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Understanding Poetry (Non-credit)
Course Times & Enrolment
This course is currently unavailable.
Course Summary
This course is an introduction to the theory of poetry. It provides an overview of the key features of poetry, aiming to give students a theoretical and critical toolkit necessary in the analysis of poems. The course uses selected examples and seeks to provide a combination of theoretical principles and close reading.
Course Details
Content of Course
1. Introduction. What is poetry? Poets on poetry; poems about poetry; some characteristics of the genre.
2. Case study in poetic form: The Sonnet
3. Case study in poetic technique: Metaphor
4. Poetic self-portraits
5. Poetry and Myth
6. Poetry and Prayer
7. Poetry and the News
8. Poetry and the Visual Arts
9. The Poetic Sequence
10. The Prose Poem
Teaching method(s)
Teaching is based around guided discussion with contextualisation and introductory material supplied by the tutor.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
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Master the theoretical vocabulary necessary to the understanding of poetry.
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Acquire close reading skills.
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Gauge the relationship between poetics and a poet’s textual practice.
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Gain an insight into personal taste and criteria of evaluating poetic texts.
Sources
Core Readings
Essential:
Class handouts with texts for close reading will be made available on a week to week basis.
Recommended:
- Vendler, Helen. Poems, Poets, Poetry: An Introduction and Anthology.
- Fry, Stephen. The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within.
- Longenbach, James. The Resistance to Poetry.
Web Sources
Class Handouts
Class handouts with texts for close reading will be made available on a week to week basis.
Queries
If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email COL@ed.ac.uk or by phone 0131 650 4400.
Student support
If you have a disability, learning difficulty or health condition which may affect your studies, please let us know by ticking the 'specific support needs' box on your course application form. This will allow us to make appropriate adjustments in advance and in accordance with your rights under the Equality Act 2010. For more information please visit the Student Support section of our website.