ENGL 2030-007—Summer 2013 | Lavery
Syllabus
The Experience of Literature
Summer Session 3, 2013
ENGL 2030-007 | MTuWTh 1200-200 | PH 322
Text | Course Policies & Procedures | Course Requirements | Agenda | Poetry Terms | TakeHome Final Exam in Word | Final in PDF
About This Course
In this Summer incarnation of ENGL 2030, we will concentrate exclusively on poetry, a focus
that will make the reading doable and practical for a summer course. Although 2030 students
sometimes come to class unprepared to discuss assigned reading, such will not be the case
in this course. Each and every poem we examine will be read and talked about in class.
ENGL 2030-007—Summer 2013 | Lavery
TEXT: No book is required for this course. All course
reading is contained in the Power Points.
ENGL 2030-007—Summer 2013 | Lavery
Dr. David Lavery
Office: PH 316 | Office Hours: MTuWTh, 900-1100;
MW, 200-300; other times by arrangement | E-mail:
david.lavery@gmail.com | Office Phone/Voice-Mail:
615-898-5648 | Home Page: http://davidlavery.net
ENGL 2030-007—Summer 2013 | Lavery
Dr. David Lavery is Director of Graduate Studies and Professor in the English Department
at MTSU (1993- ). The recipient of the University's 2006 Distinguished Research Award, he
is the author of over one hundred and fifty published essays, chapters, and reviews, he is
author / co-author / editor / co-editor of over twenty books, including Joss Whedon, A
Creative Portrait: From Buffy the Vampire Slayer to The Avengers, TV Goes to Hell: An
Unofficial Road Map of Supernatural, The Essential Cult Television Reader, and The
Essential Sopranos Reader. The co-convener of international conferences on Buffy the
Vampire Slayer and the work of Joss Whedon and on The Sopranos, co-founder of the
Whedon Studies Association, and founding co-editor of the journals Slayage: The Online
International Journal of Buffy Studies and Critical Studies in Television, he has lectured
around the world on the subject of television (Australia, Turkey, the UK, Portugal, New
Zealand, Ireland, Germany) and has been a guest/source for the BBC, NPR, the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation, The New York Times, A Folha de Sao Paulo (Brazil), Publica
(Portugal), Information (Netherlands), AP, The Toronto Star, USA Today. From 2006-2008,
he taught at Brunel University in London.
ENGL 2030-007—Summer 2013 | Lavery
COURSE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Class format: We will follow a Power Point-guided / lecture / discussion format
during most class meetings. Manuscript form: All written assignments must be
submitted by the assigned date as a Microsoft Word or Rich Text file via the
appropriate D2L Drop Box. Please name the file with your own last name (for
example: lavery.doc). Please be sure to carefully edit and proofread your own
work. Do not simply rely on your computer's spell checker. (Go here to read a
poem that demonstrates the untrustworthiness of spell checkers.) A list of "Things
to be Aware of" as you write your essays can be found here. Essay Evaluation: I
will evaluate your essays using a grading scale which can be found here (PDF file,
Acrobat Reader required).
ENGL 2030-007—Summer 2013 | Lavery
COURSE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES (continued)
Participation & involvement: Please come prepared for each day’s class. I
encourage you to become an active participant in class discussion and to ask
constructive and meaningful questions at all times--even when I appear to be
"lecturing." Please do not save your best questions / comments for after class, as
students so often do. Attendance: Regular attendance is essential to the ongoing
progress of the course. Two absences will be permitted. A third absence may
result in the loss of a letter grade. A fourth absence may result in failure of the
course. Cell Phones/Computers Use of cell phones during class is strictly
forbidden. Use of lap tops/netbooks/tablets (for note-taking purposes exclusively)
is allowed only if prior permission is secured from me. Inclement Weather Policy:
Go here.
ENGL 2030-007—Summer 2013 | Lavery
COURSE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES (continued)
Plagiarism / Cheating: The unacknowledged use of the words / ideas / insights /
original research of another is, of course, prohibited. Do not assume that you may
plagiarize without fear of punishment. Should I catch you plagiarizing, or cheating
in any way, you will receive a grade of "0" on the assignment in question, the
violation may be reported to University authorities, and you may fail the course, as
several students in past semesters have done. Students with Disabilities: Any
student with a disability will be given all the rights and privileges guaranteed under
the Americans with Disabilities Act if he/she is registered with Disabled Student
Services (call/contact John Harris, KUC 120/2783).
