ELIT11: Introduction to Poetry
Winter, 2010/ Ken Weisner
M & W 6:00-7:40, Classroom L-34
#2790 ELIT 011.-02
Office Hours, Winter 2010: 
   12:30-1:20 Mondays and Thursdays in Forum 2C
   12:30-1:20 Tuesdays in ATC 309, The Writing & Reading Center
   5:00-5:50 Wednesdays in Forum 2C
Office Phone:  (408) 864-5797
E Mail: weisnerken@fhda.edu      Weekends:  gyre@cruzio.com
Website: http://faculty.deanza.fhda.edu/weisnerken/    Or:   http://members.cruzio.com/~gyre/ken 
 
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. Red Wheelbarrow Magazine, 2010 National Edition
3. Instructor will provide you with a course reader of collated handouts.
4. A notebook used for this course only
 
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 (January 6 through March 22) 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 at length 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 22 class sessions. If you fully attend all 22, I award 30 points extra credit. If you attend 21, 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 (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 February 10th and March 17th.  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)
 
January 4		Introductions
January 6		Kennedy, chapter 1: types of poetry.  Bring Red Wheelbarrow.

January 11		Kennedy chapter 2: voice, tone, irony. Bring Red Wheelbarrow.
January 13		Kennedy, chapters 3-4: “Words” “Saying and Suggesting.” Bring Red Wheelbarrow.

January 18		HOLIDAY, NO CLASS*	
*But please e-mail me no later than tonight the name of a poem you’d like to memorize this quarter.
January 20		Kennedy, chapters 5-6:“Imagery” “Figures of Speech.” Bring Red Wheelbarrow.

January 25		Kennedy, chapter 7-8: “Song” and “Sound” Bring Red Wheelbarrow.
January 27		Kennedy, chapter 9: “Rhythm.” Bring Red Wheelbarrow.

February 1		Kennedy, chapter 10: closed forms/ sonnets
February 3		Kennedy, chapter 10: closed forms/ sonnets, continued.
			Take-home part of midterm assigned.

February 8		Kennedy, chapter 16, “Poetry in Spanish, Literature of Latin America”—Midterm review	
February 10		Midterm, in-class. Odes, Love poems, Carpe Diem—Collect Notebooks

February 15		HOLIDAY< NO CLASS
February 17		Kennedy, chapter 11, open forms (William Carlos Williams, Wallace Stevens)
Reader excerpts: Jimmy Santiago Baca, Reader:  Li-Young Lee 
 			 
February 22 		Reader: Marilyn Chin
February 24		Reader: Joy Harjo, Moyers: Lucille Clifton 

March 1			Reader:  Coleman Barks/Jalaluddin Rumi
March 3			Kennedy, chapter 19:  Emily Dickinson 

March 8 		Kennedy, chapter 19: Langston Hughes	
March 10		Reader: Adrienne Rich
Take-home part of final assigned.

March 15  		Reader: the poetry of Walt Whitman 
March17		Reader:  Gary Snyder, Allen Ginsberg 
Notebooks due today.
 
March 22		Class potluck/ reading… and exam review
March 24*		Final exam 6:15-8:15* Wednesday the 24th (format to be announced) 

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, January 25th or later
(I’ll make every effort to get you the day you prefer):

First choice:

Second choice:

Third choice: