| Recent American
Poetry |
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| Updates Our reading this
semester will feature individual volumes of poetry published in the
last 10 years, with an emphasis on innovative forms and on poets whose
work brings their personal experience into the context of social,
political, and historical issues.
We will also look at points of connection between these books and poetry written in more traditional forms. Assignments will be designed to develop your close-reading skills and your ability to step back from a close engagement with the page to regard the poem in its larger literary, social, and historical settings. Requirements include weekly written responses (some creative, some analytical) as well as active participation in discussion, many class presentations, and attendance at two poetry readings of your choice. Two online glossaries of poetic terms, which you may find helpful--
Schedule This schedule is subject to change. Assigjments may be altered or added in class. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed Week 1 Tues Jan 22: Introduction to the course. What's form got to do with it? Analytic, creative, performative, & deformative responses to poetry. Thurs Jan 24: Read Martha Collins' Blue Front through page 18. Browse on line for information about Collins and about this book. In class we'll start with a short presentation on the background of this book, then members of Groups A&B will lead small group discussions (based on questions provided) in preparation for a full-group discussion of these first 18 pages. An interview with Collins can be found here http://dougholder.blogspot.com/2007/01/poet-martha-collins-puts-up-blue-front.html Modern American Poetry web site (created as an adjunct to The Oxford Anthology of Modern American Poetry) article about lynching. (Warning: there are two horrific photos at the bottom of this page.) http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/g_l/lynching/lynching.htm and another about the 1963 church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/randall/birmingham.htm
Tues Jan 29: Read the rest of Blue Front. Week 3 C.S. Giscombe Giscome Road. Review of Giscome Road http://www.samizdateditions.com/issue1/review-giscombe.html Electronic Poetry Center page for C.S. Giscombe, where you can listen to him talk & read (though not from this book). http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/giscombe/ Tues Feb 5: Read the entire book by today. Groups C&D: First paper due. Group A: Creative response, written or performed Group B: Outline (and come prepared to talk about) the structure of the book In class we'll start with a short presentation on the background of this book, then members of Groups B,C,&D will talk in small groups in preparation for a full-class discussion. Group A will meet to discuss their creative responses to the reading. Thurs Feb 7: Continue discussion from Tuesday. Members of Group A present their responses to the reading.
Week 4: New Schedule: Myung Mi Kim Under Flag Myung Mi Kim read at GMU in 2005. Listen to the reading at the Mason Archival Repository Service. http://mars.gmu.edu:8080/dspace/handle/1920/344 Electronic
Poetry Center's Myung Mi Kim page
Tues Feb 12: Groups A&B: Paper due. Group C: Use the interviews and other secondary reading to explore (and come prepared to talk about) Kim's beliefs about reading and the reader's role in completing the poem's meaning. Group D: Creative response, written or performed. In class we'll start with a short presentation on the background of this book, then members of Groups A,C,&D will talk in small groups in preparation for a full-class discussion. Group B will meet to discuss their creative responses to the reading. Thurs Feb 14: Continue discussion from Tuesday. Members of Group B present their responses to the reading. Week 5 Juliana Spahr This Connection of Everyone with Lungs A review by Alexis M. Smith, in Tarpaulin Sky (an excellent independent on-line journal and small press). http://www.tarpaulinsky.com/Reviews/this_connection.html A review by Luke Kinnard, in the British online journal Stride. http://www.stridemagazine.co.uk/2005/sept%202005/kennard.spahr.htm In this brief interview, Spahr doesn't mention This Connection of Everyone with Lungs, but she does talk about lists, repetition, and pronouns. At PennSound you an hear Spahr read from (and discuss) poems from this book, though the sound quality isn't great. http://www.writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Spahr.html Tues Feb 19: Read the entire book by today. Groups C&D: Paper due. Group B: Creative response, written or performed. Group A: Outline the structure of the book OR continue reading (and come prepared to speak about) the biographical and historical background. You can choose one of the book's sections to research. We'll start with a short presentation on the background of this book, then members of Groups A,B,&D will talk in small groups in preparation for a full-class discussion. Group C will meet to discuss their creative