CRW 3311 Spring 2022 Naguib

This course is for aspiring poets and critics. It is designed for students who aspire to practice the art of reading and writing poetry. We will begin by examining some fundamental elements (voice, diction, imagery, rhythm, etc.) and subgenres of poetry (narrative, ode, elegy, ghazal etc.). Through class lectures and student discussion leaders and/or presentations, we will read a variety of modern and contemporary poets to identify and discuss these elements individually as well as how they organically come together to make a poem work. We will also identify what constitutes common conventions of a subgenre within poetry. In conjunction with these readings, we will complete several short exercises that will sharpen our understanding of how individual craft elements and genre conventions can be realized through writing. Though the reading and analysis of poetry is a vital part of this class, our primary focus is your poetry, which we will discuss at length during the workshops. Students are required to hand in one original poem each alternate week and write letters of critique that will offer a review of their peers’ poems. Prompts may be available for the workshops. The course will culminate in a final portfolio of six to seven revised poems and a reflection essay of 1500 words that prefaces the poems in the portfolio.