ELIT11: Introduction to Poetry
Fall, 2010/ Ken Weisner
T & TH 6:30-8:15, Classroom L-27
#02613 ELIT 011.61 (Honors: #20094 ELIT 11-61H)
Office: Forum 2C
Office Hours, Fall 2010:
   12:30-2:30 Mondays
   1:30-2:30 Tuesdays
   2:30-3:30 Thursdays
Office Phone:  (408) 864-5797
E Mail: weisnerken@fhda.edu      Weekends:  gyre@cruzio.com
Website: http://faculty.deanza.fhda.edu/weisnerken/
 
GOALS: In this introductory survey we read poetry from British and American traditions as well as some poetry from other cultures and languages. We will approach poetry analytically and in connection to one another’s views and feelings. Students will explore more deeply those poets and poems they find most exciting, and be especially attentive to the study of:
•   interpretive strategies and critical terminologies
•   poems and poets of the canon 
•   contemporary poets 
•   great world poets
•   multiple interpretations
•   writing about poetry
•   forms, periods, types, and functions of poetry

TEXTS & SUPPLIES:
1. Gioia, D, and Kennedy, X.J., An Introduction to Poetry, 13th Edition.
2. Instructor will provide you with a course reader of collated handouts.
3. A notebook used for this course only.
4. Red Wheelbarrow Magazine, 2011 National Edition (available later in quarter from instructor)
 
REQUIREMENTS:  Attendance, participation, reading, notebook writing, midterm, final.  
Here are the details:

•  Keep up with the reading, which is normally about one chapter per class period.  I’ll always let you know which poems and page numbers to concentrate on. 

•  Notebook:   For each class period (September 22 through Dec 2) write one or two pages (handwritten OK, typed if you prefer) on a poem you’ve especially enjoyed. I give extra credit—at the end of the quarter—for excellent notebooks (extra responses, extra care, up to 15 points). See details below regarding what constitutes a notebook entry.

•  The midterm and final will only cover poems, vocabulary, and techniques we’ve discussed and practiced in class.  You’ll have plenty of time on these straight-forward tests.  Note: if you attend class, keep up with assignments, and do the course reading, it will be difficult not to do pretty well.  Attendance and engagement are central to performing at a high level in ELIT 11.

•  Memorize a poem (any poem in either of the books or the reader) of at least twelve lines, and present it to the class or to me before or after class (in class: 15 points extra credit).  If you feel that this task is impossible for you, don’t panic; see me about an alternative assignment.

• Attendance: there are 21 class sessions. If you fully attend all 21, I award 30 points extra credit. If you attend 20, I award 20 points. Attendance and participation are worth 200 points, but, with the extra credit, 230 points is actually possible.  In other words: if you want a good grade, which I would love giving you, then show up. Other attendance policies reinforce this same point:  1) You are significantly less likely to pass this course if you miss four or more class periods. 2) One other attendance note: attend each of the first 4 classes, or I may assume you’ve dropped.  Also, sessions not fully attended receive an equivalent percent credit, assigned at the instructor’s discretion. 4) Please e-mail or call and leave a message on the office phone (408-864-5797) if you need to miss a class period.  5) If for any reason you must stop attending this course go through the official college “drop” procedure (or you could end up with “F”).

Grades:  90% = A, 80% = B, 70% = C, 60% = D  [possible 1000 points]
Reader’s notebook (20 X 15 points each):  	 300
Memorizing/ presenting a poem:                   	 100
Midterm:  					 200
Final:  						 200            
Class participation and attendance:           	 200
                                      		           	1000
Grading Scale
A= 920-1000		A- =900-919		B+ =880-899	
B= 820-879		B- =800-819		C+ =780-799	
C= 700-779		D  =600-699		F    =0-599
 
Notebooks: are for your twenty entries (it’s really only eighteen, but I give you 30 points for free)—required responses to poems—but also for class notes, in-class writings, and even for poems you write yourself from time to time.  When you respond to a poem in your notebook, first briefly paraphrase the poem, and then go through it bit by bit (maybe stanza by stanza—or if it’s longish, choose representative or key lines/ stanzas).  Comment on the effects of specific lines, language, tone, and images that intrigue you. Quote key passages and write about how they suggest meaning to you, and why that meaning (or those decisions about meaning) interest you and matter to you. This is called “close reading.” One other sort of obvious hint: write about poems you enjoy!  Then explore what you like about the poems. Be specific; give detailed examples. Which lines, images, phrases or words stand out, and why? What are the questions, themes, tensions raised—and explored—by the poem?  Can you reflect more generally on why the poem works for you as an individual—how and why you personally connect with the poem? Does the poem shift/change upon rereading, reconsideration? How did your understanding of the poem evolve through multiple readings?  I’ll most likely collect notebooks on October 28th and December 2nd.  I may collect them from half the class on alternate days; we’ll see about that.
 
