Week 1

Jun. 5

Introduction

Reading

• "Is Poetry Relevant?" by Kathryn VanSpankeren (essay about poetry in her life)

• "Against National Poetry Month As Such" by Charles Bernstein (article about the commercialization of poetry)

• "Is It Poetry or Is It Verse?" by John Barr (article on good bad poetry, bad bad poetry, serious poetry)

Discussion: What do you think of Bernstein's views of poetry compared to Barr's?

Jun. 7

Unit 1 Poetic Qualities

Reading

• W. S. Merwin, "Separation"

  • About W. S. Merwin

  • Interview with W. S. Merwin by Ben George (on the unity of poetry)

  • An Interview with W. S. Merwin by David L. Elliott (conducted in 1984; requires subscription to JSTOR)

  • A Wealth of Verse (bulletin on a poetry reading Merwin gave in 1997)

• William Carlos Williams, "This Is Just to Say"

  • On "This Is Just to Say" (two critical excerpts of the poem)

  • William Carlos Williams, "This Is Just to Say" (reading, re-reading, explorations, links)

  • Williams's "This Is Just to Say"--at Penn (a student comment on the poem)

  • Williams' Life and Career

• Billy Collins, "Introduction to Poetry"

  • Online NewsHour: Billy Collins (interview with Collins, he talks about this poem and about poetry in general: transcript, streaming video, audio)

Discussion: what poetry is, poetic qualities, reasons for reading poetry, the art of reading

Handout: Defining Poetry and "This Is Just to Say" Study Questions (Word file)

Week 2

Jun. 12

Unit 1  Poetic Qualities

Unit 2  Making Sense of Poems

Reading

• Charles Causley, "What Has Happened to Lulu?"

  • "The Most Unfashionable Poet Alive: Charles Causley" by Dana Gioia

  • Charles Causley: Highly Regarded Poet and Children's Writer

  • Charles Causley Is a Winner (Causley wins the Heywood Hill Prize)

Discussion: how close-reading opens up William's "This Is Just to Say"; making inferences; exploring points of view

Jun. 14

Unit 3  

Reading

• A. E. Housman, "Loveliest of trees, the cherry now"

  • A. E. Housman (biography from The Housman Society)

  • Poet's Corner: A. E. Housman (longer biography)

  • Literary Criticism on A. E. Housman (links)

  • "Housman's 'Loveliest of trees': More than Carpe Diem" by Linda Sue Grimes

  • A. E. Housman: Frequently Asked Questions

Discussion: words and feeling: tone, denotation, connotation

• Tone (discussion of tone in poetry, definition excerpts of textbooks)

• Tone (explanation of tone with examples from Many Worlds of Poetry)

Student-Led Discussion 1: 

Student-Led Discussion 2: 

Student-Led Discussion 3: Jirawut (poem discussion)

Week 3

Jun. 19

Unit 3  

Reading

• Peter Meinke, "When I with You"

  • "Meinke sheds light through small windows" (newspaper story)

  • Peter Meinke: An American Poet (2002 interview by Lissette Vega)

  • The power of poetry (2001 interview by Mary Jane Park; includes a poem "Treasure Island")

  • Peter Meinke: The Man and the Works (interview by Patricia Lieb)

  • An Interview with Peter Meinke by James Plath (1997)

• Robert Herrick, "Here a Pretty Baby Lies"

  • The Lyrical Poems Of Robert Herrick: Preface (1876) by Francis Turner Palgrave (long introduction to Herrick's poetry)

• Margaret Atwood, "Dreams of the Animals"

  • Life and Times

Discussion: words and meaning: denotation, connotation

Student-Led Discussion 4: Aphaporn (I Found Poetry) 
Student-Led Discussion 5: Esther (background material) 
Student-Led Discussion 6:

Jun. 21

Unit 3  

Reading

• Ezra Pound, "In a Station of the Metro"

  • A Brief Guide to Imagism

  • A Brief Guide to Modernism

  • Prose Paraphrase of the poem

  • On "In a Station of the Metro" (critical excerpts on the poem)

  • Pound's Life and Career by Clive Wilmer

• Robert Browning, "Meeting at Night" (see Study Guide)

  • Robert Browning (1812-1889) (short bio)

