matt Rasmussen
Syllabus:This syllabus is a work-in-progress, and is subject to change at my (or our) discretion.
January
13Introduction to the course. Primer on meter and rhythm. Scanning poems. Packet of Natasha Trethewey’s poems from Native Guard and Thrall.
Homework: Reread and scan Trethewey poems. Complete Scansion Sheet #1.
20Scansion Sheet #1. Trethewey poems, cont’d. Trethewey visit/Q & A.
Homework: Scansion Sheet #2; Lehman’s Introduction to Great American Prose Poems (Bb); Study packet of narrative prose poems (Bb).
27Scansion Sheet #2. Lehman’s Intro. Narrative prose poems.
Homework: Writing Assignment #1: Narrative prose poem. Snodgrass’s “The Folk Ballad (Bb). Study packet of ballads (Bb).
*For those of you who still feel uncomfortable scanning poems or need practice beyond the exercises on the scansion handout, go to Blackboard and read Nims’s Chapter 9 (“The Dancer and the Dance”).Also do “Exercises & Diversions” (Section C: 1-15, on pages 229-230).Type up each passage (double-spaced), scan its meter, and bring it to my office hours or make an appointment with me to review.
February
3No Class
10Discussion of narrative prose poem assignments. Snodgrass essay. Ballads.
Homework: Writing Assignment #2: Ballad. Oppenheimer’s “The Birth of the Modern Mind” and early Italian Renaissance sonnets (Bb).Study packet of sonnets (Bb).
17Discussion of ballad assignments. Oppenheimer essay. Italian and English Sonnets.
Homework: Prepare for sonnet recitation in class. Study contemporary sonnets in packet.
24Sonnet Recitations!Sonnet packet cont’d. Introduction to villanelles.
Homework: Writing Assignment #3: Sonnet. Kumin’s “Gymnastics: The Villanelle” (Bb). Study packet of villanelles (Bb).Study Hummel’s House and Fire.
March
3Discussion of sonnet assignments. Kumin essay. Villanelles. Hummel’s House and Fire.
Homework: Writing Assignment #4: Villanelle. Study Harryette Mullen’s Urban Tumbleweed.
10Spring Break
17Discussion of villanelle assignments. Mullen’s Urban Tumbleweed.Introduction to the elegy.
Homework: Writing Assignment #5: Tanka.Study Matt Rasmussen’s Black Aperture.
24Discussion of tanka assignments.Rasmussen’s Black Aperture.
Homework: Writing Assignment #6: Elegy.Gregerson’s “Ode and Empire” (Bb).Study packet of odes (Bb).
31Discussion of elegy assignments.Gregerson essay. Odes.
Homework: Writing Assignment #7: Ode. Study Delville and Chernoff’s “Strange Tales and Bitter Emergencies” (Bb). Study packet of lyric/descriptive prose poems (Bb).
April
7Discussion of ode assignments.Delville and Chernoff essay. Discuss lyrical/descriptive prose poems.
Homework: Writing Assignment #8: Lyric/Descriptive prose poem. Linebreak exercise. Read Addonizio’s “Revisions and Do-Overs” (Bb).
14Discussion of lyric/descriptive prose poem assignments. Discuss linebreak exercise. Addonizio’s “Revisions and Do-Overs.”
Homework: Writing Assignment #9: Revision
21Share revised exercises in class. Wrap-up.Course evaluations.Finis.