COURSE SYLLABUS FOR ENGLISH 106.04, INTRODUCTION TO POETRY
FALL 2013
Instructor: Shawn Delgado
Office: CURRY 102
Office Hours: 10AM–1PM on M or by appt.
Email: smdelgad@uncg.edu
Class Time: TR 11:00AM-12:15PM
Classroom: CURRY 303
Overview
Course Description:
This course is designed to introduce you to the reading and analysis of poetry across a variety of time
periods, modes, and subjects. This section of the course is roughly organized into week-long units based
on poetic traditions as well as contemporary takes and variations of those traditions. As poetry is a made
thing like any other craft, the poem’s structure, diction, and other authorial choices will be discussed in
the context of the subject matter and the intended audience reception. In class, the emphasis will be on
discussion and active participation rather than a pure-lecture format. By the end of the semester, you
should be able to closely read a poem while identifying a variety of literary techniques as well as how
they achieve some larger effect. You will also be able to make broad conclusions about an author’s style
after reading a variety of his or her work. We will read individual poems, essays on poetic concepts,
poems from a contemporary literary journal, and you will explore a contemporary collection to see poetry
from a variety of perspectives.
Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for the GLT marker:
1. Demonstrate the reading skill required for the student of literary texts. (LG3)
2. Identify and/or describe some of the varied characteristics of literary texts. (LG3)
3. Demonstrate orally, in writing, or by some other means, a fundamental ability to use some
of the techniques and/or methods of literary analysis. (LG 1 and LG 3)
4. Identify and/or describe some of the various social, historical, cultural, and/or theoretical
contexts in which literary texts have been written and interpreted. (LG3)
The SLO labeled LG 1 is designed to address Learning Goal #1 (LG1) in the UNCG General Education
Program. This is the ability to “think critically, communicate effectively, and develop appropriate
fundamental skills in quantitative and information literacies.”
(http://web.uncg.edu/reg/Bulletin/Current/UnivReq/GECProgram.aspx)
Those SLOs labeled (LG3) relate to UNCG’s Learning Goal #3 for General Education, which says
students will “Describe, interpret, and evaluate the ideas, events, and expressive traditions that have
shaped collective and individual human experience through inquiry and analysis in the diverse disciplines
of the humanities, religions, languages, histories, and the arts.”
(http://web.uncg.edu/reg/Bulletin/Current/UnivReq/GECProgram.aspx)
Required Texts:
Lenses and The Norton Introduction to Poetry are available for purchase at the University Bookstore.
Please acquire these books in advance of class. There is no way to complete the course or be present and
participating without these materials, and we will be using them immediately and throughout the entire
semester. The Greensboro Review can be obtained in MHRA 3302. Other documents—such as
assignment sheets and the packet of supplemental poems—will be posted on Blackboard. Print them and
bring them to class. I also advise that you have a method of taking notes on or alongside these texts. If
you rent your textbooks, something as simple as post-it notes will allow you to interact with these texts,
highlighting and commenting on important or complicated material. Alternate editions of these texts will
not be appropriate or acceptable.
Sparks, Lancaster, and Gibson, Lenses: Perspectives on Literature. First Edition. Plymouth:
Hayden-McNeil Publishing, 2012. Print. ISBN 978-0-7380-5105-5
Hunter, The Norton Introduction to Poetry. Ninth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company,
2007. Print. ISBN 978-0-393-92857-0
Clark, The Greensboro Review. Spring 2013. Vol. 93. Greensboro: University of North Carolina at
Greensboro, 2013. Print.
Additional Collection for Essay #2 (Select One from the List, Not Available in Bookstore):
One of your major assignments, which I will detail in the following section about grading, requires you to
read and write an analysis on a collection of contemporary poetry. Since you do not immediately need this
book and will be allowed to select one of ten titles, you will need to find the collection outside of the
UNCG bookstore.
Addonizio, Kim, Lucifer at the Starlight. W.W. Norton & Company, 2011. ISBN 978-0393335255
Browning, Sommer, Either Way I’m Celebrating: Poems and Comics. Birds, LLC, 2011.
