Creative Writing: Poetry Syllabus

7/28/2019 Creative Writing: Poetry Syllabus

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james rovira:associate professor of english

Im James Rovira, Associate Professor ofEnglish in the College of Arts and Sciences at

Tiffin University. If youre a new student, Im

responsible for the curriculum design of the

M.Hum. program. I can be reached by email at

[email protected] and by instant

message at jamesrovira using both Gmail and

ahoo IM services. You can reach me by

phone at 419-448-3586. Thats my office

number, but its usually set to forward to my

cell phone. My office is on the second floor of

Bridgewater House, Room 5.

I was awarded my Ph.D. by Drew University in

2008 and my M.Phil. in 2004. I received my

B.A. from Rollins College in 1996. My book,

lake and Kierkegaard: Creation and Anxiety

as released by Continuum in June of 2010 in

hardcover and in paperback in December of

2012.

Over the last few years Ive presented papers

for the International Society for Eighteenth -

Century Studies, the American Society for

Eighteenth-Century Studies, the Modern

Language Association, the Conference onCollege Composition and Communication, the

College English Association, the International

Conference on Romanticism, the American

Literature Association, the Society for the

Interdisciplinary Study of Social Imagery, the

Conference on Christianity and Literature, and

others. Ive published reviews and/or articles

inBlake: An Illustrated Quarterly, Christianity

and Literature, College Literature,Renascence,

Zoamorphosis, The Tower of Babel,Fiera

ingue, and elsewhere. If youd like to learn

more about me, check out my website:

http://jamesrovira.com

I live in the Greater Toledo area with my wife

Sheridan and my three children, Penn (8),

Grace (5), and Zo (2). The picture above left

is of one corner of my study, where I will be

doing my work for this class, grading your

papers and reading your posts.

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About this

class

Course InformationTextsRequired

Steven Fry. The Ode LessTravelled: Unlocking the Poet

Within. Gotham, 2006. ISBN-10:

1592402488; ISBN-13: 978-1592402489

The New Princeton Encyclopedia of

Poetry and Poetics, 4th ed.

Princeton UP.

Mark Strand and Evan Boland.

The Making of a Poem: A Norton

Anthology of Poetic Forms. W.W.Norton & Co., 2000. ISBN: 978-0-

393-32178-4

Course Objectives

To familiarize students withthe conventions andpractice of poetry writing,

primarily focusing on formalverse forms.

This course will meet the followinggeneral education goals set byTiffin University:

Critical Thinking:

Critical thinking is theintellectually disciplinedprocess of actively andskillfully conceptualizing,applying, analyzing,

synthesizing, and/orevaluating information

gathered from, or generatedby, observation,experience, reflection,reasoning, orcommunication, as a guide

to belief and action.

Communication Skills:

Communication skillsinclude the abilities tocommunicate in written andoral form and to use

language appropriately toarticulate a complexargument. They also includethe ability to listen and tounderstand and evaluate

information.

Inquiry and Analysis:

Inquiry and analysis are theacts of 1) taking a poorlystated question or problem,

2) clarifying it, 3)recognizing the need forinformation, 4) identifying,locating, and evaluating

information, 5) effectivelyusing this information incoming up with an answer

or a solution, and 6)implementing that answeror solution.

ABOUT YOUR GRADES

All prose assignments and yourfinal poetry portfolio must besubmitted to turnitin.com. Go to

turnitin.com and join class6453288, password CWPSU13.

I will use the grademark functionin turnitin.com to comment on your

ork. You can view my commentson your assignments by logging into turnitin.com, selecting

Assignments, then clicking ShowDetails. When you see your paper,click on the Grademark button in

the upper left hand corner to seemy comments in little bluebubbles, which will appear whenyou mouse over the bubble.Your

gradebook will also be kept on

turnitin.com. Log in at any timeto track your progress in the

course.


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course policies:documentation, academic honesty,attendance, grading

Participation in this course implies agreement withall policies as stated in the course syllabus.Applicable policies are not limited to those explicitly

stated in the course syllabus, but also include verbalinstruction given privately and in class anduniversity-wide policies.

