English 469: Contemporary American Poetry

Readings/Assignments for Thursday, April 28, 2005

2005-04-21T21:16:00.000-07:00

No readings for this class meeting, as we'll be doing the in-class presentations on contemporary American poets (post-1950) this week instead. (Guidelines for presentations are outlined below).

Please note that in lieu of the regularly-scheduled blog post in response to assigned readings, you can write an informal blog post on the volume of poetry that you did for your presentation this week, or simply do a "freeestyle" blog of your choice, to go along with the regularly-scheduled memoir prompt.

Presentation Guidelines:

Presentations should be ten minutes long.

Your presentation should be on a volume of poetry by a contemporary American poet (post-1950).

Your presentation should focus primarily on describing stylistic traits that you notice about this poet (i.e., Themes and/or Subject Matter; Diction, Voice, and Tone; Imagery; Structure/Form; Symbols, etc.)

Bring copies of one representative poem to pass out to the class (15 copies total); read and discuss the poem in conjunction with the stylistic traits you've pointed out.

Keep biographical material to a minimum, unless it's pertinent to the discussion of the poet's work.

Important!! Your final 10-12 page papers will be due on Thursday, May 5, by 5:00 p.m. in my mailbox in Dakota Hall 226, or if the office is closed, you can slide your paper under my door in Dakota Hall 207. You may also feel free to submit your paper as an e-mail attachment if that is more convenient for you.

And finally, here is your final memoir prompt of the semester from The Autobiography Box:

Write about your first kiss. Maybe it was with a friend, just practicing. Maybe it was with somebody you were afraid of more than you were in love with. Maybe it was a stolen kiss. Maybe you did the stealing. What were the circumstances leading up to the kiss? Or, start with the kiss and describe what happened after.

Readings/Assignments for Thursday, April 21, 2005

2005-04-07T23:40:00.000-07:00

Important!! Don't forget to send me the rough draft of your final course paper (by e-mail, either as a Word document or RTF file, please) by midnight on Sunday, April 10! Thanks!

Reminder: Class is canceled on Thursday, March 14, as I will be giving an out-of-town poetry reading. This would be an ideal time to work on your third modeling poem/style commentary (due on Thursday, April 21, at our next class meeting), and also work on your second oral presentation on a contemporary volume of poetry (due on Thursday, April 28). Blogs will not be due on Wednesday, April 13, but you can do extra credit blogging this week (up to two posts). You can use the memoir prompt given below, and/or write a post on readings you haven't discussed in blog format yet, or submit a "freestyle" blog of your choice.

Extra credit memoir prompt from The Autobiography Box for extra credit blogs due by Wednesday, April 13:

Do you recall taking a strong political position? Was there a single moment you can recall when you felt motivated to join a political body, and did that moment lead you down a path through life that embraced those politics? Can you remember when you became "politicized"? Was it accompanied by a strong sense of justice or injustice? Was something wrong that needed to be rectified?

Thursday, April 21, 2005:

Important! Modeling Poem #3 is due today, along with a 250-word discussion of the style traits of the particular poet upon which your poem is modeled. You may model any poet discussed during the course of the semester whose work you haven't already modeled in a prior modeling assignment:

For this class period, please read Mark Doty's volume of poetry, My Alexandria, and Li-Young Lee's volume of poetry, Book of My Nights.

Please also read the following materials contained in the clickable links below, and which will download as PDF documents:

Click here for excerpt from Mark Doty's memoir, Firebird.

Click here for excerpt from Li-Young Lee's memoir, Winged Seed.

And finally, here is your memoir prompt from The Autobiography Box (for blog posts due on Wednesday, April 20):

Who was your best friend at seven years old? Who was your best friend at 11? At 16? At 20? At 30? And who was your biggest enemy at each of these ages? Describe them.

Readings/Assignments for Thursday, April 7 2005

2005-03-24T20:29:00.000-08:00

Reminder: Class is canceled on Thursday, March 31, as I will be out of town for a conference. Please use the additional time to work on the rough draft of your 10-12 page paper, which will be due at our next class meeting on Thursday, April 7. Blogs will not be due on Wednesday, March 30, but you can do extra credit blogging this week (up to two posts). You can use the memoir prompt given below, and/or write a post on readings you haven't discussed in blog format yet, or submit a "freestyle" blog of your choice.

Extra credit memoir prompt from The Autobiography Box for extra credit blogs due by Wednesday, March 30:

Describe a significant event that brought you closer to, or further away, from your religious devotions. The spiritual life can come upon a person in a sweeping moment or over the course of a long period of time. Have you ever experienced visions or other moments of a spiritual nature? If you had a single moment that you can recall, describe the details leading up to and following that epiphany. How did it change your life afterwards? If you slowly gravitated to a religious tradition or a way of thinking about the divine, show in a series of snapshots how you were brought closer and closer to the spiritual over that time.

For Thursday, April 7, 2005:

Don't forget that rough drafts of your paper are due today!

Please print out and read the following full-text articles which can be located via Project Muse, in the USD Library Research Databases. To access the articles, Click Here to go to USD's library page, click to the Research Databases link in the right column, and then type in Project Muse in the Search by Database prompt. (If you are working off-campus, note that you will be prompted for your Network ID and Password prior to being given access to the Research Databases). Once in Project Muse, you can search for the articles using title or author's last name, etc. The articles are available in both HTML and PDF format:

"Elizabeth Bishop and Containment Policy," by Steven Gould Axelrod, American Literature, Vol. 75, No. 4 (December 2003), pp. 843-867.

