Writing 30, Introduction to Reading and Writing Poetry: University of California,
Irvine; Spring Quarter, 2014
Instructor: Meriwether Clarke, meclarke@uci.edu
Office Hours: TBA
Texts: Singing School, by Robert Pinsky; Selections from A Poet’s Guide to Poetry, by Mary
Kinzie; Assorted Poems and essays (linked on class website or handed out in class).
Class Philosophy:
The philosophy behind this class stems from the idea that though there is no single,
correct way to teach the writing of poetry, it is essential to practice reading poetry in
order to develop as a poet. Regardless, there is (unfortunately!), no formula for how to
write a good poem, no set of uniform rules to abide by, and no playbook for how each
and every individual can learn to think and write “poetically”. Consequently, we will
spend the quarter learning how to write, read, revise, and workshop together. This will
be an exploration of the art, of the unendingly mysterious and beautiful emotions
reading a poem can plant in a reader, and how, as poets ourselves, we can utilize
language to its most interesting and original capabilities.
Class Organization:
The first two weeks of this course will be dedicated to reading critical essays on poetry
and analyzing individual poems. Not only will we be looking at poems and poets from
a literary perspective, but from the perspectives of writers. We will seek to discover
how the poet’s formal, creative, syntactical, and imaginative choices aid the
effectiveness and message of their work. The discussions and assignments that will
result from this are designed to teach you how to mold fundamental concepts of poetry
to your own artistic voice. Assignments will include informal creative exercises,
imitations, and written responses to readings. The remaining eight weeks will continue
on this path of discovery, but also allow for weekly workshops where the class
discusses your writing. Each student will be asked to participate (turn in poems) two
times. Each student’s workshop will last twenty-five to thirty minutes. You are required
to read your classmate’s poems in advance and write edits and suggestions on them as
well as participate in full class critiques and discussions of their work. In the middle of
the quarter, students will be required to give presentations in small groups on assigned
critical readings and corresponding poems.
Expectations:
As a class based on the exploration of an art form, the most basic and important thing I
can ask is that you try your best. You will be challenged by a lot of the material we
cover. It will be foreign to you, it will, at times, be confusing. But that’s one of the
wonderful things about poetry- it takes hard work and practice. You have to accept that
you won’t always understand everything immediately, that you will need to reread
things several times, that they still may not make complete sense, but you must be
willing to keep trying.
With each of the essays and poems we read, I encourage you to ask yourself the
following questions:
-What is the writer saying?
-How are they saying what they are saying?
-What is there for us, as readers and writers, to learn from reading this?
You will be given a list of poetic terms at the beginning of the quarter. You are expected
to familiarize yourself with these terms in order to heighten your ability to discuss
canonical poetry, the poetry of your peers, and your own creative work.
For your own poems, you are encouraged to “think outside of the box”. You don’t want
your writing to feel formulaic, however you still want to allow the work we do in class
to influence and help shape your own creative work. This is a process that takes time
and practice to develop. Be patient with yourself, work hard, and the results will
surprise and inspire you!
Assignments/Grade Breakdown:
25% Final Poetry Portfolio: Five poems, two of which have been workshopped, all of
which have been revised. You are required to turn in original and revised final drafts.
Due at the end of the quarter.
30% Participation: This class requires active participation in all classroom discussions.
This not only means completing all assignments and readings, but coming to class with
thoughts, ideas, and questions. If you are shy or uncomfortable speaking in large
groups, please let me know and we can work out an alternative method of gaining
points. The most important thing is that I am able to gauge if you have completed
readings and are engaged with their content. Failure to accomplish both these things
will result in a low participation grade. You are also required to go to at least one on or
off campus poetry reading and write a short response to it by the end of the quarter.
The easiest readings to attend are on-campus MFA student readings, however there are
bookstores, libraries, and cafes throughout the LA and Orange County areas that host
readings on a regular basis. I will let you know about readings ahead of time but please
don’t hesitate to do some research on you own. If you choose to go to an alternative
reading we haven’t discussed in class, please check with me beforehand to verify if class
credit will be available.
