ENGL52730: Modern Poetry

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• Students are expected to read specified poems by a range of Modern Poets; to show advanced knowledge of critical debate; and to explore the poetic achievement of the poets, in part through comparison and connection between the works of the poets. These objectives will be met through the requirements that students undertake appropriate reading for, and make presentations in seminars, and through the assessment process (2 essays of 3,000 words, one requiring comparison between at least two of the poets).

• The module will be accessible both to those who have not studied poetry intensively at undergraduate level but who would like to extend their knowledge and enjoyment of the subject, and to those with a more specialized interest and expertise. It will consider questions of poetic form and the imaginative treatment by the poets of politics and history. In previous years, the module has focused on Irish Poetry since W.B. Yeats (Patrick Kavanagh, Louis MacNeice, Seamus Heaney, Michael Longley, Derek Mahon, Paul Muldoon, Tom Paulin, Ciaran Carson, Eavan Boland, Medbh McGuckian, Vona Groarke, Sinead Morrissey) and Postwar US Poetry (Ezra Pound, Robert Lowell, John Berryman, Sylvia Plath, John Ashbery, James Schuyler, George Oppen, Lorine Neidecker, Adrienne Rich, Anthony Hecht, Louise Gluck, Rae Armantrout). In 2019-20, the module will focus on Contemporary African American Poetry (Tracy K. Smith, Donika Kelly, Fred Moten, Douglas Kearney, Harryette Mullen, Safia Elhillo, Aracelis Girmay, Nathaniel Mackey, Terrance Hayes, Natasha Trethewey, Claudia Rankine, Major Jackson &c.) Essential Reading: Angles of Ascent: A Norton Anthology of Contemporary African American Poetry, ed. Charles Henry Rowell, Norton, 2013. A supplementary anthology of works unavailable in the Norton Anthology will be supplied by the module convenor.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• On completion of this module, students will be able to:
• articulate their in-depth knowledge of the poetry of a range of Modern Poets;
• demonstrate a sophisticated awareness of the poetic achievement of the poets;
• reflect on a variety of critical and cultural issues raised by the different poetic texts studied;
• be able to compare and contrast the work of at least two of the poets.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Students studying this module will develop:
• advanced critical skills in the close reading and analysis of literary texts;
• an ability to demonstrate advanced knowledge of a chosen field of literary studies;
• an ability to offer advanced analysis of formal and aesthetic dimensions of literature;
• an ability to articulate and substantiate at a high level an imaginative response to literature;
• an ability to demonstrate an advanced understanding of the cultural, intellectual, socio-political and linguistic contexts of literature;
• an ability to articulate an advanced knowledge and understanding of conceptual or theoretical literary material;
• an advanced command of a broad range of vocabulary and critical literary terminology.

Key Skills:

• Students studying this module will develop:
• an advanced ability to analyze critically;
• an advanced ability to acquire complex information of diverse kinds in structured and systematic ways;
• an advanced ability to interpret complex information of diverse kinds through the distinctive skills derived from the subject;
• expertise in conventions of scholarly presentation and bibliographical skills;
• an independence of thought and judgment, and ability to assess acutely the critical ideas of others;
• sophisticated skills in critical reasoning;
• an advanced ability to handle information and argument critically;
• a competence in information-technology skills such as word-processing and electronic data access;
• professional organization and time-management skills.

• Through a variety of teaching activities and approaches, seminars will facilitate the development of communication and critical skills. Sessions will require student presentations to aid understanding of poets, topics and contexts, and will facilitate the analysis of specific poetic texts as well as encourage individual interpretation and enquiry. Two summative assignments will assess the competencies and outcomes outlined above and foster advanced independent study.
• Typically, directed learning may include assigning student(s) an issue, theme or topic that can be independently or collectively explored within a framework and/or with additional materials provided by the tutor. This may function as preparatory work for presenting their ideas or findings to their peers and tutor in the context of a seminar.

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