Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Advanced Poetry Course Syllabus


Course Description
This semester  course is for senior Creative Writing students interested in studying the craft of poetry and writing original poetry. An open mind and supportive attitude will be essential as we workshop each other’s poems. We will be exploring several approaches to the art of writing poetry through a variety of different exercises to generate poems in open and closed forms.  Students will publish their best work in a class-produced literary publication. Other projects include recording our own spoken-word poetry CD, researching a modern-day poet to research and briefly presenting his/her findings. Students will organize their best original work into a final portfolio project, and as a class, we will seek contest and other publication opportunities.

Course Focus
This course is designed into two equal parts:
1. Poetry reading, studying, and discussion
your reactions to poets and their work
overall messages and tones of poems
poetic elements’ connection to poets’ purpose
2. Writing and publishing original poems
personal choice; individual inspiration from people, art, and the world in general; and reflection on others’ work will be used to inspire your poet’s pen
approaches to writing and composing / how to draft then write poems
different poetic formats and layouts, as well as lining and titling poems
work-shop approach to writing poems: drafting, revising, peer-editing,
teacher/student conference time, and then sharing

Major Sections of the Course
Daily writing time
End of week read-arounds: students share their own polished, original work
Weekly time to peruse poems and poets of your own choice from any era, classical to modern
Weekly assignments relating to the poet’s craft and literary techniques
Weekly work within a writing workshop group for peer feedback, support, revision, and editing
Conference time with teacher to get feedback on poems and projects in progress
Handouts pertinent to the course of study
Major Assignments
Writing of two to five original, polished poems every two weeks
Sincere writing workshop participation
Preparation for class discussion of poems
Modern Poet Presentation
·         Spoken Word CD Project
Final Portfolio Project

Course Outline (subject to changes and tweaks )
Key Concepts
Why poetry?
When and how poems resonate
Guidelines for reading poems
Finding topics and suggestions—Poem Ideas List
Models for approaching writing
Writing Territories
Lining and titling
Format and layout; rhythm and rhyme; free and blank verse;
Poetic elements
TPCASTT
How to choose a workshop group
How to be an effective workshop participant

Weekly units (based on Kevin Clark’s The Mind’s Eye)

Unit 1  Words That Paint, Colors That Speak
Unit 2  The Lively Image vs. The Deadly Cliché
Unit 3  The Sound of Contemporary Poetry
Unit 4  Conflict and Transformation
Unit 5  Do Poems Have Plot?
Unit 6 Empathy and Creativity
Unit 7 Leaping Through Time and Space
Unit 8 Frames and Forms
Unit 9 Stanzas, Prose, and the Field of the Page
Unit 10 Surrealism
Unit 11 Writing About Sadness
Unit 12 Poetry and Eros
Unit 13 The Poetry of Witness
Unit 14 Stretching the Imagination
Unit 15 Breaking the Rules, Nurturing the Weird

End of 3rd Marking Period—Focus on class anthology, final portfolios, and spoken poetry CD recording
EXAM PORTFOLIO=25% of final MP grade

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