ENGL 283 B: Beginning Verse Writing

ENGL 283: Beginning Verse Writing

Location: LOW 116

Time: Tuesday and Thursday, 10:30 AM - 11: 50 AM

"Poetry is a political act because it involves telling the truth."

June Jordan

"Poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought. The farthest horizons of our hopes and fears are cobbled by our poems, carved from the rock experiences of our daily lives.”

Audre Lorde

"If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can warm me, I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry. These are the only ways I know it. Is there any other way?”

Emily Dickinson

Course Description

Welcome to 283, or "Beginning Verse Writing"! This course is designed as an introduction (first of many in your career as a student-poet) to the practice of poetry. Since every student of poetry must first become a reader of poetry, we will move through the course by close-reading poetry and writing on poetry by poets. We will follow our itinerary to a series of foundational elements especially potent to the making and reading of poems: namely, address, image, sound, and ekphrasis. When we have braved the small peaks, we will attempt the craggier, taller ones by studying a few (very limited) applications of these elements by studying how they are organized into forms (both traditional and made-up) and reorganized by experimental, research, and documentary projects. This is by no means an exhaustive survey of the domain of poetic practice, a vibrant & flourishing one at our present moment, but I offer this course to you as one way of systematically approaching poetry as a practice with a history, a present, and a future. 

What I Expect From You:

Throughout the course, I expect you to arrive to class having read and annotated the materials assigned for discussion and to participate fully in the community of our classroom. Also, since this is a studio course on artistic practice, I expect you to write a lot, and independently. The class is organized to allow you to draft poems by focusing on particular elements or combinations thereof. There is no right or wrong way to write a poem, but that is not to say that there is no discipline to the practice. Indeed, each writer will gravitate to certain forms and modes, which inevitably change over time; as young writers, your task is to relentlessly try out every new approach to see what it unlocks in your poetic imagination. Using each week's readings as prompts, you will write at least six drafts of original work, craft 1-3 short (500 word or less) close-readings of poems, workshop three of your poems and revise at least one of the six. At the end of the quarter, you will assemble an anthology consisting of 3-5 of your poems (including the revised poem) and 4-6 poems by poets of your choice, along with a 5 - 7 page "statement of poetics" in which you close-read your own poems alongside the ones you have chosen and share how these selected poems speak to each other, to our class discussions, and your emerging understanding of how poems poem. Finally, because we love a little challenge and discipline, you will take a final quiz consisting of mulltiple-choice questions on poetic terminology. 

Below is a break-down of all assignments and coursework expectations: 

• 5 Original Drafts of Poems
• 3 of the 5 Poems for Workshop 
• 1-2 Poems Revised after Workshop 
• 1-3 Close Readings of Poems 
• Statement of Poetics (5-7 pgs) [close-reading at least 2 poems]
• Fully Compiled Anthology 
• Final Quiz on Poetic Terminology

Grading Rubric:

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Resources and Notices

Academic Integrity

The University takes academic integrity very seriously. Behaving with integrity is part of our responsibility to our shared learning community. If you’re uncertain about if something is academic misconduct, ask me. I am willing to discuss questions you might have.

Acts of academic misconduct may include but are not limited to:

• Cheating (working collaboratively on quizzes/exams and discussion submissions, sharing answers and previewing quizzes/exams)
• Plagiarism (representing the work of others as your own without giving appropriate credit to the original author(s))
• Unauthorized collaboration (working with each other on assignments)

Concerns about these or other behaviors prohibited by the Student Conduct Code will be referred for investigation and adjudication by (include information for specific campus office).

Students found to have engaged in academic misconduct may receive a zero on the assignment (or other possible outcome).

Access and Accomodations

Your experience in this class is important to me. It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law. If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please activate your accommodations via myDRS so we can discuss how they will be implemented in this course.

If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), contact DRS directly to set up an Access Plan. DRS facilitates the interactive process that establishes reasonable accommodations. Contact DRS at disability.uw.edu.

Masking and COVID-19 Safety

Our classroom community is premised on collective care and precaution. Please wear a mask to class and stay home if you feel sick in any way.

Title-IX Policy on Sex- and Gender-based Harrasment

UW, through numerous policies, prohibits sex- and gender-based violence and harassment, and we expect students, faculty, and staff to act professionally and respectfully in all work, learning, and research environments.

For support, resources, and reporting options related to sex- and gender-based violence or harassment, visit UW Title IX’s webpage, specifically the Know Your Rights & Resources guide. 

Please know that if you choose to disclose information to me about sex- or gender-based violence or harassment, I will connect you (or the person who experienced the conduct) with resources and individuals who can best provide support and options. You can also access those resources directly:

• Confidential: Confidential advocates will not share information with others unless given express permission by the person who has experienced the harm or when required by law.
• Private and/or anonymous: SafeCampus provides consultation and support and can connect you with additional resources if you want them.You can contact SafeCampus anonymously or share limited information when you call.

Please note that some senior leaders and other specified employees have been identified as “Officials Required to Report.” If an Official Required to Report learns of possible sex- or gender-based violence or harassment, they are required to call SafeCampus and report all the details they have in order to ensure that the person who experienced harm is offered support and reporting options.