TCXG 373 Introduction to Poetry Writing

Instructor: Dr. Philip Heldrich
Email: pheld@u.washington.edu
Phone: 253.692.4755
Office: CP 130
Office Hours: MW 4:30-5:30 p.m., and by appointment
Class Homepage: http://faculty.washington.edu/pheld/tcxg373/index.htm
Links to:
Teaching Philosophy
Journal Grade Sheet
Portfolio Requirements
Portfolio Grade Sheet

Class Links:
Reading Assignments and Schedule
Poem Analysis

Archives:
Spring Quarter 2008: Lines on Glass Project Exhibition 2008
Spring Quarter 2007: Lines on Glass Project Exhibition 2007
Fall Quarter 2005: Magnet Project
Winter Quarter 2005: Class Poem: "Logic"
Winter 2005: Lines on Glass Project Exhibition 2005

Class Description

This class will focus on the craft and process of poetry writing from a poem's initial draft to its advanced revision. Class assignments will help to make students familiar with current writing styles, poetic forms, and various aesthetic issues important to the reading and writing of poetry. Class time will be spent discussing the poet's craft, the assigned readings, and student writing.

Required Texts

Wallace, Robert, and Michelle Boisseau. Writing Poems. 6th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2004.

Coulson, Joseph, Peter Temes, and Jim Baldwin, eds. Modern American Poetry. Chicago: Great Books Foundation, 2002.

Additional Requirements

Students will be required to purchase a single author collection of poems from the list provided in order to fulfill the class book review requirement.

Students may need to purchase materials for our class project.

Student will need to attend and read their work for our Lines on Glass Class Project.
Museum of Glass, Thursday, May 15 @ 6:00 p.m. (arrive 5:30)

Learning Objectives

By the conclusion of this class, students should be able to:

Class Policies

a) Class Participation: Class participation is expected. You are to do all the required reading and/or required writing before each class. You should also be prepared to respond to the work in small and large group discussion settings. Failure to participate on any particular day may result in up to a 12 point deduction for that day from your total course-points accumulated. If you have no poem with you on your poem review or workshop day, you will receive 20 penalty points. It is extremely important to have your work ready for discussion on whatever date you have been schedule to present your poem to the class; in other words, the class counts on you to be prepared. You will be expected at all times to contribute to discussions in a constructive and collegial fashion.

As everybody gets occasionally ill, please refrain from coming to class when you have a contagious illness. However, you will be responsible for turning in all assignments on the day noted. We cover important material every day and you should have a plan in order to find out what was covered during any missed days. You are responsible for all material covered. My office hours are not to be used to go over material missed in your class absence. If you are frequently or habitually ill, or have other reasons that may keep you from participating on a regular basis, you should consider whether you are ready to take this course at this time.

b) Discussion Policy: Please note that sometimes the subject matter of this class will be of an adult nature and that students should be prepared to discuss such subject matter in a mature fashion appropriate for a college classroom. If you are unable to do so, the professor strongly suggests you take another class. The views that may be expressed in our reading, in our discussions, or by your peer-authors may not be those of the university or this professor; student writers should strive to write maturely and responsibly, keeping in mind the possible effect of language used irresponsibly. The instructor reserves the right with or without notice to give additional test and quizzes if sufficient student preparation seems lacking.

c) The Center for Teaching, Learning, & Technology (CTLT): CTLT offers support for student learning. Among the many useful services including help with math and public speaking, the Center also provides support for reading, study skills and writing:

http://www.tacoma.washington.edu/ctlt/learning/services/index.cfm#writing

d) Disability Support Services (DSS): If you would like to request academic accommodations due to a temporary or permanent disability, contact Lisa Tice, Manager for Disability Support Services (DSS) in the Mattress Factory Bldg, Suite 206. An appointment can be made through the front desk of Student Affairs (692-4501), by phoning Lisa directly at 692-4493 (voice) or 692-4413 (TTY), or by e-mail: ltice@u.washington.edu. Appropriate accommodations are arranged after you’ve presented the required documentation of your disability to DSS, and you’ve conferred with the DSS counselor.

Note: I need official verification of accommodation from you and Lisa Tice before I can offer accommodations.

e) Academic Standards and Plagiarism

http://www.tacoma.washington.edu/student_affairs/SC_Plagiarism.cfm

"Students are expected to meet the traditional standards of honesty and truthfulness in all aspects of their academic work at UW Tacoma. In particular, all work submitted to an instructor in fulfillment of course assignments, including papers and projects, written and oral examinations, and oral presentations and reports, must be free of plagiarism.

Plagiarism is using the creations, ideas or words of someone else without formally acknowledging the author or source through appropriate use of quotation marks, references and the like. Student work in which plagiarism occurs will not be accepted as satisfactory by the instructor and may lead to disciplinary action against the student submitting it.

Any student who is uncertain whether his or her use of the work of others constitutes plagiarism should consult the course instructor for guidance before formally submitting the work involved" (UWT Student Affairs).

