Andrew E Feld
The goal of this course is to provide students with a solid grounding in the history and evolution of lyric poetry in English, from its Old English origins up to the extraordinary variety of contemporary poetic practices. We will study the formal principles which have traditionally distinguished poetry from prose (meter, rhyme, stanza and form), poetic conventions such as courtly love and Romantic nature worship, and poetic genres such as the epic, the pastoral elegy and the greater Romantic lyric, and we will study how these forms, conventions and genres have changed from one historical period to another. In order to fully understand these changes we will study several of the important texts, written by poets, philosophers and critics, which have provided the theoretical foundations for each periodís dominant poetics, and we will examine how aesthetic judgments have been and are made about individual poets and poetic schools and styles.
Student learning goals
How to scan English poetry
How to identify and differentiate the poetry of different periods
How to read a poem closely
How different periods have viewed the function and pleasures of poetry.
How to appreciate and take pleasure in the rich complexities of this vibrant art.
General method of instruction
Lecture, class discussion, presentations
Class assignments and grading
Students will write three papers, two 2-3 page papers and a final paper of 5-6 pages. There will also be a midterm and a final.
The presentation and the two 2-3 page papers will each count for 10% of your final grade and the 5-6 page paper for 20%. The midterm will count for 20% of the grade, and the final will count for 30%.