Plagiarism policy:
Reminder: never plagiarize!  Plagiarism will give you an automatic “F” for the assignment and puts your course grade (and college career) in jeopardy.  If you use the ideas or words of others, give them credit immediately, in writing.  See sample essays in Kennedy/Gioia text for appropriate MLA method citation techniques.

Extra Credit Policy: You are invited to do an additional up-to-15 point extra credit assignment during the term: hand in a 2-page typed review of a local poetry event (let’s keep each other posted) or contemporary poetry collection… or a poetry-related website (clear with Ken first). So extra credit opportunities include—meeting attendance incentives (up to 30 pts); creating outstanding notebook (up to 15 points); reporting on an outside event (up to 15 pts) or poetry collection; and/or memorizing your presentation poem (up to 15 points).  In other words, a top score in the course could be 1,075 out of possible 1,000. I will also offer poets in the class the opportunity to substitute up to three traditional notebook entries with their own poetry.

Tentative Schedule—  
 	(refer to class handouts for updates and further specifics)
 
September 20		Introductions
September 22		Kennedy, chapter 1: types of poetry. 

September 27		Kennedy chapter 2: voice, tone, irony. 
September 29		Kennedy, chapters 3-4: “Words” “Saying and Suggesting.” 

   *Please e-mail me no later than Sunday, October 3rd, the name of a poem you’d like to memorize this quarter.
October 5		Kennedy, chapters 5-6:“Imagery” “Figures of Speech.”
October 7		Kennedy, chapter 7-8: “Song” and “Sound.”

October 12		Kennedy, chapter 9: “Rhythm.”
October 14		Kennedy, chapter 10: closed forms/ sonnets

October 19		Kennedy, chapter 10 & Reader: closed forms, continued. 
				—Take-home part of midterm assigned.
*October 21		1:30 PM: Juan Felipe Herrera, location to be announced
October 21		7:00 Ken reads at Willow Glen Bookstore (field trip)
(1157 MINNESOTA AVE, SAN JOSE (408) 808 3045 or  (408) 266 1361	

October 26		Kennedy, chapter 16, “Poetry in Spanish, Literature of Latin America”
				‑—Odes, Love poems, Carpe Diem	— Midterm review
October 28		—Midterm, in-class  	—Collect Notebooks
Kennedy, chapter 11, open forms (William Carlos Williams, Wallace Stevens)

November 2		Reader: The Poetry of Walt Whitman 
 *November 3		John Felstiner, Conference Room B, 11:30-1:30
November 4		Reader: Gary Snyder, Allen Ginsberg
 			 
November 9		Reader, Joy Harjo, Adrienne Rich
—Take-home part of final assigned
November 11		Reader: Lucille Clifton (other poetry TBA)

November 16		Reader: Jimmy Santiago Baca, Reader:  Marilyn Chin 
November 18		Kennedy, chapter 19: Langston Hughes	

November 23		Kennedy, chapter 19: Emily Dickinson
November 25		Thanksgiving Holiday, No Class

November 30		 Reader: Coleman Barks/Jalaluddin Rumi
December 2		 General catch-up… and exam review  —Notebooks due today
 
December 7*		Tuesday: —Final exam 6:15-8:15* Tuesday, 12/7— (format to be announced) 
				*Note the slightly earlier starting time.

Notes:   
•  When you read a chapter from Kennedy/Gioia for class, you do not need to 
     read every word of the sections of the chapters entitled “For Review and Further Study.”  
•  I’ll always provide you with suggestions of specific poems to focus on for 
     the next class period and for your notebooks…. but you can also choose your own from chapter.
•  Please always bring texts, reader, and your notebook with you to class.

                    Student Info Sheet, ELIT 11
 
Your name:
 
E-mail (write clearly):
 
Phone:
 
What else are you taking this summer?  Are you also working?

Do you feel confident that you will be able to attend this class regularly and have quiet space and time to do the reading and writing for this class?  Why or why not!?

 
Have you studied poetry and/or poetry writing before (not required…. just curious…)

 
What are your reasons for taking this course, and what are you looking for in particular from the class?

Any other concerns or questions? 

 ***

Preferred day to present memorized poem, October 12th or later
(I’ll make every effort to get you the day you prefer):

First choice:

Second choice:

Third choice:

Please e-mail me your idea for which poem you want to memorize by