Final Presentations

Just a reminder that we will meet today (December 11, 2007) at 2:15 pm in CH-325.

ELO 2008 Conference: Visionary Landscapes

If anyone is writing about an e-poem and would like to propose your paper for a presentation at this conference, I am including the link to the official Website: http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/programs/dtc/elo08/index.html

Their deadline date for proposals for presentations, workshops, and other types of events has been extended to December 16, 2007.

Feel free to contact me with questions or seeking feedback on your paper. Of course, you'll be getting feedback on the 11th. . .

Here's a copy of my proposal for the conference.

Deadline Extension

Greetings to all,

I have received several e-mails requesting a deadline extension for Essay #3. Very well. The deadline for both the self-evaluation and Essay #3 is Friday, December 7 before noon in my mailbox in the English Department.

Leo

Don't forget the End of Semester Survival Guide

Just scroll down to reach it.

Presentation Schedule

Wednesday, November 18

Ahiesha	Karen
Lidsay	Natalie
Maria	Janice
Blanca	Zaira
Jennifer	Gerardo

Tuesday, December 11

Castelar	Sharon
Viviana	Antonio
Sandra	Stella
Wi Hong	Wilmarie
Cristina

Sources

Check out the following sources for your next paper:

http://www.ubu.com/papers

I recommend this essay to those working on performance poetry:

http://www.ubu.com/papers/rothenberg_performance.pdf

For those working on electronic poems, here's a great resource:

New on the Electronic Book Review: Electropoetics

In the latest selection from the Electronic Book Review [http://www.electronicbookreview.com], Associate Editor Lori Emerson brings together both critics and creators of electronic poetry, some of whom established themselves at the very start and many more who are recent entrants in the field of electronic literature. Essays on print poetry as well as born digital poetry help to situate the field in both a trans-disciplinary and trans-national context.

The collection (more than twenty essays in all) includes three review-essays on the Electronic Literature Collection (volume 1), published by the ELO: "How to Think (with) Thinkertoys" by Adalaide Morris; "Letters That Matter" by John Zuern; and "Electronic Literature circa WWW (and Before)" by Chris Funkhouser.

New essays on and by Douglas Barbour, Michael Barrett, Greg Betts, Christof Bruno, Charles Bernstein, Stephen Cain, Robert Creeley, Clayton Eshleman, Alan Fisher, Eduardo Kac, Hugh Kenner, Walter Benn Michaels, Jay Murphy, Janet Neigh, Soren Pold, Christopher Nolan, Jaishree Odin, Tom Raworth, Maggie O'Sullivan, Stephanie Strickland, Angela Szczepaniak, Steve Tomasula, Eugene Thacker.

Enjoy!

End of Semester Survival Guide

Here's a list of the assignments and things to do to wrap up our course:

1. Essay #3: Analysis of poem(s) in the context of their medium. Final printed draft due the last day of class: November 28.

• As promised, here is a description of a creative option: You may produce a poetic performance, audio recording, or electronic version of a poem you have written. This must be accompanied by a short essay (4-6) pages in which you discuss how the medium shapes the work in meaningful ways, touching on elements of textual and new media writing theories that support your discussion.
• Suggestions for works to analyze:
• Sound recordings: Dylan Thomas, sound poetry available at Ubu Web, performance poetry pieces or albums, rap songs or albums, other spoken word performances.
• Video recordings: performance poems at YouTube, Google Video, or other video hosting services, Def Poetry Jam performances or episodes, live poetry readings (record audio or video as evidence).
• Electronic poetry: Poem(s) found in Poems that Go, the Electronic Literature Organization Directory, the Electronic Poetry Center, or the Electronic Literature Collection.
• Research keywords: electronic poetry, digital poetry, Matthew Kirschenbaum, N. Katherine Hayles, Jerome McGann, Johanna Drucker, Marjorie Perloff, Marshall McLuhan.
• Resources: Ubu Web, Electronic Book Review, Electronic Literature Organization, and your professor Flores and his collection of books on the subject.
  
• E-mail me a proposal by November 21.

2. Self Evaluation of Assignments and Presentations. Due on Friday, November 30 by 4:15 pm at the English Department.

• Write a 1-page evaluation of your work this semester on assignments and presentations.
• Use the blog archives as a reference for what was required on each class.
• Provide whatever evidence you have and describe the work you don't have evidence for.

3. Final presentations on one of the essays you wrote for this class (you choose):

• Presentations should last no longer than 10 minutes.
• Your presentation will be evaluated according to the following criteria: conciseness, clarity, and time-management.
  
• The dates for sign up are the following:
• Wednesday, November 18 (aka "last day of class") - 10 presentations: Ahiesha, Lidsay, and Maria will present on this date, leaving 7 spots available.
• Tuesday, December 11 (aka "day of the final") - 9 presentations = 9 spots available.
• Sign up for the presentations by replying to this posting with the date of your presentation.
• The spots will be filled on a first-come first serve basis. When one of the two dates is filled, the rest of the people will go on the other date.

4. Bring me your graded copy of Essay #1 on the last day of class. I need to check grades in my roster.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

E-Poetry Sites for November 15 Class

Instructions: Sign up by commenting on this posting and naming the title of the poem you've selected. There can only be two people per poem, with the exception of David Knoebel's Click Poems, in which case only one person can work on it. Read the comments to know what poems are available and which ones are taken, so to speak.

For the next class, you should read all the assigned poems, but really focus on the poem you chose. I recommend you contact the other person that chose the same poem as you and discuss the poem before class. Come prepared to present briefly the poem, how it employs the capabilites of electronic media, and offer at least an initial reading/interpretation of it. Pay special attention to the context of the other works by the poet you have chosen as a context that may inform your own analysis of the poem.

