American Poetry from Bradstreet to Bukowski

Catalog description

To the rich oral tradition of Native Americans, new European arrivals added their own lyrics and sense of morality in a Neoclassic style. Not long after, the Romantics rejected this rational view of the world and instead explored emotions: love, obsession, fear, patriotism, and more. Later, in a country torn apart by fighting, Realists voiced their despair in poetry as the nation attempted to recover from the Civil War, and not long after that, the Modernists struggled with finding an identity in a new world shaped by World War I, economic depression, and modernization. Finally, Postmodernists and contemporary poets rejected everything and nothing; to them, anything was possible, and an explosion of new voices, experiences, and ideas emerged. Explore all these American movements—and more—in American Poetry! (Pre-requisite: ENGL210 for English majors, or ENGL101 or ENGL110 for non-English majors)