ISBN 978-0982617755
Fairchild, B.H., The Art of the Lathe. Alice James Books, 1998. ISBN 978-1882295166
Laux, Dorianne, The Book of Men. W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. ISBN 978-0393342659
Lux, Thomas, Child Made of Sand. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. ISBN 978-0547580982
Hamby, Barbara, Babel. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0822958598
Hayes, Terrance, Lighthead. Penguin Books, 2010. ISBN 978-0143116967
Hoagland, Tony, Donkey Gospel. Graywolf Press, 1998. ISBN 978-1555972684
McDaniel, Jeffrey, The Endarkenment. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0822959953
Smith, Tracy K., Life on Mars. Graywolf Press, 2011. ISBN 978-1555975845
Grading:
Participation:
Blackboard Writing:
Poem Recitation:
Poem Analysis Essay:
Exam 1:
Exam 2:
Poetry Collection Analysis Essay:
10%
15%
10%
15%
15%
15%
20%
I employ a grading scale that ranges from A—F including plus and minus grades. I will not discuss grades
until at least 24 hours after the grade is announced, either through handing back the assignment or posting
the grade to blackboard. I reserve the right to quiz you on the readings, and any quiz grades will influence
you r participation.
Major Assignments:
In addition to the in-class exams and discussions, there will be a number of major assignments to be
completed outside of class. These assignments will be presented in more detail as the semester progresses.
There will be an assignment sheet for each that will include formatting requirements as well as my
expectations for content. The first essay will need to be between 3-5 pages in length and the second will
be 5-7 pages in length. When I say 5 pages, I mean 5 full pages. A paper that is 2 ¾ pages is not a 3-page
paper and any paper which does not meet the minimum length requirement for that assignment cannot
receive higher than a C on the assignment. Likewise, any Blackboard assignment that I consider
incomplete will only receive partial credit.
Exams:
You will have 2 in-class exams that will each take a full class period. There is no final exam, so each
exam will be over separate poems. Each exam will be comprised of three sections. The first is a passage
identification where I will provide you a short selection of a poem from our syllabus, and you will be
required to name the author and the title of a work along with how you were able to make your
identification. The second section will be a series of multiple choice questions about poems or poetic
concepts discussed in our readings or class. In the third section, I will provide you a poem of short or
medium length which you must summarize and then analyze over 1-2 pages.
Blackboard Discussion (Weekly, 200-250 Words):
Each Monday by noon, you will have to complete a discussion board post of 200-250 words to a prompt
I will provide. I may ask you to discuss a poem at length, an element of poetry, or on occasion, give you a
chance to try your hand at a form to experience poetry from the driver’s (or rather, the writer’s) seat.
These assignments are primarily judged for completion unless there’s a clear lack of effort or the
assignment given is not addressed. As with any assignment, read the prompt carefully, or you may only
receive partial credit.
Poetry Recitation (In Class or During Office Hours, Minimum 14 Lines):
As poetry originally emerged from an oral tradition of literature, I’m requiring that each student
memorize a poem from our syllabus or Norton anthology and recite that poem in class or during my office
hours (or by appointment). There is not a certain date that this needs to be completed, but it might be best
to complete it early in the semester or in coordination with the class’s study of the poem. If you’d like to
recite a poem not on our syllabus or in the Norton anthology, please speak to me, so that I can approve the
poem (for length, primarily) and make sure I have a copy.
Poem Analysis Essay (3-5 Pages):
Your first essay will require you to find a poem from the syllabus for which you will provide your
interpretation of the poem while discussing the formal and thematic elements of the poem. These
techniques include structure, diction, tone, and numerous other facets we will discuss in class. Remember,
poems often don’t have a clear or specific moral or message to deliver. Sometimes they’re impressionistic
pieces that serve simply to elicit a feeling or emotion. I know this may be unusual compared to how
you’ve studied poetry in the past, but if you read carefully and listen to your gut, you’ll be on the right
track.
Poetry Collection Analysis Essay (5-7 Pages):
Your final assignment in this course will require to you select a title from my previously provided list of
poetry collections, and write your interpretation of the collection, paying close attention to the author’s
style, the book’s organization, and the relationship between the poems to discuss the movement over the
course of a book as these poems are deliberately ordered and arranged. With the sheer amount of content
and the number of poems contained in a collection, you will not be able to analyze every poem. In fact, it
is likely that the greatest challenge of this assignment will be to find what you will leave out of the essay.