Stephanie Strickland: www.stephaniestrickland.com:

• The Ballad of Sand and Harry Soot
• V:Vniverse
• Slipping Glimpse
• Errand Upon Which We Came

Jim Andrews: www.vispo.com:

• Stir Fry Texts
• Arteroids
• Nio

David Knoebel: http://home.ptd.net/~clkpoet/:

• Words in Space: "Oh" and "A Fine View"
• Words: "Thoughts Go," "Antonymy Lessons," and "How I Heard it"
• The Click Poems: read all of them (they're short)-- just one person: no collaboration
  

English 6058: Beyond the Anthology: Poetry and Its Contexts

Essay #3: Media as Context

Description and Goals

The purpose of this essay is to explore a poem (or group of poems) in the context of its medium of publication (other than a book) by an author, in order to inform its analysis, interpretation, and/or teaching. The contexts discussed up to this point in the course are still relevant and should be researched, but the focus of your analysis should be on the context of its publication medium or media. In order to put the theory and research into practice, you have two options to fulfill this assignment:

1. Write an essay in which you analyze and interpret a poem (or small group of poems), informed by the contexts specified above. Your essay's thesis should be an interpretation of the poem(s) supported by analysis of its textual elements as informed by research into the contexts relevant to the poem and it should employ a clear theoretical perspective.
2. Write an essay about how to teach a poem (or small group of poems) employing the contexts specified above, and informed by a clear theoretical perspective. You must specify what population you wish to teach the poem(s) to as well as having clear educational goals. Based on this, your thesis should state the contexts you consider would be most relevant to achieve your educational objective with that target audience. Prepare a small unit of lesson plans (about 3) as an example of how you would teach the poem(s).

Parameters

1. Your primary research should be on the medium or media used to publish the poem(s) and other contexts that can inform the analysis of the poem(s).
   
2. You may choose any kind of multimedia packaging, such as audio recording, Web site, video recorded performances, or e-poetry collection.
3. Your essay should be informed by research and literary theory. You may find, however that little has been written on media-specific analysis. I am at your service, if you need help. The quality of the research will be a factor in the evaluation, so I encourage you to use peer-refereed journals in your research. As far as theory is concerned, you don't need to align yourself with a specific theoretical perspective-- you can mix and match, if you are so inclined-- but you should be up front as to what your theoretical inclinations are. I recommend you write a statement of your theoretical position before you write your essay to guide your research and thought about the poem(s), and incorporate a version of this into your theoretical discussion that should be part of the essay.
4. The essay should be approximately 1500-2000 words in length (6-8 pages), including lesson plans or supplementary materials. It should be formatted and documented in impeccable MLA Format (here's a good online resource, if you don't own a copy of the MLA Handbook: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/printable/557/).
5. Proposal: E-mail me a brief description of what you plan to do for this essay. Specify the option you chose, the poem(s) you chose (if you chose a small group of poems, explain the rationale for the selection and/or grouping), and provide a tentative thesis. This is due by Wednesday, November 14. It's okay to change your topic, poem(s) and/or thesis after that-- your proposal is not cast in stone-- but let me know of radical departures from the proposal.
   
6. The essay is due on Wednesday, November 28. Turn in a printed version at the beginning of class.

Evaluation

Your essay will be evaluated holistically, taking into consideration the following criteria:

• Fulfillment of the assignment
  
• Engagement with the poem(s)
• Use of relevant contexts
  
• Quality of the research
• Logical development of the argument
• Sentence structure, grammar, usage, and mechanics
  

Your essay will receive a letter grade, numerically interpretable on a 4-point scale. No revisions will be allowed, so please seek help before the essay is due, if needed.

Readings for November 7 Class

1. Go to www.vispo.com and read the following e-poems: "Seattle Drift," "Stir Fry Texts," "Nio," and play "Arteroids."
2. Go to http://home.ptd.net/~clkpoet/ and read the following e-poems:

• Words in Space: "Oh" and "A Fine View"
• Words: "Thoughts Go," "Antonymy Lessons," and "How I Heard it"
• The Click Poems: read all of them (they're short)

3. Read "Electronic Literature: What is it?" at http://eliterature.org/pad/elp.html

Halloween Potluck

Since next class will fall on the Celtic New Year, aka Halloween, let us follow Stella's suggestion and take the opportunity to share some refreshment. Let us all bring something to eat, drink, and be merry. And keep it simple to share and consume. . .

Use the comment tool for this post to name your contribution, so people can get a sense of what others are bringing. That way we won't all end up with too many brownies (is there such a thing?) and nothing to drink. . .

Readings, Listenings, Viewings, and Writing

for October 31 Class

Readings
1. Dana Gioia, "Disappearing Ink: Poetry at the End of Print Culture," Disappearing Ink: Poetry at the End of Print Culture. St. Paul, MN: Graywolf Press, 2004. [PDF]
2. Henry Sayre, "Performance," Critical Terms for Literary Study, 2nd edition. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1995. [PDF]
3. Donald E. Pease, "Author," Critical Terms for Literary Study, 2nd edition. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1995. [PDF]
4. Annabel Patterson, "Intention," Critical Terms for Literary Study, 2nd edition. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1995. [PDF]
5. Willie Perdomo, Where a Nickel Costs a Dime.

Listenings
Willie Perdomo, Where a Nickel Costs a Dime
Track 01
Track 02
Track 03
Track 04
Track 05
Track 06
Track 07
Track 08
Track 09
Track 10
Track 11
Track 12
Track 13
Track 14
Track 15
Track 16
Track 17
Track 18
Track 19
Track 20
Track 21
Track 22
Track 23
Track 24
Track 25
Track 26
Track 27
Track 28
Track 29
Track 30
Track 31
Track 32
Track 33

Viewings
1. View Lemon's performances at his Web site: http://www.lemonshood.com/
2. Explore the Def Poetry Jam videos available at YouTube, viewing at least 10 performed poems of your choice.