20% Short Writing Assignments and Presentation: Throughout the quarter, you are
required to complete weekly responses to assigned readings, due on the Tuesday
(except for week 1) of each week in class (only hard copies will be accepted). Use your
responses as an opportunity to discuss your initial response to either a poem or essay
we’ve read for class. What is the writer saying? If discussing a poem, what functions of
poetry are being utilized effectively? Ineffectively? If an essay, do you agree or
disagree? How does the writer substantiate their claims? Journal entries are not due
weeks 7-10 since there are double workshops.
-OED dictionary work: It’s extremely important for poets to become in tune with the
origins of words both familiar and unfamiliar. At the bottom of each reading response,
use the OED (accessed through UC Irvine library), to look up two words. Post your
findings (word origins, initial word usage, alternate/past meanings) at the bottom of
your entry. You will not get full credit for using an alternative dictionary. The purpose
of this is to familiarize yourself with the OED.
In addition to reading journals, you are also required to give one informal presentation
in a small group. Presentation groups will be assigned in week 2 when a formal prompt
is handed out. Presentations will begin week 4. Note: You do NOT need to complete a
reading journal the week you present.
25% Final Paper: At the end of the quarter, you will be required to complete a 5-6 page
close reading of poems by a poet of your choice. You will receive a prompt by week 7.
As a formal academic paper, this assignment will both be graded for quality of ideas
and quality of composition.
Note: Failure to complete either the Final Paper or the Poetry Portfolio will result in
failure of the course.
Class Rules/Policies:
-Punctuality is essential! Class begins at 2:00 PM, be in your seat before then.
-All readings must be printed up and brought to class. Failure to have assigned reading
with you in class will result in lost participation points.
-You’re allowed one “free” absences this quarter. After one, without a legitimate
excuse, your participation grade will be docked. Please do not miss a class in which
your writing is being workshopped. Similarly, do your best not to miss classes where
your peers are being workshopped. Three tardies equal one full absence.
-No laptops or tablets! This is a pen/pencil and paper class. All readings should be
printed out and brought in hardcopy form. No ebooks either, hardcopies of all texts.
And no cell phones in class! Texting is not invisible. I can see you when you do it and
though I will probably not embarrass you in front of everyone I will definitely cancel all
your participation points for the day.
-All assignments (unless otherwise instructed) must be received in hardcopy form. It
also costs me 12 cents to print things up at the library.
-When completing assignments, only use accredited poetry websites to find poems.
There are way too many random poetry sites on the internet, so stick to websites such
as the following:
-The Poetry Foundation and Poetry Magazine: www.PoetryFoundation.org
-The Academy of American Poets: www.Poets.org
-Modern American Poets: http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets.htm
-Poetic terms: http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/poetic-terms.html
-Poetry 180: http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/
-Verse Daily: http://www.versedaily.org/
If you ever are unsure if a site you’ve found is appropriate, just send me an email or ask
me in class!
-Be respectful! Not just to me, but to your fellow students. Workshopping creative work
is very personal for some people. Do your best to provide helpful and insightful
criticism in a respectful and polite way. Disrespect of any kind will not be tolerated.
SCHEDULE:
Week 1: INTRODUCTION
-Tuesday, April 1: Class Introduction- syllabus, expectations, website, etc.
-Thursday, April 3:
Critical Reading: ”The Enchantment of the Work”, by Mary Kinzie; Preface to Singing
School; “The Education of the Poet”, Louise Glück.
Poems: “Things I Didn’t Know I Loved”, by Nazim Hikmet; “Poppies in October” by
Sylvia Plath; “Why I Am Not a Painter”, by Frank O’hara (SS pg. 12); “Because I Could
Not Stop For Death”, by Emily Dickinson (SS pg. 24); “Because You Asked about the
Line Between Prose and Poetry”, by Howard Nemerov.
