English 306 ~ Advanced Poetry Workshop
Pamela Gemin
225 Radford Hall 424-2260 geminp@uwosh.edu
www.english.uwosh.edu/gemin
Spring 2007 Office Hours ~ Monday 4:30-5:30, T & Th 10-11, & by appointment
Texts
Wendy Bishop, Thirteen Ways of Looking for a Poem
Ryan Van Cleave, Contemporary American Poetry: Behind the Scenes
A grammar and mechanics handbook is also recommended.
Course Description
English 306 is a workshop course that incorporates lecture and discussion. It is also a
process-oriented course in which students read and discuss model poems by established
poets as well as other creative writing students, draft their own poems, workshop their drafts
with peers, and submit revised drafts to the professor for comments. Some students also
volunteer their drafts for large-group discussion. At the end of the course, students submit a
portfolio of revised poems and process notes (see below) along with a self-evaluation.
The course follows a menu format whereby students choose genres, subjects, and themes of
interest to them and pair their content choices with appropriate forms. In this way they
determine their own rules for which element of a poem comes first, form or function. For
example, a student might admire Campbell McGrath’s “The Orange,” a meditative,
metaphor-driven poem (pp.186-187 in CAP), and imitate McGrath’s form or choose
another—triplets, quatrains, a prose poem, a sonnet… Mix and match choices are plentiful
as long as course guidelines (below) are met. Students are responsible for submitting process
notes, like those at the end of each poet’s chapter in CAP, with each peer-reviewed revision
they submit. Students also read work-in-progress to their small-group peers as well as to the
entire class on a regular basis.
Submission Requirements
E-mail attachments are discouraged. Late hard copies are preferred. (Also see “E-Mail”
heading below.)
●
All poetry drafts and process note submissions should be double-spaced.
●
Poems of more than one page should be stapled.
●
Poems should be titled.
Submissions should be labeled with name, class, date, and submission number and type
(poem 4, landscape in couplets; process notes, Poem #1).
●
Workshops, Classroom Etiquette, Late Papers
Rarely do students experience undue criticism or insensitivity in workshop; most students
want their classmates to do well and most want to learn from each other’s work. Largegroup workshops are run on a volunteer basis only; small-group workshops are required for
each draft. Specific and constructive criticism, as well as praise, is a healthy part of this
course, and students who can separate themselves from their work, remaining open to
readers’ informed suggestions, benefit most from workshop. Workshops give drafts a wide
look first, and then zoom in to specific areas. As the aim of any workshop is to provide
writers with an immediate response from readers, who do not have access to a background
story or knowledge of the writer’s intent, writers are asked to remain silent until the end of
the workshop, when they can ask for clarification of readers’ suggestions. The final version
of a poem must speak for itself.
Cell phones should be turned off during class, and students are discouraged from walking in
and out of the classroom except for in emergencies. Those with special circumstances
should talk to the professor. Students are also expected to get to class on time.
Two assignments (poetry drafts or process notes) may be submitted late. Late work is due
the next class period—Th for T and T for Th. Hard copies are greatly preferred to e-mail
attachments.
E-Mail
Most professors prefer in-person conversations with students to continuing series of e-mail
exchanges, as it’s extremely difficult to keep up with the sheer volume of e-mails they receive
daily. E-mail conversations have their limitations, and e-mail exchanges can lead to
misinterpretations and misunderstandings between students and professors. 306 students
are encouraged to take advantage of office hours and make appointments instead.
Attendance
Four absences are allowed, but regular attendance is very important, especially on workshop
days. Missing more than four classes will lower the final grade. Missing six or more will
constitute failure regardless of coursework completed. Administrative documentation
(Dean’s Office, Dean of Students Office) is required for any extenuating circumstances.
Students should not feel compelled to report their reasons for missing class as long as
absences remain within the allowed range. However, since attendance counts in 306, being
in class counts, too (especially on workshop days).
Course Evaluation
Final Grades are based on the components below, each worth 50%:
●Workshopping,
● Final
portfolio
class preparation and engagement, *attendance
Students have two choices when it comes to professor feedback: earning points on post–
workshop drafts and process notes—for specific/poetic language; clarity, accessibility and
readability; originality and mechanics—OR receiving written comments and suggestions on
their drafts (but no points). While points will never be counted, students who want a
theoretical “grade” on a draft can use them for more traditional, quantitative feedback, while
comments and suggestions are more qualitative (and probably better suited to the goals of
creative writing).
Menu
3 required poems
● 1 imitation of a poem in Bishop or CAR (imitative form)
2 poems directly inspired by a poem in CAR, one of which is the final poem of the
semester
●
and
4 other choices from the following forms…
● a poem in sonnet form
● a sestina (or abbreviated version)
● a poem written in couplets
● a poem written in quatrains
● a poem using listing and/or repetition
● a one-stanza poem
● a prose poem
● a self-invented form poem
…matched to 4 choices from the genres below
● an aubade/love poem
● a meditation (on a scar, for example)
● a landscape
● a zoom-in poem
● a poem inspired by a news article
● a poem inspired by a song
● a persona poem
● a poem based on a childhood memory (cliché alert—for a cliché-free example, see
Roripaugh)
● a “statement” poem
● a tribute or portrait poem
Other ideas will develop as we go. Some possibilities from those listed: a love sonnet, a onestanza zoom poem, a poem about a news article written in quatrains, a landscape in couplets,
a mediation in triplets, a childhood story in quatrains, a statement or tribute poem including
listing and/or repetition.
Process notes will accompany each revised draft submitted for professor feedback.
Tentative Syllabus
A tentative (provisionary, for now) study plan is sketched below. It will likely be altered to
suit the needs of the class. Make sure to see your course website, at
www.english.uwosh.edu/gemin, for daily updates. The website will always provide the
most current and accurate information and due dates. Go there first.
Week 1: T-30 & Th-1: syllabus and text; overview of course; preview of Poem 1, Imitation
Week 2: T-6 & Th-8: models and discussion; practice workshop; small-group workshops,
Poem 1
Week 3: T-13 & Th-15: Poem 1 due; preview poem 2, inspired by CAR model; discuss
texts; Poem 1 returned (conferences)
Week 4: T-20 & Th-22: discuss texts; preview Poem 3; small-group workshops, poem 2
Week 5: T-27 & Th-1: Poem 2 due; discuss texts and options for #3
Week 6: T-6 & Th-8: Poem 2 returned; large and small-group workshops, poem 3; preview
#4
Week 7: T-13 & Th-15: Poem 3 due; large and small-group workshops, poem 4
Spring Break
Week 9: T 27 & Th-29: Carolyne Wright visit and reading, details TBA; poem 3 returned,
Poem 4 due; preview poem 5
Week 10: T-3 & Th-5: poem 4 returned; large and small-group workshops, #5; preview #6
Week 11: T-17 & Th-19: discuss texts and #6; Poem 5 due; large and small-group
workshops, #6
Week 12: T-24 & Th-26: poem 5 returned; discuss texts, small-group workshops for #6
Week 13: T-1 & Th-3: Poem 6 due, workshops for poem 7
Week 14: T-8 & Th-10: Final Reading, TBA
Portfolio Due: Friday, May 11