Introduction to Poetry

Catalog description

This courses will help students learn to appreciate, understand, analyze, discuss, interpret, and above all enjoy poetry-historically the primary mode of literary (and even pre-literary) endeavor across all cultures and very much alive in such genres as slam poetry and hip-hop. Students will study the elements of poetry-diction, tone, speaker, situation and setting, figurative language, symbol, sound, structure, and form -reading works from a variety of poetic periods, forms, and styles, both in English and in translation. In so doing, students will develop valuable skills as close readers, careful evaluators, and creative interpreters of complex texts. By exploring the variety and intricacy of poems from diverse cultures and periods, students will learn to understand and to command the power of language. While students' individual writing will represent an important aspect of the course, work in class will often be collaborative and will focus on reading, interpreting, performing, and discussing poetry.