"Elizabeth Bishop's Impersonal Personal," by Bonnie Costello, American Literary History, Vol. 15, No. 2 (2003), pp. 334-366.

Please also read the following poems from Elizabeth Bishop's Complete Poems: 1927-1976:

"Arrival at Santos," p. 89
"Brazil," p. 91
"Questions of Travel," p. 93
"Electrical Storm," p. 100
"The Armadillo," p. 103
"First Death in Nova Scotia," p. 125
"Filling Station," p. 127
"Visits to St. Elizabeths," p. 133
"Giant Toad," p. 139
"Strayed Crab," p. 140
"Giant Snail," p. 141
"Under the Window," p. 153
"In the Waiting Room," p. 159
"Crusoe in England," p. 162
"The Moose," p. 159
"One Art," p. 178
"Santarem," p. 185
"Pink Dog," p. 190
"Sonnet," p. 192
"Exchanging Hats," p. 200

And finally, here is this week's memoir prompt from The Autobiography Box for blog posts due on Wednesday, April 6:

Write about a strange family member. Were you frightened of this person or were they frightened of you? Were they funny? Did they look strange or behave strangely? Do you still carry on a relationship with that person? Write a scene in which that person is doing or exhibiting the things that made them strange. Are you involved in this scene?

Readings/Assignments for Thursday, March 24, 2005

2005-03-17T20:47:00.000-08:00

Important!! Don't forget that Modeling Poem #2 will be due today! You may model any poet studied in the class thus far, provided that you didn't already model this poet in your first modeling assignment. Also, don't forget to include a one-page (250-word) analysis that discusses the specific ways in which your poem is imitating the style traits of your chosen poet/poem.

Please read/print out the following articles, which are available as Full-Text Articles from WilsonSelectPlus in the USD Library Research Databases. To access WilsonSelectPlus, click here to get to the USD Library Research Databases page. Next, click on Arts and Humanities. On the next screen, click on Language and Literature. On the screen after that, click on Arts and Humanities Search. You'll be taken to a screen next that has a drop-down menu for databases to search, at which point you'll want to replace AH Search with WilsonSelectPlus on the drop-down menu. Now you can simply type in article or author titles to pull up the full-text articles from the WilsonSelectPlus database. (Please note that at some point during this process you'll most likely be prompted for your USD User ID and Password).

"Dedications: Lowell's 'Skunk Hour' and Bishop's 'The Armadillo,'", by Lloyd Schwartz, Salmagundi, No. 141/142 (Winter Spring 2004).

""Elizabeth Bishop's 'Queer Birds': Vassar, Con Spirito, and the Romance of Female Community," by Bethany Hicok, Contemporary Literature, Vol. 40 No. 2 (Summer 1999), pp. 285-310.

"Elizabeth Bishop's Stories of Childhood: Writing the Disaster," by Andre Furlani, Critique, Vol. 43, No. 2 (Winter 2002).

Please also read the following poems from Elizabeth Bishop's Complete Poems 1927-1976:

"The Map," p. 3
"The Man-Moth," p. 14
"Florida," p. 32
"Roosters," p. 35
"The Fish," p. 42
"A Cold Sring," p. 55
"Over 2,000 Illustrations," p. 57
"The Bight," p. 60
"At the Fishhouses," p. 64
"Cape Breton," p. 67
"Insomnia," p. 70
"Invitation to Miss Marianne Moore," p. 82
"The Shampoo," p. 84

And finally, here is this week's memoir prompt from The Autobiography Box:

Remember something or somebody you pursued with a passion. How old were you when this happened? Does it seem a rite of passage, or a turning point in growing up? Did you get the thing or that person? If so, was it worth it? If not, do you have regrets?

Important Class Announcement!

2005-03-15T14:39:00.000-08:00

Class on Thursday, March 17, 2005, will be temporarily moved to Old Main 202 instead of our normally-scheduled class meeting room. Please make sure to go to Old Main 202 at our regularly-scheduled class time on Thursday.

Don't forget that Jeanne Emmons will be giving a poetry reading on Wednesday, March 16, 2005, at 4:00 p.m. in Farber Hall. Please come and hear her if you are able. I'm willing to dole out extra credit if you come to the reading and write an extra credit blog post about it.

Spring Break and Readings/Assignments for Thursday, March 17, 2005

2005-03-04T08:25:00.000-08:00

No blogs are due on Wednesday, March 9, since it's spring break week, but you are welcome to post extra credit blogs by midnight on Wednesday, March 9 (up to two posts) for 10 points of extra credit apiece. Please make sure to label these posts as Extra Credit Spring Break Blogging. One post will be a memoir prompt response, as usual, and the other can be a response to past readings/poets or a free-form post on any subject of your choice! Here's the extra credit spring break memoir prompt:

Describe a moment of pure joy. there are times in our lives when everythintg comes together in a chemical reaction of joy. It can be the simplest thing: you are sitting outside on a sunny day drinking wine with your best friend, and he tells you a funny joke, just as a bird lands on a branch nearby to sing, and suddenly, your heart lifts, your spirit is up in the air, you feel ridiculous and glorious all at once. Once you've returned to earth, you realize that something has changed--you are not the person you were a moment before. Can you recall such a moment?

Readings/Assignments for Thursday, March 17, 2005:

Blog posts will resume as normally scheduled, and will be due (as per usual) on Wednesday, March 16, by midnight.

