EN4427 The Shape of The Poem
LEARNING OUTCOMES
The shape of the poem is a module in which you will gain a broad but wide-ranging understanding, through specific examples of the forms and shapes poems assume, - ie poetic form - both traditional and experimental, and many points in between. You will gain familiarity with some of the key past and current theories and arguments which have influenced how poems have exploited form. You will explore some of the tools necessary to make a critical analysis of a poem and more crucially how these technical aspects reveal, shape and enhance poetic meaning. You will have the opportunity to test if traditional form still has such central importance as it used to in 'the pluralist now' of our contemporary culture. Is form escapable?
CONTENT AND SYLLABUS
The shape of the poem refers not only to the evolution of poetic form[s] but also to the general 'health' of the poem, how confident it has been and currently is within itself and as an art-form within the general culture. Of course you look at some of the popular forms - the sonnet, the sestina, the pantoum, haiku and tanka, but also at sonic effects, metaphor, syllabics, Concrete and visual poetries, restraints, and onto the new oralities, the influence of song, Spoken Word, rap, folk music, the ballad, reading live from memory as opposed to the page, poetry on-line and 'the informe'-that is, formlessness, if it actually exists. Each session will be a mix of talk[s], practical exercises and group discussion and through this you will gain some insight into how poems are made or formed 'from the inside out' and how form works not merely as a pre-existing structure to 'fill up' but also to draw the poem forth from reality and the poet's mind.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
The shape of the poem is a module in which you will gain a broad but wide-ranging understanding, through specific examples of the forms and shapes poems assume, - ie poetic form - both traditional and experimental, and many points in between. You will gain familiarity with some of the key past and current theories and arguments which have influenced how poems have exploited form. You will explore some of the tools necessary to make a critical analysis of a poem and more crucially how these technical aspects reveal, shape and enhance poetic meaning. You will have the opportunity to test if traditional form still has such central importance as it used to in 'the pluralist now' of our contemporary culture. Is form escapable?
CONTENT AND SYLLABUS
The shape of the poem refers not only to the evolution of poetic form[s] but also to the general 'health' of the poem, how confident it has been and currently is within itself and as an art-form within the general culture. Of course you look at some of the popular forms - the sonnet, the sestina, the pantoum, haiku and tanka, but also at sonic effects, metaphor, syllabics, Concrete and visual poetries, restraints, and onto the new oralities, the influence of song, Spoken Word, rap, folk music, the ballad, reading live from memory as opposed to the page, poetry on-line and 'the informe'-that is, formlessness, if it actually exists. Each session will be a mix of talk[s], practical exercises and group discussion and through this you will gain some insight into how poems are made or formed 'from the inside out' and how form works not merely as a pre-existing structure to 'fill up' but also to draw the poem forth from reality and the poet's mind.
Course Type: 2022-2023 Modules
Shared Course: No
Feeder Course: No