Professor:
Kirsten Kaschock
Office
location: Stratton 103C
Office hours: 11-1 M, W (and by
apt)—in office or at Joe’s coffee… text if you are dropping by.
Email: kirsten.j.kaschock@drexel.edu
Phone: 215-285-6955
Form,
Content, Jabberwocky
& Other
Wayward Beasts
“Through the
ear, we shall enter the invisibility of things.”
-Edmund Jabès
“We are the bees
of the invisible.”
-Rainer Maria
Rilke
“Art is an
invention of aesthetics, which in turn is an invention of philosophers...
What we call art
is a game.”
-Octavio Paz
“Poetry is the
art of substantiating shadows, and of lending existence to nothing.”
-Edmund Burke
Course Description/Goals
What is a poem? What is a sonnet, a dramatic
monologue, a villanelle, a haiku, a psalm, a proem? Why do we seek
to categorize our production and what does such compartmentalization say about
the critic, the reader, the author? What is
translation? What is hybridity? What does it mean to
write poetry now? For whom do we write? Why? What
does it do? mean? Why does it? In a world
where publication meets market demands—what does it mean to participate in the
arts? In the least lucrative, least traditionally collaborative, and
most hermetic of them? What does it mean to straddle the fence, fall
between the cracks, refuse formulas, test limits, push envelopes, and resist
convention? What does it mean not to?
In this class, you will be asked to produce poetry in recognized
and less recognizable forms, both short in-class exercises and longer
works. You will also read and analyze the works of both older and
more contemporary authors, and you will be asked to add your insightful
analysis to the dialogue about what makes their work unique and/or
meaningful. Once you understand why you like what
you like and dislike about the pieces you read, you will be more capable of
making distinctive choices about your own work.
The different pieces we study for class, along with your
classmates’ writings and your own, will provide fodder for discussion
(probably), direction for your own writing (possibly), and will serve as
stylistic models to emulate or to avoid emulating (almost certainly).
You will learn, by the semester’s end, how to scan and gloss a
poem, how to analyze it for use of voice, point of view, mood, diction, tone,
and formal elements. By collaborating and working within the community of the
classroom and the world at large, you will realize that art is not produced
within a vacuum. This epiphany may be accompanied by a sense of
great relief and/or great responsibility. I hope
both. Finally, you will both read and write more deeply by way of
questioning and re-questioning, editing, revising and starting again from
zero. My responsibility as your instructor is to ensure that the
recursiveness of such tasks not bore you. (I make no such promises
regarding possible frustration.)
You will be graded on the quantity and quality of verbal and
written feedback you offer to your peers as well as on a recitation, a
presentation, and a final portfolio. See eventual handouts/blog for
clarification. Your end-of-semester portfolio will contain a number of
reflective pieces as well as with SUBSTANTIAL revisions of six poems you have
written throughout the term. See eventual handout, another one.
Course Texts and Materials
The Making of a Poem eds. Mark Strand and Eavan Boland
Rhyme’s Reason John
Hollander
A Literary Magazine of your choice (approved by me). Due in
class January 15th.
OUR BLOG—http://drexeloquent.blogspot.com—must be consulted Wednesday and
Friday mornings each week for links to class readings… clarifications and
explanations of assignments… helpful summaries of classwork… and things I
forgot to say because I am tangential.
ALSO:
brilliant
handouts provided by the instructor… me
a
place to keep those handouts (folder, envelope, microfiche…)
a
notebook that has no other commitments
a
working pen, pencil, crayon, stylus, waxboard, abacus, etc.
Be prepared to provide HARDCOPIES (yes, I said it) of your work
for everyone the class before it is to be workshopped.
You are required to read and make substantial comments on ALL
workshopped poems.