Please read/print out the following articles, which are available as Full-Text Articles from WilsonSelectPlus in the USD Library Research Databases. To access WilsonSelectPlus, click here to get to the USD Library Research Databases page. Next, click on Arts and Humanities. On the next screen, click on Language and Literature. On the screen after that, click on Arts and Humanities Search. You'll be taken to a screen next that has a drop-down menu for databases to search, at which point you'll want to replace AH Search with WilsonSelectPlus on the drop-down menu. Now you can simply type in article or author titles to pull up the full-text articles from the WilsonSelectPlus database. (Please note that at some point during this process you'll most likely be prompted for your USD User ID and Password).

"'And Everyone and I Stopped Breathing': William Carlos Williams, Frank O'Hara and the News of the Day in Verse," by Paul R. Cappucci, Papers on Language and Literature, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Fall 2003), p. 375-89.

"Tribes of New York: Frank O'Hara, Amiri Baraka, and the Poetics of the Five Spot," by Michael Magee, Contemorary Literature, Vol. 42, No. 4 (Winter 2001), pp. 694-726.

Please also read Lunch Poems by Frank O'Hara, and as much of David Lehman's The Evening Star as you can get through.

Finally, here is the memoir prompt from The Autobiography Box for this week:

Write about the first time you went away from home alone. Was it a vacation? Was it for work? Were you looking for something? Were you running away? Do you see that excursion as a "hero's journey", or did you go kicking and screaming? How did it change you?

Readings/Assignments for Thursday, March 3, 2004

2005-02-25T19:03:00.000-08:00

Don't forget that class will start off at 4:00 in Farber Hall, so that we can hear Ken Waldman, Alaska's Fiddling Poet, read and perform his work!

Please read/print out the following articles, which are available as Full-Text Articles from WilsonSelectPlus in the USD Library Research Databases. To access WilsonSelectPlus, click here to get to the USD Library Research Databases page. Next, click on Arts and Humanities. On the next screen, click on Language and Literature. On the screen after that, click on Arts and Humanities Search. You'll be taken to a screen next that has a drop-down menu for databases to search, at which point you'll want to replace AH Search with WilsonSelectPlus on the drop-down menu. Now you can simply type in article or author titles to pull up the full-text articles from the WilsonSelectPlus database. (Please note that at some point during this process you'll most likely be prompted for your USD User ID and Password).

"Panel: Lowell Off the Page," by Robert Giroux, Charles McKinley, and Robert Dana, The Kenyon Review, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Winter 2000) pp. 255-74.

"Robert Lowell on Native Ground," by Richard Tillinghast, The Virginia Quarterly Review, Vol. 71 (Winter 1995, pp. 86-100.

"Looking Back at Robert Lowell," by Alan Williamson, The American Poetry Review, Vol. 24 (May/June 1995), pp. 35-38.

Please also read the following poems from Robert Lowell's Selected Poems:

"History," p. 159
"Coleridge," p. 174
"Randall Jarrell 1, 2, and 3," pp. 177-178
"For Eugene McCarthy," p. 182
"Reading Myself," p. 183
"Father," p. 195
"Mother and Father, 1 and 2," pp. 195-196
"Mother, 1972," p. 197
"Father in a Dream," p. 197
"To Daddy," p. 198
Part One of For Lizzie and Harriet, pp. 209-211
"Fall Weekend at Milgate," p. 231
"Mermaid," p. 233
"Mermaid Emerging," p. 237
"Late Summer at Milgate," p. 239
"Robert Sheridan Lowell," p. 239
"Christmas," p. 245
"Christmas," p. 246
"Dolphin," p. 246

Next, here is this week's memoir prompt from The Autobiography Box:

Create a word portrait of yourself. Using as much descriptive language as possible, draw a picture of yourself, including physical attributes, but also the things that have given your face character--what you inherited from your parents, what life and time have done to alter it.

Finally, here are the Paper Guidelines and Topics for the final course paper that I went over in class on Thursday:

Please select one of the following topics listed below on which to write your 10-12 page final course paper. The rough draft of your paper will be due on Thursday, April 7, 2005, at which point I will provide you with substantive written feedback on your rough draft. The final, revised version of your paper will be due on Thursday, May 5, 2005, by 5:00 p.m.

Your papers should have a clear central thesis/argument, and a logical structure. You will be required to include analyses of works by a minimum of three of the poets specifically discussed in class this semester, and at least two of the assigned scholarly/critical sources.

You are welcome to include additional poets not specifically discussed in class as part of your discussion, as well as additional scholarly/critical sources, if you so desire. This paper is not ultimately meant to be a research or survey paper, however. I would like you to narrow down and limit your sources enough so that the primary focus of your paper will ultimately consist of readings/analyses of the poems as much as possible.

Please make sure to properly and consistently cite all of your sources. MLA format is standard for the profession, but I will be happy to accept other formats provided that the citations are both accurate and consistent. (Please note that I’m not going to require you to make citations when quoting directly from the actual poems themselves, only when referencing secondary scholarly/critical sources as part of your discussion of these poems.)

1. Please provide a discussion of the term “Confessionalism” with regard to the autobiographical poets discussed this semester. Questions that you might want to address in your discussion might include: Is the term “Confessionalism” an appropriate term for these poets? In what ways is their work “Confessional,” and what are the parameters or implications of the “confession(s)” being made? Are the “confession(s)” revealing or masking? Are there ways in which the term “Confessional” seems inappropriate or problematic with regard to the works of these poets? Your discussion should include analyses of works by at least three of the poets discussed this semester, and should incorporate as part of the discussion at least two of the assigned scholarly sources.