In the end, hopefully you have made some larger conclusions about the work, but note that I am mainly
concerned with how clearly you can find and describe the many patterns in language, subjects, tones, and
details that create a cohesive collection of poetry and define an author’s style.
Policies
Late Work:
I do accept late work, however, I will assess a penalty of a letter grade for each day the work is late. All
assignments are due at the beginning of class, so tardiness on these days will result in the work being
marked as late. Incomplete work or work not directly addressing the assignment in question will not be
accepted. A four-page paper should be a full four pages long.
Attendance Policy:
You are allowed a maximum of three absences without a grade penalty. The fourth and fifth absences will
each result in a half-grade deduction. On the sixth absence, you will fail the course. If you do not bring
the proper readings to class it will result in an absence, and I may ask you to leave. In the case of behavior
I consider disruptive to the class, I reserve the right to ask you to leave. If, under any circumstances, you
are asked to leave the classroom, you will be marked as absent for that day.
If you are tardy, it counts as half an absence. It is your responsibility to see me at the end of class to make
sure I update the roll to reflect your attendance. I consider a student tardy as soon as I begin my lecture or
any classroom activity. I will not recap any information to cater to a late student, though you’re certainly
welcome to meet with me during my office hours. In this course there is no such thing as an “excused”
absence, except under extreme circumstances or for religious reasons (state policy detailed in the
following paragraph). If you have such an incident, please contact me as soon as possible to address the
situation. These will all be considered on a case by case basis.
You are, by state law, allowed two excused absences due to religious holidays, which do not count toward
your total allowed two absences. If you plan to miss class because of your faith, you must notify me in
advance of your absence.
Academic Integrity Policy:
As stated in the student handbook:
“Academic integrity is founded upon and encompasses the following five values: honesty, trust,
fairness, respect, and responsibility. Violations include, for example, cheating, plagiarism, misuse
of academic resources, falsification, and facilitating academic dishonesty. If knowledge is to be
gained and properly evaluated, it must be pursued under conditions free from dishonesty. Deceit
and misrepresentations are incompatible with the fundamental activity of this academic institution
and shall not be tolerated” (from UNCG’s Academic Integrity Policy). To ensure that you
understand the university’s policy on academic integrity, review the guidelines and list of
violations at <http://academicintegrity.uncg.edu>. I expect you to abide by the Academic
Integrity Policy.
Any violations of this policy will result in an automatic failing grade for the assignment and based on the
severity of the violation you may fail the course as well.
Electronic Device Policy:
There is a zero tolerance policy for cellular phones in this class. If you use a cell phone in class, you will
be asked to leave and will be marked as absent for that day. The same policy applies to headphones.
Laptops and tablet devices may be used in class only to take notes pertaining to our class. There is no
internet usage allowed. Any class readings should be printed out and brought to class, so there should be
no need to access Blackboard, check email, etc. If you use a laptop for other purposes, you will not be
allowed to use a laptop in class again. To be perfectly clear: one violation means no laptop use.
E-mail Response Policy:
I will respond to all emails within a 48-hour period. If I have not responded past that time, please resend
the message. Please contact me as soon as possible to address any questions or problems. As I will say
often, procrastination is one of your greatest hazards in this course.
The Office of Accessibility Resources and Services:
Students with documentation of special needs should arrange to see me about accommodations as soon as
possible. If you believe you could benefit from such accommodations, you must first register with the
Office of Accessibility Services on campus before such accommodations can be made. The office is
located on the second floor of the Elliott University Center (EUC) in Suite 215, and the office is open
8am to 5pm, Monday - Friday. Telephone: 334-5440; e-mail: oars@uncg.edu.
The Writing Center:
The purpose of the Writing Center is to enhance the confidence and competence of student writers by
providing free, individual assistance at any stage of any writing project. Staff consultants are experienced
writers and alert readers, prepared to offer feedback and suggestions on drafts of papers, help students
find answers to their questions about writing, and provide one-on-one instruction as needed. Located in
the Moore Humanities and Research Building, room 3211.
