This course will closely examine various modes in which poetry is commonly written. We will master the vocabulary and practice of traditional prosody, acquire a familiarity with writing in meter, and attempt such traditional forms as the villanelle, the sestina, the pantoum, the rondel, and the ghazal. We will also closely examine various modes in which poetry is commonly written, possibly including the the elegy, the ode, the ekphrastic, the prose poem, the pastoral, the litany or list poem, the documentary poem, the conceptual poem, and the erasure. Each week students will read a collection of poems (or its equivalent) in a given genre. Assignments include weekly online participation in discussions of each form and text and creative assignments in each of the genres or forms, culminating in a final project where each of us proposes and attempts an original poetic form.
Learning Outcomes:
Delivery Method: Hybrid in-person and remote, with faculty in-person
Prerequisites:Email an attachment of four poems to mdumanis@bennington.edu by November 12 along with a brief statement of interest. Students will be notified of acceptance into the class on Tuesday, November 17.
Corequisites: Please note that students enrolled in this course are required to attend Poetry at Bennington and Literature Evening events on Wednesday nights at 7:00 PM.Â
Course Level: 4000-level
Credits: 4
F 10:30AM - 12:20PM & F 2:10PM - 4:00PM (Full-term)
Maximum Enrollment: 15
Course Frequency: Every 2-3 years
Categories: All courses , Hybrid In-Person and Remote , Literature
Tags: Contemporary Literature , creative writing , poetry