ENG 384 - Poetry and History

American Modernism
Virginia Woolf wrote that on “or about December, 1910, human character changed,” voicing a widely shared excitement over an anticipated revolution in the arts. The American poets who stayed in the United States shared this excitement, but also faced unique cultural circumstances. We will do close readings of poems written over the first three decades or so of the twentieth century. The poets on whom the class will focus may include William Carlos Williams, Marianne Moore, Melvin Tolson, Wallace Stevens, and Gertrude Stein; in particular, we will look at how these writers responded to and helped shape attitudes toward and practices in the visual arts transnationally, looking at and reading pieces by artists who may include Alfred Stieglitz, Charles DeMuth, Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, and Wifredo Lam.

Contemporary American Poetry
This course is devoted to the works of American poets writing in the decades after 1945, beginning with poets ranging from Richard Wilbur to Charles Olson and ending with those writing now. The emphasis will be on the heterogeneous nature of poetic practices and poetic traditions and practices in the United States in the last half of the twentieth century, and most class discussions will focus on individual poems and essays about poetics, especially those less commonly read these days. We will also consider questions about the relationships between poetry, poetics, and American culture, characterizing major historical changes in the United States in the period.

Poetics of Resistance and Resilience
The purpose of this class is to examine the intersection of aesthetics, politics, and poetics in contemporary resistance poetry (1945-present). How do poets draw on traditions and update those traditions to meet new needs? Special attention will be paid to the influence of non-Western aesthetics and the role of sex and gender in the creation of poetic legacies. The course emphasizes close reading of the texts.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): American Modernism: Two ENG courses at the 200-level or higher, or ENG 211

Contemporary American Poetry: ENG 211, ENG 212, or ENG 213, and one ENG course at the 300-level or higher

Poetics of Resistance and Resilience: Two ENG courses at the 200-level or higher, or one CRES foundational course, or two CRES designated courses
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Repeatable for Credit: May be taken 4 times for credit
Notes: Not all topics offered every year. Review schedule of classes for availability. Review specific descriptions for applicability to department requirements.
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.).
Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts.
Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts).