CRWR 184 A-Z - (CP) Special TopicsSemester Hours: 1-3
Fall, Spring
Special topics related to the creative writing genres. Subjects to be selected yearly.
Current Special Topics
CRWR 184Z: The Poet’s Toolbox
What gives vitality and character to a line, to a stanza, to the overall movement of a poem? In this poetry workshop we study—and put into practice—the patterns that shape rhythm, syntax, and meaning. Throughout the semester, students will deploy a broad range of tools in the poet’s toolbox. We will consider fundamental ways of arranging lines into stanzas (couplets, tercets, quatrains); various rhyme schemes and their spectrum of effects; and an array of forms inherited from different literary traditions, including the ballad, the villanelle, the blues lyric, the pantoum, the haiku, and the sonnet. We will also experiment with some of the key rhetorical strategies that have empowered poets from ancient times to the present.
Students will develop a first-hand knowledge of the poet’s craft by engaging in the process of hearing / feeling / seeing how a particular arrangement of syllables creates a singular experience. We will read a wide selection of work exemplifying stylistic possibilities, discussing the qualities that make a poem especially resilient and resonant. Most importantly, members of this workshop will compose, recite, and revise poems that let us hear what we see and see what we hear. Regular attendance and participation are required.
Prerequisite: CRWR 134 or permission from the instructor.
Prerequisite(s)/Course Notes:
WSC 001 . May be repeated for credit when topics vary. As individual subjects are selected, each is assigned a letter (A-Z) which is affixed to the course number. Specific titles and course descriptions for special topics courses are available in the online class schedule.
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