Tuesday, August 20

In class

• Welcome and introductions - name, preferred pronouns (optional), concentration, favorite poet(s).
• Syllabus and course overview.
• Lecture and discussion - pre-20th century poetic movements.

Assignment

• Read "Romantic and Postromantic Poetry" (focus on British and American Romanticism) and "Form" in The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics.
• Read 2-3 poems by Edgar Allan Poe and analyze his use of poetic form and the characteristics of Romanticism in a brief (250 word) forum post. Post this in our forum before class on Thursday.

Thursday, August 22

In class

• Discussion of Edgar Allan Poe's poetry and Romanticism.
• Lecture and discussion on poetic form.
• The Sounds of Poetry
• Metrical analysis exercises.

Assignment

• Read Introduction in our textbook. (If you don't have it yet, read this instead.)
• Read chapter on Emily Dickinson and all her poems in our textbook. (Alternatively, read this resource, and 5-6 poems it links to.)
• Write a forum post in which you discuss 1-2 poems in which Dickinson is following poetic tradition and how she is innovative in her poems. Post in our forum before class on Tuesday.