2. Poets such as Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and Elizabeth Bishop are also frequently referred to as the “Middle Generation” of poets and indeed, they seem to fall right in the divide between the literary and aesthetic styles of Modernism and Post-Modernism. Using a minimum of three of the poets studied this semester as examples, and at least two of the assigned scholarly sources, please provide a stylistic analysis of the ways in which these poets exemplify both Modernist and Post-Modernist traits within their works.

3. Please provide an analysis of the implications of gender with regard to works written by the autobiographical poets discussed in the course this semester. You may wish to take into consideration issues pertaining to feminist scholarship, Freudian psychoanalysis, and/or the prevailing cultural conditions at the time different poets were working and writing (i.e., 1950’s “containment culture,” etc.). Your analysis should include at least three of the poets studied this semester, and should incorporate at least two of the assigned scholarly sources.

4. Please discuss the emergence and use of the genre of “journal poem” arising in the middle of the 20th century. In your paper, you may wish to address one or more of the following questions: Is this a valid form of poetry? How do different practitioners of the “journal poem” genre make this form unique or different? Is the “journal poem” genre the ultimate “confessional” poem? In what ways and to what degree does the genre of “journal poem” blur the boundaries between poetry and memoir? Your discussion should include analyses of works by at least three of the poets discussed this semester, and should incorporate as part of the discussion at least two of the assigned scholarly sources.

5. In her article, “No Room in the Booth? An Appreciation of Confessional Poetry,” Kathleen Osip argues that post-confessional poets lack the craft and technique, as well as the passion and fire, of the original confessional poets. She suggests that while the original confessional poets “acted out” in their poems, the post-confessionals analyze and “work through” their issues in their poetry, and to detrimental effect. Please respond to Osip’s assertioneither defending or refuting her claimincluding analyses of works by at least three of the poets discussed this semester, and incorporating at least two of the assigned scholarly sources as art of the discussion.

Readings/Assignments for Thursday, February 24, 2005

2005-02-17T10:29:00.000-08:00

Please read/print out the following articles, which are available as Full-Text Articles from WilsonSelectPlus in the USD Library Research Databases. To access WilsonSelectPlus, click here to get to the USD Library Research Databases page. Next, click on Arts and Humanities. On the next screen, click on Language and Literature. On the screen after that, click on Arts and Humanities Search. You'll be taken to a screen next that has a drop-down menu for databases to search, at which point you'll want to replace AH Search with WilsonSelectPlus on the drop-down menu. Now you can simply type in article or author titles to pull up the full-text articles from the WilsonSelectPlus database. (Please note that at some point during this process you'll most likely be prompted for your USD User ID and Password).

"Panel: Lowell on the Page," by Frank Bidart, Wyuatt Prunty, and Richard Tillinghast, from The Kenyon Review, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Winter 2000), pp. 234-48.

"Lowell's Persistence: The Forms Depression Makes," by Helen Hennessy Vendler, from The Kenyon Review, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Winter 2000), pp. 216-33.

"Confusing a Naive Robert Lowell and Lowell Naeve: "Lost Connections" in 1940's War Resistance at West Street Jail and Danbury Prison," by Philip Metres, from Contemporary Literature, Vol. 41, No. 4 (Winter 2000), pp. 661-92.

Please also re-read 91 Revere Street, from Robert Lowell's Life Studies (will download as a PDF document).

Please also read (or re-read) the following poems from Robert Lowell's Selected Poems:

"Beyond the Alps," p. 55.
"To Delmore Schwartz," p. 63.
"My Last Afternoon with Uncle Devereux Winslow," p. 66.
"Commander Lowell," p. 76.
"Terminal Days at Beverly Farms," p. 79.
"Sailing Home from Rapallo," p. 83.
"Waking in the Blue," p. 87.
"Home After Three Months Away," p. 89.
"Memories of West Street and Lepke," p. 91.
"Skunk Hour," p. 95.
"The Public Garden," p. 113.
"Myopia: A Night," p. 114.
"For the Union Dead," p. 135.

And finally, here's this week's memoir prompt from The Autobiography Box:

Describe a significant quarrel between yourself and a family member. What was the quarrel about? Was the quarrel ongoing over many years or an isolated incident? Did you resolve the difference or did it cause a complete break of relations? Was it violent? Do you regret the quarrel?

Readings/Assignments for Thursday, February 17, 2005

2005-02-11T21:22:00.000-08:00

No readings for this class meeting, as we'll be doing the in-class presentations on contemporary American poets (post-1950) this week instead. (Guidelines for presentations are outlined below).

Please note that in lieu of your regularly-scheduled blog post in response to assigned readings, I would like for you to write an informal blog post this week on the volume of poetry that you did for your presentation this week.

Presentation Guidelines:

Presentations should be eight minutes long.

Your presentation should be on a volume of poetry by a contemporary American poet (post-1950).

Your presentation should focus primarily on describing stylistic traits that you notice about this poet (i.e., Themes and/or Subject Matter; Diction, Voice, and Tone; Imagery; Structure/Form; Symbols, etc.)

Bring copies of one representative poem to pass out to the class (18 copies total); read and discuss the poem briefly in conjunction with the stylistic traits you've pointed out.