  • Robert Browning: An Overview (biographies, literary relations, themes, and more; some of the links are under construction)

• Federico Garcia Lorca, "Snail"

  • Federico Garcia Lorca (short bio)

  • Featured Author: Federico Garcia Lorca (links require free registration)

Discussion: words and the senses: imagery

Student-Led Discussion 7: Seubsakoon (I Found Poetry) 
Student-Led Discussion 8: Japanese minors: haiku, Spanish minors: Lorca's "Caracola"
Student-Led Discussion 9: Suluck (poem discussion)

Week 4

Jun. 26

Unit 4  Figures of Speech

Reading

• Langston Hughes, "Dream Deferred"

  • "Dream Deferred" (text of poem with viewer comments)

  • Langston Hughes, "Dream Deferred" (video clip of reading of poem; QuickTime 35 sec.)

• May Swenson, "Question"

  • May Swenson (very brief bio, selected bibliography, links to poems)

  • May Swenson (brief bio, several previously unpublished poems)

• Countee Cullen, "For My Grandmother"

  • Listen to sample

Discussion: words and associations: simile, metaphor

• Basics of Metaphor and Simile

• Kalliope: Focus on Metaphor (definitions, examples, exercises)

• The Logic of Tropes (metaphor, simile, metonymy, synecdoche, etc.)

Student-Led Discussion 10: 
Student-Led Discussion 11: Sirikul (background material) 
Student-Led Discussion 12:

Jun. 28

Unit 4

Reading

• James Stephens, "The Wind"

• Billy Collins, "My Number" (with study questions)

  • Billy Collins (his official website)

  • The Trouble with Poetry and Billy Collins (blog entry on Collins and his poetry)

• Cornelius Whur, from Village Musings on Moral and Religious Subjects

• Alfred Tennyson, "Break, Break, Break"

  • Break, break, break (text of poem, users comments)

  • Chapter 3: Poems (1842) (analysis of this and other Tennyson poems published that year by James R. Kincaid)

Discussion: making things human: personification, apostrophe

Student-Led Discussion 13: Amarat (I Found Poetry) 
Student-Led Discussion 14: Sommanutsa (background material) 
Student-Led Discussion 15: Esther (poem discussion)

Assignment 1 given

Handout: Practice Questions on Charles Causley's "Convoy" (Word file)

Week 5

Jul. 3

Unit 4

Reading

• John Donne, "The Sun Rising" (poem notes)

  • John Donne, "The Sun Rising" read by Professor Kathleen Coleman (online audio)

  • Sample paraphrase: Donne's "The Sun Rising"

  • "Rhetoric's Inherent Contradictions: John Donne's 'The Sun Rising'"

• Thomas Hardy, "The Walk"

  • Thomas Hardy Resource Library (texts, biography, media, Dorset, links)

  • Thomas Hardy's English Lessons (The New York Times review of Claire Tomalin's biography, by Thomas Mallon; some interesting insights into Hardy's life and verse)

  • Thomas Hardy: An Overview

  • The Thomas Hardy Association

Discussion: overstatement, understatement

Assignment 1 due beginning of class

• Linda Pastan, "Ethics"

  • Linda Pastan (bio, two poems, link to PBS interview)

  • Conversation: Pastan (Newshour with Jim Lehrer 2003 interview on PBS; video, audio, transcript)

  • Linda Pastan: "Ethics" (bio, comprehension quiz, as you read, after you read)

• Rembrandt

  • Rembrandt: Life, Paintings, Etchings, Drawings and Self-Portraits (well-organized site with a very large collection of images)

  • Rembrandt van Rijn (discussion of his painting techniques, images)

Jul. 5

Unit 4

Reading

• Countee Cullen, "Yet Do I Marvel"

  • Countee Cullen, "Yet Do I Marvel" (poem text, reading and re-reading questions, explorations, links)

  • Chapter 9: Countee Cullen (1903-1946) (poem text, selected bibliography, study questions, brief biography)

  • Yet Do I Marvel by Thomas J. Sienkewicz (analysis: the poem, forms and devices, themes and meanings)

  • On "Yet Do I Marvel" (critical excerpts)

Discussion: intertextuality: allusion

• Tantalus

  • Tantalus (short blurb)

