ENGL 354(F) Contemporary American Poetry
What happened to American poetry after all the great modernists-Frost, Stevens, Williams. Moore, Pound, etc.-completed their work? The answer would have to be: many different things. This course will look at some of them. We'll begin by reading four undeniably important individual volumes, books that both took our poetry in new directions and laid down challenges that affect any poet writing today. These collections are: The Lost Son by Theodore Roethke, Life Studies by Robert Lowell, Geography III by Elizabeth Bishop, and 77 Dream Songs by John Berryman. (Reading individual collections will also allow us to talk about how poets construct their books-how the arrangement may change the effect of individual poems, how the books themselves build and unfold-and so we'll avoid one of the dangers of anthologies, where we're more likely to encounter a selection of greatest hits.) Following these first four books, we're read another four collections published more recently, books by poets who are still producing their most exciting work. Likely poets to be considered are Tony Hoagland, Marie Howe, Dean Young, and Louise Gluck. Finally, we will spend some time on very recent individual poems from current publications.
Format: seminar/discussion. Requirements: participation in class discussions, short responses to each book, one short paper, and one longer paper. (Part of the longer paper will be read by the class, and provide the basis for our final set of meetings.)
Prerequisite: a 100-level English course, except 150. Enrollment limit: 25 (expected: 15-20). Preference to English majors.
(Post-1900)
Hour: RAAB