Keep biographical material to a minimum, unless it's pertinent to the discussion of the poet's work.

Next, here's your memoir prompt from The Autobiography Box for this week:

Is there a piece of music that reminds you of a particular time and place in your life? In Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past, there is a violinist named Vinteuil who plays a simple and not very interesting theme of music. But as the years go by, Marcel finds that even a mediocre piece of music can carry with itlots of memory. The music that may cause an outpouring of memories for you may be a Beethoven sonata or a silly pop song. Think of one of these tunes and describe the memories that come to you.

And finally, here's a link to information on the VLP Poetry Festival, coming up on February 24:

http://www.usd.edu/~projlit/poetryfestival.html

Readings/Assignments for Thursday, February 10, 2005

2005-02-03T21:33:00.000-08:00

We'll finish up with Anne Sexton, so you'll have a chance to get caught up with readings if you need since there aren't any new critical essays/articles this week.

Please read the following poems from Sharon Olds' Strike Sparks:

"Monarchs," p. 6
"The Language of the Brag," . 8
"New Mother," p. 23
"I Go Back to May 1937," p. 44
"I Cannot Forget the Woman in the Mirror," p. 51
"The Race," p. 63
"Beyond Harm," p. 70
"His Costume," p. 158
"First Weeks," p. 159
"The Clasp," p. 161
"The Window," p. 163

Please read the following poems from Kim Addonizio's Tell Me:

"Therapy," p. 33
"Collapsing Poem," p. 43
"Last Call," p. 54
"Tell Me," p. 65
"Mermaid Song," p. 67
"Affair," p. 70
"'What Do Women Want?'" p. 74
"Good Girl," p. 75
"Physics," p. 76
"Like That," p. 79
"One Night Stands," p. 85

Don't forget that your Modeling Poem #1 is due this week, along with a one-page (250-word) discussion of the specific ways your poem imitates style traits of the poet/poem on which its modeled.

And finally, here is your weekly memoir prompt from The Autobiography Box for this week's blog posts:

Describe a moment of utter depression. Sometimes the gods consire against us. Have you ever felt so down and out that there seemed to be an absence of all hoppe? Was it a series of events, bad luck, or things brought on by character flaws that required remedy?

Readings/Assignments for Thursday, February 3, 2005

2005-01-26T18:28:00.000-08:00

Please read the following materials:

Privacy Lessons, by Molly Peacock, from Creative Nonfiction, No. 17 (2001), pp. 67-83.

The Barfly Ought To Sing, by Anne Sexton (on Sylvia Plath's suicide). (From No Evil Star: Selected Essays, Inteviews, and Prose -- Anne Sexton, edited by Steven E. Colburn, University of Michigan Press, 1985).

Interview with Anne Sexton, by Barbara Kevles. (From No Evil Star).

Interview with Anne Sexton, by Patricia Marx. (From No Evil Star).

The following materials are full-text articles which can be located via Project Muse, in the USD Library Research Databases. To access the articles, Click Here to go to USD's library page, click to the Research Databases link in the right column, and then type in Project Muse in the Search by Database prompt. (If you are working off-campus, note that you will be prompted for your Network ID and Password prior to being given access to the Research Databases). Once in Project Muse, you can search for the articles using title or author's last name, etc. The articles are available in both HTML and PDF format:

"'My Sweeney, Mr. Eliot': Anne Sexton and the 'Impersonal Theory of Poetry'," by Joanna Gill, in Journal of Modern Literature, 27.1/2 (Fall 2003), pp. 36-56.

"Public Dreams: Berryman, Celebrity, and the Culture of Confession," by David Haven Blake, in American Literary History, 13.4 (2001) pp. 716-736.

Please also read the following poems from The Complete Poems of Anne Sexton:

Introductory Essay by Maxine Kumin, "How It Was," p. xix
"You, Doctor Martin," p. 3
"Music Swims Back to Me," p. 6
"Said the Poet to the Analyst," p. 12
"Her Kind," p. 15
"Elegy in the Classroom," p. 32
"For John, who Begs Me Not to Enquire Further," p. 34
"The Double Image," p. 35
"The Division of Parts," p. 42
"The Truth the Dead Know," p. 49
"All My Pretty Ones," p. 49
"To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Triumph," p. 53
"The Starry Night," p. 53
"The Operation," p. 56
"The Abortion," p. 61
"With Mercy for the Greedy," p. 62
"The Fortress," p. 66
"Flee on Your Donkey," p. 97
"Sylvia's Death," p. 126
"Menstruation at Forty," p. 137
"Wanting to Die," p. 142
"Little Girl, My String Bean," p. 145
"Live," p. 167
"For My Lover, Returning to His Wife," p. 189
"The Break," p. 190
"Ballad of the Lonely Masturbator," p. 198
"Eighteen Days Without You," p. 265
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," p. 224
"Rumpelstiltskin," p. 233
"Cinderella," p. 255
"Briar Rose," p. 290
"Rats Live on No Evil Star," p. 359
"The Furies," p. 363

Don't forget to post your blog posts for the week of 2/3/2005-2/9/2005 no later than midnight on Wednesday, 2/9/2005. And speaking of which, here is this week's memoir prompt from The Autobiography Box:

What was your first day at middle school like? Some say "The Awkward Age" starts at 12 and ends with death. Did you feel lonely or unhapppy making that important transition from childhood to teenage years? Was there anything or anybody who made it easier?

Readings/Assignments for Thursday, January 27, 2005

2005-01-20T19:44:00.000-08:00

Please click on the links below (unless otherwise noted) to download, print off, and read the following materials:

Subject Sylvia, by Meghan O'Rourke, from Poetry, via the Poetry Daily website.

Sylvia Plath and Confessional Poetry: A Reconsideration, by M. D. Uroff, from Iowa Review, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1977, pp. 104-15.

The Self in the World: The Social Context of Sylvia Plath's Late Poems, by Pamela J. Annas, from Women's Studies, Vol. 7, Nos. 1-2, 1980, pp. 171-83.

"Viciousness in the Kitchen":Sylvia Plath's Domestic Poetry, by Jeannine Dobbs, from Modern Language Studies, Vol. 7, No. 2, 1977, pp. 11-25.

The Big Strip Tease: Female Bodies and Male Power in the Poetry of Sylvia Plath, by Kathleen Margaret Lant, from Contemporary Literature.

Chapter 13 from The Bell Jar. (Sorry about the upside-down pages. If you print them out, it obviously won't matter, but if you're reading on-screen, you can use the Rotate Page button to turn them around into the correct position.)

Journal Fragments from Sylvia Plath's Unabridged Journals.

Please also read the following poems from Sylvia Plath's The Collected Poems:

"Pursuit," p. 22
"Ode for Ted," p. 29
"The Disquieting Muses," p. 73
"Full Fathom Five," p. 92
"Electra on Azalea Path," p. 117
"The Beekeeper's Daughter," p. 118
"The Colossus," p. 129
"Stillborn," p. 142
"Face Lift," p. 155
"In Plaster," p. 158
"Tulips," p. 160
"Insomniac," p. 163
"The Moon and the Yew Tree," p. 172
"Mirror," p. 173
"Berck-Plage," p. 195
"Poppies in July," p. 203
Bee Poems, 211-219
"Daddy," p. 222
"Fever 103," p. 231
"Cut," p. 235
"Ariel," p. 239
"Poppies in October," p. 240
"Purdah," p. 242
"Lady Lazarus," p. 244
"Edge," p. 272

Please don't forget to post your weekly blog entries no later than Wednesday, January 26, 2005, by midnight. And speaking of which, here is this week's memoir prompt, from The Autobiography Box:

Write down a story that you tell people that didn't really happen the way you usually tell it. So many times we have a good story we embellish with exaggerations, switch events for the sake of timing or humor, all kinds of things. Come on, it's fun! But after you write down the story you tell everybody, tell the same story in its bare-bones, no-frills, true version. Think about the reasons why you twisted the facts around.

Readings/Assignments for Thursday, January 20, 2005

2005-01-13T17:37:00.000-08:00

Please click on the links below (unless otherwise noted) to download, print off, and read the following materials:

Life Studies: American Poetry from T.S. Eliot to Allen Ginsberg, an online poetry exhibit from the Academy of American Poets.

Confessional Poetry, by Donna M. Ford.

Confessional Poetry and the Artifice of Honesty, by David Yezzi (from The New Criterion, Vol. 16, No. 10, June 1998, pp. 14-21).

No Room in the Booth?: An Appreciation of Confessional Poetry, by Kathleen Osip (from The Writer's Chronicle, February 2001, pp. 45-53). (Will download as a Word document).

Postmodernism, by Professor Mary Klages, University of Colorado, Boulder.

Chapter One - The Poet's Voice as Persona, from Creating Another Self: Voice in Modern American Personal Poetry, by Samuel Maio (Kirksville, MO: Thomas Jefferson University Press, 1995). (Will download as a PDF document).

91 Revere Street, by Robert Lowell, from Life Studies, 1959. (Will download as a PDF document).

Please also read the following poems by Robert Lowell from your Selected Poems book:

"The Quaker Graveyard in Nantucket," p. 6.
"Beyond the Alps," p. 55.
"To Delmore Schwartz," p. 66.
"Memories of West Street and Lepke," p. 91.
"Skunk Hour," p. 95.

Blogging Instructions

2005-01-13T17:35:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Main Course Blog for English 469!! General course announcements, reading assignments, and information will be posted here, as well as links to all of your individual blogs. This blog will function as the central "hub" blog for the course, so make sure to check in regularly. I have posted the syllabus and course assignment schedule as the first post on this blog, so you can always reference it easily in case you happen to lose your hard copy, and at the very end of the syllabus, there's a link to download a hard copy of the syllabus as a Word document if you wish.

Before our next class meeting on Thursday, January 20, please make sure to visit http://www.blogger.com to sign up for a Blogger account and then set up your own new blog where you will be doing all of your on-line journaling for the course. Please also make sure to bring in the URL to the new blog you have set up on Thursday. Your new URL will look something like: http://INSERT-YOUR-OWN-TITLE-HERE.blogspot.com. The process of setting up a Blogger account and on-line journal is fairly straightforward, and Blogger will walk you through it step by step.

A Few Tips On What To Expect When Setting Up Your Blog:

If this is your first time visiting Blogger, click Create on Create Your Own Blog now. You will be prompted to set up a user name and password. Make sure to write down your user name and password so that you can access, edit, and post to your blog.

Once your account is set up, click next/continue, and you will be prompted to give your blog a name/title, and create a URL for your blog (In other words, choose your own address for the "INSERT-YOUR-OWN-ADDRESS-HERE" portion of your URL http://insertyourowntitlehere.blogspot.com. Make it something easy to remember).