Writing
Write a brief analysis (about 200 words) of one of the poems assigned for class, be it by Willie Perdomo, Lemon, or a Def Poet of your choice. Focus on what elements of its performance contribute to your interpretation of the poem. Post it before class as a comment on this message.

English 6058: Beyond the Anthology: Poetry and Its Contexts

Essay #2: the Poetry Book

Description and Goals

The purpose of this essay is to explore a poem (or group of poems) in the context of its publication in a book by an author, in order to inform its analysis, interpretation, and/or teaching. The contexts discussed up to this point in the course are still relevant and should be researched, but the focus of your analysis should be on the publication. Issues of multiple publications, revisions, manuscripts, and versions should be explored if relevant. In order to put the theory and research into practice, you have two options to fulfill this assignment:

1. Write an essay in which you analyze and interpret a poem (or small group of poems), informed by the contexts specified above. Your essay's thesis should be an interpretation of the poem(s) supported by analysis of its textual elements as informed by research into the contexts relevant to the poem and it should employ a clear theoretical perspective.
2. Write an essay about how to teach a poem (or small group of poems) employing the contexts specified above, and informed by a clear theoretical perspective. You must specify what population you wish to teach the poem(s) to as well as having clear educational goals. Based on this, your thesis should state the contexts you consider would be most relevant to achieve your educational objective with that target audience. Prepare a small unit of lesson plans (about 3) as an example of how you would teach the poem(s).

Parameters

1. Your primary research should be the book of poems, its sections, organization, progression, artwork, and other contexts that can inform the analysis of the poem(s).
   
2. You may choose any book of poems you wish, as long as it is an original publication, rather than a "selected or collected poems" kind of collection.
3. Your essay should be informed by research and literary theory. You may find, however that little has been written on entire books of poems, aside from reviews, so you may have to explore the context of the book on your own. I am at your service, if you need help. The quality of the research will be a factor in the evaluation, so I encourage you to use peer-refereed journals in your research. As far as theory is concerned, you don't need to align yourself with a specific theoretical perspective-- you can mix and match, if you are so inclined-- but you should be up front as to what your theoretical inclinations are. I recommend you write a statement of your theoretical position before you write your essay to guide your research and thought about the poem(s), and incorporate a version of this into your theoretical discussion that should be part of the essay.
4. The essay should be approximately 1500-2000 words in length (6-8 pages), including lesson plans or supplementary materials. It should be formatted and documented in impeccable MLA Format (here's a good online resource, if you don't own a copy of the MLA Handbook: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/printable/557/).
5. Proposal: E-mail me a brief description of what you plan to do for this essay. Specify the option you chose, the poem(s) you chose (if you chose a small group of poems, explain the rationale for the selection and/or grouping), and provide a tentative thesis. This is due by Wednesday, October 31. It's okay to change your topic, poem(s) and/or thesis after that-- your proposal is not cast in stone-- but let me know of radical departures from the proposal.
   
6. The essay is due on Wednesday, November 14. Turn in a printed version at the beginning of class.

Evaluation

Your essay will be evaluated holistically, taking into consideration the following criteria:

• Fulfillment of the assignment
  
• Engagement with the poem(s)
• Use of relevant contexts
  
• Quality of the research
• Logical development of the argument
• Sentence structure, grammar, usage, and mechanics
  

Your essay will receive a letter grade, numerically interpretable on a 4-point scale. No revisions will be allowed, so please seek help before the essay is due, if needed.

Readings & Listenings for October 24

Assigned Materials:

• Listen to Paul de Vree's concrete sound poems, read his visual poems, and manifesto by following the links in the following page: http://www.ubu.com/sound/devree.html
• Explore UBUWEB::SOUND and see what you discover.
• Read about Dylan Thomas in the following Web site: http://www.undermilkwood.net/
• Read the following entries in the New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics: "Sound," "Rhythm," "Rhyme," and "Meter."
• Listen to Dylan Thomas' Caedmon Recordings, available at:
  

1. The Widescreen Macintosh Computer in the ETC. Use iTunes to burn a copy of the playlist titled "Dylan Thomas - October 24 Class." Be sure the computer is logged in as ETC Printing (top right corner of screen). You can save the whole thing in MP3 format or fit about 18 tracks in an audio CD-- you'd have to use the "preferences" in iTunes to change the type of CD you burn.
2. You can also click on each link and either listen to the tracks on your computer or download the files and listen to them wherever you like.

Disk 1:
Billy Collins Introduction
Fern Hill
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
In The White Giant's Thigh
Ballad Of The Long-Legged Bait
Ceremony After A Fire Raid
A Few Words Of A Kind
On The Marriage Of A Virgin
The Hunchback In The Park
Over Sir John's Hill
Laugharne
Especially When The October Wind
Disc 2:
Billy Collins Introduction
Lament
Poem On His Birthday
Should Lanterns Shine
There Was A Saviour
A Refusal To Mourn The Death, By Fire, Of A Child In London
If I Were Tickled By The Rub Of Love
And Death Shall Have No Dominion
A Winter's Tale
Author's Prologue
The Hand That Signed The Paper
Altarwise By Owl Light (1st Verse)
The Tombstone Told When She Died
If My Head Hurt A Hair's Foot
Poem In October (It Was My Thirtieth Year)
Love In The Asylum
In My Craft And Sullen Art
Dawn Raid
Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines
After The Funeral
In Country Sleep

Enjoy!

