POETRY WORKSHOP        
GENERIC SYLLABUS
for Upper Level Courses        


TEXTS

Usually an anthology of contemporary and modern poetry, a smaller one of traditional poetry, and some books of essays such as Introspections, Touchstones or Written in water, Written in Stone. Sometimes a particular book or two such as poems of Montale or Pavese, Rilke, James Wright is also part of the reading. There is a major emphasis on reading and upon discussing the reading.

GENERAL
        As far as the philosophy of this course goes, you should read the enclosed description of workshops at UTC. Overall, the workshop is a discussion class where the main text is work you do. The discussion, if we are all to grow, will be direct, honest and clearly backed up with reasons for various opinions. It should be done with respect: for the art we are involved in, for the voice of the person behind the poem, for the poem itself as a human utterance. But respect here does not mean to coddle, to sugar-coat negative opinions: if we don't have the truth we won't grow as critics or writers.
        Different people will want different things from this course. It is geared to those who wish to write at least as an avocation if not a vocation, that is, towards students who are very serious about their writing. As anyone knows, not all of you are destined to become great writers, but the course can teach you, even better than a literature course, how to read poems closely, how to become a good reader and critic--of other work by famous or amateur writers, and of your own work thus improving your writing indirectly.

WORK REQUIRED
1.Class participation. (app. 25% of grade)

        A) You need to purchase the texts. You will be expected to do the reading assigned each week and be prepared to offer opinions, and if you don't you will be asked to drop the class. Assignments are given weekly and in response to the discussions that come up each class; therefore a day by day syllabus in advance would be false if not misleading.
        B)You should talk in class also about work by other students: this will be hard at first until you learn the jargon, unless you have taken the class before, but it will eventually come. DO NOT CUT. This sort of class cannot be made up in any way since it relies on active interchange among yourselves and with me in a fashion that cannot be duplicated. A cut is like missing 1/14 of the class or about 7% of the material. There are no exceptions of any sort for this.
        C)You must attend the Meacham Writers Workshop. This is usually around mid-semester. It is all free. You will have an individual conference with one of the visiting poets. You must pass in at least three poems for discussion at this writers conference. You should see your employer and make time for this NOW. There will be no excuses for anyone later on. If you need a letter from me, or for me to talk to your employer I will do so. You should know that employers are supposed, by law, to give you a chance to work such matters out.

2. Papers. (15% of grade)
You will have to write 2 three page papers: one on a poem and one on a poetic form. These papers will talk about the technique such as use and kind of metaphors, tone, form, style elements, etc. in each author. They can be relatively informal but must be clear and insightful. These are due on the specified dates. Please remember these dates as I will not be reminding you. No late papers will be accepted unless with a coroner's excuse.

3. Weekly Themes (10% of grade)
I will try to xerox a poem each week or assign one from the reading: these will be major poems from the tradition, probably from an anthology that I will expect you to know thoroughly, better than your own life history. We will spend a good deal of time each class going over these poems which I take to be touchstones for essential things in poetry. At the end of the semester you will know these poems as intimately as one can know printed words. As part of this process you will write up a one page, single-spaced, typed, comprehensive outline or set of notes about the main aspects of the poem (see enclosed sheet). NO LATE THEMES WILL BE ACCEPTED.

4. Poems. (50% 0f grade)
A) You should complete 8 new poems during the semester, and you should have rewritten at least two of them. Do not try to pass these in at the end: they should be well spaced through the semester. The important thing is not how good you are but how much you improve so I have to see them over time. YOU MUST KEEP A FOLDER WITH ONLY THE NEW POEMS AND REWRITES WHICH WILL BE PASSED IN TO ME AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER. This allows you to receive a grade and does not in itself insure an A.
B) Conferences: Students who have not had a workshop with me in the last two years should sign up for a conference soon. In addition, everyone should have at least two conferences with me this semester. These can be by appointment or drop-in. Monday afternoons are the best time.
C) Poems Due. Make copies for everyone and leave them on the shelf outside my office for others to pick up, the friday before class.