responses to the reading. Thurs Feb 21: Read seletions from Gertrude Stein & Walt Whitman. In class, we'll continue discussion from Tuesday and talk about how Spahr takes part in traditions established by Whitman and by Stein. Members of Group B present their responses to the reading. On the Walt Whitman Archive, please read the earliest version of the Whitman poem now known as "Song of Myself." I say "now known as" because in the first (1855) edition of Leaves of Grass the poem had no title, nor did it reference "song"--a decidedly more conventional poetic gesture than Whitman was willing to make at the beginning of his career. To find the poem, search "celebrate", or just scroll down till it appears. (To find the last version, most often reproduced in anthologies, choose Published Works>>US Editions>>then choose the 1891-92 edition and search for "Song of Myself." It is not necessary that you fully take on board the entire poem (especially if you have not read it before). But read enough of it to get the feel of it--the tone, the catalog structures, the democratic inclusiveness of voice and of imagery. On Bartleby.com read parts of "Objects" from Stein's Tender Buttons. (Search for Stein, then choose Tender Buttons>>Objects.) Read the beginning, then browse around. Read aloud! On Ubu.com, listen to Stein reading from her avant-garde novel (written 1903-1911) The Making of Americans. (Listen to it all! 5 minutes.) Both texts influenced Spahr's sense of writing as process. (Tender Buttons is also a primary influence on Mullen, whom we will read next.)
Instructor's notes on Mullen Of the many Mullen interviews available, the best for Muse & Drudge is "Solo Mysterioso Blues: An Interview with Harryette Mullen" by Calvin Bedient, from Calallo (a literary journal dedicated to African American writers). You can access this interview via Project Muse a database available on the GMU Library web site. Starting here http://library.gmu.edu/ your click path is: Databases > Literature & Language > Project Muse > Search > then enter the title. Electronic Poetry Center's Harryette Mullen page Of the two interviews linked here, the Hogue interview is longer and more thorough than Henning -- you can hunt for discussion of Muse & Drudge, if you want to -- and includes some interesting discussion of Gertrude Stein and the writing of Trimmings and S*perM**k*t. The Henning interview is more informal & chatty, and includes good stuff on the form of Muse & Drudge, including its relationship with quilting. Go here to read selections from Gertrude Stein's Tender Buttons Or go to Bartleby.com & search by Author or Title to see all of it. Once you find Tender Buttons, browse through all three sections (Objects, Food, Rooms). You won't have time to read it all, but jump in and enjoy it. Try reading aloud. Read poems by Sterling Brown, passed out in class or assigned on line. Tues Feb 26: In Mullen's Recyclopedia, read the introduction, "Recycle This Book," and all of Muse & Drudge by today. Groups A&B: Paper due. Group D: use the interviews and other secondary reading to explore how Mullen thinks about poetic form, the reader's role, and how these questions interact with race and identity. Group C: Creative response, written or performed. In class we'll start with a short presentation on the background of this book, then members of Groups B,C,&D will talk in small groups in preparation for a full-class discussion. Group A will meet to discuss their creative responses to the reading. Thurs Feb 28: In Recyclopedia, from Trimmings read pages 1-12, 19, 27, 30, 34. Use Google Images, or search engine of your choice, to look at Edouard Manet's painting, Olympia. This painting, along with Stein's "A Petticoat," is referenced by Mullen's "A light white disgraceful sugar looks pink..." Your search may also turn up the many responses to and spoofs of this painting, some of which are brilliant. In class, we'll continue discussion from Tuesday. Members of Group C present their responses to the reading. Week 7 Jen Bervin Nets Instructor's notes on fragments & erasure Look at the original work of literary erasure: Tom Phillips' A Humument, here or here. Another classic: Ronald Johnson Radi Os, an erasure of John Milton's Paradise Lost, which turns that Christian classic into a modern visionary text. You can read about here. Wave Books has an interactive page on erasure, where you, too, can erase your way to a new poem. Tues March 4: Read the entire book by today, as well as the selection of erasure poems passed out in class or assigned on line. Groups C&D: Paper due. Group B: Using texts provided, plus online reading, make notes on erasure (how it developed, who uses it & why) and come prepared to provide the class with some context for Bervin's work. Group A: Creative response, written or performed. Thurs March 6: Read about sonnets here, and a small selection of sonnets in English, here. In class, we'll continue discussion from Tuesday, and enlarge our topics to include the sonnet. Members of Group A present their responses to the reading.