  • Greek Mythology Link: Tantalus 1 (longer)

  • Tantalus (chatty)

• Sisyphus

  • Sisyphus (short)

  • The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus

  • Greek Mythology Link: Sisyphus

Student-Led Discussion 16: Sommanutsa (I Found Poetry) 
Student-Led Discussion 17: Narasak (background material) 
Student-Led Discussion 18: Aunchidtha (poem discussion)

Week 6

Jul. 10

Unit 4

Reading

• Philip Larkin, "Maiden Name"

  • "Maiden Name" (text of poem with readers' comments)

  • The Philip Larkin Society

• Marge Piercy, "A Work of Artifice"

  • Marge Piercy (official homepage)

  • Hear the poem: a teacher's reading by A. Warang, a student's reading by Prangthaya

  • Analysis and Comments on "A Work of Artifice" by Marge Piercy (user comments)

Discussion: metonymy, synecdoche

Assignment 2 given (Word file)

Jul. 12

No Class (Graduation Ceremony)

Week 7

Jul. 17

Unit 4

Reading

• Robert Herrick, "To Virgins, to Make Much of Time"

• Christina Rossetti, "Up-Hill"

Discussion: symbol, allegory

• Definition of Symbol (with links to an exercise and studies of two poems)

• Allegory (short definition)

• Introduction to Medieval Allegory

• Definition of Allegory (with link to allegory exercise)

Student-Led Discussion 19: Suluck (I Found Poetry) 
Student-Led Discussion 20: Suwida (background material) 
Student-Led Discussion 21: Narasak (poem discussion)

Some remarks on Assignment 1 on Pastan's "Ethics"

Assignment 2 due beginning of class

• The Frog Prince (the Grimm versions, non-Grimm versions, analysis of variations on tale type 440)

• Anne Sexton, "The Frog Prince," Transformations (1971)

• Anne Sexton: A Primary Bibliography

Jul. 19

Poetry Jeopardy! (competition on poetry to help you review for the midterm)

Week 8

Jul. 24

Midterm (Tuesday, July 24, 2007 in our usual room during regular class hours: BRK 314, 12-2 p.m.; there will be two parts: Part I (35 points) has two essays on material we have studied, pages 1-49, covering literary terms from the beginning to symbols; Part II (15 points) consists of short answers on an unseen poem; read through the exam and pace yourself well)

• Edward Lucie-Smith: Biography

Jul. 26

(Midterm Week July 23-27, 2007)

Week 9

Jul. 31

No Class (Asalhapuja Observed)

Aug. 2

Unit 4

Reading

• William Blake, "Eternity"

  • Poet! Poet! Burning Bright: An Ode to William Blake on the Eve of his 250th Birthday (an op-ed article by Philip Pullman)

  • The William Blake Archive

  • William Blake Online

• John Donne, "The Flea" (poem notes)

  • Notes on John Donne (useful summary; includes other poems)

  • John Donne's "The Flea" and Comments (high school student's notes on the poem)

  • John Donne's "The Flea" and Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress": Seduction Poetry at Its Finest (audio, poem, writing questions, commentary)

  • 'John Donne: The Reformed Soul' by John Stubbs (review of biography)

Discussion: paradox

• Paradox (short definition and example)

• Paradox

• Ironies and Paradoxes (paper by Hugh Bredin)

Student-Led Discussion 22: Sirikul (I Found Poetry) 
Student-Led Discussion 23: Pimwalan (background material) 
Student-Led Discussion 24: Suebsakoon (poem discussion)

Poetry Conference session proposals due (session proposal form, Word doc; call for papers)

Final Paper consultation sign-up (sign-up schedule, Word doc)

Week 10

Aug. 7

No Class (Universiade Bangkok 2007 Opening Ceremony)

Aug. 9

Unit 4

Reading

• Donald Finkel, "They"

  • Donald Finkel (b. 1929) (links, brief bio)

  • Donald Finkel, 1929- . American author (brief bio)

Discussion: irony

• Irony (classical rhetoric)

• Literary Devices: Irony (verbal, dramatic, situational)

• Irony (verbal irony, dramatic irony, irony of situation)

• Irony (dramatic, structural, verbal)

• Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Irony

Week 11

Aug. 14

Unit 5  Sound and Meaning

Reading

• Anne Sexton, "Ringing the Bells"

  • "The Rise and Fall of a Poet" by Joyce Carol Oates (discussion of Sexton's poetry, review of The Complete Poems with forward by Maxine Kumin)

  • Anne Sexton (hear Sexton reading her own poetry, including "Ringing the Bells"

• Sarah Cleghorn, "The Golf Links"

  • "The Golf Links" (text of poem with readers' comments)

• Laurence Perrine, "Janus"

• William Blake, "Infant Sorrow"

  • "Infant Sorrow": An Annotated Bibliography of Criticism

  • Romantic Audience Project: "Infant Sorrow" (commentary)

Discussion: rhyme, meter, scansion, formal pattern

• Rhyme (short definitions and examples of different kinds of rhymes)

• Rhyme (intro, simple rhyming, not-quite-rhymes, rather-more-than-rhymes, special kinds of rhyme, locations for rhyme)

• Rhyme (benefits, disadvantages)

• Meter (examples of traditional accentual-syllabic meters)

• Meter and Scansion

• Scansion

• Scansion Definitions

• The Down and Dirty Guide to Scanning Verse: Some Hints to Help with Sounding Shakespeare's Words (good to keep in mind when reading non-Shakespearean verse as well) 

Student-Led Discussion 25: Pimwalan (I Found Poetry) 
Student-Led Discussion 26: Aphaporn (background material) 
Student-Led Discussion 27: Sirikul (poem discussion)

Writing Workshop Sheet (Word file)

Aug. 16

Unit 5

Unit 6  Types of Poetry

Discussion: types and forms of poetry, sonnet

• Basic Sonnet Forms

Student-Led Discussion 28: Narasak (I Found Poetry) 
Student-Led Discussion 29: Suebsakoon (background material) 
Student-Led Discussion 30: Pimwalan (poem discussion)

Discussion of Assignment 2

Assignment 3 given

Return the commented essay and completed writing workshop sheet to your friend

Week 12

Aug. 21

Unit 6  

Reading

• William Shakespeare, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day" (Sonnet XVIII)

• William Wordsworth, "The world is too much with us"

  • William Wordsworth: The World Is Too Much with Us (1807) (brief poet introduction, text of poem, gloss of some terms)

  • Kevin Goodan reading William Wordsworth's "The world is too much with us"

Discussion: sonnet

Aug. 23

Unit 6  

Reading

• "The Two Ravens"

  • "The Twa Corbies" (the Scottish version with English translation, analysis)

  • The Twa Corbies (text of ballad with vocabulary gloss)

Discussion: ballad

• Ballad (folk and literary ballad definitions from The Columbia Encyclopedia on Bartleby)

• Ballad (description of the folk and literary ballad)

• Ballad

Student-Led Discussion 31: Jirawut (I Found Poetry) 
Student-Led Discussion 32: Suluck (background material) 
Student-Led Discussion 33: Suwida (poem discussion)

Assignment 3 due beginning of class

Week 13

Aug. 28

Unit 7  Paraphrase

Unit 8  Theme: Life

Reading

• William Butler Yeats, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree"

  • Hear the poem: a teacher's reading by A. Tony, Yeat's own reading

• Thomas Campbell, "The River of Life"

• Sara Teasdale, "Barter"

Discussion: theme, the interpretation of poetry

Student-Led Discussion 34: Suwida (I Found Poetry) 
Student-Led Discussion 35: Amarat (background material) 
Student-Led Discussion 36: Amarat (poem discussion)

Aug. 30

Unit 8  Theme: Life

Reading

• Robert Frost, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"

  • Salon.com Audio: Robert Frost (download Frost reading this poem, 40 seconds)

  • Robert Frost (1874-1963) (a few words on Frosts poems)

  • On "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" (criticism on the poem)

Discussion: theme, the interpretation of poetry

Student-Led Discussion 37: Aunchidtha (I Found Poetry) 
Student-Led Discussion 38: Atipong (background material) 
Student-Led Discussion 39: Atipong (poem discussion)

Week 14

Sep. 4

Unit 8 Theme: Men and Women

Reading

• Edmund Spenser, "Sonnet LIV" (poem notes)