Note: I report all incidences of plagiarism to the Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs, who strictly enforces university policy in these matters. In other words, plagiarism can have serious ramifications including failure in the class and expulsion from the university. Students who plagiarize a paper or other assignment in my class may not rewrite the paper/assignment and the assignment will be scored as not received. Therefore, the student will be unable, due to the inability to complete all assignments, to pass the class.

f) Student Conduct Code: This class strongly adheres to the principles in the Student Conduct Code, and particularly to the Standards of Conduct described therein regarding appropriate class and university conduct. For this class, students are expected to review the Student Conduct Code and Standards of Conduct at http://www.washington.edu/students/handbook/conduct.html.

g) Inclement Weather: In the case of inclement weather (snow, ice, power outage), call the UWT snow #: 253-383-INFO. This number will inform you whether the campus has been closed. If the campus is open, we will be having class. You may also check the class homepage where I will post by 1:00 p.m. any cancellation notice at the top. I will also email the class, if possible. You can also try my office (253.692.4755) for recorded information about the meeting of our class. In almost all cases, we will meet as long as the university is open. If there is no notice, we will be having class. Do not call the IAS office.

h) Other Class Policies: The use of personal computers will be permitted when noted in class; computers must only be used for class purposes and not for other uses, which may include recreational usage such as the checking of email, surfing web sites, visiting of chat rooms, and/or playing music/dvd’s. MP3 or other music playing and gaming devices will not be permitted in class. I also frown upon sleeping in class, chatting with classmates or whispering during lectures and/or discussions, arriving late, and early leave taking from class. Cell phones must be turned off during class and must not be used for text or other messaging. Recording of class lectures and discussions will not be permitted without written approval from the professor.

i) UWT Email Policy: "All university email communications will be conducted using the University of Washington email system." This policy includes all email regarding this class and other UWT related business.

Requirements and Grading Policies

1) Journal (100 pts): Throughout the quarter, students will be required to keep a writer’s journal. The journal will hopefully serve as a springboard for your poems and act as a toolbox for various writing strategies and approaches. A minimum of three pages per week in responding to specific exercises, class reading, class discussion, and/or your work is an average expectation of the amount of journal writing that should be done. Journals are due with the portfolio on the last class meeting of Week Ten. Late journals will not be accepted.

a) The journal should be a place to keep track of what comes at you: snippets of language, ideas, phrases, encounters, insights, dreams. As poetry is an awareness rendered in language, keep track of how you are aware, how you are alive, in the world.

b) The journal is for responding to required weekly assignments as noted on the reading schedule.

c) The journal is a place to keep all in-class writing assignments.

d) The journal should include your ideas about class readings.

Responding to the reading The following questions might be helpful to thinking about the poems you read: How did you initially respond to the poem? What did you find enjoyable, intriguing, or confusing? What words, phrases, or lines caught your attention and why (copy them out in your entry)? How does the poem’s form—stanza construction, line breaks, meter, word choice, sound, tone, image, metaphor, or rhyme—help to express the content? What strategies or techniques did the piece show you?

e) The journal should be used to reflect on class discussions and your own poetry.

Responding to class discussions Describe your reactions to issues or problems discussed on a particular day or perhaps respond to a writer’s or a peer’s ideas about a poem and the craft. Also, use the journal to help articulate and analyze what you may be doing in your own work, for example, the problems you might be having or the strategies you’ve tried.

2) Book Review (40 pts): You will need to review a single author collection of contemporary poems (published since 2000) from an independent literary press or university press. Titles for review must be pre-approved in class prior to obtaining the book. We will discuss in class what makes for a successful review and how informed reading can help to improve one’s writing. See schedule for due date.

3) Recitation (20 pts): Students will memorize and recite to the class an un-rhyming, contemporary poem (author born after 1920) of 12 lines or longer found in either of our books or from the book you have chosen to review.

4) Quizzes (90 pts/180 pts total): There will be two quizzes on terminology essential to the understanding and writing of poetry (terms for our quizzes are typically printed in bold within each chapter or found in a glossary at the end of our books). Link to Terminology.

5) Poems (15 pts each/60 pts total): We will draft many poems in class and through our journal exercises. Periodically, on the dates indicated below, students will need to turn in poems for review. Throughout the quarter, students will also receive comments from our large and/or small group discussions. See my teaching philosophy for how I approach such work. We will also be using our revised poems for a class project involving the placement of our work on campus.

6) Portfolio (200 pts/600 total course points): Students will be required to turn in a portfolio of their writing subsequent to revision. The final portfolio consists of four revised poems with previous drafts and an introductory essay. The essay should also account for your work in our class project.

Note: Writing well can be frustrating and good writing develops over time with lots of practice. I've drafted much of mine own writing an average 8-10 times. If I didn't provide you with an honest assessment of your work and suggestions for improvement, I would be misleading you and compromising academic standards. My primary goal is to utilize my years of professional experience as a critic, editor, and an author to help you to obtain the skills necessary to succeed in your writing and art. Even when I offer constructive criticism, I'm also here to offer support, to believe that with hard work, continual practice, and dedication that you can achieve and excel (though it may take time and patience). I want you to believe in yourself as much as I believe in you.

Reading Assignments and Schedule