Hit next/continue, and you will be prompted to select a template (i.e., alayout for how your blog will look on the internet . . . you can change it later, if you wish.)

Blogger will create your blog for you, and then give you a Start Posting prompt. I definitely recommend writing and publishing a test post at this point (even something as quotidian as TESTING, TESTING, ONE TWO THREE . . . you can delete it later if you like) to establish the blog on the internet and familiarize yourself with the posting process.

When you're on the posting and editing screen, you can just type in your entries (or cut and paste from a word processing program--for longer, assigned entries I definitely recommend cutting and pasting from a word processing program so you don't accidentally lose an entire post should there be a technical glitch). When you're finished with your entry, simply click on the button labeled Publish. Blogger will publish your post the the web, giving you a message that your post was published successfully once it has done so, and then you can click on the link to view your blog post on the internet.

Once you've posted an entry you can always go back and edit it by clicking on the edit posts link. This will pull the entry back as a text window where you can edit it as much as you like, or even delete it altogether. You might want to play around with posting, editing, and deleting test posts a bit to get a feel for how all this works.

On subsequent visits to Blogger, you can simply sign in with your account name and password, and you'll see the title of your blog listed on your Blogger Dashboard once you sign on. You can simply click on that link and your editing menus will come right up for you.

This should hopefully be enough information to get you started. Please don't hesitate to e-mail me with any questions at lroripau@usd.edu, or feel free to come visit me during my office hours or set up an appointment if you need further assistance. Good luck, and have fun blogging!!

Course Syllabus

2005-01-09T13:44:00.000-08:00

ENGLISH 469: CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN POETRY

Professor Lee Roripaugh
Spring Semester, 2005
Section #015, Thursdays, 4:00-6:45 p.m., Old Main 106
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 1:00-1:45 p.m. and 3:30-6:00 p.m.; Thursdays, 1:00-1:45 p.m.
(Office Hours Also Anytime by Appointment)
Office: Dakota Hall #207
Office Phone: 677-5979
E-mail: lroripau@usd.edu
Mailbox: Dakota Hall #226

ENGL 469 is a literature course in post-1950 contemporary American poetry. The course will focus on an examination of the transformative process by which "raw autobiographical materials" contained in the journals, letters, and memoirs of contemporary American poets are distilled and transformed into poetry. Beginning with the hugely influential poetic developments of the “Middle Generation” poets in the 1950’s, the course will attempt to trace the contemporary development of several strands of autobiographical poetry emerging from the work of Middle Generation poets – in particular, the confessionalism of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton; the “journal poem” genre of Robert Lowell; and autobiographical discourses of otherness and displacement found in the poems of Elizabeth Bishop. The course will seek to analyze and problematize notions of persona, masking, exhibitionism and "confessionalism" in contemporary American poetry; examine aspects of Modernism and Post-Modernism within the poets under discussion; apply critical/theoretical concepts and analyses to the works under study; and engage in close stylistic analyses and readings of poems.

Prerequisites: Junior standing and six hours of survey.

REQUIREMENTS:

Blogging (Maintenance of On-line Journal):

2 entries per week – 1 entry will be either a response to the assigned readings and/or issues raised in class discussions (250-word minimum); 1 entry will be written in response to memoir-generating prompts from The Autobiography Box (250-word minimum).

Blogging requirements will commence after the second class meeting, and will continue for ten weeks throughout the last week of classes. (Please note that blogging will not be required the week the rough draft of the paper is due, or on weeks when class is canceled). Each entry is worth 10 points apiece (at 2 entries per week this adds up to 20 entries total during the semester). You can make up to 6 missed entries by writing extra credit blog entries during non-blogging weeks (i.e., spring break, canceled class, etc.). Each week’s 2 blog entries must be posted no later than midnight on Wednesday night of each week to receive credit.

Three Modeled Poems:

Using the “raw autobiographical material” from your blog generated in response to the memoir-generating prompts, you will write three poems modeled after autobiographical poets we have discussed in class. Your model should attempt to mimic the techniques by which a given poet transforms his/her raw autobiographical material into poetry, as well as mimic certain aspects of the poet’s style as discussed in class. Your model should also include a short paragraph that identifies the poet whose work you’re modeling, and the specific stylistic traits of this poet that you’ve incorporated into your model. Please post your modeled poems on your blog on the assigned due dates. Each poem is worth up to 100 points, and you will be given credit for your poems on the Check Plus (100 points), Check (85 points), and Check Minus (70 points) system based on the effort you’ve made to understand and represent each modeled poet’s style (and not necessarily the aesthetic quality of your model).

Two In-Class Presentations:

Selecting a contemporary American (post-1950) poet of your choice not covered in the course’s assigned reading, you will be asked to give two presentations (one during the first half of the semester, and the other during the second half of the semester) of approximately 15 minutes in length. Your presentation should provide a discussion of the poet’s style and attempt to contextualize the poet in terms of issues pertaining to our various investigations of autobiographical poetry. You should begin browsing these books early on in the semester so that you can identify the poets on whom you wish to present. Sign-up sheets will be made available, and I will ask that we avoid duplicate presentations. Each presentation will be worth 50 points.

Final Course Paper:

There will be a 10-12 page final course paper due at the end of the semester. You will be given a choice of paper topics covering various poets, themes, issues, and critical approaches discussed over the course of the semester from which to select your paper topic. A rough draft of your paper (worth 100 points) will be due sometime in early April, and then a final, revised version of your paper (worth 300 points) will be due during finals week.