• Christina Rossetti, "No, Thank You, John"

  • "No, Thank You, John" (text of poem with student response)

Discussion: theme, the interpretation of poetry

Student-Led Discussion 40: Isariya (I Found Poetry) 
Student-Led Discussion 41: Aunchidtha (background material) 
Student-Led Discussion 42: Isariya (poem discussion)

Assignment 4 given

Sep. 6

Unit 8 Theme: Men and Women

Reading

• Thomas Carew, "The True Beauty"

Discussion: theme, the interpretation of poetry

Student-Led Discussion 43: Atipong (I Found Poetry) 
Student-Led Discussion 44: Isariya (background material) 
Student-Led Discussion 45: Alisa (poem discussion)

Week 15

Sep. 11

Unit 8 Theme: Men and Women

Reading

• Jon Stallworthy, "Sindhi Woman"

  • "Finkel, Stallworthy, and Stevenson" by Harry Marten (review of poetry collections by these three poets; accessible on Chula campus computers)

Discussion: theme, the interpretation of poetry

• Professor Mark Canada of UNC-Pembroke, in his discussion questions for this poem in week 10 of his Introduction to Literature class, makes the observation that Stallworthy is alluding to Milton's Sonnet 19 in the final two lines of the poem.  What do you think?

Student-Led Discussion 46: Alisa (I Found Poetry) 
Student-Led Discussion 47: Alisa (background material) 
Student-Led Discussion 48: Aphaporn (poem discussion)

Assignment 4 due beginning of class

Sep. 13

Review

Student-Led Discussion 49: Esther (I Found Poetry) 
Student-Led Discussion 50: Jirawut (background material) 
Student-Led Discussion 51: Sommanutsa (poem discussion)

Poetry Conference: The Adventure of Poetry

Roundtable Discussion led by Asst. Prof. Charturee Tingsabadh

Student Media Presentations

• James Fenton, "Blood and Lead"

• Emily Dickinson, "Because I could not stop for Death"

• Anne Stevenson, "Poem for a Daughter"

• Valerie Bloom, "Two Seasons"

Final paper due, 7-10 pages (see some sample papers and writing guidelines below)

• "Appearances and Verbal Paradox: Sonnets 129 and 138" by J. Bunselmeyer (accessible on Chula campus computers)

• "To Know Well" by Jane Smith (Word file)

• "The Value of Restraint" by Amy Skerry (on Raymond Carver's short story "Cathedral"; Word file)

• "Othello: The Tragedy of Human Nature" by Zakia Al-Amin

• "Some Matters of Form" by Yale University (writing guidelines; pdf file)

Week 16

Sep. 18

Poetry Conference: The Adventure of Poetry

Student Poetry Readings:

1. “Are Roses Red,” Alisa Lertpratchya
2. “Bad Time for Best Time” and “My Loved One,” Narasak Sirikanjanawong
3. “The Journey Under the Scorching Sun,” Isariya Jutimasakulboworn
4. “Monster” and “Marry to a Misery,” Aphaporn Julkananukij
5. “Murder in a Bus,” Sommanassa Ngernsaard
6. “Burn me up,” Aunchidtha Suwanyingyong
7. “Laugh for Cry,” Suebskul Longwetch
8. “Undecided,” Suwida Boonyatistarn
9. “Do You Believe in Destiny” and “My heart is small,” Sirikul Sawatdeenarunart
10. “I look at the dark sky,” Esther Suksamitti
11. “My View,” Pimwalan Sripech
12. “Impermanency,” Jirawut Kitkarul
13. “Waking to Death,” Amarat Chaipaiboonwong
14. “On the Quest for Happiness,” Atipong Amornwongpeeti
15. “Why Is the World so Rushing?,” Suluck Lamubol

Sessions

1: The Adventure of Sound: James Fenton’s “Blood and Lead” 
2: A Journey with Death to Nowhere: Imagery in Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for death”

Sep. 20

Poetry Conference: The Adventure of Poetry

3: What If You Were a Mother?: Anne Stevenson’s “Poem for a Daughter”

4: Outshining Negativity: Valerie Bloom’s Personification in “Two Seasons”

Sep. 25

Final Exam 1-3 p.m., BRK 404