Online Class: T/Th, 10-11:20 a.m.
English 197A—Introduction to Renaissance Poetry:
Explore the Sonnets, Songs, and Psalms of Shakespeare’s Day.
“I am sure I shall turn [a] sonnet. Devise, wit; write, pen” --Shakespeare’s Armado in Love’s Labor’s Lost
Instructor: Carol Robertson
Class time: We will meet online! Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 – 11:20 a.m.
Office hours: Virtual office hours: Thursdays from 4-6 p.m. and by appointment.
Class website: https://canvas.uw.edu/courses
Email: carolr3@uw.edu
What was it like to be a writer or a reader of poetry in Shakespeare’s Day? The boundaries between reading and writing poems may be more fluid than you have imagined. And, what is this thing called “iambic pentameter"? As we explore the development and forms of English lyric poetry—engaging with selections from Wyatt, Surrey, Sidney, Marlow, Spenser, Shakespeare, Herbert, Donne, and Milton—you will sharpen your critical analysis skills and discover why so many readers relish a good poem.
Anticipate this fully online class to offer the challenge and rigor of an in-person class. Be prepared to engage in interactive class activities and small-group class presentations during our virtual class meetings, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10-11:20 am. Short lecture recordings, online discussion forums, and small group collaborations will supplement your class time experience. You will need to check for announcements daily and keep pace with scheduled assignments—while online learning affords more flexibility, self-direction and organization will be essential skills for your success.
In addition to assigned readings, viewings, and weekly literary-analysis discussion posts, course requirements include a mid-quarter rhetorical-analysis paper, two group projects, an interpretive poetry reading, and a quarter-end project centered on the reception of poetry with options to please you creatives. For your final project, you will submit a poetry portfolio that showcases your work throughout the quarter, including five of your eight short-analysis discussion posts (three of which are expanded and revised to reflect your growth as a reader and critic of poetry). Anticipate both challenge and reward as you discover with us the literary richness of English Renaissance poetry!
Expect to…
- Be rewarded as you develop an appreciation for the literary richness of English Renaissance poetry.
- Sharpen your interpretive skills by reading below the surface of words (close reading) to uncover how poets use language to communicate meaning. This class provides the toolset you will need to be a literary critic of poetry!
- Learn how readers and writers engage with each other in an intertextual community.
- Sharpen your skills as a writer as you present carefully considered and well-supported arguments in your assigned essays and discussion posts as well as engage in a revision process which responds to instructor and peer feedback.