Course Outline of Record

Item	Value
Curriculum Committee Approval Date	12/06/2023
Top Code	150700 - Creative Writing
Units	3 Total Units
Hours	54 Total Hours (Lecture Hours 54)
Total Outside of Class Hours	0
Course Credit Status	Credit: Degree Applicable (D)
Material Fee	No
Basic Skills	Not Basic Skills (N)
Repeatable	No
Grading Policy	Standard Letter (S),  Pass/No Pass (B)

Course Description

For students who have experience with writing and analyzing poetry, this advanced course emphasizes student writing in poetic forms. Includes lectures and discussions on the theory and practice of poetry, focusing primarily on the discussion and evaluation of student work. This course will also incorporate learning the process for submitting poetry for publication as well as preparing students to give public readings. Designed for advanced writers who are looking to expand their reading audience. ADVISORY: ENGL C1000 and ENGL A119. Transfer Credit: CSU.

Course Level Student Learning Outcome(s)

1. Demonstrate proficiency in evaluating their own and fellow students’ work, based on a clear understanding of the techniques of writing poetry along with the ability to analyze the strategies of published authors.

Course Objectives

• I Reading skills:
• I. 1. Identify the formal features of poetry, including meter, rhyme, and stress, while becoming familiar with various poetic forms, such as the sonnet, the sestina, the haiku, and the villanelle.
• I. 2. Explain and correctly employ the terminology of poetry, including imagery, economy, precision, allusion, connotation, and theme.
• I. 3. Devise, recognize, and apply general standards for critically evaluating poetry.
• I. 4. Analyze writer strategies for maximizing the impact of their words and apply those strategies, when appropriate, to their own original work.
• II Writing skills:
• II. 1. Utilize techniques such as writing from photos, quick drafts, letter writing, found poems, collaborative verse, and freewriting to generate raw material to be shaped into original verse.
• II. 2. Write a series of original poems.
• II. 3. Identify audience and adjust register accordingly.
• II. 4. Experiment with line breaks and form.
• II. 5. Recognize and exploit the interplay between various images and words.
• II. 6. Generate written evaluations of the original poems of peers in a workshop setting, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of works-in-progress.
• II. 7. Apply critical skills to successfully identify the strengths and weaknesses of their own original work.
• II. 8. Edit original work to eliminate surface errors and to meet basic publication standards.
• III Ancillary skills:
• III. 1. Develop greater appreciation of poetry.
• III. 2. Develop awareness of publication standards and requirements.
• III. 3. Understand basic marketing techniques.

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Lecture Content

The features of poetry will be explored through analysis of published works, with special attention to figurative language and compositional elements. This course will push past the basics of defining those techniques and focus on their nuanced and varied impact on theme: Metaphor and Simile Synecdoche  Metonymy  Allusion Rhyme Alliteration intertextual references Line breaks/enjambment Elision Stanzas Tone Figurative variety The course will explore various forms and styles of poetry in published poems using them for models of student writing: Historical and contemporary   Ballad  Sonnet  Free-verse  Villanelle Narrative Haiku Ekphrastic  Elegy Genre of poetry will be discussed and analyzed, especially in regards to the relationship between content, theme, and genre.  Other considerations will include the influence of aesthetic and cultural changes bearing on form. Possible topics to consider: Historical and current literary movements and styles Confession Romantics Beat The Mahjar New Formalism Surrealism Cultural and societal perspectives Native peoples perspectives World perspectives Feminists perspectives LGBTQ+ perspectives This course will teach skills in analyzing the elements and techniques in published poetry collections: Skills and activities may include: Comparative analysis of two books of poetry examining theme, form, and the progression of the narrative Analysis of poetry collections examining genre, style, and influe nces Comparative analysis of cover art in multiple books of poetry  The course will focus on the skills of writing and revising poetry that culminates in a collection of poems: Skills and activities for revising and organizing a collection of poems. Finding word choice and style repetitions between poems Defining the genres and styles throughout the collection Clarifying over-arching themes within the collection through editing Organizing the order of the poems in the collection to support flow, themes, and narrative progression. Writing new poems for the collection considering the collections themes and style Editing individual poems, including Revising line breaks Editing poem structures/stanzas Clarifying metaphoric language and images Correcting small errors Peer-evaluation This course will prepare the advanced poet to publish and perform their work: Skills and activities for publishing poetry will include Using Submittable and other electronic submission tools Researching and vetting publications for submissions Following submission guidelines Writing query letters, letters to editors, and bios for publications. Skills and activities for performing poetry Finding and creating venues to read Annotating a poem for an oral reading Practicing annunciation, speed, inflection, and other oration skills

Method(s) of Instruction

• Lecture (02)
• DE Live Online Lecture (02S)
• DE Online Lecture (02X)

Instructional Techniques

Lectures, classroom discussions, demonstrations and in-class writing practice. Students will participate in large and small group workshops. Videotape may be used to enhance the learning experience when deemed appropriate by the instructor. Students will receive specific feedback to works-in-progress during the class and during office hours.

Reading Assignments

Books on poetic theory and practice; poetry anthologies, single-author collections; student work.

Writing Assignments

Students will write and revise 13-15 poems as part of a unified and edited collection of submission-ready poems. Students will also be responsible for the following written assignments:  poetry analysis, criticism response, publication letter, peer-poem evaluation, and assessment of class feedback on individual work.  Students may also be graded on pre-writing activities including research, journaling, and rough drafts.

Out-of-class Assignments

Reading, writing poetry, responding to published works, revising original poems consitutes 6-7 hours a week of outside class work.

Demonstration of Critical Thinking

Students will be evaluated on the quality of their drafts and revisions as well as on their in-class writings, written responses to published works, peer review sessions and overall participation.

Required Writing, Problem Solving, Skills Demonstration

In addition to producing a minimum of 10 original poems, which can include up to five revisions, students will be responsible for the following written assignments:  poetry analysis, criticism response, publication letter, peer-poem evaluation, and assessment of class feedback on individual work.  Students may also be graded on pre-writing activities including research, journaling, and rough drafts.

Eligible Disciplines

English: Masters degree in English, literature, comparative literature, or composition OR bachelors degree in any of the above AND masters degree in linguistics, TESL, speech, education with a specialization in reading, creative writing, or journalism OR the equivalent. Masters degree required.

Textbooks Resources

1. Required Hoagland, T. Art of Voice: Poetic Principles and Practice. , ed. W.W. Norton, 2020 2. Required Hayes, T. American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin, ed. Penguin Books, 2019 3. Required Lehman, L. The Best American Poetry 2022, ed. Scribner , 2022 4. Required Shaughnessy, B. The Octopus Museum: Poems, ed. Knopf, 2021