Ancient Celtic texts-Irish and Welsh-associate the poet (meaning any creator of fiction) with powerful magic-with shape-shifting, access to the other-world, and visions of transcendent authority and truth. Plato, in his famous condemnation of poetry in The Republic, also associates poetry with magic, but with magic as a con game or sleight-of-hand trick. This course will use Plato and Celtic texts to establish a theoretical framework for reading and interpreting the representation of poetry and magic in a variety of literary works and films from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. The goal of the course, in addition to its particular subject matter, is to develop effective reading and writing strategies for works of different genres and time periods. Reading will include Chaucer's Friar's Tale (where the poet-figure is an evil magician); David Mamet's film House of Games (where the master of illusion is a con artist); Marlowe's Doctor Faustus (where the poet-figure sells his soul to the devil for magical power); Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest (where fairies and magic represent the positive powers of imagination); the "magical" transformations of gender and identity in As You Like It and the documentary film Paris Is Burning (about the world of gay male balls in Harlem); and short poems by Coleridge, Keats, Tennyson, and Yeats. The class will be run as a discussion. Requirements: weekly writing assignments, both formal and informal, including use of a class listserver and required electronic journal postings. Students will do about 20 pages of writing and will be evaluated on writing and class participation. No prerequisite. Enrollment limit: 19 (expected: 19). Preference to first-year students.