Readings for Wednesday, October 17

Explore the William Blake Archives (http://www.blakearchive.org/blake/), making sure you read the following sections:
1. "Illuminated Printing" (http://www.blakearchive.org/saxon/servlet/SaxonServlet?source=blake/documents/illum.xml&style=blake/shared/styles/wba.xsl)
2. "Biography" (http://www.blakearchive.org/saxon/servlet/SaxonServlet?source=blake/documents/biography.xml&style=blake/shared/styles/wba.xsl)
3. "Editorial Principles" (http://www.blakearchive.org/blake/public/about/principles/index.html)
4. "Songs of Innocence and Experience" (http://www.blakearchive.org/exist/blake/archive/work.xq?workid=songsie&java=yes)

Theoretical Readings (in Course Packet):
1. Erdman, "from 'Introduction' to 'The Illuminated Blake'"
2. Drucker, "The Material Word" and "The Art of the Written Image"
3. Shillingsburg, "Text as Matter, Concept, and Action"

From Manuscript to Print: Emily Dickinson

Instructions

• Explore the Dickinson Electronic Archives (www.emilydickinson.org), including the digital articles you haven't signed up for. If needed, the username is "dickinson" and the password "ink_on_disk".
• Prepare for group presentations on chosen digital articles, available at: http://www.emilydickinson.org/DAintro.html
• Presentations should be 10-15 minutes long-- no longer.
• The presentations should briefly summarize the article, provide an example of Emily Dickinson's work discussed in the article, highlight the key issues it raises, and provide the group's position on the issues raised by the article.
  
• Readings (available in course packet at SAC):
  
• Smith, Martha Nell. "Because The Plunge From the Front Overturned Us: The Dickinson Electronic Archives Project." Studies in the Literary Imagination 32.1 (Spring 1999): 133.
• Shillingsburg, Peter. "Textual Angst: Literary Theory and Editorial Practice." Resisting Texts. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1997.
  

"Axe Handles" by Gary Snyder

One afternoon the last week in April
Showing Kai how to throw a hatchet
One-half turn and it sticks in a stump.
He recalls the hatchet-head
Without a handle, in the shop
And go gets it, and wants it for his own.
A broken-off axe handle behind the door
Is long enough for a hatchet,
We cut it to length and take it
With the hatchet head
And working hatchet, to the wood block.
There I begin to shape the old handle
With the hatchet, and the phrase
First learned from Ezra Pound
Rings in my ears!
"When making an axe handle
the pattem is not far off."
And I say this to Kai
"Look: We'll shape the handle
By checking the handle
Of the axe we cut with-"
And he sees. And I hear it again:
It's in Lu Ji's Wen Fu, fourth century
A.D. "Essay on Literature"-in the
Preface: "In making the handle Of an axe
By cutting wood with an axe
The model is indeed near at hand.-
My teacher Shih-hsiang Chen
Translated that and taught it years ago
And I see: Pound was an axe,
Chen was an axe, I am an axe
And my son a handle, soon
To be shaping again, model
And tool, craft of culture,
How we go on.

Mountains and Rivers, Part II

Instructions and Study Questions for October 3 class on Mountains and Rivers Without End

1. Finish Reading MRWE.
2. Read the concluding chapter of Dr. Hunt's book, and read the introductory chapters, if you haven't already.
3. You have all been assigned to one of the three remaining sections of MRWE, which means you are expected to:
A. Read that entire section extra carefully, seeking out "trails," exploring connections among the poems, and seeking a sense of structure and rationale for the section, as well as how it fits within the overall book.
B. Read the corresponding section in Dr. Hunt's book, using the contexts he researched to inform and enhance your exploration described in part A.
C. Divide amongst the group the 10 poems in each section and formulate an interpretation of the poems assigned to you, both as an individual piece, and discussing its place in the section and in the overall book. What other poems in MRWE share themes, motifs, and/or structure with your poem?
4. On the day of the class, all of the 30 remaining poems should be "covered" by someone who will lead discussion of the poem, reading an excerpt you consider significant from the poem, and reporting on your findings. At the end of each section, the people assigned to it will weigh in on the structure and rationale for the section, and how the section fits within the overall book.

Avoid preparing elaborate presentations that require setup or elaborate technology, since we will have an aggressive amount of material to cover.

Mountains and Rivers, Part I

I just scanned the first part of Mountains and Rivers Without End and attached it to the Course Links. You can download it and read it, or print it out and read it.

I will take a printout to the SAC Tuesday morning.

Instructions for Next Class

As you may already know, Mountains and Rivers Without End did not arrive at Libreria Universal, but Genesis, Structure and Meaning... did. So here's the new plan of action.
1. Order a copy of Mountains and Rivers Without End, using your favorite online bookseller. I looked at www.amazon.com and they had copies for about $12 and used copies starting at about $3. I recommend you order a used copy and have it rushed over ASAP (as soon as possible) in order to get your copy on time to read it for next week. In the meantime, I will place a copy in Reserve at the Library so you can start reading (which will not be available until Wednesday).
2. I will photocopy and place the first part of Mountains and Rivers without End at the SAC (or SAE, however it's called) early on Monday morning. Go get your copy so you can be prepared for class on Wednesday.
3. Read up to page 113 of Genesis, Structure, and Meaning in Gary Snyder's Mountains and Rivers Without End. You can purchase it at Libreria Universal, if you haven't yet done so.
4. Analyze and formulate an interpretion at least one of the longer poems or two shorter poems in the section.
5. Consider the study questions posed for the class on Metropolitan Fantasies in relation to the reading for this week.

I apologize for the inconvenience that not having the book readily available represents. If you need help getting the book, let me know.

