Donald Wolff

Writing 341:  Intermediate Poetry Writing

Office Hours:  M 11-12, W 10-12, and by appointment

Office:  153 Loso. 

Office Phone:  962-3527. 

Email:  dwolff@eou.edu

Homepage:  http://www.eou.edu/~dwolff/DonaldWolff.html

Course will meet in LH 230, M-W 3:30pm — 4:50pm.

This syllabus subject to minor changes during the term.

Writing 341:  Intermediate Poetry Writing

Required Texts:

Buckley, Christopher and Gary Young, eds.  The Geography of Home:  California’s Poetry of Place.  Berkeley, CA:  Heyday Books, 1999.

Oliver, Mary.  Rules for the Dance:  A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse.  Boston:  Houghton Mifflin, 1998

Articles on Electronic Reserve:   http://pierce.eou.edu/core/ctrl?target=home

Catalog Description:

WR 341 – Intermediate Poetry Writing

Credits:  3.00

Intensive study of prosody, with emphasis on writing and critiquing student poems, studying ancient, modern, and international writers, poetic theories and techniques in the belletristic tradition.  Prerequisite: WR 241 or equivalent.

Course Description: 

Intermediate Poetry Writing is the second step in the creative writing sequence for Writing Majors and other potentially serious, inquisitive writers.  The course continues the study of a variety of forms in contemporary literary poetry.  Students should expect to do a considerable amount of reading, thinking, discussing, and writing.  Especially writing.  Typically, we will spend our class time either discussing our reading assignments, participating in poetry exercises and sharing the results, or workshopping student poems.  Keep in mind that you will be sharing your work for critical review not only with me and with your peers in class, but also with an audience outside of class.  Thus, you will come to realize that poetry, like music, drama, and visual art, is ultimately a public matter.  For this reason, you will be required to attend an Ars Poetica Reading and a workshop with the visiting poet, to review them, to work online in Blackboard with your cohorts, and to write a review of a poetry collection.

Course Objectives and Requirements:

The course objectives in WR 341 are similar to those of the English/Writing Program.  Students in WR 341 will engage at some level “in sophisticated analysis; clear, confident, and original writing; and [achieve a level of] tolerance for diversity, complexity, and ambiguity.”  Our specific goal is to expand your acquaintance with contemporary poetry and its aesthetic values, while at the same time giving you continued opportunities to explore your own writing in a contemporary idiom, with special attention to metrics, sound, line length, rhythm, image, and density.  Since WR 241 or an equivalent is a prerequisite, it is assumed you know how to find subjects to write about (although our readings will be suggestive and you will be required to keep a Writing Journal) and that you know how to conduct yourself in a writing workshop:

Poetry Workshop Outcomes

Students should be able to

• give critical but helpful responses to the work of classmates;
• accept the suggestions of peers and the instructor in good faith without being defensive;
• post copies of poems on Blackboard to share with each member of the class;
• bring copies of classmates’ poems printed from Blackboard for each workshop;
• comment effectively on classmates’ work both in workshop and on Blackboard, “effective” defined here as giving concrete suggestions or compliments on each aspect of a poem:  subject matter, use of stanzas and lines, word choice, images, sound and metrics, rhythm, and density;
• read critically and think deeply and professionally about assigned texts;
• be ready and willing to discuss assigned texts, including peer work, in class;
• revise as often as necessary;
• understand poetry as an art form requiring craft and discipline and not merely a medium for expressing feelings not subject to critique;
• develop an effective reading aloud style.

By the end of the course, I assume that students will have read a good deal of poetry by established poets, as well as by their peers, and will have drafted and revised a number of their own poems.  Finally, our objectives are all focused on raising your level of awareness of and sophistication in regard to reading and writing contemporary poetry.

The requirements for WR 341 include reading assignments and discussion, workshops, a poetry portfolio, a book review, a student reading (at the Final), attending an Ars Poetica workshop and reading, and contributing to the student magazine, Oregon East.  For the first five weeks, we will be discussing readings in our texts, including those on Electronic Reserve, doing in-class poetry exercises in various forms, keeping a daily journal or day book.  During the last five weeks, in addition to continuing our readings and journals, we will be workshopping poems you have posted to Blackboard that come from either the work done in the first half of the class or are new forms and subjects you wish to pursue.  The last day of class you will submit a portfolio containing five workshopped poems and all their drafts, a 1,000-word review of a poetry collection (the collection has to be approved by me), a 1,000-word review of the Ars Poetica workshop and reading in November with Dorianne Laux, Director of Creative Writing at the University of Oregon, three poems you are going to submit to Oregon East, with a cover letter. At the final, you will read your three best poems from the term.

