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EN 412: Poetry Writing Workshop – Fall 2008 - Prof. Kendall A. Dunkelberg, Papers of Poetry

The content, goals, and requirements of en 412, an advanced poetry writing course taught by martin lammon and reginald shepherd during the fall 2008 semester. Students will engage in workshops, read contemporary poets, and write poetry, with a focus on craft, revision, and critical analysis.

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EN 412 Poetry Writing Workshop Fall 2008
Professor: Kendall Dunkelberg Office: Painter 104
email: kdunkelberg@as.muw.edu Phone: 329-7169
web: http://www2.muw.edu/~kdunk Hours: MWF 10:00-11:00
Time: MWF 11:00-11:50 TTh 1:30-3:00
Texts:
Written in Water, Written in Stone. Ed. Martin Lammon [WW]
Lyric Postmodernisms. Ed. Reginald Shepherd [LP]
Course Content:
EN 412 is an advanced course in writing poetry with an emphasis on craft. In the first weeks of the
course we will discuss essays on poetics and conduct focused workshops to get started. We will
also read poems by contemporary poets and discuss their styles and the choices they have made.
Since this is a writing workshop, discussion of student work will also be an essential component.
As the semester progresses, emphasis will shift to workshops on student poems. In addition, each
student will meet with me out of class for a biweekly conference to discuss work in progress.
Goals:
• to improve your writing through revision of a portfolio of poems
• to learn rules and techniques of prosody and apply them in your work
• to grow as a critical reader by participating in writing workshops
• to explore the work of contemporary poets and complete an in-depth analysis of one poet
Course Requirements:
Poetry Notebook: You will be asked to keep a poetry notebook in which you record ideas for
writing. I will assign a number of specific exercises for the focused workshops; these should be
included in your notebook along with the revisions that result from class discussion. Also feel free
to write down any ideas that come to you for poems or to do your own warm-up writing exercises.
The notebook will be graded more on quantity than quality. It’s okay to write drafts that never end
up as poems, so long as they show you made a serious effort with the exercises.
Book Review: You will write one 4-6 page review of a book of poetry. You may choose any of the
poets we read for class over the course of the semester: any poet from the Lyric Postmodernisms,
any poet whose essay we discuss, or any other living poet with a national reputation. (If you wish to
write on a poet we are not covering in class, you must get my approval prior to starting your paper.)
You should find a book or chapbook (minimum 24 pp) by the poet and review the collection as a
whole. You may need to order the book through interlibrary loan or purchase a copy of the book.
(Books by the Welty writers will be available.) Though you may discuss individual poems, you do
not need to critique every poem in the volume. In your essay, you should respond to the themes in
the book and to the poet's style. You may also compare this poet to others we have read in class or
discuss what you have learned from reading this book. This essay is not meant to be literary
criticism or analysis of the kind you do in a literature class; it is meant as an opportunity to discuss
how you react as an artist to another poet's work and ideas.
Midterm Portfolio: In order to help you move from the experimental stages of your writing in your
notebook to a more polished draft of your work, and in order to give an accurate assessment of
your work for midterm grades, I ask you to turn in a portfolio of poems in progress. This portfolio
should be at least 6-8 typed pages. The poems should be neatly typed and proofread for errors;
however, they do not all need to be finished or even complete drafts. They should represent the best
work from your poetry notebook, which has been revised and reshaped after discussion in class or
conference. You may also include work that was begun prior to this class; however, any poems that
you have written prior to this semester must be substantially revised, and I should have seen
evidence of this revision in conference.
Final Portfolio: The main assignment for the course will be the completion of a 10-15 page
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EN 412 Poetry Writing Workshop Fall 2008 Professor: Kendall Dunkelberg Office: Painter 104 email: kdunkelberg@as.muw.edu Phone: 329- web: http://www2.muw.edu/~kdunk Hours: MWF 10:00-11: Time: MWF 11:00-11:50 TTh 1:30-3: Texts: Written in Water, Written in Stone. Ed. Martin Lammon [WW] Lyric Postmodernisms. Ed. Reginald Shepherd [LP] Course Content: EN 412 is an advanced course in writing poetry with an emphasis on craft. In the first weeks of the course we will discuss essays on poetics and conduct focused workshops to get started. We will also read poems by contemporary poets and discuss their styles and the choices they have made. Since this is a writing workshop, discussion of student work will also be an essential component. As the semester progresses, emphasis will shift to workshops on student poems. In addition, each student will meet with me out of class for a biweekly conference to discuss work in progress. Goals:

  • to improve your writing through revision of a portfolio of poems
  • to learn rules and techniques of prosody and apply them in your work
  • to grow as a critical reader by participating in writing workshops
  • to explore the work of contemporary poets and complete an in-depth analysis of one poet Course Requirements: Poetry Notebook: You will be asked to keep a poetry notebook in which you record ideas for writing. I will assign a number of specific exercises for the focused workshops; these should be included in your notebook along with the revisions that result from class discussion. Also feel free to write down any ideas that come to you for poems or to do your own warm-up writing exercises. The notebook will be graded more on quantity than quality. It’s okay to write drafts that never end up as poems, so long as they show you made a serious effort with the exercises. Book Review: You will write one 4-6 page review of a book of poetry. You may choose any of the poets we read for class over the course of the semester: any poet from the Lyric Postmodernisms , any poet whose essay we discuss, or any other living poet with a national reputation. (If you wish to write on a poet we are not covering in class, you must get my approval prior to starting your paper.) You should find a book or chapbook (minimum 24 pp) by the poet and review the collection as a whole. You may need to order the book through interlibrary loan or purchase a copy of the book. (Books by the Welty writers will be available.) Though you may discuss individual poems, you do not need to critique every poem in the volume. In your essay, you should respond to the themes in the book and to the poet's style. You may also compare this poet to others we have read in class or discuss what you have learned from reading this book. This essay is not meant to be literary criticism or analysis of the kind you do in a literature class; it is meant as an opportunity to discuss how you react as an artist to another poet's work and ideas. Midterm Portfolio: In order to help you move from the experimental stages of your writing in your notebook to a more polished draft of your work, and in order to give an accurate assessment of your work for midterm grades, I ask you to turn in a portfolio of poems in progress. This portfolio should be at least 6-8 typed pages. The poems should be neatly typed and proofread for errors; however, they do not all need to be finished or even complete drafts. They should represent the best work from your poetry notebook, which has been revised and reshaped after discussion in class or conference. You may also include work that was begun prior to this class; however, any poems that you have written prior to this semester must be substantially revised, and I should have seen evidence of this revision in conference. Final Portfolio: The main assignment for the course will be the completion of a 10-15 page

