English 301 Analysis of Poetry
Instructor: Jacqueline Wilcoxen
Email: littlerunner96@aol.com (When sending an email to me, please provide the subject, your name and the class you are enrolled in. Email without this information WILL NOT be opened.)
Office: UH 301.45; Office Hours: MW (hours to be announced)
Office Phone: (During Office Hours Only!) 880-7461; English Dept. 880-5824
Required Texts:
John Fredrick Nims. Western Wind, 4th edition. McGraw Hill, Inc. 1999.
Knorr, Jeff. The River Sings, An Introduction to Poetry. Prentice Hall, 2003.
Fairchild, B. H. The Art of Lathe, University of Maine at Farmington, 1999.
Optional: Poetry to My Ear CD-ROM.
Course Purpose: This course will: 1) introduce students to a wide variety of poetry from the different literary periods (17th century to the present), 2) will familiarize students with poetic forms and critical terms 3) will give students the skills to read, experience, understand, analyze and write about poetry, and 4) will introduce students to the process of writing poetry.
Course Requirements:
Response Papers – 25 points each. Occasionally, students will be asked to write a brief response/analysis over a selected poem. These papers will usually be written in class, and should be one to two pages in length. Response papers should help to generate class discussion, and prepare students for the longer analysis papers.
Exercises in the Nims text – 15 – 25 points each set. Approximately 4 sets will be assigned.
Midterm: Exam – Part I: Quiz over critical terms – 100 points
Part II: Analysis Essay (over poem assigned by instructor) -- 100
1 Analysis Paper: 200 Points
Analysis of a poem or series of poems from one of the assigned small collections. These poems will be selected by instructor. Length: approximately 5 to 6 pages typed and double spaced.
Oral Presentation plus outline – 50 points. By the seventh week, students will select one poem to read, analyze and present to the class. The presentation should take approximately ten to fifteen minutes. (poems will be assigned by instructor.)
Poetry Writing – 2 poems will be written during the course. Specific criteria will be assigned for each poem.
Class Participation and Attendance: 50 points
Students are expected to attend every class session, and contribute to class discussion. Three absences will lower the grade one full letter; four or more absences will result in failure of the course. Two tardies equal one absence. It is your responsibility to consult other students for notes, handouts and assignments given on the days missed. Homework and reading assignments as well as handouts will not be emailed to students. ALL in-class assignments must be completed in class, and cannot be revised or turned in late.
In order to receive points for class participation, students must complete all assigned reading and writing before class, and be prepared to participate in class discussion.
NOTE: All cell phones and beepers must be turned off before entering the classroom. Those who do not abide by this policy will have points deducted from their class participation.
Extra Credit: Periodically, visiting poets come to CSUSB and read their work. Students are encouraged to attend these readings, and will receive 10 extra credit points for doing so as long as they turn in a one page response (handwritten or typed) and documentation of their attendance – ticket stub, a signed copy of one of the writer’s books . . .
While I strongly encourage students to attend the readings, do not rely on extra credit assignments to raise your grade.
Make-up and Late Work: No late work will be accepted. All in-class work must be completed in class unless otherwise specified.
Graded Papers and Assignments: Papers will be returned to students in one to two weeks. Please be patient!!
Grades: All grades are confidential, and therefore will not be posted, or given out over the phone or email. Students must wait to access grades via tracks.
Manuscript Form: The Analysis Paper should follow the MLA Style: typed and double spaced with twelve point font, and one inch margins on all four sides of the page.
NOTE: The Analysis Paper is NOT a research paper; should you use research material of any kind (including the internet), YOU MUST PROVIDE A PHOTOCOPY OF ALL SOURCE MATERIAL USED.
Tentative Schedule: .(Assignments and readings may be added or deleted. All changes and specific due dates will be announced in class.)
I. Nims --Introduction and Chapter 1 and Chapter One of Knorr text
For Analysis: “Oranges” and “Leaving the Motel”
II. Nims -- Chap. 2 and Chap. 2 of Knorr text
For Analysis: “ The Fish,” “Those Winter Sundays,” “Elegy for Jane,” “To His Coy Mistress,” and “ Death of a Naturalist,” “Composed Upon Westminster Bridge,” “Autumn” and “Abandoned Farmhouse.”
Assignments: Nims page 16, Parts C and D; page 17, #1-6.
III. Nims – Chap. 3
For Analysis: “The Tunnel,” “The Caged Bird,” “Sailing to Byzantium,” “Ode to the West Wind,” “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” “To Waken an Old Lady,” “Faces,” “The Explosion” and “An Autumn Morning in Shokoku-Ji.”
IV. Nims – Chap. 4
For analysis: “Ruined Maid,” “Love 20 cents . . .,” “Next Day,” “Skunk Hour,” “Bean Eaters,” “Emperor of Ice Cream,” “Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry Ohio,” “Postcard from a Volcano,” What Kinds of Times are These,” “Follower” and “Death Be Not Proud.” Nims – exercises on pages 87-89 (B and D) and questions 1-12
V. Nims – Chap. 7 and 8
For analysis: “ Traveling Through the Dark,” “Where are the Waters of Childhood,” “To Autumn,” “London,” “The Tyger,” “A Carriage from Sweden,” “To an Athlete Dying Young” and “The World is Too Much With Us.”
Review for Midterm
VI. Midterm
Nims – Chap. 9 and 10
For analysis: “The Second Coming.” “Dover Beach,” “My Papa’s Waltz,” “Daddy,” “The Passionate Shepherd,” “The Nymph’s Reply.” “Cherry Log Road,” “My Last Duchess” and “Ode to a Nightingale.”
VII. Nims – Chap. 11 and 12
For analysis: “Fern Hill,” “Easter Wings,” “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” “The Book of Yolek,” “A Supermarket in California,” “A Prayer to the Pacific,” “Sonnet 18 and 116,” and “The Poet at Seven.”
VIII. Poem #1 Due -- Workshop
IX. Poem #2 Due – Workshop
X. Oral Presentations.
Final draft of paper due
The Poetry Analysis Paper
I will explain the analysis essay thoroughly in class, but here is a brief introduction. The analysis should do two things: 1) paraphrase the poem, and 2) show how your interpretation emerges from the techniques (literary devices) that the poet uses.
Your paper will give a thorough explication of a poem or series of poems, and address the critical terms presented in Chapters 1-12. (Poems will be selected by instructor).
The Oral Presentation
Choose one poem from the Stafford, Song or Fairchild collection to present to the class. Your report should have three parts: 1) the reading of the poem, 2) a listing of the literary devices used in the poem, and 3) your interpretation of the poem. The presentation should take approximately ten to fifteen minutes, and should be accompanied by a typed outline.
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