Expository Writing (105-0-21)
Topic
Intro to Poetics
Instructors
David Rips
Meeting Info
University Hall 218: Tues, Thurs 12:30PM - 1:50PM
Overview of class
Our course will focus on poetics, which is the practice of reading and interpreting poems. This class asks not just what a poem means, but also how it means and makes meaning in the first place. Together, we'll learn about different approaches to poetic interpretation, explore different ways of thinking about poetry, and develop our own unique ways of engaging with poems. Paying attention to poetic form, we'll practice discussing and crafting arguments about poetry, and learn to support our readings and interpretations with textual analysis. Throughout, we'll be reading plenty of American poetry from the mid-19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, such as June Jordan, Audre Lorde, Leonard Cohen, Craig Santos Perez, Frank Ocean, Shirley Geok-Lin Lim, Layli Long Soldier, and many others.
As a skills based class, you should expect to walk away with the tools to help you understand, analyze, and write about poetry at a college level, as well as preparation to continue studying poetry throughout your college career. This class is made both for people who love poetry and find it easy to understand, as well as those who don't like it, are scared of it, or find poems difficult. Poetry is one of the most mysterious thing that we can do with words; together we'll start to unwrap that mystery step by step.