portfolio of poems. For the purposes of this portfolio, fourteen or more lines of poetry will equal one page. In other words, if you write short forms like haiku, regardless of whether you decide to print them on one page, a group of poems must equal fourteen or more lines to be considered a page. Similarly if a poem is more than one page long, each page will count, as long as each page is filled and there are twelve or more lines on the final page of the poem. The work submitted for the final portfolio should include your best work for the course; it should contain most of the work from the midterm portfolio (revised), though not all work from the midterm portfolio need be included and new work should be added. I should have seen all poems in conference or in class. Your portfolio will be graded on the quality of work and the strength of your revisions. Final Exam: There will be a final exam, which will cover the essays on poetics, information in lectures, and the poems that we have read from the anthology. The exam may include definitions of concepts we have discussed, short answer questions about specific poets, as well as longer essay questions that ask you how you might apply what you have learned from these readings. Extra credit toward the final can be earned by taking part in the WebCT discussion board for the course. Attendance Policy: Since discussion of each other’s writing is essential to the success of the course, attendance is mandatory and will be recorded at the beginning of each class. If you arrive late, please inform me after class that you were present; otherwise, you will be counted absent. If you must leave early, please inform me before class and slip out as quietly as possible. Students are required to attend a minimum of 75% of scheduled classes to receive a passing grade. Excessive absences (more than

  1. will be considered due cause for lowering your final grade. Exercises for the focused workshops will be announced in class and posted in WebCT. Be sure to check each week and bring your work to class. Poems for full workshop sessions will be distributed in the WebCT component of this course. If you must miss class before a workshop, check online to get a copy of the poems. In preparation for the workshops, you should read each poem carefully, writing comments and suggestions for revision in the margins. You should also write a paragraph or two with suggestions for global revision. After discussion, return your copy to the author. In addition to regularly scheduled classes, each student will meet with me for a 20 minute conference every other week. In conference, we will discuss work in progress. Turn in one to three poems at least two days in advance. If you must miss a scheduled conference, please inform me in advance and reschedule. Conference attendance will affect your grade. Therefore, if you have no new work to discuss, come anyway; we will discuss strategies for overcoming writer's block. Method of Evaluation: Your poetry notebook will receive a √ (+ or -) the first time you turn it in, based on the amount of work and the number of assigned exercises completed. I will assign letter grades to your portfolios, the final poetry notebook, and response essay. They will have the following numeric values: A+ / 98 B+ / 88 C+ / 78 D + / 68 F / 0- A / 95 B / 85 C / 75 D / 65 A- / 92 B- / 82 C- / 72 D- / 62 Final grades will be based on the same system and will be a composite of the following: Poetry Notebook and Conferences 20% Book Review 10% Midterm Portfolio 20% Final Portfolio 40% Final Exam 10% Plagiarism will result in an F (0) on the assignment, and in severe cases is grounds for failure in the course. Plagiarism includes using paraphrased or quoted information from a source without

Week 7 September 22-26 Group A Mon Forrest Gander LP 62- Wed Louis Simpson “Reflections on Narrative Poetry” WW 102- Fri Workshop on Narrative Week 8 September 29 - October 3 Group B Mon Timothy Liu LP 122- Wed David Ignatow “The Necessity of the Personal” WW 89- Fri Workshop on the Personal Poetry Notebook Due Week 9 October 6-10 Group A Mon Fall Break Wed Tess Gallagher “The Poem as Time Machine” WW 108-118 Midterm Porfolio Due Fri Kathleen Fraser LP 50- Week 10 October 13-17 Group B Mon Angela Ball poems (see WebCT for links) Wed Rodney Jones poems (see WebCT for links) Fri Welty Symposium (attendance required) Week 11 October 20-24 Group A Mon Rosmary Waldrop LP 241- Wed Diane Wakoski “Poetry as the Dialogue...” WW 147- Fri Workshop Week 12 October 27-31 Group B Mon Marjorie Welish LP 252- Wed Alicia Ostriker “A Wild Surmise” WW 256- Fri Workshop Week 13 November 3-7 Group A Mon Robert Hayden “How it Strikes a Contemporary” WW 193- Wed Martha Ronk LP 180- Fri Workshop Book Review Due Week 14 November 10-14 Group B Mon Workshop Wed Workshop Fri Workshop Week 15 November 17- Mon Workshop Wed Workshop Fri Workshop Poetry Notebook Due Week 16 November 24- Mon Course Review Final Portfolio Due Wed/Fri Thanksgiving Holiday Final Exam: Thursday, December 4, 11:30-2: Important Dates: Aug. 19 Last day to enter a class for credit and change from credit to pass-fail Sept. 17 Last day to withdraw without WP or WF or to change from credit to audit Oct. 15 Last day to drop a course and receive WP or WF designation Nov. 7 Last day to withdraw from the university