ENGLISH 6966: POETRY WRITING

Course Code:  1411                 Instructor:  Dr. William Greenway
Place:    DeBartolo 345  Office:   DeBartolo 241
Time:     M 5:10-7:50   Phone:   742-3418/3415
Office Hours:   MWF 12-1, M 3-5 E-mail:   willgreenway@aol.com
Web Site: http://www.as.ysu.edu/~english/Greenway.htm

Texts   "Poems on Paintings," W.D. Snodgrass
  Poetry Writing Handbook, course packet, William Greenway

Aims:
Hundreds of literary works have been written in response to paintings.  W.D. Snodgrass, in particular, has specialized in combining art criticism with literary creation, and collaborating
with artists living and dead.  His essay "Poems on Paintings" will be pivotal to the course for the way it blends artistic and critical approaches and makes them compatible, revealing
unsuspected affinities between the arts and artists, between the historical period of the poem and the historical period of the work of art.
     We will study slides of paintings and discuss our personal responses, as well as the works' sociological, aesthetic, and historical contexts, then write poems about the paintings.  Then
we'll discuss the poems and compare them to the literature written in response to the same work of art to reveal the range of writing strategies.
     We'll also be learning to look at visual art in a new way—not as someone else's self-expression, but as an opportunity for our own.  As the sometimes arbitrary barriers between the arts break down, we will see how each work of art is a collaboration with other works of art and with the critical perceptions of those who experience it.

Course requirements:
1.) A weekly poem on a painting.  These pieces will be workshopped: photocopied and distributed to the class for their comments and discussion.  Poems that fulfill the form and length requirements and are turned in on time will receive an A.
2.) A 10-12 page essay-with-poem(s) like Snodgrass's on either a particular artist or some aspect of the visual arts.

Attendance and Late Papers:
A successful workshop depends on the participation of its members, so you should make every effort to attend every class.  I will deduct one letter grade for each class an assignment is late except in an emergency and with my prior approval.  Also, I will lower your final grade by one letter grade for every three unexcused absences.

Grading:
Weekly poems      1/3
Essay                    1/3
Class Participation  1/3

Incompletes: An incomplete grade may be assigned only if: 1) the student requests it; 2) the student's previous work in the course is satisfactory; and 3) the reasons given are beyond the student's control and deemed justifiable by the instructor.