An important part of this class is employing our Blackboard enhancement.  Blackboard is a web-based system that allows us to post our work and respond to one another online. I will tell you how to access Blackboard and how I want you to use it.  You will find Blackboard at

http://webclass.eou.edu/

Means of Assessment

• Attendance, Participation, and Preparation, 5 pts. each class (100 points possible)
• 10 in-class exercises, 10 pts. each (100 points possible)
• Writing  Journal or Day Book, 60 entries, submitted on time every two weeks, 100 points
• 5 workshop poems, submitted on time to Blackboard and revised for portfolio, 20 pts. each (100 points possible)
• 10 Blackboard responses to online student, 10 pts. each (100 points possible)
• Ars Poetica Review, including submission of two poems on time for a workshop with the visiting poet, participation in the workshop, attendance at reading, and 1000-word review submitted on time and carefully edited, 200 points
• Book Review, submitted on time and carefully edited, 100 points
• Portfolio Submission, on time, according to guidelines, 100 points
• Final, 100 points

Points for each requirement will be averaged together and that average will be the final grade.  Averages will not we rounded off, so an 89.9, for example, is a “B,” not an “A.”  I will not be awarding pluses (“+”) and minuses (“-“), no “B+,” “C-,” etc.:

Grading Scale for 100-point assignments and for the Final Course Grade:

100-90 = A

89-80 = B

79-70 = C

69-60 = D

59-0 = F

Grading Scale for 200-point assignments:

200-180 = A

179-160 = B

159-140 = C

139-120 = D

119-    0 = F

Grading Scale for 20-point assignments:

20-18 = A

17-16 = B

15-14 = C

13-12 = D

11-0 = F

Grading Scale for 10-point assignments:

10-9 = A

8 = B

7 = C

6 = D

5-0 = F

In-class exercises may not be revised, made up, or handed in late. Each in-class exercise is worth 10 points; there will be ten. Combined they are worth 100 points.  Total points earned for the exercises will be averaged with your other grades for your final grade. Out-of-class assignments are due in the first five minutes of class, except for the Writing Journal, which may be turned in at the end of class the day it is due; assignments may not be turned in before class. At the end of the quarter, all grades will be totaled and then averaged and that average will be the course grade.  If you are consistently scoring below your expectations, consult with me and arrange for a tutor at The Writing Lab.

Fine print:  Assigned work can be made up if you or your children are very sick, and IF you have my permission to hand in your work late.   Athletes must make arrangements with me to get their work in on time prior to travel to their sports events.   Almost no other excuses are accepted.   Be careful:  if you get a 0 on even one out-of-class assignment, your grade can drop a full letter.  In the past students with D and F averages for coursework--due mostly from not turning it in or missing class--tried raising their grades by acing the rest of their assignments.  That didn’t work very well.  This course rewards consistency of effort.  One danger in this course is to not take attendance, the in-class exercises, class participation, Blackboard participation, or the journal, seriously.  Keep in mind too many 0’s affects your grade dramatically.

It would be wise to review carefully and print out this syllabus and the course assignments and keep them handy. 

Be sure to review the descriptions of WR 341 Course Assignments at:

WR341Assignments

Writing 341 Syllabus

Addenda

Disclaimer: 

Class schedule, syllabus, and assignments may be altered during the course of the term as needed.

Statement on Academic Misconduct:

Eastern Oregon University places a high value upon the integrity of its student scholars.  Any student found guilty of an act of academic misconduct (including, but not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, or theft of an examination or supplies) may be subject to having his or her grade reduced in the course in question, being placed on probation or suspended from the university, or being expelled from the university—or a combination of these.  (Please see the Students’ Academic Honesty Code at http://www.eou.edu/saffairs/handbook/honest.html

Accommodations for Disabilities:

If you have a documented disability or suspect that you have a learning problem and need reasonable accommodations, please contact the Disability Services Program in Loso Hall 234.  Telephone:  962-3081.

Final Comments: 

• It is understood that everything you turn in for evaluation will be grammatically and mechanically correct.  Tutors are available in the Writing Lab.  I can help also, with any aspect of poetry writing.
• All writers, especially beginning poetry students, live in glass houses, so prepare yourselves, or especially your uneasy egos!  Remember—according to Zen practice, an ego is a fiction—where is the ego, the you, now who was so fragile in seventh grade?  You should not operate under the belief that everything you write is worthy of being carved once and for all into stone.  Good writing, in all genres, is the result of great effort and constant revision. 
• The class calendar and assignments may be altered during the course of the term as necessary.