The Learning Assistance Center:
The Learning Assistance Center offers free services to the entire UNCG undergraduate community and is
located in McIver Hall, rooms 101-104, and 150. For help with study skills, contact Erin Farrior,
Academic Skills specialist. Telephone: 334-3878; email: lac@uncg.edu
Course Schedule
All listed readings should be completed before that day’s class period and are listed in italics like this.
Major assignments will be capitalized, italicized, and bolded LIKE THIS. Any non-typical class dates
(school holidays, conferences, meetings outside the typical classroom, etc.) will be listed in bold and
capitalized LIKE THIS. I reserve the right to make minor changes to the class schedule throughout the
semester. You will be notified of these changes through blackboard.
Week 1—August 20th Introduction
T—Introduction to the course and syllabus
R— Lenses: Chapter 1—“To Read is to Write,” pp.1-6 and Chapter 6—“The Sounds and Structures of
Poetry,” p.69-77; Norton: “They Flee from Me” by Sir Thomas Wyatt—p. 81; “My Papa’s Waltz” by
Theodore Roethke—p. 138; “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams—p. 142
Week 2—August 27th Traditional Forms
T— Lenses: Chapter 3—“Reading through Genre,” pp.25-37; Norton: “Sonnet to Sleep” by John
Keats—p.266; “[I shall forget you presently, my dear]” by Edna St. Vincent Millay—p. 269; “The New
Colossus” by Emma Lazarus—p. 270; “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas—p.
275
R—Norton: “Paraphrase, Summary, and Description,” pp. 623-625; “[A village without bells]” by
Bashō—p. 393; “[Insects on a bow]” by Issa, p. 394; “Sestina” by Elizabeth Bishop, p. 277; Blackboard:
“Newlywed Ghazal” by Victoria Chang; “Repeat” by Denise Duhamel
Week 3—September 3rd Narrative Poetry
T— Lenses: Chapter 2, “Writing About Literature,” pp. 9-22; Norton: “Mid-Term Break” by Seamus
Heaney, p. 11; “[Because I could not stop for Death]” by Emily Dickinson, p. 531; “Venison” by Karen
Chase, p. 86; “This Is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams, p. 143
R—Norton: “The Elements of the Essay,” pp. 626-632; Blackboard: “Fork” by Jeffrey Harrison; “To
Sleep” by Ellen C. Bush; “Body and Soul” by B.H. Fairchild; “Bird” by Kim Addonizio
Week 4—September 10th Free Lyric Poetry
T— Lenses: Chapter 4, “Symbolic Relationships and Figurative Language,” pp. 39-48; Norton: “The
Second Coming” by W.B. Yeats, p. 594 ; “Eve Names the Animals” by Susan Donnelly, p. 55; “A
Supermarket in California” by Allen Ginsberg, p. 543; “Diving into the Wreck” by Adrienne Rich, p. 193
R— Norton: “The Fury of Overshoes” by Anne Sexton, p. 13; “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks, p.
92; Blackboard: “Either Way I’m Celebrating” by Sommer Browning; “Enough Music” by Dorianne
Laux
Week 5—September 17th Odes: Poems of Praise
T— Norton: “The Tyger” by William Blake, p. 56; “Ode to a Nightingale” by John Keats, p. 345; “[I
celebrate myself, and sing myself]” by Walt Whitman, p. 82 ; “Home Movies: A Sort of Ode” by Mary
Joe Salter, p. 160
R— Blackboard: “Luciferin” by Dean Young; “” by Thomas Lux; “Ode to American English” by
Barbara Hamby; “Ode to Grits” by Kevin Young
Week 6—September 24th Elegies and Poems of Remembrance
T— POEM ANALYSIS DUE; Norton: “In Memory of W.B. Yeats” by W.H. Auden, p. 408; “Death of a
Young Son by Drowning” by Margaret Atwood, p. 71; “Frederick Douglass” by Robert Hayden, p. 319;
“Facing It” by Yusef Komunyakaa, p. 320
R— Blackboard: “Elegy for Jam Master Jay” by Steve Scafidi; “Elegy for Poe with the Music of a