GRADING:

40% Final 10-12 Page Paper (400 points total – 100 points rough draft; 300 points final draft)
20% Blogging/On-Line Writing Journal Entries (200 points total – 10 points per entry)
30% Three Modeled Poems (300 points total - 100 points apiece)
10% Two In-Class Presentations (100 points total - 50 points apiece)

Your final grade will be based on a scale of 1,000 points possible.

TEXTS:

Elizabeth Bishop, The Complete Poems, 1927-1979 (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1985), ISBN: 0374518173

Robert Lowell, Selected Poems: Revised Edition (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1977), ISBN: 0374515003

Sylvia Plath, Collected Poems (Reissue) (Perennial, 1981), ISBN 0060909005

Anne Sexton, The Complete Poems (Mariner Books, 1999), ISBN 0395957761

Frank O’Hara, Lunch Poems (Pocket Poets Series: No. 19) (City Lights Books, 1964), ISBN: 0872860353

Li-Young Lee, Book of My Nights (BOA Editions, 2001), ISBN: 1929918089

David Lehman, The Evening Sun: A Journal in Poetry (Scribner, 2002), ISBN: 074322552X

Sharon Olds, Strike Sparks: Selected Poems, 1980-2002 (Knopf, 2004), ISBN: 0375710760

Kim Addonizio, Tell Me (BOA Editions, 2000), ISBN: 1880238918

Mark Doty, My Alexandria (University of Illinois Press, 1993), ISBN: 0252063171

Additional materials will be made available either on-line or via Xerox handouts as needed.

ABSENCES:

You will be allowed two absences during the course of the semester. For each absence beyond these two there will be a 50-point deduction in your final grade. If you happen to go beyond the two allowed absences, you will be allowed to make up one (and no more than one absence) by attending an outside poetry reading and writing a 500-word review of the event, or writing a 500-word review of a contemporary volume(s) of poetry not discussed in class.

Please note that I DO NOT make distinctions between excused and unexcused absences, and an absence always counts as an absence. Instead, you’ve been given a reasonable number of absences and a reasonable number of makeup opportunities to work with, and I will expect you each to manage your own attendance accordingly. Please let me know ASAP if you have specific concerns or questions.

CONFERENCES:

Please feel free to come and talk with me at any time during the semester about your course assignments, your papers, or the course in general. If my office hours aren’t convenient for you, I’d be happy to set up an outside appointment to meet with you. Also, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at any time if you should have any questions about the class.

PLAGIARISM:

Because the entire educational process rests upon an atmosphere of academic honesty and trust, the College community must promote and protect the sanctity of such an environment at the University. To that end, the College of Arts and Sciences considers the following infractions as being inimical to the objectives of higher education:

Cheating is defined as intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise. (Student Conduct Code)

Plagiarism is defined as intentionally or knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one's own in any academic exercise. (Student Conduct Code)

At the discretion of the instructor, a student caught cheating or plagiarizing may be:

(a) Given a zero for that assignment.
(b) Allowed to rewrite and resubmit the assignment for credit.
(c) Assigned a reduced grade for the course.
(d) Dropped from the course.
(e) Failed in the course.

NOTICE REGARDING DISABILITIES:

If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and Dr. Elaine Pearson, Director of the Office of Disability Services (Service Center 119, 677-6389) as early as possible in the semester.

TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE

Important!! Don’t Forget to Blog!! Weekly Deadline for Posting of Three Required Entries is Wednesday at Midnight!! Blogging Will Officially Commence After the Second Class Meeting (January 13, 2005).

Thursday, January 13, 2005 - Introduction to Course

Syllabus; Film

Thursday, January 20, 2005 – Introduction to Course (cont.)

Modernism and Post-Modernism, Confessionalism, and the Middle Generation of Poets

Thursday, January 27, 2005 – Confessionalism Past and Present

Sylvia Plath

Thursday, February 3, 2005 – Confessionalism Past and Present (cont.)

Anne Sexton

Thursday, February 10, 2005 – Confessionalism Past and Present (cont.)

Sharon Olds and Kim Addonizio

Modeling Poem #1 Due!!

Thursday, February 17, 2005 - Presentations

Presentation #1 Due (15 minutes apiece)

Thursday, March 3, 2005 – Journal Poetry

Robert Lowell

Thursday, March 10, 2005 – Spring Break!!

Thursday, March 17, 2005 – Journal Poetry (cont.)

Frank O’Hara

Thursday, March 24, 2005 – Journal Poetry (cont.)

David Lehman

Modeling Poem #2 Due!!

Thursday, March 31, 2005 – Class Canceled, Instructor at Conference

Thursday, April 7, 2005 –Autobiographical Discourses of Otherness and Displacement

Elizabeth Bishop

Rough Draft of 10-12 Page Final Course Paper is Due!!

Thursday, April 14, 2005 – Class Canceled, Instructor Giving Out-of-Town Poetry Reading

Thursday, April 21, 2005 – Autobiographical Discourses of Otherness and Displacement

Mark Doty and Li-Young Lee

Modeling Poem #3 Due!!

Thursday, April 28, 2005 – Presentations

Presentation #2 (15 minutes apiece)

Final Paper Due Thursday, May 5, 2005, by 5:00 p.m.!!!!!

Click HERE to download a hard copy of the syllabus as a Word document.