Aims of the course:
- To introduce participants to the basic terminology and techniques of poetry writing.
- To offer a broad overview of the variety of approaches in contemporary English language poetry.
- To provide participants with the opportunity to begin to master these techniques and experiment with different forms.
Course content overview:
Although prose and poetry both use words as their basic medium, poetry writing requires a different and distinct set of skills.
In poetry, the basic unit is not the sentence but the line; sound and rhythm are especially important; poetry can give the writer opportunities to think through imagery and form.
This course will introduce the students to these distinct aspects of poetry writing through examples and exercises.
Each week we will examine a particular aspect of technique, building up from the barest basics and moving towards experiment with different forms and approaches: the image; the poetry line; rhythm, rhyme and other sound patterns; form (the line and the stanza) in free verse; traditional forms.
Methods will include:
- close reading and discussion of published poems;
- writing prompts and exercises;
- sharing of work and feedback from the tutor and other students.
Course outline
Week 0 (Welcome to the course)
By studying this week the students should have:
- Become familiar with navigating around the VLE and from VLE to links and back
- Tested their ability to access files and sort out any problems with the help of the Helpdesk where necessary
- Learned how to look for, assess and reference internet resources
- Used forums to introduce themselves
- Contributed to a discussion forum to introduce themselves to other students and discussed why they are interested in the course, what they hope to get out of their studies
Week 1: ‘No Ideas But In Things’ – thinking through the image
By studying this week the students should have
- Acquired an understanding of the concepts of the lyric poem, metaphor, similes and imagery in general, as well as the importance of the image in poetry.
- Considered ways in which they might communicate ideas, feelings and experiences through the medium of the image.
- Produced at least one piece of work in which they use sensory language to convey something about an idea, feeling or kind of experience.
Week 2: The line
By studying this week the students should have:
- Become accustomed to the practice of analysing variations in line length, pauses and punctuation when they read poetry.
- Begun to re-draft work, paying particular attention to these aspects of technique.
- Provided constructive feedback on each other’s work in which they focus on these aspects.
Week 3: Sound effects: metre, rhyme and other sound patterns
By studying this week the students should have:
- Read a poem with an understanding of the way the poet deploys sound patterns to convey and/or reinforce meaning, and to provoke a response in the reader.
- Produced a piece of work which demonstrates a basic understanding of how to use these techniques in their own writing.
- Provided feedback on each other’s work which takes these aspects of technique into account, alongside those already covered in the course.
Week 4: Form – the shape of the poem
By studying this week the students should have:
- Begun to develop the ability to analyse poems in term of their form or shape, and its relation to their subject matter.
- Experimented with form in one of their poems, and discussed the effects of changes in form or shape.
- Discussed each other’s poems in a way which demonstrates an understanding of form and/or shape, as well as the technical aspects already covered by the course.
Week 5: Form and tradition
By studying this week the students should have:
- Learned to identify a range of traditional forms used in English poetry.
- Produced at least one poem in one of these traditional forms.
- Discussed their own and each other’s work with reference to the use of these forms, and with an understanding of how each form both constrains and enables the poet.
Week 6: What next?
By studying this week the students should have:
- Feedback for student learning.
- Feedback of student satisfaction.
- Encouragement of further study.
Schedule (this course is completed entirely online):
Orientation Week: 24-30 May 2021
Teaching Weeks: 31 May-4 July 2021
Feedback Week: 5-11 July 2021
Each week of an online course is roughly equivalent to 2-3 hours of classroom time. On top of this, participants should expect to spend roughly 2-3 hours reading material, etc., although this will vary from person to person.
While they have a specific start and end date and will follow a weekly schedule (for example, week 1 will cover topic A, week 2 will cover topic B), our tutor-led online courses are designed to be flexible and as such would normally not require participants to be online for a specific day of the week or time of the day (although some tutors may try to schedule times where participants can be online together for web seminars, which will be recorded so that those who are unable to be online at certain times are able to access material).
Unless otherwise stated, all course material will be posted on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) so that they can be accessed at any time throughout the duration of the course and interaction with your tutor and fellow participants will take place through a variety of different ways which will allow for both synchronous and asynchronous learning (discussion boards,etc).
A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.
What our students say
"Joanne has been brilliant in teaching the course, providing valuable insight and constructive feedback."