Carnival Inside It” by Larry Levis; “What the Living Do” by Marie Howe; “Garage Sale” by LaureAnne Bosselaar
Week 7—October 1st Back to Form: Concrete Poetry and Free Use of Forms
T— Norton: “Buffalo Bill’s” by E.E. Cummings, p. 282; “You Too? Me Too, Why Not? Soda Pop” by
Robert Hollander, p. 388 ; Blackboard: “Junk” by Richard Wilbur; “The Golden Shovel” by Terrance
Hayes
R— EXAM 1
Week 8—October 8th Ars Poeticas and Poetry about Language
T— Lenses: Chapter 5, “Creating Meaning in Literature,” pp.53-65; Norton: “Ars Poetica” by
Archibald MacLeish, p. 280; “Poetry” by Marianne Moore, p. 505; Blackboard: “Sign Your Name” by
Kim Addonizio; “To Make My Countrymen Love Poetry” by Charles Harper Webb
R— Blackboard: “The Dickens” by Travis Wayne Denton; “Ars Poetica as Birdfeeder and
Hummingbird” by Victoria Chang; “Warning” by Denise Duhamel: “The Machinery of Evening” by
Tracy K. Smith
Friday, October 11th: LAST DAY TO DROP
Week 9—October 15th Persona Poems
T— FALL BREAK: NO CLASS
R— Lenses: Chapter 9, “Narrators and Speakers: The Voices of Literature”; Norton: “The RiverMerchant’s Wife: A Letter” by Ezra Pound, p. 6 ; “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” by Randall
Jarrell, p. 178; “Circe’s Power” by Louise Glück, p. 414; “God to the Serpent” by Virginia Hamilton
Adair, p. 56
Week 10—October 22nd Moving from the Persona to the Personal
T— Blackboard: “Monologue of an Assassin” by Katie Chaple; “Maybe Dats Your Pwoblem Too” by
James Hall; “Days of Me” by Stuart Dischell ; “Sweet Ruin” by Tony Hoagland
R— Norton: “Skunk Hour” by Robert Lowell, p. 59; “Hanging Fire” by Audre Lorde, p. 79 “Recovery of
Sexual Desire after a Bad Cold” by Fred Chappell, p. 82; “Practicing” by Marie Howe, p. 323
Week 11—October 29th Family Life
T— Lenses: Chapter 7, “The Character(s) of Literature,” pp.81-90; Norton: “Fifth Grade
Autobiography” by Rita Dove, p. 12; “After Making Love We Hear Footsteps” by Galway Kinnell, p. 37;
“Alzheimer’s” by Kelly Cherry, p. 45; “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, p. 49
R— Norton: “Digging” by Seamus Heaney, p. 551; “The Changeling” by Judith Ortiz Cofer, p. 80
“Morning Song” by Sylvia Plath, p. 115; Blackboard: “Lineage” by Jeffrey McDaniel
Week 12—November 5th Pastorals
T— Lenses: Chapter 8, “Time, Setting and Place,” pp.95-105; Norton: [Full many a glorious morning I
have seen] by William Shakespeare, p. 114; “[A narrow Fellow in the Grass]” by Emily Dickinson, p. 62;
“A Noiseless Patient Spider” by Walt Whitman, p. 66; Blackboard: “The Heaven of Animals” by James
Dickey
R— Norton: “Design” by Robert Frost, 297; Blackboard: “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop
“Hawk’s Shadow” by Louise Glück; “To the Bear Who Ate a Ten-Pound Bag of Sunflower Seeds in My
Front Yard This Morning” by Keetje Kuipers
Week 13—November 12th Dear Darkness, Exploring Negative Capability
T— Norton: “London” by William Blake, p. 33; “In Time of Plague” by Thom Gunn, p. 30;
“Earthmoving Malediction” by Heather McHugh, p. 521; “Praying Drunk” by Andrew Hudgins, p. 83
R— Norton: “Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane” by Etheridge
Knight, p. 32; “I Go Back to May 1937” by Sharon Olds, p. 561; Blackboard: “Crawling Out at Parties”
by David Bottoms; “St. Judas” by James Wright
Week 14—November 19th
T— EXAM 2
R— Greensboro Review Study and Discussion.
Week 15—November 26th
T— Greensboro Review Study and Discussion
R— THANKSGIVING BREAK: NO CLASS
Week 16—December 3rd
T—POETRY COLLECTION ESSAY DUE