This text will act as an introduction to the practice and analysis of 20th century poetry and drama. The focus of this course will be to improve critical and creative thinking—that is, the intellectually- disciplined process of actively conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, and synthesizing information, and reflecting on one’s own ability to perform these acts— The goal being to increase one’s understanding of contemporary poetic and dramatic traditions and the reciprocal influences between reading and writing.
Chapter 1 | Introduction: Before Writing the First Poem of the Rest of Your Life
Chapter 2 | Images: the Building Blocks of Poetry
Chapter 3 | Making an Arguement: Where to Begin and End a Poem
Chapter 4 | Form Versus Content: Poetry's Oldes Question
Chapter 5 | The Line: Where Form and Content Come Together
Chapter 6 | Voice and Style: The Things We Want But Don't Understand
Chapter 7 | Form and Theme: What "Types" of Poems Do We Write?
Chapter 8 | Imagism and Free Verse: The Poetic Bombs of the Modern Era
Chapter 9 | Experimentation: The Avante-garde and You
Chapte 10 | The Writing Life:Where Do We Go From Here?