Documentation: All prose papers in this courseshall be formatted and documented following MLAstyle as described in the MLA Handbook, 7

thedition.

If you have any questions about how to document asource after checking the handbook please ask me,preferably on the designated threaded discussionthread so other students can benefit as well, but ofcourse by email at any time.

Academic honesty: This course will follow TiffinUniversitys academic honesty policy as described inthe most recent student handbook. My policy is thatthe first instance of plagiarism will result in a gradeof F for the assignment, while the second will resultin a grade of XF for the class, recognizingdistinctions between intentional and unintentionalplagiarism and common errors in followingdocumentation style. All summaries and final draftsof poems must be submitted to turnitin.com toreceive a grade.

Attendance will be graded based upon weeklydiscussion board participation and your participationin at least four live chats over the course of the

semester.

Should you need to upload your papers in theform of attachments, I can read Word 97-03, 2007,and 2011 documents, .rtf documents, Open Office,and Libre Office documents. I cannot read MicrosoftWorks documents. Do not submit your papers inthis format. Save them as Word files. Documentssubmitted in Works format will be given a grade ofzero.

Do not upload/submit poems with illustrations,clip art, colored or illustrated backgrounds, pretty or

colored fonts, or in anything other than plain white8 X 11 format using black Times New Roman 12pt. font. This is not a greeting card class. However,if you have original photography or artwork that youwould like to integrate with your poetry, I amwillingto consider this possibility on a case-by-case basis.Please email samples to me with your request andan explanation of how you would like to integrateyour own original visual art withyour poetry.


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Grading

Drafts of poems, threaded

discussion posts, and exerciseswill be worth 60 pts each. You arerequired to respond to at least twopeers threaded discussion postsevery week. These responses areworth 20 pts each and will be gradedfollowing the rubric on DiscussionBoard posting posted to eCollegeunder Course Home. Youll receive atotal grade of 100 pts., therefore, foryour threaded discussions everyweek. Try to select students whoseposts has not yet received a

response, and try to evaluate yourpeers verse in terms of the goals forthe assignment each week. You maywant to scan your peers verse anddiscuss sound, imagery, etc., in yourevaluation of it.

Final poems will be worth 100 ptseach. See the Poetry Rubric at theend of this syllabus for gradingstandards for poetry.

Short prose papers about poetrywill be worth 100 pts each. See the

Prose rubric at the end of thissyllabus for grading standards forprose.

Your final poetry portfolio andpaperwill be worth 500 pts. Foryour final poetry portfolio you are toreview all peer and instructorcomments on poems written sincethe beginning of Fry ch. 3 and revise.Your final poetry paper should be afive to seven page review of yourpoetry its themes, how these

themes followed form, what formsyou were most and least comfortablewith, and why. Tell us about yourselfas a poet in this paper and yourgrowth as a poet over the semester.


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schedule:what happens when.

M May 13Online chat reviewingsyllabus and course to be scheduled by

Sunday, May 19th. Introduce yourself in a

post to the appropriate threaded

discussion by Wed., May 15th, and try to

respond to at least two of your peers

posts by Friday, May 17 th. Read the

syllabus, course introduction, and all

handouts under Course Home.

Su May 19

Reading:

Fry, Forward and How to

Read This Book (xi-xxv).

Strand/Boland pp. xiii-xxix andPart II: Meter.

The New Princeton Encyclopedia

of Poetry and Poetics(NPEPP)entries for Poetics and

Poetry.

Writing:

Summarize theNPEPPentries

and post to turnitin.com bymidnight EST. All summaries of

the NPEPP should be a lengthappropriate to the length of the

entries. Cover the main points of

each article but not every detail.

See Writing for this Class

under Course Home for

instructions on summary writing.

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W May 22

Reading:

Fry 1.1-2.

Writing:

Fry poetry exercises 1-4, and

post exercises 2-4 to the

eCollege threaded discussion.

Youll be writing verse, but

theyre just exercises. Have fun

with it. The main thing is to stick

to meter.

For all threaded discussion

assignments, respond to at least

two of your peers posts by thefollowing Wednesday or Sunday

(Sunday in this case).