OTHER
        If you have any questions or problems, any disabilities, any situation I should know about please see me immediately. If you need to see me at another time than office hours contact me through the English Department, 755-4238.
        While I have been specific about requirements and percentages above (because of some problems with people not completing work and taking advantage of the usual ease of the workshop), the class, if it works well, is not to be thought of as a class in the traditional sense, but as a group of writers trying to explore an art and trying to improve. If we lose sight of that then the rest is pointless. To that end, if a student is obviously, say, a better critic than a writer and has put the effort into the writing, then the percentages can be adjusted to have the critical papers count more.
        I expect the class to be fun--and to be a way of exploring ourselves. The usual classroom demeanor, because we have to be so honest about our work, usually involves a lot of frivolity, sometimes sarcasm, satire, whatever keeps things light enough to keep the criticism intense.
        In a way, you make up the syllabus: I will assign readings based on our discussions, and the texts are mostly your poems. There are certain basic topics I will cover at some point, but we will work inductively in getting to them.
        THIS WORKSHOP WORKS BEST WHEN A NUMBER OF YOU STRIKE UP OR RENEW FRIENDSHIPS. To this end many students often go out after class to chat and you are certainly encouraged to do this, though certainly not required, nor would it ever reflect on a grade or anything like that. It is simply suggested if you'd like. In fact you are encouraged to exchange phone numbers and to get together yourselves. The better friends you are the more comfortable you will feel being honest with each other in class. The late William Matthews once said that one of the things that made this program so unique in the country, and so far above all the rest, was the sense of community the students had which allowed for this healthy criticism and help for each other, and that this was something few people ever understood, and that one of its central ingredients was this after-class session.
ENGL 375 * WEEKLY THEMES EXERCISE FORMAT * JACKSON

EACH WEEK YOU WILL CONSTRUCT A ONE PAGE SET OF NOTES FOR A POEM TO BE ASSIGNED. WE WILL DISCUSS THE POEM AND SOME OF YOU WILL BE ASKED TO READ YOUR NOTES: THEREFORE, THEY SHOULD BE THOROUGH, THOUGHTFUL AND DETAILED.
You should include several areas and the format is probably best in a bullet or outline form. What should you look for and approximate percent of space alloted to each inquiry: Consult the handout on workshops for some further explanations of this format and its terminology. basically in this exercise you are reading as a writer, from the inside out, more or less inductively.
Basic Structural Dynamic 30%
-how figurative is the language, how metaphoric, concrete--what, that is, is the texture of the language?
-what are the basic tensions, oppositions and impulses in the language? what sorts of language permeate the poem-- are there any values or ideas or moods, feelings, etc associated with types of levels of language?
-what are the basic images? are they of a certain type (relating to a certain sense, scene, atmosphere, etc)?
-are there any figures of speech such as apostrophe or understatement that affect quality of language
-are the sentences longish? ornate? simple? declarative? imperative? ie, describe the syntax--does it affect the overall general mood?
-based on this examination of language can you arrive at any basic sense of the issues that are involved--in a very general sense--does the language (or do the languages) involve a particular perspective/vision, or a collision of these?

Form 30%
-what is the basic movement from beginning to end in terms of mood, ideas, etc-- ie, where does it transport us to?-- That is, what is the shape or pattern that the terms of the structural dynamic are played out in? In other words what undercurrents move us from word to word, phrase to phrase, almost as if we could graph out the movement?
-are there particular points where the pattern takes a turn or resolves itself?
-patterns of imagery: how are they connected by association & by connotation?         -Do they form a sort of pattern or story of associations?

Format 40%
- How does all this above come together as the form of the poem to move us from the beginning to the end on the surface of the poem?
-given your analysis in the first two parts: are there any places where the language is not doing its job? where it is flabby? where it is ambiguous? where there is not enough said on the surface to reveal what is potentially going on underneath to enrich the poem as a language experience?
-describe the rhythm-- you should scan at least ten lines before doing this (don't include scansions to fill up space on the page)--
        --is it regular, free, varied?
        --where are the changes in pace?

		--are they also changes in mood?
		--are they building? trailing off?

-how about other sound effects--
        --assonance and rhyme, alliteration--
        --but don't simply notice them-- AS WITH EVERYTHING IN THIS EXERCISE DESCRIBE THE EFFECTS OF EACH ITEM
-What's at stake? what is the central impulse? Who is speaking to whom and why? (spend a little more time on this if it seems crucial in a particular poem)
-Is there any tradition the poem is appealing to?