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