Rosenbaum, Susan
MWF 10:20 AM
Park Hall 0259
This course will introduce you to the art of poetry, chiefly to the techniques of reading and writing about it, and to its history, importance, and cultural relevance. We will read a range of poems in English, from Shakespeare’s sonnets and Keats’ odes to modern and contemporary works, exploring how poets have used the manifold resources of language to give shape and voice to human experience. I have designed class assignments to engage students through a number of creative and critical projects, including: a book review of a contemporary poetry collection; an analytical essay; a project that engages poetry's connection to popular music and song lyrics; a project on poetry and visual media (including collaborative books, visual poems, and poems that respond to visual art, photography, film); and some creative exercises (past classes have included sonnet writing, and a class-generated updating of Poe's Raven). For our unit on poetry and visual media/collaborative books, we will visit both the Georgia Museum of Art and Special Collections library.