Week 8 Spring Break: no class March 11 or 13 Week 9 Ed Allen 67 Mixed Messages Tues March 18: Read the entire book by today. Please read Ed Allen's statement about this book, and please reread both of my pages about sonnets, linked in the reading for March 6 (Bervin). Please also read this page on Shakespeare's sonnets by Arnie Sanders, an instructor at Goucher College in Maryland. Groups A&B: Paper due. Group C: Outline (and come prepared to talk about) the narrative of the book. Who are the characters? What happens over the course of time from first poem to last poem? What else is included besides the narrator's fascination with Suzi? At least one person in the group should look up Shakespeare's sonnets and come prepared to tell us about their cast of characters and a few of the motifs and issues at play. There is no single, accepted interpretation of the "plot" in Shakespeare's sonnets, nor do we know if they are autobiographical. We don't even know if the order of their printing was devised by Shakespeare or by his printer. Even so, the sonnets as we have them do appear to be grouped and can be read sequentially. This page (by Arnie Sanders, at Goucher College) is a starting place. The Wikipedia page isn't bad. And here is the self-described "amazing web site on Shakespeare's sonnets". What characteristics of Shakespeare's work are shared by Allen's? Group D: Creative response, written or performed. Thurs March 20: Continue discussion from Tuesday; members of Group D present creative works.
Week 10 Semezdin Mehmedinovic Nine Alexandrias & an excerpt from Sarajevo Blues. Instructor's notes on Mehmedinovic Groups C&D: Paper due. Group A: Divide your tasks, so that someone discusses each of the book's three sections (Nine Alexandrias, This Door Is Not an Exit, Things About Cadillac). Group B: Creative response, written or performed Thurs March 27: Read the
excerpt from Sarajevo Blues.
Week 11 Mark Nowak: Shut Up Shut Down "Industrial Facades" photos by Bernd & Hilla Becher, referenced in "$00/Line/Steel/Train". Only a few are reproduced here, but it will give you an idea of the project An
article on Nowak, by Paul Demko, with good intro to the book http://citypages.com/databank/25/1241/article12460.asp A
brief review by Erin Lynn Marsh http://www.mnartists.org/article.do?rid=147927 A
long & thorough review by Piers Hugill in Jacket 28 (2005) Tues April 1: Today we will discuss "$00/Line/Steel/Train"
and "Capitalization." Members of Group D will start us out, and those
who wrote papers on these sections should also be prepared to take part
in discussion. Note that all
papers are due today, just like any other Tuesday, so there is no
advantage in writing about the later sections of the book, Thurs April 3: Today
we will discuss "June 19, 1982" and "Hoyt
Lakes/Shutdown." Members of Group D will start us out,
and those
who wrote papers on these sections should also be prepared to take part
in discussion. Group C will also present their creative responses.