Su May 26Reading and Writing:

SummaryNPEPPCaesura,

Enjambment, End-stopped,AccentualVerse posted toturnitin.com by midnight EST.

W May 29

Reading:

Fry 1.3-5.

Writing:

Fry poetry exercises 5-7 tothreaded discussion.

Su June 2Reading and writing:

SummaryNPEPPRhyme,

Assonance, Consonance,post to turnitin.com.

W June 5

Reading:

Fry 1.6.

Writing:

Fry poetry exercises 8-9 to

threaded discussion.

Su June 9

Reading:

Fry 2.1-3.

Writing:

Fry poetry exercise 10 tothreaded discussion.

W June 12

Reading:

Strand/Boland The Stanza (pp.

136-158).

Reading and Writing:

SummaryNPEPPStanza,

Terza Rima, Ottova Rima,

Quatrain to turnitin.com.


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schedule:what happens when, continued.

Su June 16

Reading:

Fry 3.1-2 .

Writing:

Fry poetry exercise 11 to


W June 19

Reading:

Fry 3.3.

Strand/Boland: The Ballad.

NPEPPBallad.

Writing:

Post a one paragraphprose

narrative for your ballad to

threaded discussion under Fry

Ex. 12.

Summarize NPEPP on the ballad,

post to turnitin.com.

Su June 23

Writing:

Post full draft of ballad (underFry Ex. 12) to threaded

discussion.

W June 26

Reading:

Fry 3.4-5.

Strand/Boland The Ode.

NPEPPon the ode, anacreontic,

sapphic poetry.

Writing:

Post summary ofNPEPPto

turnitin.com.

Su June 30

Writing:

Post sapphic ode to threaded

discussions.

Su July 7

Reading:

Fry 3.6.

Strand/Boland on the villanelle.

NPEPPon the villanelle.

Writing:


turnitin.com.

Post Villanelle to the threaded

discussion.

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W July 10

Reading:

Strand/Boland on the sestina

NPEPPon the sestina.

Writing:


turnitin.com.

Select your six words and write

an outline of your poem

mapping out the order of these

six words in each stanza.

Append to the end of yoursummary. See threaded

discussion instructions too.

Su July 14

Writing:

Post Fry Ex. 15: sestina to


W July 17

Reading:

Fry 3.6 and Strand/Boland on the

pantoum and ballade.

Fry 3.7 andNPEPPon the

rondeau, rondel, and triolet.Writing:


turntin.com.

Su July 21

Writing:

Post Fry Ex. 16 to threaded

discussion. You may attempt a

pantoum or a ballade in lieu of

Fry Ex. 16.

W July 24

Reading:

Fry 3.8 andNPEPPon the cento,clerihew, and the limerick.

Writing:

Post summary to turnitin.com.

Su July 28

Writing:

Post Fry Ex. 17 or other comic

form to threaded discussion.

W July 31

Reading:

Fry 3.10, Strand/Boland, and

NPEPPon the sonnet andPetrarchism.

Writing:

Summarize and post to

turnitin.com.

Su Aug. 4

Writing: Fry Ex. 3.19: Post first draft of

either Petrarchan orShakespearean sonnet to


Sun Aug. 11

Writing:

Post final poetry portfolio

containing revised poems and

your final poetry paper to

threaded discussion and to

turnitin.com (Final Portfolio

Folder). Keep all documents in a

single Word file. Post two responses to your

peers portfolios by Aug. 16th.


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Characteristics of an A poem:

Demonstrates easy mastery and creative use of verse conventions

appropriate to the specific poem.

Demonstrates the ability to exploit multiple senses of individual words and

phrases so that the poem means in several different yet interrelated ways

simultaneously.

Demonstrates careful attention to the rhythm and sound of words and themood(s) that they invoke.

Demonstrates sophistication of thought and of expression.

Characteristics of a B poem:

Demonstrates controlled competence in verse conventions appropriate to

the specific poem.

Demonstrates some ability to exploit multiple senses of individual wordsand phrases so that the poem means in several different yet interrelated

ways simultaneously.

