ENGLISH 383A: THE CRAFT OF VERSE
Winter, 2024
Mary Gates Hall 295, MW 11:30-12:50,
Professor Feld
Office Hours: M-W 1:00-2:00 and by appointment
Office: Padelford B432, Office phone: 543-7899
email: aefeld@uw.edu
One of the first decisions every poet has to make is: what kind of a poet am I? This includes aesthetic and formal elements (what tradition am I in? Who are my influences? How will I shape my language on the page, etc.), but it also means, who am I on the page? Who is this person or persons you are going to construct out of language for the reader? In this course we will focus on the construction of a poetic self, and what kind of expectations these selves create, and how to bring them to full, sensory life on the page and in the embodied experience of the reader.
Please note: you can, of course, be more than one self, as we all are.
Required Texts:
A folder, writing paper and pen or pencils. Bring these to class every day.
Jejuri, Arun Kolatkar: available at UW Bookstore
Poems, Elizabeth Bishop: available at UW Bookstore
Course Packets, to be distributed by the Professor. All course packets will be distributed in advance. On the days when days when course packets are listed in bold on the course schedule you will come to class having read all the poems in the packet.
GRADING:
60% of your final grade will be based the grades given to the first four poetry assignments (15% each): “Inviting a Friend to Supper,” “The Sentence and the Line,” “Travel/Arrival,” and the “Persona Poem” Your poems will be returned to you with a grade after your poem has been workshopped, with suggestions for revision. If you choose to revise the poem, the grade given to the revision will be the final grade. Please note: : although revised poems always do receive a higher grade a revision does not guarantee a grade of 4.0.
10% of your final grade will be based on the 1-2 page essay accompanying “The Sentence and the Line” assignment, describing the arrangement of the sentences, lines and stanzas in your poem, the patterns and the variations.
20% of your final grade will be based on the most complicated/challenging/exciting assignment of the quarter, the final poem, “The Invention of a Self.”
10% of your final grade will be based on class participation, attendance, and on the quality of your peer presentations.
All final drafts of poems are due on Sundays, by noon, on the class Canvas.
Class Participation:
Regular attendance is vital. Participation in class activities is a vital part of this course. All students are expected to show up on time, fully prepared, with a notebook and pen. Cell phones off and stowed away.
SafeCampus is the central reporting office if you are concerned for yourself or a friend. We have trained specialists who will take your call, connect you with resources, and put safety measures in place to reduce the chances of violence occurring. We are available 24/7. Call 206 685-7233, email safecampus@uw.edu. uw.edu/safecampus. In urgent situations call 911.
PRIVACY/PLAGARISM NOTICE:
Poems turned into the workshop must never include or address any of your fellow workshop participants (including the professor), or comment on the nature of the assignment. As in all task-oriented communities, workshop members must respect the privacy of their fellow participants and the seriousness of the work at hand. ANY POEM THAT VIOLATES THIS RULE WILL RECEIVE A GRADE OF ZERO FOR THE ASSIGNMENT. You have the entire world to write about, except for what happens in this classroom.
Any student found to have plagiarized any piece of writing in this class will be immediately reported to the College of Arts and Sciences for review.
Covid Policy: if you are feeling at all sick, do not come to class. I cannot stress this strongly enough. If you contact me in advance (no later than an hour before class starts, meaning 1:30 at the latest) I can Zoom you into the class, which will allow you to observe, if not participate, in that day’s workshop, reading, etc.
Week 1: Wed. January 3:
Wednesday: Class introduction: Syllabus, Poem #1, “Inviting a Friend to Supper.”
Sunday, 01/07: Poem #1, “Inviting a Friend to Supper,” due by noon.
Week 2: MW January 8-10
Monday: In-class discussion, “The Sentence and the Line” by Ellen Bryant Voigt. Poem #2, “The Sentence and the Line.” Elizabeth Bishop: “Visits to St. Elizabeth,” “The Moose.”
Wednesday: Invitation poems, small group workshops. Assignment #2 discussion.
Week 3: Wed. January 17
Monday: NO CLASS, MLK DAY
Wednesday: Invitation poems, small group workshops.
Sunday, 01/21: Poem #2, “The Sentence and the Line,” due by noon.
Week 4: MW January 22-24
Monday: Poem #3, “Travel & Arrival,” the image. From Jejuri by Arun Kolatkar:
“The Bus,” “An Old Woman,” “Ajamil and the Tigers,” “A Song for a Vagha.”
Wednesday: Workshop. Elizabeth Bishop: “Santarém.”
Week 5: MW January 29-31: Conferences
Monday: Poem #4, Persona Poem. Additional poems: Arun Kolatkar, “A Song for a Vagha,”
Wednesday: Workshop. Elizabeth Bishop: “Over 2,000 Illustrations and a Complete Concordance.”
Sunday, 02/04: Poem #3, “Travel & Arrival,” due by noon on Canvas.
Week 6: MW February 5-7
Monday: Workshop. Elizabeth Bishop, “Crusoe in England.”
Wednesday: Workshop.
Sunday 02/11: Poem #4, “Persona Poem” due by noon, on Canvas.
Week 7: MW February 12-14
Monday: Poem #5: “The Invention of a Self.”
Wednesday: Class discussion: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/44212/the-love-song-of-j-alfred-prufrock. Workshop.
Week 8: Wed, February 21: Conferences
Monday: NO CLASS: PRESIDENT’S DAY
Wednesday: Workshop.
Sunday, 02/25: Poem #5, “Invention of a Self” due by noon, on Canvas.
Week 9: MW February 26-28
Monday: Workshop.
Wednesday: Workshop
Sunday, 03/03:
Week 10: March 4-6
Monday: Workshop.
Wednesday: Last Class. Workshop.
Monday 03/12/2023: Portfolios Due, by 5pm.
English 383A: Beginning Verse Writing
Formatting Requirements
All assignments must have the author’s name in the upper left-hand corner of the first page. Below that will be the class number, then the assignment title, and then the date, all single spaced. Example:
T.S. Eliot
English 383A
Poem #5, “Invention of a Self”
02/25/1914
Please note: one grade point will be deduced from every poem you hand in that does not contain this information in this format.
Below that will be the title of the poem, if any. Titles should be either left or center justified, either in bold or italics. The title should be separated from the work by a double space. The title is where the poem starts. We will discuss the different kinds of work that titles can do in course of this quarter. It’s also important to note that not having a title is a decision that impacts our understanding of the untitled poem.
These are the standard formatting requirements for all poems written for this class:
All poems must be in a standard font (Times, American Typewriter, Ariel or Courier), size 12.
All poems must be left-justified.
All poems must be single spaced.
All poems must be fully punctuated, with standard capitalizations.
These guidelines/requirements are important because they provide a standard from which all derivations gain meaning. That is, for example, if you double space your lines, we will read your poem as intentionally having space between each line, to slow the reader down and make each line appear as a discrete, individual stanza. If you eschew punctuation in a poem, then when we discuss the poem, part of the discussion will focus on the effect the lack of punctuation has on the meaning, tone and reader’s experience of the poem.