By the way, Dr. Anthony Hunt will be visiting our class both Wednesdays, so I expect you all to be very prepared for a spirited discussion.

Until then,

Leo

Printable Version

Here's a link to a printable version of the posting: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dc97wgjc_51dbzdg7

Print it out and bring a copy to La Posada tomorrow. See you then!

Instructions and Directions for Class on Metropolitan Fantasies

Reminder
Our September 19 class will meet at La Posada restaurant at the usual time. Everyone agreed to contribute $5.00 to our initial tapas fund. I will be presenting a movie at the Centro de Estudiantes at 6:00 pm sharp and then heading over, so if anyone needs a ride, meet me at the lobby of the Centro de Estudiantes. See you then!

Directions to La Posada from Colegio:

1. Exit from the Colegio's main gates and turn left onto Rt. 2 (headed south).
2. Take the first exit to the right, onto Mendez Vigo.
3. La Posada is immediately after the BBVA bank, on the right. Park on the street.

Study Questions:
Since this is a relatively brief book, I am not going to subdivide the questions into groups: you should all think about and formulate your own answers the following questions. These questions are designed to direct your thoughts in particular directions on Linda's book of poems, but they are not meant to be the only topics of discussion. Feel free to ask your own questions to Linda, myself, or the class.

• What contexts that we have studied thus far can help us approach and interpret Linda's poems?
  
• The book is structured into several different sections, with titles, images, and other means arranging the poems.
• Identify each section and describe its rationale for organizing the poems within.
• How do the individual poems fit within each section?
• How do the poems work together within each section to create a larger meaning or context.
• How do the sections help shape the overall book?
  
• If you were interpreting the whole book of poems, what would you say Linda Rodriguez was trying to achieve with it?
• How are Linda's more recent poems (included below) similar or different from the poems in Metropolitan Fantasies?
• Judging from the poems you've read, how would you describe Linda's poetics?

Additional Readings:
Linda Rodriguez e-mailed me two of her more recent poems, so you can read it vis-a-vis her work in Metropolitan Fantasies.

I

Birds

I fear their bony feet,

talons cemented round sticks,

slowly they bench their days and nights out,

through steely bars and icy walls gawking at children like me.

I fear their colors of slapdash,

their feathers, green and blue and orange,

birds in parks and places like Busch Gardens,

birds that stand to have snapshots taken on children’s shoulders.

I fear their blunt tongues and beaks,

biting into me as they balance their bodies

on my fleshy forearm for a moment that will last decades

in the yawning caverns and unforgiving pages of childhood summers.

10:00 pm , July27, 2007, ACA, Linda M. Rodríguez

II

Birds

Their bony feet,

their talons round sticks,

slowly benching days and nights,

through steely bars and icy walls,

dreamy souls and innocent hearts

they gawk and spy

and seem to smile at children like you.

Their slapdash colors,

green and blue

and purple feathers,

birds in parks

and birds in gardens,

talons dug deep into children’s arms

they gladly pose for a snapshot with you.

Their blunt tongues

and beaks that bite,

and deadly gold eyes,

their bodies balanced on your flesh,

half-words screeched into children’s ears,

these are moments that fall into yawning caverns

and the unforgiving pages of childhood summers.

III

Having Your Snapshot Taken with Birds

Bony feet, talons round sticks,

slapdash colors, green and blue,

slowly benching days and nights,

steely bars, smiles like ice,

dreamy souls and guiltless hearts

birds in parks, birds that gawk,

birds that spy on children like you.

Blunt tongues, beaks that bite,

deadly feathers, fiendish gold eyes,

bodies balanced on your flesh,

talons dug deep, posing for you,

half-words screeched into a baby’s ears,

moments falling into yawning caverns,

unforgiving pages of childhood summers.

The Coconut Man

Being the coconut man is not a job for me

because he’s the man with the machete,

he’s the one that eyes you up when you say,

“Un coco, por favor.” And if he likes you

he picks up a young one for you,

nice and cold from the industrial size

horizontal fridge, but if you don’t say please

or smile not quite right at him, he’ll pick out

an old one for you, chilled, perhaps but no good.

Old coconuts look fine on the outside, but

in the inside, huh, they are lots of trouble.

Coconuts know all the moves, when to flower

and when to fall, when to fill with water

and when to dry out, when to stay home

or simply ship out, when to line themselves with

a tender jelly flesh, and when to become hard,

good only for cooking and tourists in hotels.

And the man knows this, so be nice and cool

to the coconut man, and when he picks up

that machete, show some respect, move to one side

or the other, because with his strong grip

and one splashy whack the coconut gives way

but not before he has cut off from one side of the husk

a nice baby spoon for you, “una cuchara,” I used to

say to my father, and he would hold the coconut for me

as I spooned out the icy, see-through flesh,

“ice cream,” he would call it, and I would sweep it up

feeling the unevenness of the improvised instrument,

thinking how smart was my coconut man.

And when we had drunk every single drop of its water

and had spooned all of its playful flesh into my mouth,

savoring my way through to its inner core,

then it was time to gather up and dump the remains

which always fell heavy into the metal cans outside.

