Professor John G. Morris
Spring 2016
Professional Writing 3203
CRN 22316
Office: NB 2027
Office Phone: 580-581-2329
FAX: 580-581-2789
Email: johnmor@cameron.edu
Office Hours:
Monday:
10-11:30 am, 2-3:00 pm
Tuesday:
1:30-3:00 pm
Wednesday: 10-11:30 am, 2-3:00 pm
Thursday:
1:30-3:00 pm
Friday:
10-10:45 am, 2:00-3:00 pm
And by appointment
Creative Writing--Poetry
Text:
Poulin, Jr., and Waters, eds.
ISBN: 0-618-52785-0
Contemporary American Poetry. 8th edition
Catalogue Course Description: Practice in traditional patterns as well as
original forms of poetry; assigned category-writing, studying, and
sharing methods of composing. Lecture 3 hours.
Course Objectives:
1. Students will gain proficiency in the close reading of poetic texts
2. Students will expand their understanding of the varieties of poetic
form
3. Students will compose, participate in workshop review, and revise
their original works
English Program Objectives:
1. Students will be able to think and read critically
2. Students are knowledgeable about a diversity of literary traditions
and genres
3. Students will be able to write creatively, with competence in prose
and poetry
Course Requirements:
1. Portfolios: At mid-semester and at the end of the term, you will
turn in a portfolio in which you provide the original and a revision
for each poem you have submitted to that point plus any new poems
you wish to submit. I will provide more information about this
requirement later.
2. Working Journals: If you want to receive a premium grade, an A or B,
you must provide a completed journal for three individual volumes of
poetry. See handout.
3. Writer's Notebook: If you want to receive a premium grade, an A or
B, you must complete the requirements for the Writer's Notebook.
See handout.
4. Conferences: I will schedule an appointment with you twice during
the semester so that we can discuss your writing. You are welcome,
of course, to talk with me as many other times as you wish.
Policies:
1. Attendance and Absences: The benefits of this course accrue only
when one is present regularly; this is a laboratory course for which
there are no "notes." Though there is no direct penalty for missing
class, there is an indirect one. A good rule of thumb is that if
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Syllabus 2
you miss more than four class periods, two weeks of class, you may
be in danger of having your performance, and your final grade,
affected; you should thus confer with me when the fifth absence
occurs.
Dropping or Withdrawing See the Student Information Sheet and
Syllabus Attachment.
Public Safety, Weather Policy, and Emergency Communication: See the
Student Information Sheet and Syllabus Attachment.
Accommodation for Disabilities: See the Student Information Sheet
and Syllabus Attachment.
Evaluation and Grading: The quality of your work is the primary
determinant of your final grade.
Since this is a undergraduate
class, however, you need not worry that earning an A would require
your checking into the honeymoon suite of the Mt. Parnassus Hotel
with Erato; earning an A will mean that your work is excellent for
an undergraduate poet.
Thus, the quality of your work, as
demonstrated by the revisions in your two portfolios, will count 50%
of your grade (remember that you can be Shakespeare himself and
still earn a C at best if you do not complete three Working Journals
and complete the assignments for the Writer's Notebook; see handouts
for each of these assignments). The midterm portfolio counts 20% of
your grade, and the final portfolio counts 30%. The overall quality
of the Working Journals and the Writer's Notebook will make up 30%
of your grade. Class participation, which includes completion of all
work (in a timely fashion), your fulfillment of the class
requirement to read and listen at three of the open coffee shop
readings at the Unitarian Universalist Church (always the third
Saturday of each month at 6:30 p.m.), the average of my evaluations
of your written, and my holistic evaluation of your oral comments,
will determine the final 20% of your grade.
Emergency Egress: In case of a weather emergency, please note the
following. The tornado shelter in Nance-Boyer is in the basement.
To get there from Nance-Boyer 1074, exit the classroom to the east
(left), turn left (north) at the cross hallway, proceed to the third
stairwell on your right (east), and walk down one flight to the
basement. In case of a fire alarm, exit the classroom, but turn
right (west) and exit the building through the glass doors. Be sure
to walk sufficient distance from the building to give all occupants
room to exit.
Changes to Syllabus: Although I do not anticipate having to do so, I
may need to make changes to the daily calendar below, changes I will
announce in class.
You are responsible for all such changes
regardless of whether you are present when I announce them; for that
reason, you should get to know one or two people in class and
exchange telephone numbers or e-mail addresses. I will of course be
happy to let you know about any changes if you inquire.
