Readings in Genre (211-0-20)

Topic

What is Lyric Poetry?

Instructors

Clare Cavanagh
847/467-2360
1880 Campus Dr. (Kresge) Office 3222
Office Hours: Thursdays 2-4pm

Meeting Info

Locy Hall 301: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM

Overview of class

The experience of poetry can be understood in it at least two radically different ways: as a raw encounter with something unfamiliar or as a methodically constructed mode of access to the unknown. Theories of poetry from antiquity to the present day have grappled with these two dimensions of the poetic experience. In order to understand a poem, a reader must, in some sense, enter into its unique and complex logic, while nevertheless remaining open to the sometimes unsettling ways it can surprise us. In this class, we will read some of the greatest lyric poems written in English, as we systematically develop an understanding of the formal techniques of poetic composition, including diction, syntax, image, trope, and rhythm. Students should come prepared to encounter poems as new and unfamiliar terrain (even if you've read a particular poem before), as we methodically work through the formal elements of the poetic process.

Teaching Method

Lectures and required weekly discussion sections.

Evaluation Method

Weekly (w)reading exercises; one 5-7 page paper; final project; final exam.

Class Materials (Required)

Course packet available on Canvas.

Class Attributes

Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area