Week 12 Brian Turner Here, Bullet Brian Turner's entries on Despatches: Journals, the Poetry Foundation's blog page (where poets are invited to blog for a week at a time) includes excerpts from his Iraq diaries, a list of books he carried while in Iraq, and notes on the origins of some of his poems. http://poetryfoundation.org/dispatches/journals/02.27.06.html Tues April 8: Groups C&D: Paper due. Group B: Please lead us in a discussion of this question-- how do the poems fulfill Turner's desire to write like "an embedded poet," as opposed to writing about his personal experiences? How is it like or unike reading reporting about the war? Reading the paper prompts may help you frame your ideas. Group A: Creative response, written or performed. Thurs April 10:
Week 13 Tory Dent HIV, Mon Amour. At the age of 30, Tory Dent contracted
HIV from her boyfriend, a
hemophiliac who died in 1984, when there was no test for HIV. She was
diagnosed HIV positive in 1988, and developed fullblown AIDS in 1995.
She died in 2005 at the age of 47. Use this page <http://cla.calpoly.edu/~dschwart/engl331/donne.html#metaphysical>as your introduction to the metaphysical conceit--scroll down to "Backgrounds II: Metaphysical Poetry" and read that whole (short) section. Dent's page at Academy of
American Poets - includes a link to a short intro to confessional
poetry. Groups
A&B: Paper due Week 14 Fiona Templeton Cells of Release Tues April 22: Read the entire book by today. At the back you'll find Templeton's statement about this project, as well as a list of the Amnesty International "cases" featured in each cell during the event. Note that there is no absolute correspondence between the person listed and the writing made in the corresponding cells--you will find stronger correlation in some cases than in others. Required: Read this definition of "prisoner of conscience" and this page about the broader term, "political prisoner." Read here about Amnesty International Optional: "Handwriting as a Form of Protest," by Caroline Bergvall--a long, thorough, and rather theoretical discussion of Cells of Release. Groups C&D: Paper due. Group A: Please lead us in a discussion of the making of Cells of Release. Templeton's own statement is your first resource, but you should also walk us through some passages of the text in which you find either description or enactment of its physical creation. Include some discussion of the book's layout and development in relation to the prison floorplans, and some discussion of the photographs. The photos might be relevant to what Templeton alludes to at the beginning of her statement about the difference between viewing and reading Cells of Release. Group B: Creative response: see instructions on the page of creative prompts. Thurs
April 24: No class today
Week
15 Responses to poetry readings are due today. You will not receive a grade for this course if you have not attended two poetry readings. Thurs May 1: No class. We're finished! Books If you don't want to buy your books from the GMU bookstore, here is one alternative: http://www.bookfinder.com searches all the major used book databases, as well as leading retailers, so you can see instantly what used copies are available and how their cost compares to a new book. Some of our books will be readily available from libraries, but others will not. Books are listed in the order we'll use them--subject to change only if some of the books are late arriving in the bookstore. Martha
Collins. Blue Front.
Graywolf Press, 2006. 155597449X. C.S.
Giscombe. Giscome Road.
Dalkey Archive Press, 1998. 1564781844. Mark Nowak. Shut Up Shut Down. Coffee House Press, 2004. Myung
Mi Kim. Under Flag. Kelsey St. Press, 1991. Juliana Spahr. This Connection of Everyone with Lungs. University of California Press, 2007. Harryette
Mullen. Recyclopedia.
Graywolf Press, 2006. 1555974562. Jen
Bervin. Nets. Ugly Duckling Press, 2004. 0-9727684-3-2. Ed
Allen. 67 Mixed Messages.
Ahsahta Press, 2006. 0916272869. Semezdin
Mehmedinovic. Nine
Alexandrias. City Lights Books, 2003. 0-87286-423-5. Brian
Turner. Here, Bullet.
Alice James Books, 2007. Fiona Templeton. Cells of Release. Roof Books, 1997. 093780469X.
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George Mason University English 390:001 Spring 2008 Tuesday & Thursday 1:30-2:45 Enterprise 275 Susan Tichy Robinson A 455A 703/993-1191 stichy@gmu.edu Office Hours: T 3:00-4:00 R 3:00-4:00 & by appointment Susan Tichy's Main Page |