Daily Calendar
Week 1: 6 January
Wednesday: Introduction: focus on standing in the rain, thinking like a
poet: producing images, finding companionable language; readings (all
handouts)
Syllabus 3
Week 2: 11-13 January
Monday: Bishop, “The Fish,” 41-42; Hugo, “Degrees of Gray at
Philipsburg,” 231-32; Kinnell, “After Making Love, We Hear Footsteps,”
247-48; Oliver,” Where Does the Dance Begin, Where Does it End,” 381,
“Sleeping in the Forest,” 381-82; Roethke, “Root Cellar,” 423; Dickey,
“The Hospital Window,” 101-02; “Kunitz, “Touch Me,” 288-89; Levertov,
“The Mutes,” 301-02; Clifton, “wishes for sons,” 76; Dobyns, “How to Like
It,” 107-08; exercises
Wednesday: Workshop training; poem DUE
Week 3: 18-20 January
Monday: Martin Luther King Birthday recess; no class
Wednesday: Workshop #1
Week 4: 25-27 January
Monday: Workshop #1 cont.
Wednesday: Hayden, “Those Winter Sundays,” 207; Levine, “You Can Have
It,” 309-10; J. Wright,” A Blessing,” 592; Levertov, “Wedding-Ring,” 303;
Merwin, “For the Anniversary of My Death,” 341; Goldbarth, “Talk Show,”
163-64; Hass, “Happiness,” 202; exercise
Week 5: 1-3 February
Monday: exercise; poems DUE (long lines and free)
Wednesday: Workshop #2; poetry contest deadline 5 p.m. 5 February
Week 6: 8-10 February
Monday: Workshop #2 cont.
Wednesday: Erdrich, “Indian Boarding School: The Runaways,” 132; Glück,
“Mock Orange,” 156; Komunyakaa, “Tu Do Street,” 268-69; Lee, “The Gift,”
291; Nye, “Arabic,” 358-59; Soto, “Oranges,” 485-86; Stern, “I Remember
Galileo,” 519; exercise
Week 7: 15-17 February
Monday: Catchup Period; Poem Due; Working Journal #1 DUE
Wednesday: Workshop #3; Writer’s Notebook DUE
Week 8: 22-24 February
Monday: Workshop #3 cont.; Hass, “A Story about The Body,” 200-01; J.
Wright, “The Secret of Light” (handout); Van Walleghn, “More Trouble With
the Obvious” (handout)
Wednesday: Poems DUE (prose and free)
Week 9: 29 February-2 March
Monday: Workshop #4
Wednesday: Workshop #4 cont.
Week 10: 7-9 March
Monday: Midterm Portfolio DUE
Wednesday: Hudgins, “In,” 227-28; Justice, “First Death,” 239-41; Kumin,”
Morning Swim,” 273, “Woodchucks,” 276-77; Matthews, “Grief,” 329;
Merrill, “The Kimono,” 335-36; Roethke, “My Papa’s Waltz,” 423, “In a
Dark Time,” 429; Sexton, “Her Kind,” 431; Wilbur, “The Ride,” 553;
Syllabus 4
Warren, “Glaucoma” (handout); exercise
Week 11: 14-16 March
Spring Recess
Week 12: 21-23 March
Monday: scanning exercises
Wednesday: Exercise
Week 13: 28-30 March
Monday: Poems DUE (accentual-syllabic and free); Writer’s Notebook DUE
Wednesday: Workshop #5; Working Journal #2 DUE
Week 14: 4-6 April
Monday: Workshop #5 cont.
Wednesday: Bishop, “ One Art,” 47, “Sestina” (handout); Dove, “Parsley,”
117-18; Collins, “Sonnet,” 82; Justice,” In Memory of the Unknown Poet,
Robert Boardman Vaughn,” 245; Lowell, “To Speak of Woe That Is in
Marriage,” 318; Wilbur, “In Trackless Woods,” 557-58; Terrill, “To A
Brother Before Marriage” (handout); exercise
Week 15: 11-13 April
Monday: Ai, “Twenty-Year Marriage,” 4-5; Williams, “Gas Station,” 564-66;
Hudgins, “Heat Lightning in a Time of Drought,” 225-27; Kizer, “Thrall,”
257-58; exercise; poems due (received form: sonnet, villanelle, sestina,
and so on and free)
Wednesday: Workshop #6
Week 16: 18-20 April
Monday: Workshop #6 cont.; poems due (auction exercise and open)
Wednesday: Workshop #7
Week 17: 25-27 April
Monday: Workshop #7 cont.; Writer’s Notebook DUE
Wednesday: Catchup period; preparation of manuscripts for submission;
Working Journal #3 DUE; evaluation
Week 18
Monday, 2 May 12:30-2:30 Final Portfolio and mail-ready manuscript DUE
Last Date to withdraw with an automatic "W":
Last Date to Withdraw from a single class:
Wednesday, 6 April
Wednesday, 20 April