English 92: Reading and Writing Poetry (Introduction to Poetry Writing)
Stanford University, Autumn 2015
M/W 1:30 – 3:20 PM
History Corner (Building #200), Room #15
Instructor: Greg Wrenn (gjwrenn@stanford.edu)
Office: Margaret Jacks (Building 460), Room #320
Office Hours: M/W 3:30-5 PM
“The poet…may not stand within the sacred house but lives amid the whirlwinds that
beset its threshold…”
― W. B. Yeats, “Per Amica Silentia Lunae”
“Make happiness your goal. The way to discover the truth about this life is to discover
yourself. Say to yourself: “What do I like and what do I want[?]” Find out exactly what
you want in life. Ask your mind for inspiration about everything.”
—Agnes Martin, “Beauty is the Mystery of Life”
Course Description
Each week in this introductory poetry writing course, you'll be apprenticing yourself to a
poem by a master poet such as Sylvia Plath, Robert Frost, and Anne Carson. Just as a
painting student might paint studies of canvases by Cézanne and Giotto, we will imitate,
analyze, and argue with an exceptional poem each week in order to learn poetic
craft. (We will read many other poems along the way as well.) What, for instance, could
we “steal” as poets from John Keats’s “Ode to a Nightingale”? The first three weeks will
be spent familiarizing ourselves with poetic concepts (what is the difference between
syntax and lineation?) and learning to analyze and evaluate poems (what makes
Shakespeare’s sonnets so great, if you think they are great?). Then, for the rest of the
quarter, we’ll alternate between workshopping your original work and—based on our
close reading of various enduring poems—exploring a particular craft topic, such as
confessional poetry and rhyme. As you become a better reader of masterpiece poems,
you will become a better poet. By the end of the course, you will have greater
appreciation for the poetic tradition—and be inspired to extend it in your own way.
Required Texts
Geography III (Elizabeth Bishop)
Ariel: The Restored Edition (Sylvia Plath)
Native Guard (Natasha Trethewey)
Course Requirements
Poem Revisions / Final Portfolio: 50%
Class Participation / Presentations: 15%
Weekly Reaction/Synthesis Papers (double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman, 1-inch
margins, with a copy—using your non-dominant hand—of a masterpiece poem on
the back): 15%
Memorization of Shakespearean Sonnet: 10%
Test on Poetic Terminology and Analysis: 10%
* The final drafts of the poems included in the final portfolio must show significant
evidence of revision—not just editing—in order to earn full credit.
Attendance and Class Participation
My attendance policies reflect the absolute importance of your physical presence in our
classroom. Each absence in excess of 1—and each tardy in excess of 2—lowers your
final grade by 1/3 of a letter grade. (For example, an A- becomes a B+.) 4 or more
absences results in a failing grade for the course. If you do not show up to class the day
of your workshop, barring extraordinary circumstances such as hospitalization,
your final grade will be dropped 1/3 of a letter grade.
Your intellectual and emotional presence in the form of class participation—asking
thought-provoking questions, answering questions, basically adding to the richness of our
class by being prepared and sharing your insights—is also extremely vital. To earn full
participation points, please contribute at least one substantive thing to each class
discussion. In addition, I ask that electronic devices—especially cell phones but also
laptops and iPads—be put in Airplane Mode for the duration of class. Texting during
class is not acceptable.
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Assignments
We’ll spend nearly all class meetings discussing readings: the weekly masterpiece poem,
your own poetry, or other assigned readings.
Write as much as you’d like and continue revising poems throughout the quarter. Those
revisions are the basis of your portfolio. I’m always glad to comment on the poems that
weren’t discussed in class, but please only show me work written during our quarter
together. Your enthusiasm can only deepen your growth—and improve your class
performance. If you’d like me to comment on work not discussed during workshop,
please come to office hours, and we can chat—I’m more than happy to meet with you.
In the class before a poem of yours is being workshopped, you’ll distribute your poem to
all of us in hardcopy form. Be sure to come to class having read the poems and written
comments on them, which you’ll hand back to each of the respective poets. Failure to do
this will negatively impact your grade.
You’re required to attend three poetry readings, though I encourage you to attend as
many University-sponsored readings as possible. You’ll almost always see me in the
audience. Check the Creative Writing Program website
(http://creativewriting.stanford.edu/event-list) and “like” Stanford Creative Writing on
Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/stanfordcw) for up-to-date information.
Mid-quarter I’ll meet individually with you in a required conference to discuss your
poems and overall development. Again, throughout the quarter I’m happy to meet
with you during my office hours or at another mutually agreeable time—it’s one of
the most rewarding aspects of teaching.
Please do not discard any completed assignments with my feedback on them. At
quarter’s end you’ll email me your final portfolio as a single PDF file that includes all
drafts/revisions (including the scanned drafts with my comments on them) as well as an
extended letter of at least 1000 words assessing your revision choices, tracking your
growth as a writer during the quarter, envisioning future writing possibilities, and
summarizing your experiences (using specific details!) at the three readings. If you’d like
to get specific feedback on your portfolio, at the end of the quarter please make an
appointment to meet with me in the Winter.
Students with Documented Disabilities
Students who may need an academic accommodation based on the impact of a disability
must initiate the request with the Office of Accessible Education (OAE). Professional
staff will evaluate the request with required documentation, recommend reasonable
accommodations, and prepare an Accommodation Letter for faculty dated in the current
quarter in which the request is being made. Students should contact the OAE as soon as
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possible since timely notice is needed to coordinate accommodations. The OAE is
located at 563 Salvatierra Walk (650-723-1066 or http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/oae).
Honor Code
The Honor Code is the University's statement on academic integrity written by students
in 1921. It articulates University expectations of students and faculty in establishing and
maintaining the highest standards in academic work.
The Honor Code is an undertaking of the students, individually and collectively:
1. that they will not give or receive aid in examinations; that they will not give or
receive unpermitted aid in class work, in the preparation of reports, or in any other
work that is to be used by the instructor as the basis of grading;
2. that they will do their share and take an active part in seeing to it that others as
well as themselves uphold the spirit and letter of the Honor Code.
3. The faculty on its part manifests its confidence in the honor of its students by
refraining from proctoring examinations and from taking unusual and
unreasonable precautions to prevent the forms of dishonesty mentioned above.
The faculty will also avoid, as far as practicable, academic procedures that create
temptations to violate the Honor Code.
4. While the faculty alone has the right and obligation to set academic
requirements, the students and faculty will work together to establish optimal
conditions for honorable academic work.
All work must adhere to the University’s policies on academic integrity. Failure to cite
work that is not your own constitutes plagiarism, as does the dual submission of work
(submitting a piece to this course that you submitted to another, such as Creative
Expression in Writing).
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COURSE SCHEDULE
Week 1
Henri Cole, “Beach Walk”