Week 2: Freedom
-Tuesday, April 8:
Critical Reading: “What the Poem Thinks”, by Mary Kinzie, ”Freedom” from “Singing
School”, by Robert Pinsky; “Nuts and Bolts” by Richard Hugo.
Poems: “Single Sonnet” by Louise Bogan; “The Self-Unseeing” by Thomas Hardy; “The
Lantern Out of Doors” by Gerard Manley Hopkins; “Operations: Desert Shield, Desert
Storm” by Eleanor Wilner; “The Mill-Race” by Anne Winters; “Cirque d’Hiver”,
Elizabeth Bishop. (NOTE: Almost all of these poems are included in Marky Kinzie’s
assigned essay).
-Thursday, April 10:
Critical Reading: Selections from “Line and Half Meaning”, Mary Kinzie (pgs. 51-56
and 68-74), “The Triggering Town”, by Richard Hugo.
Poems: “The Tollund Man”, “Bogland”, Seamus Heaney; “Easter, 1916”, W.B. Yeats;
“Archaic Torso of Apollo”, Rainer Marie Rilke; “Argo”, Michael Collier; “A Description
of the Morning”, Jonathon Swift (SS, pg. 63); “Lay Your Sleeping Head My Love”, W.H.
Auden; “We Real Cool”, Gwendolyn Brooks
Week 3: FREEDOM
-Tuesday, April 15:
Critical Reading: Selections from “Diction and Layers in Meaning”, Mary Kinzie;
“Crediting Poetry”, Seamus Heaney Nobel Lecture; “Syntax and the Line” by Robert
Pinsky
Poems: “The Glass Essay”, Anne Carson; “Ellen West”, Frank Bidart.
Assignments: First Poem due!!
-Thursday, April 17: First Workshop!!! Read and comment on poems up for
workshop. Bring a printed copy to class.
Week 4: LISTENING
-Tuesday, January 28 :
Critical Reading: “Listening”, from Singing School; Selections from “Rhetoric and
Speech”, Mary Kinzie.
Poems: “Some Feel Rain”, Joanna Klink; “If See No End In Is”, Frank Bidart; “Night
Travellers”, Campbell McGrath; “Orpheus, Alone”, Mark Strand; “The Pool”, H.D. (SS
pg. 84); “Tamer and Hawk”, Thom Gunn (SS pg. 92); “To Earthward”, Robert Frost (SS
pg. 98).
-Thursday, January 30: Workshop!
Week 5: LISTENING/FORM
-Tuesday, April 22:
Critical Reading: Introduction to Best American Poetry, 1990, Jorie Graham: “Rhythm as
Combination”; “The Pleasures of Formal Poetry”, Louise Bogan
Poems: “Wanting a Child”, Jorie Graham; “Adam’s Curse”, W.B. Yeats (SS pg. 103);
William Carlos Williams, “To Waken an Old Lady” (SS pg. 95); “In the Waiting Room”,
Elizabeth Bishop; “Winter’s Code”, Tomas Transtromer; “Youth” W.S. Merwin.
-Thursday, April 24: Workshop!
Assignments: Second poem due
Week 6: FORM
-Tuesday, April 29:
Critical Essays: “Meter: The Role of Stress and Interval”, Mary Kinzie; “Form” and
“Dreaming it Up” from Singing School;
Poems: “Brussels in Winter”, “Musee d’Beaux Art”, W.H. Auden; “Sestina”, Elizabeth
Bishop; David Ferry and James Merrill (Poems TBA).
Assignments: Third Poem Due
-Thursday, May 1: Workshop!
Week 7: FORM
-Tuesday, May 6: Workshop
-Thursday, May 8: Workshop
Week 8: DREAMING IT UP
-Tuesday, May 13 : Workshop.
Assignments: Fourth Poem Due
-Thursday, May 15: Workshop
Week 9: DREAMING IT UP
-Tuesday, May 20: Workshop
Assignments: Fifth Poem Due
-Thursday, May 22: Workshop
Week 10: CONCLUSION
-Tuesday, May 27: Workshop
-Thursday, May 29: Workshop