You are required to READ
IN-DEPTH, GLOSS, COMMENT, AND LINE EDIT ALL your writing partners’ work
AND provide a copy of that gloss to your instructor (me, again)
Grades
Because of the workshop nature and experiential/discussion
nature of this course, no absences are preferable. Two absences will be
permitted without penalty. A third absence will lower your grade by .5. A
fourth absence will result in failing grade. Plan your illnesses accordingly.
Use of Student Writing
It is understood that participation in this class presupposes
permission by the student for the instructor to use any student work composed
as a result of this course as classroom material.
Computer Use
Most of the work you do for this
class will be handed in word-processed. Please use an easily readable
font. Please. I grow old. Use email to contact
me about your coursework, or to ask any salient questions. My email
address is kjk42@drexel.edu Computers are susceptible to crashing
and freezing. I suggest handwritten drafts. Or, memorize your
work as you go. If neither of these suggestions sounds feasible— Save your
work frequently, always make backup copies, and plan your projects with extra
time allowed for those inevitable glitches.
Participation
(presentations/contributions to discussion and workshopping): 25%
Timely turned in assignments:
25%
Glosses: 25%
Final Portfolio: 25%
Participation will be determined by
attendance and your timely and fully-engaged completion and
posting of in-class and online work. You will receive credit for
attendance and each piece of work submitted that meets the parameters
of the assignment. I will be in constant contact with you about the work
you turn in, but these responses will not be grades; instead, they will be
a dialogue between writers, during which I will address both what you
wrote and how you wrote it.
You should feel free to see me in
my office hours or make an appointment to review at any time your progress in
the course. We will review the work you have done so far and I will be able to
give you an approximation of the grade you would receive, should I have to
grade you at that time. Otherwise, you will receive a course grade and response
at the midterm and likewise in response to your final portfolio.
Class Participation and Attendance
ENG 301 is primarily a discussion
and workshop-oriented course, so attendance at all class sessions either
face-to-face or online is very important. Please email me at least a
day in advance if you know you necessarily must be absent from class.
Uncompleted activities will count as absences. University sanctioned activities
are excused, but they must be cleared beforehand and the work that is otherwise
due completed before the absence.
If you miss two classes early in the
term, I will send you a note suggesting that you drop the course and take
it when you are more able to be present and do the work. I encourage you not to
miss ANY classes. Should you miss a class, please refer to the
tasks I have posted for the day or communicate with a classmate about
what you have missed. Significant absences and lack of participation will significantly affect
your grade.
Technology Expectations and Tech
Support
You need to be able to access
Blackboard Learn, and you also must have an active Drexel email account. If you
are having problems accessing Learn, setting up your email please contact
http://www.drexel.edu/irt/ or call the Help Desk at 215.895.2020.
Academic Integrity
In essence, by academic integrity
we mean not pretending that others’ words are your own. When you use other
people’s word in your work, you’re expected to tell your readers that these are
someone else’s ideas and words, not your own. Citing in this fashion often
works to your advantage: you can document that you’re not the only person with
these strange ideas. You can check out Drexel Universities’ policies on
plagiarism on the following website:
http://drexel.edu/~/media/Files/studentaffairs/sccs/FINAL_StudentHandbook2012_1213.ashx
Drexel University Writing Center
The Drexel Writing Center (DWC) is
staffed by Peer and Faculty readers who will help you develop as a writer
through one-on-one consultations on current writing projects. The DWC website
has more
details: www.drexel.edu/writingcenter. www.drexel.edu/writingcenter.
The DWC is located in 0032 MacAlister Hall and can be reached at
215-895-6633.
Drexel Office of Disability
Resources
Students with disabilities who
request accommodations and services at Drexel need to present a current
accommodation verification letter (AVL) to faculty before accommodations can be
made. AVLs are issued by the Office of Disability Resources (ODR).
For additional information, contact the
ODR online at http://www.drexel.edu/oed/disabilityResources/Overview/.
The ODR is located at 3201 Arch St., Ste. 210, Philadelphia, PA, 19104. Phone:
215-895-1401; TTY: 21
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