ENGL 2030-007—Summer 2013 | Lavery
COURSE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES (continued)
University Writing Center: The University Writing Center, sponsored by the
English Department and staffed by full-time and adjunct faculty and graduate
teaching assistants, is located in the Walker Library, Room 362 (904-8237). At the
UWC you can get constructive help with a variety of writing problems, from pre-
writing to organization to grammatical errors. (Please be aware, however, that the
UWC does not do proofreading.) Grading Scale: 90-99%=A | 80-89%=B | 7079%=C | 60-69%=D | 0-59%=F
ENGL 2030-007—Summer 2013 | Lavery
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Critical / Interpretive Essays: You owe me two (2) critical essays of not less than a 1000 words in length.
Essay 1 will present a reading/interpretation of a single poem (or two comparable poems by different
poems). Essay 2 will concern itself with the work of a single poet. A sample student essay (on Langston
Hughes), written for this course at MTSU (it received an "A"), can be found here. See Agenda for due
dates. Essay 1: 20% of your grade; Essay 2: 30% of your grade.
Exams: Two in-class cognitive-memory matching tests (on authors, poems, terms). Each 10% of your
grade.
Take Home Final Exam: A take-home exam, consisting of a menu of topics, from which you will select
two, responding with essay answers. These topics will all be "leading questions," intended to inspire your
own comprehensive synthesis of course ideas, questions, problems. 20% of your grade.
Class Participation: I expect you to be actively involved in each day's conversation. In addition, you may
be asked to lead in-class discussion of a poem. 10% of your grade.
ENGL 2030-007—Summer 2013 | Lavery
AGENDA
Week 1
Mtg. | Date | Subject | Links | Requirements
1 | 7/15/13 | Introduction to Poetry [1] | Power Point: Introduction 1
2 | 7/16/13 | Introduction to Poetry [2] | Power Point: Introduction 2
3 | 7/17/13 | Introduction to Poetry [3] | Power Point: Introduction 3
4 | 7/18/13 | A. E. Housman (1859-1936) and Edwin Arlington Robinson (18691935) | Power Point: Housman/Robinson
ENGL 2030-007—Summer 2013 | Lavery
AGENDA (continued)
Week 2
Mtg. | Date | Subject | Links | Requirements
5 | 7/22/13 | Emily Dickinson (1830-1886); screening of Voices and Visions film |
Power Point: Dickinson | Voices and Visions Film
6 | 7/23/13 | William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) | Power Point: Yeats
7 | 7/24/13 | Robert Frost (1874-1963); screening of Voices and Visions film |
Power Point: Frost | Voices and Visions Film
8 | 7/25/13 | Wallace Stevens (1879-1955); screening of Voices and Visions film |
Power Point: Stevens | Voices and Visions Film
ENGL 2030-007—Summer 2013 | Lavery
AGENDA (continued)
Week 3
Mtg. | Date | Subject | Links | Requirements
9 | 7/29/13 | e. e. cummings (1894-1962) | Power Point: cummings | Essay 1
Due
10 | 7/30/13 | Langston Hughes (1902-1967); screening of Voices and Visions film
| Without Sanctuary | Harlem Renaissance | Hughes (poets.org) | Model Hughes
Essay | Power Point: Hughes | Voices and Visions Film | First In-Class Exam
11 | 7/31/13 | Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979); screening of Voices and Visions film |
Power Point: Bishop | Voices and Visions Film
12 | 8/1/13 | Poems About Animals | Power Point: Animals
ENGL 2030-007—Summer 2013 | Lavery
AGENDA (continued)
Week 4
Mtg. | Date | Subject | Links | Requirements
13 | 8/5/13 | Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) | Power Point: Thomas
14 | 8/6/1 | Gary Snyder (1930- ) | Gary Snyder on Poetry and Ecology (YouTube)
| "About Gary Snyder" (Modern American Poetry) | Power Point: Snyder
15 | 8/7/13 | Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) | Power Point: Plath | Voices and Visions
Film
16 | 8/8/13 | Mary Oliver (1935- ) | "Starlings in Winter" (blog entry) | Power Point:
Oliver | Essay 2 Due
ENGL 2030-007—Summer 2013 | Lavery
Agenda (continued)
Week 5
Mtg. | Date | Subject | Links | Requirements
16 | 8/12/13 | Singer/Songwriters as Poets: Jackson Browne (1948- ) | Power
Point: Singer/Songwriters | Browne
17 | 8/13/13 | Singer/Songwriters as Poets: Leonard Cohen (1934- ) | Power
Point: Cohen
18 | 8/14/13 | Billy Collins | Collins Reads His Poetry | "Nostalgia" | "Osso Buco"
[the dish] | "Questions About Angels" [video] | "Litany" [video | a 3 year old recites
"Litany"] | "Building with Its Face Blown Off" [video] | Power Point: Collins
19 | 8/15/13 | Second In-Class Exam