Demonstrates attention to the rhythm and sound of words and the mood(s)that they invoke, with perhaps occasional lapses.

Demonstrates sophistication of thought and of expression, but not to the

degree of an A paper.

Characteristics of a C poem:

Demonstrates knowledge of verse conventions appropriate to the specific

poem, with some difficulty in execution.

Demonstrates little ability to exploit multiple senses of individual words and

phrases so that the poem means in several different yet interrelated ways

simultaneously, but words are used properly in at least one sense.

Demonstrates some but inconsistent attention to the rhythm and sound of

words and the mood(s) that they invoke.

Demonstrates little sophistication of thought and ofexpression.

Characteristics of a D poem:

Demonstrates little knowledge or ability in the conventions appropriate to

the specific poem.

Demonstrates poor or inconsistent attention to the meaning of words.

Demonstrates no attention to the rhythm and sound of words and the

mood(s) that they invoke.

Demonstrates no sophistication of thought and of expression.

rubric: poetrythe following rubric will be used to grade your poems.


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CharacteristicsofanApaper:

TheApaperisahighlysophisticatedpaperthatsupportsanoriginalthesiswitha

complexargumentthatskillfullyandcorrectlyintegratessubstantialoutside

research.TheApaperdemonstratesnotonlysubstantialunderstandingof

primaryandsecondaryreadingbuttheabilitytoadvanceknowledgewithits

insightintothematerial.Ithasfewornogrammaticalorpunctuationerrors--no

morethanthreeorfourforeveryfivepagesofwriting--andmaintainsahighly

academictonethatcorrectlyandeffectivelyemploysfield-specificlanguage.

CharacteristicsofaBpaper:

TheBpaperfulfillsallrequirementsoftheassignment.Itmeetsorexceeds

researchrequirementseffectively,demonstratingcomprehensionofallsources.It

properlydocumentsitssourceswithnomorethantwoorthreecitationerrors.It

isalmostfreeofgrammaticalorpunctuationerrors,havingnomorethanoneor

twoerrorsperpage,butwhilehighlycompetent,theBpaperlackstheinsightand

linguisticcompetencecharacterizingtheAessay.

CharacteristicsofaCpaper:

Theaveragecollege-levelpaperwillreceiveagradeofC.Thispaperiswritten

wellenoughtobeeasytofollow,butcouldbenefitfromsomerestructuringor

additionalparagraphs.Itmeetsminimumassignmentrequirementsforresearch

andotherelementsandintegratessourcescorrectlyfollowingthemostbasic

requirementsoftheassigneddocumentationstyle;in-textcitationsareclearly

keyedtothereferences,bibliography,orworkscitedpage.Itdemonstratesbasic

readingcomprehensionofbothprimaryandsecondarysources.Itmayhavesome

minorpunctuation,capitalization,grammatical,orspellingerrorsorsomeuseof

informallanguagebutisgenerallyappropriateandcorrect.

Characteristics of a D paper:

TheDpaperisdeficientinoneormoreofthefollowingareas:structure/organization,

research,readingcomprehension,documentation,wordchoice,grammar,orpunctuation,

capitalization,orspelling.ThegradeofDindicatesbelow-averageachievementinorganizingideas,expressingideas,understandingsources,writing correctly,orfollowingdocumentationstyle.MostDpaperscontainseriouserrorsinusageandfailtopresentacentralthesisortodevelopitadequately.

TheseessaystandardssummarizetheWritingIntensiveClassrubriccreatedbyDr.Jim

RoviraandDr.SherryTruffinintheSummerof2011.Therubricitselfisintegratedinto

turnitin.comandwillbeusedtoscoreyourpapers.

rubric: prosethe following rubric will be used to grade your summaries and other prose writing.


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Contact

james rovira155 Miami Street

Tiffin, OH 44883419-448-3586

http://www.jamesrovira.com

GRADE SCALE

A 93-100A- 90-92

B+ 87-89B 83-86B- 80-82

C+ 77-79C 73-76

C- 70-72D+ 67-69

D 63-66D- 60-62F 59or below