September 21: Definitions of “Reading,” “Poet,” and “Poetry”: “I, too, dislike
it: there are things that are important beyond all / this fiddle.” (Moore)
Syntax and Prosody Packets Distributed. Introductions.
[Read “Beach Walk.” Write a fourteen-line poem that contains two of nouns
an one verb from “Beach Walk” and involves an encounter with
someone/something in nature. One full page of reaction and synthesis—
double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman, 1-inch margins. On the back the
poem should be handwritten using your non-dominant hand.]

September 23: Discussion of “Beach Walk.” Poems as Pleasure (rhythm,
rhyme, structure, imagery, argument, poignancy, wisdom, style,
empathy/compassion)
[Read “Ode to a Nightingale.” Write a poem of at least 20 lines with the same
stanzaic shape, rhythm, and rhyme scheme as Keats’s poem.
Reaction/Synthesis paper with handwritten copy of “Ode to a Nightingale.”]
Week 2
John Keats, “Ode to a Nightingale”

September 28: Discussion of “Ode to a Nightingale.” Narrative vs. Lyric.
Classifying Poems. Speech Acts. Outer Form. Inner Structural Form.
[Write a travel poem or a nocturne using rhymed tercets in iambic tetrameter.
Devise your own rhyme scheme.]

September 30: The Play of Language (sound units, word roots, words,
sentences, implication). The Ordering of Language.
[Read “One Art.” Write a villanelle. Write synthesis/reaction paper on “One
Art.”]
Week 3
Elizabeth Bishop, “One Art”

October 5: Discussion of “One Art.” Review poetic terminology.
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[Write a poem of 20-30 lines that shows rather than tells a core political belief of
the lyric speaker—in other words, show and enact (rather than tell) what the
speaker would wish for society to change for the better. The entire poem need not
be dedicated to this task—it could happen in passing, over three or four lines.]

October 7: Discussion of Geography III. Review for test. Test on poetic
terminology/analysis.
[Read “The Glass Essay” and write synthesis/reaction paper.]
Week 4
Anne Carson, “The Glass Essay”

October 12: Workshop / “The Glass Essay”

October 14: Workshop
[Watch Poetry: https://stanford-kanopystreamingcom.ezproxy.stanford.edu/video/poetry. Read excerpts from Tender Buttons.
Write reaction/synthesis paper that is actually a Venn diagram comparing and
contrasting these visions of what a poet is.]
Week 5
Gertrude Stein, excerpt from Tender Buttons

October 19: Workshop / Tender Buttons

October 21: Workshop
[Read Native Guard and write reaction/synthesis paper.]
Week 6
Natasha Trethewey,“Native Guard”

October 26: Workshop / Native Guard

October 28: Workshop
[Read “Those Winter Sundays” and write synthesis/reaction paper.]
Week 7
Robert Hayden, “Those Winter Sundays”
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
November 2: Workshop / “Those Winter Sundays”

November 4: Workshop
[Read “Diving into the Wreck” and write synthesis/reaction paper.]
Week 8
Adrienne Rich, “Diving into the Wreck”

November 9: Workshop / “Diving into the Wreck”

November 11: Workshop
[Read Ariel and write synthesis/reaction paper.]
Week 9
Sylvia Plath, “Daddy”

November 16: Workshop / Ariel

November 19: Workshop
[Read “A Servant to Servants” and write synthesis/reaction paper.]
Week 10
Thanksgiving Break (No Class)
Week 11
Robert Frost, “A Servant to Servants”

November 30: Workshop / “A Servant to Servants”

December 2: Workshop / The Path Forward
FINAL PORTFOLIOS—EMAILED TO ME AT AS A SINGLE PDF FILE—ARE
DUE BY 11:59 PM ON SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12
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