Creative Writing - Poetry

Course Number:
WR 242
Transcript Title:
Creative Writing - Poetry
Created:
Aug 16, 2022
Updated:
Jul 18, 2023
Total Credits:
4
Lecture Hours:
40
Lecture / Lab Hours:
0
Lab Hours:
0
Satisfies Cultural Literacy requirement:
No
Satisfies General Education requirement:
Yes
Grading Options
A-F, P/NP, Audit
Default Grading Options
A-F
Repeats available for credit:
0
Prerequisites

Prerequisite / Concurrent

WR 121 or WR 121Z

Course Description

Focuses on the writing and submitting of poetry for class discussion and analysis in a workshop setting. Introduces the techniques, structures, and styles of established poets. Prerequisite/concurrent: WR 121 or WR 121Z. Audit available.

Course Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  1. Read a wide range of established poets, particularly American and contemporary poets, to learn techniques demonstrated in their work.
  2. Write original poetry employing the various techniques and elements of poetry such as imagery, metaphor, linebreaks, alliteration, assonance, and meter to write poems.
  3. Effectively edit own original poetry based on knowledge gained from close and analytical reading of peer poetry. 
  4. Lead a workshop of a peer’s poetry.

Alignment with Institutional Learning Outcomes

Major
1. Communicate effectively using appropriate reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. (Communication)
Major
2. Creatively solve problems by using relevant methods of research, personal reflection, reasoning, and evaluation of information. (Critical thinking and Problem-Solving)
Not Addressed
3. Extract, interpret, evaluate, communicate, and apply quantitative information and methods to solve problems, evaluate claims, and support decisions in their academic, professional and private lives. (Quantitative Literacy)
Minor
4. Use an understanding of cultural differences to constructively address issues that arise in the workplace and community. (Cultural Awareness)
Minor
5. Recognize the consequences of human activity upon our social and natural world. (Community and Environmental Responsibility)

To establish an intentional learning environment, Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs) require a clear definition of instructional strategies, evidence of recurrent instruction, and employment of several assessment modes.

Major Designation

  1. The outcome is addressed recurrently in the curriculum, regularly enough to establish a thorough understanding.
  2. Students can demonstrate and are assessed on a thorough understanding of the outcome.
    • The course includes at least one assignment that can be assessed by applying the appropriate CLO rubric.

Minor Designation

  1. The outcome is addressed adequately in the curriculum, establishing fundamental understanding.
  2. Students can demonstrate and are assessed on a fundamental understanding of the outcome.
    • The course includes at least one assignment that can be assessed by applying the appropriate CLO rubric.

Suggested Outcome Assessment Strategies

Assessment may include informal responses to study questions; evaluation of small- and full-group discussion; in-class and out-of-class writing; writing poems, as well as other types of more informal writing; presentation by individuals and groups; short and long quizzes; close reading exercises using support/evidence; writing exercises which include evaluation of various interpretations of a text and their relative validity.

May include student critiques of student work, in-class and out-of-class writing, close reading exercises, instructor conferences. Students missing a week's worth of class may not expect an A; those missing two weeks’ worth may not pass the course.

Course Activities and Design

The determination of teaching strategies used in the delivery of outcomes is generally left to the discretion of the instructor. Here are some strategies that you might consider when designing your course: lecture, small group/forum discussion, flipped classroom, dyads, oral presentation, role play, simulation scenarios, group projects, service learning projects, hands-on lab, peer review/workshops, cooperative learning (jigsaw, fishbowl), inquiry based instruction, differentiated instruction (learning centers), graphic organizers, etc.

Course Content

During the term students generally write nine or ten short poems and perhaps keep a reading notebook based upon the reading for the course. A third of the course is typically taken up by discussion of reading and presentation and practice of techniques. The remaining two-thirds of class time is typically creative writing workshop, in which students in large or small groups learn to read aloud and constructively evaluate each other's poems. Some instructors require anonymity while others prefer that all poems be signed. Students typically workshop poems both orally and in writing. All out-of-class writing is generally typed. Other activities may include listening and/or viewing recordings of poets reading their work and/or talking about the practice of poetry, guest poet visits or field trips to readings. The instructor should spend approximately an hour of conference with each student outside of class.

  • abstraction
  • accent
  • alliteration
  • allusion
  • ambiguity
  • American idiom
  • anaphora
  • Anglo Saxon
  • archaic diction
  • assonance
  • audience
  • blank verse
  • clarity
  • compression
  • concision
  • concrete images
  • confessional poetry
  • connotation
  • cover letter
  • denotation
  • diction
  • end rhyme
  • extended metaphor
  • figurative language
  • form
  • formal poetry
  • free verse
  • full rhyme
  • image
  • imagination
  • internal rhyme
  • irony
  • line
  • lyric poetry
  • metaphor
  • meter
  • multiple submissions
  • narrative poetry
  • negative capability
  • objective correlative
  • paradox
  • personae
  • point of view
  • pre and free writing
  • revision
  • rhythm
  • scansion
  • simile
  • slant rhyme
  • stanza
  • symbolism
  • tenor
  • tension
  • tone
  • turns and leaps
  • vehicle
  • voice