"Loveliness Extreme": Women Poets as Visionary Inheritors

English 221: Fall 2006

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Mares   http://mares.english.sbc.edu
Fletcher 313 - x6238
Office Hours: TTh 3:00-4:00 & by appointment

Course Description
This is probably the first time in U.S. history that the country's leading poets are women. Our optional text, An Extraordinary Tide: New Poetry by American Women provides a much broader sense of this poetry than is possible in any single course. We will focus on only a half dozen poets, but their stature is such that their work would generally be considered essential reading in a course of this kind. Elizabeth Bishop (1911-79) and Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) were both well-established poets by the 50's, though Bishop's truly groundbreaking work, Geography III, was not published until 1977, while Brooks is also associated with the Black Arts movement in the '60s and continued to publish through the late '80s. Sylvia Plath's status as a major American poet was secured with the publication of Ariel in 1965, two years after her death (at age 30). The other three poets we will be reading, Louise Glück, Jorie Graham, and Rita Dove, are still very much with us and arguably are now in their prime as poets.

Using gender as a category for organizing an anthology or constructing a course is controversial, but one justification for doing so with this course is the fact that modern and contemporary poetry can look very different from the perspectives provided by the work of women poets. We will ask ourselves how these women poets engage the past, challenge received ideas, and shape live traditions for future generations. More broadly, we will ask, following Adrienne Rich, how poetry helps people to live their lives and to ask the world's questions. We will consider many kinds and styles of poems in their inner workings and cultural contexts as we explore these and related questions.

Course Objectives
• To experience the profound rewards of reading, studying, and writing about poetry
• To hone close reading skills, further research skills, and explore various interpretive strategies, including those influenced by feminist criticism and gender theory

Required Texts
Elizabeth Bishop, Complete Poems
Gwendolyn Brooks, The Essential Gwendolyn Brooks
Sylvia Plath, Ariel: The Restored Edition
Louise Glück, Averno
Jorie Graham, The Dream of a Unified Field
Rita Dove, American Smooth
Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux, The Poet's Companion

Optional Text
S. Aizenberg and E. Belieu, ed., An Extraordinary Tide: New Poetry by American Women

Requirements
Regular attendance and active participation; various written responses to the readings, mainly for class discussion; three papers (4-6, 5-7, and 8-10 pp.), at least two involving research and critical dialogue (the longest paper may be a revision and expansion of one of the shorter ones); in lieu of a final exam, a presentation based on one of your papers (your choice). The presentations will be delivered before the class in a special meeting to take place during exam week.

Evaluation
Approximate breakdown of final grade: oral and written contributions to class discussion = 25%; papers = 15%, 20%, 25%; presentation = 15%.

Some Groundrules
• Please do not e-mail me papers or any other assignments unless I ask you to.
• Plagiarism is a serious violation of the Honor Code. See me if you have questions about what plagiarism is and is not. Please note that work completed for other courses, here or elsewhere, may not be submitted for credit in this course.
• In keeping with official College policy, you are expected to attend all class sessions. This course involves frequent and extensive class discussions and other collaborative efforts. Consistent attendance and active participation are vital for the quality of your own experience of the course and for its overall effectiveness.
• Late work will not be accepted unless an extension has been arranged. Normally, deadlines will be extended and absences excused only in cases where, due to serious illness, family emergency, or travel on official college business, the student has been excused by the Dean's Office. Unexcused absences are likely to affect your final grade.
• Athletes are responsible for letting instructors know, as soon as they are given their game schedules, if they will have to miss a class or two for 'away' games.