August 5, 2007

11pm, ACA

LMRG

English 6058: Beyond the Anthology: Poetry and Its Contexts

Essay #1 Assignment Sheet

Description and Goals

The purpose of this essay is to employ the contexts we have discussed-- theory, nationality, period, poetics, and form-- to inform the analysis, interpretation, and or teaching of a poem or a small group of related or similar poems. In order to put the theory and research into practice, you have three options to fulfill this assignment:

1. Write an essay in which you analyze and interpret a poem (or small group of poems), informed by the contexts specified above. Your essay's thesis should be an interpretation of the poem(s) supported by analysis of its textual elements as informed by research into the contexts relevant to the poem and it should employ a clear theoretical perspective.
2. Write an essay about how to teach a poem (or small group of poems) employing the contexts specified above, and informed by a clear theoretical perspective. You must specify what population you wish to teach the poem(s) to as well as having clear educational goals. Based on this, your thesis should state the contexts you consider would be most relevant to achieve your educational objective with that target audience. Prepare a small unit of lesson plans (about 3) as an example of how you would teach the poem(s).
3. Write an essay about how the contexts specified above can lead to different interpretations of a poem (or small group of poems) and how the decision to take into account one, some, or all contexts can be theoretically motivated to produce specific interpretations and/or educational outcomes. Your essay's thesis should make a case for what you consider to be the most relevant context(s) for the the analysis, interpretation, and/or teaching of the poem(s).

Parameters

1. You may choose any poem or group of poems you wish. As a matter of fact, I would recommend for those who teach and wish to write about teaching a poem to select a poem from their textbooks (probably an anthology) and discuss the theory and contexts it employs to package the poetry for reading, appreciation, and/or teaching as well as what other contexts can (and perhaps should) supplement the book. Keep it relevant. On the other hand, feel free to write about a favorite poem of yours, and seek to enhance the pleasures of the text through its contexts.
2. The essay should not take a checklist approach to all the contexts. You should consider all of the contexts as part of your preparation for writing this essay, but must ultimately make decisions as to what you want to prove (your thesis statement), and really focus on the contexts relevant to it. As part of your discussion, you should have a brief section in your essay about the contexts you didn't find relevant to your approach.
   
3. Your essay should be informed by research and literary theory. The quality of the research will be a factor in the evaluation, so I encourage you to use peer-refereed journals in your research. As far as theory is concerned, you don't need to align yourself with a specific theoretical perspective-- you can mix and match, if you are so inclined-- but you should be up front as to what your theoretical inclinations are. I recommend you write a statement of your theoretical position before you write your essay to guide your research and thought about the poem(s), and incorporate a version of this into your theoretical discussion that should be part of the essay.
4. The essay should be approximately 1500-2000 words in length (6-8 pages), including lesson plans or supplementary materials. It should be formatted and documented in impeccable MLA Format (here's a good online resource, if you don't own a copy of the MLA Handbook: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/printable/557/).
5. Proposal: E-mail me a brief description of what you plan to do for this essay. Specify the option you chose, the poem(s) you chose (if you chose a small group of poems, explain the rationale for the selection and/or grouping), and provide a tentative thesis. This is due by Wednesday, September 5. It's okay to change your topic, poem(s) and/or thesis after that-- your proposal is not cast in stone-- but let me know of radical departures from the proposal.
   
6. The essay is due on September 12. Turn in a printed version at the beginning of class.

Evaluation

Your essay will be evaluated holistically, taking into consideration the following criteria:

• Fulfillment of the assignment
  
• Engagement with the poem(s)
• Use of relevant contexts
  
• Quality of the research
• Logical development of the argument
• Sentence structure, grammar, usage, and mechanics
  

Your essay will receive a letter grade, numerically interpretable on a 4-point scale. No revisions will be allowed, so please seek help before the essay is due, if needed.

Reminders

Greetings,

I have not received proposals from everyone, and must remind those that haven't yet sent that e-mail to do so ASAP. This is not optional: it is a requirement of the assignment.

I was thinking that as the deadline approaches for both Essay #1 and the presentations next class, things must be getting busier and more difficult to complete simultaneously. Since I don't want the quality of the essays or the presentations to suffer, I am extending the deadline for Essay #1 to Friday, September 13 by 4:00 pm at the English Department.

See you on Wednesday.

Leo

Group Presentations (10-15 minutes) on Poetic Form

1. Describe the poetic form and its variants (if any).
2. Discuss its history: origins, evolution, and current use.
3. Post at least two examples of the form: one traditional/classic and one modern/contemporary, along with brief analyses in the context of their form.
4. Prepare a handout for class (20 copies), in which you briefly describe the poetic form and include the two poems from item #3.
   

Poetic Forms

1. The Villanelle - Maria, Blanca
   
2. The Sestina -Sandra, Zaira
   
3. The Pantoum -Wilmarie, Jennifer
4. The Sonnet - Cristina, Wi Hong
5. The Ballad - Sharon, Janice
   
6. The Heroic Couplet - Ahiesha, Lidsay
7. The Stanza - Castelar, Leo
   
8. Blank Verse -Stella, Gerardo
9. Free Verse - Natalie, Antonio
   
10. International Forms: haiku, ghazal - Karen, Viviana
    

Announcements

1. On Friday, August 24 the English Department will host a Graduate Student Reception and Orientation from 4:30-6:00 pm in CH-324. Please join us for an informative, empowering, and socially stimulating couple of hours.

2. A little correction about my title: it is Professor (Prof.), not Doctor (Dr.), at least while I finish revisions to my dissertation. I will soon earn the title. . .

3. I now have copies of the book we will be reading for September 19 "Metropolitan Fantasies," by Linda Rodriguez. The books cost $10 and are signed by the author, who will be happy to dedicate them after the class.

4. Something to consider: for the September 19 class, I would like to have a more casual, relaxed environment, with appetizers and wine (or whatever you like)-- neither of which are allowed in the computer classroom or the University. Would you be interested in having the class in a local restaurant/bar? I'm thinking of a classy joint, like La Posada or La Cava del Mucaro(Spanish style tascas). I accept suggestions.

Brief Presentations (5-10 Minutes) on Poetic Schools and Traditions as Context

1. Describe the poetic school's main ideas about poetry, its function, what it should be like.
2. List the key poets of the movement.
   
