Open seats: Reading and Writing Poetry with D. M. Spratley

english92-04 Reading and Writing Poetry

with D. M. Spratley

Autumn | MW 1:30-3:20 | 5 units

• Open seats available, enroll now in Navigate!
• Satisfies WAYS Creative Expression (CE) & WAYS Aesthetic and Interpretive Inquiry (AII)
• Satisfies Creative Writing minor introductory poetry requirement

“Nothing else allowed me to ask unanswerable questions and to be honest with myself about what I didn’t know, but needed to find. [...] Sometimes I feel like poetry says: if you want to, you can come more fully into reality.” — Tracy K. Smith

What makes a poem a poem? How do symbols on a page transmit feelings that can’t otherwise be named? How can the process of writing lead us directly (or indirectly) toward discovery? In this introductory workshop, you will develop a foundation for reading poetry and will apply what you learn to your own writing through weekly in-class generative writing exercises.

In the classroom, I encourage simultaneous languor and rigor. Together, we will loiter over words and explore and play and be very serious about our work without holding it too tightly. We will deepen the quality of our attention. You can expect to attend closely to ~5 assigned poems every week, as well as to your own writing and the writing of your peers. You will learn or deepen the ability to close read poetry; will gain some language and frameworks for understanding poetry; and will further develop individual and collective practices for discussing nuanced experiences, language, and ideas. Students of all experience levels will find something for them in this class. If you want to, you can come more fully into reality.