3. What characterizes their poetry? In other words, what poetic forms, styles, themes, and/or techniques are characteristic of that school?
4. Include in your presentation and post as a reply to this message:
   
1. One or two typical poems from that poetic school,
   
2. A brief analysis of the poems based on the context of the school/movement they belong to.
   

Poetic Schools and Traditions:

1. Imagism, Vorticism, Objectivism -Ahiesha
   
2. British & Irish Modernists - Blanca
   
3. High Modernism - Zaira
   
4. American Regionalism - Antonio
   
5. New Criticism Poets - Castelar
   
6. Black Mountain Poets - Gerardo
   
7. Beat Poetry - Maria
   
8. New York School - Sharon
   
9. Deep Image Poetry and beyond - Lidsay
   
10. San Francisco Poets -Jennifer
    
11. Confessional and Postconfessional Poets - Wi Hong
    
12. New Formalists - Cristina
    
13. The Movement and Martian School - Stella
    
14. African American Poetry: up to Harlem Renaissance - Wilmarie
    
15. African American Poetry: Black Arts and beyond - Viviana
    
16. Nuyorican and Chicano Poetry - Natalie
    
17. Language Poetry - Janice
    
18. Concrete and Lettrist Poetry - Sandra
    
19. Native American Poetry -Karen
    

Books Available on Reserve

• Gioia, Dana. Disappearing Ink: Poetry at the End of Print Culture. Saint Paul, MN: Graywolf Press, 2004.
• Gioa, Mason, Schoerke, eds. Twentieth Century American Poetics: Poets on the Art of Poetry. New York: McGraw Hill, 2004.
• Hollander, John. Rhyme's Reason: A Guide to English Verse, 3rd edition. New Haven and London: Yale UP, 2000.
• Kenner, Hugh. The Pound Era. Berkeley and Los Angeles: U of Berkeley P, 1971.
• Kwasny, Melissa, ed. Toward the Open Field: Poets on the Art of Poetry 1800-1950. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2004.
• McGann, Jerome. The Textual Condition. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991.

• Ramazani, Ellman, O'Clair, eds. The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry, 3rd edition. New York: W. W. Norton, 2003.
• Schillingsburg, Peter L. Scholarly Editing in the Computer Age, 3rd edition. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1996.
• Strand, Mark and Eavan Boland. The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms. New York: W. W. Norton, 2000.
• Tanselle, G. Thomas. A Rationale of Textual Criticism. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 1989.
• Turco, Lewis. The Book of Forms, 3rd edition. Hanover, NH: UP of New England, 2000.

About Presentations

Let me elaborate briefly on the instructions for the presentations. The goal of this (and all) presentations is to concisely and memorably inform the class of how the assigned context can inform the analysis, interpretation, and teaching of a poem. The questions are guides to achieving such a goal, and they are not intended to be taken as a checklist for the presentation: they are more of a checklist to guide your thought and research. The presentation itself should take a holistic approach, focusing on the most relevant (that is, useful) information.

That way, when you or one of your classmates come across a poem to read or teach, the appropriate contexts and an idea of how they can be useful can quickly come to mind and the reading, analysis, and/or teaching of a given poem can be enriched by research on the most relevant contexts.

Keep up the good work, folks! See you on Wednesday.

Brief Presentations (5-10 Minutes) on Periods and Nationalities as Context

1. Describe the literary and/or artistic movements of the nationality and/or period.
2. What characterizes the poetry of that nation and/or period?
   
3. What poetic forms, styles, themes, and/or techniques are characteristic of that nationality and/or period?
4. Include in your presentation and post as a reply to this message:
   
1. One or two typical poems from that nationality and/or period,
   
2. A brief analysis of the poems based on the context of their nationality and/or period.
   

Nationalities and Periods:

• England
• Middle Ages
• Old English - Gerardo
  
• Middle English - Wi Hong
  
• Renaissance / Elizabethan Period - Maria
  
• 17th Century
• Jacobean Period - Wilmarie
  
• Restoration - Lidsay
  
• 18th Century
• Augustan Period - Janice
  
• Age of Enlightenment - Zaira
  
• 19th Century
• Romanticism - Natalie
  
• Victorianism - Sandra & Stella
  
• United States
• Colonial and Early American - Karen
  
• 19th Century - Blanca
  
• Ireland - Antonio & Jennifer
  
• Canada - Ahiesha
  
• Australia and New Zealand - Cristina
  
• Caribbean - Viviana
  
• India - Sharon
  
• Africa - Castelar
  

The Books Have Arrived

All but two of the books ordered at Libreria Universal have arrived. You will need the "New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics" for next week, so go get them!

Readings for August 15 Class

Greetings,

There are two links to essays on anthologies to this blog, you can find them beneath the calendar on the left hand column. Read them at your earliest convenience.

I have also added a reading and an assignment in preparation for the next class:
1. Read "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (available everywhere, but also here).
2. Discuss how one would approach analyzing, interpreting, and teaching the poem from the perspective of your chosen critical theory. This should take the shape of a concise paragraph or two published as a comment to this posting.

Enjoy!

Critical Theory Presentations (5-10 minutes):

1. Brief explanation of the theory, including key theorists.
2. How does the theory serve to analyze, interpret and teach poetry?
   
3. How would they approach the question of canon?
4. What kinds of anthologies do they create (if at all)?
   

Literary Theories:

1. Historical - Natalie
   
2. Biographical - Ahiesha
   
3. New Criticism - Maria
   
4. Russian Formalism - Karen
   
5. Reader's Response - Janice
   
6. Psychoanalytical Theory: Freud - Jennifer
   
7. Psychoanalytical Theory: Lacan -Viviana
   
8. Archetypal Criticism - Cristina
   
9. Structuralism - Wilmarie
   
10. Post-Structuralism - Castelar
    
11. Deconstruction - Gerardo
    
12. New Historicism - Sandra
13. Feminism - Blanca
    
14. Cultural Studies: Race & Ethnicity - Lidsay
    
15. Cultural Studies: Queer Theory - Antonio
    
16. Postcolonialism - Sharon, Stella
    
17. Editorial & Textual Theories - Zaira
    
18. New Media Writing Theories - Wi Hong
    

INGL 6058: Beyond the Anthology: Poetry and its Contexts

Fall 2007 Course Syllabus

Prof. Leonardo Flores

Offices: CH-109, CH-325
Hours: W 1:00-5:30, T & Th 1:00-5:30, or by appointment.
Phone: 832-4040, ext. 3088
Mailbox: CH-323
E-mail: flores@uprm.edu

Description

This course explores contexts that can inform the analysis, interpretation, and teaching of poetry. The contexts to be explored are the anthology, literary theories, poetic traditions (types, and forms), poetic periods and schools of poetry, types of print publication (manuscript, magazine, book, anthology), and publication in other types of media (sound and video recordings, computers and the Internet). The course will focus on poets for whom these contexts are especially significant, such as William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Gary Snyder, Stephanie Strickland, Dylan Thomas, the Def Poetry Jam poets, Linda Rodriguez, Jim Andrews, Megan Sapnar, Ingrid Ankerson, Willie Perdomo, Ursula Rucker, and many others.

Course Objectives

This course explores contexts relevant to reading, analyzing, interpreting, and teaching poetry. After completing the course, students should be able to:

• Deepen their appreciation of the critical artistry and cultural importance of poetry.

• Examine the impact of different poetic traditions, poetic schools, publication formats, and media on poetic creation and reception.

• Investigate the publication history of a poem in order to obtain relevant contexts for its analysis and interpretation.

• Research and select the contexts most relevant for appreciating and teaching a poem or group of poems.

• Integrate different contexts in their reception, analysis, interpretation, and teaching of poetry.

Evaluation

Each grade will be scored holistically with a letter grade and interpreted numerically according to the 4 point system.

• Short Essay #1: Analysis and interpretation of a poem in the context of literary theory, poetic tradition, and/or poetic school. 20%

• Short Essay #2: Analysis and interpretation of a poem in the context of its medium. 20%

• Research Paper: Researched analysis and interpretation of selected works within a book of poetry, album of recorded poetry, video recorded performance poetry, or poetry Web site. 30%

• Presentations and Assignments: 20%

• Attendance & Participation: both in class and in online discussion forums. 10%

Required Texts

• Hunt, Anthony. Genesis, Structure, and Meaning in Gary Snyder’s Mountains and Rivers Without End. Reno, NV: University of Nevada Press, 2004.
• Perdomo, Willie. Where a Nickel Costs a Dime. New York: W. W. Norton, 1996.
• Preminger, Alex and T. V. F. Brogan, et. al. eds., The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993.
• Rodriguez, Linda. Metropolitan Fantasies. Canada: CCLEH, 2001.
• Snyder, Gary. Mountains and Rivers without End. Washington DC: Counterpoint Press, 1996.
• Additional texts will be posted on course blog or made available through other venues.

Recommended Texts

• Gioia, Dana. Disappearing Ink: Poetry at the End of Print Culture. Saint Paul, MN: Graywolf Press, 2004.
• Hayles, N. Katherine. Writing Machines. Cambridge and London: The MIT Press, 2002.
• Jerome Rothenberg and Steve Clay, eds. The Book of the Book. New York: Granary Books, 2000.
• Johanna Drucker. The Century of Artists’ Books. New York: Granary Books, 1997.
• Kwasny, Melissa, ed. Toward the Open Field: Poets on the Art of Poetry 1800-1950. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2004.
• McGann, Jerome. The Textual Condition. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991.
• Perloff, Marjorie. Poetry On and Off the Page: Essays for Emergent Occasions, Chicago: Northwestern University Press, 1998.
• Perloff, Marjorie. Radical Artifice: Writing Poetry in the Age of Media. Chicago and Indiana: University of Chicago Press, 1991.

Attendance Policy

Attendance is mandatory for this course. Students are expected to come to class all the time and always be on time. You must provide the appropriate documentation for an absence to be considered excused. I reserve the right to accept excuses, which must be provided in a timely fashion. Excused absences and tardiness count as 1/2 of an unexcused absence, so make a point of always being in class and on time. For every unexcused absence past the first one, I will lower the student's final grade by one, which means that 4 or more unexcused absences will result in an F in the course.

Participation

Class will be run primarily by discussion, both in the class and online. The success of the course depends on you coming to class prepared to offer observations and ask questions about the assigned reading. Participation is mandatory and will be graded both on quantity and quality of contributions.

Academic Dishonesty

Plagiarism is a dishonest and in most cases an illegal act. Any use of someone else’s work as your own, and/or any undocumented use of sources in an essay and/or assignment will result in failure for that assignment. Essays obtained through the Internet or any other means and turned in as your own, even if modified, will result in an F in the course. For more details on what is plagiarism and how to avoid it, read the Wikipedia entry on plagiarism at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism.

According to Law 51

Students will identify themselves with the Institution and the instructor of the course for purposes of assessment (exams) accommodations. For more information please call the Student with Disabilities Office which is part of the Dean of Students office (Chemistry Building, room 019) at (787)265-3862 or (787)832-4040 extensions 3250 or 3258.

Hello World!

That's right. This is a test.