• Participation and on-line poetry readings 20%
• Short presentation on readings 10%
• Workshop assignments 30%
• Final portfolio 40%

NOTES:

PARTICIPATION AND POETRY READINGS:

I am expecting that everyone will come to class having read the week’s material (whether books of poetry from our reading list or the workshop poems of your fellow students) and with something to say. The basis of the workshop is respectful and constructive peer feedback: think carefully about your fellow students’ poems and in class, after a student has presented their poem for workshop, please be ready to offer your comments. 

Seeing poetry read live is an important aspect of developing your practice. I’m asking you to attend at least 2 virtual readings during the semester. I will keep you apprised of readings that I am aware of—and feel free to share events you hear about with the class. When you attend a reading, I’m expecting you to report back to us the next class and offer any feedback you might have on the experience/the poetry you heard.

SHORT PRESENTATION AND CRITIQUE:

Introduce the class to one of the books on the list for this week. Tell the class your reading impressions, what you find interesting or challenging or productive in the work. Be as specific as possible. You may also want to address the ways in which the work conducts a kind of “research,” the uses it makes of “documents,” and/or the kind of “knowledge” (about place, history, etc.) it produces. 10 minutes maximum. Hand in approximately one page of presentation notes (250-500 words).

WORKSHOP ASSIGNMENTS:

Four times in the semester you are expected to submit a poem for class workshop in response to a specific assignment (the assignments will be given the week before the workshop). On the day of a workshop, everyone should come prepared to offer constructive and sensitive feedback on the poems being workshopped that week (writing down some notes, possibly on a printed version of the poem, prior to class is always best). If you have submitted a poem, you should also come prepared to be open-minded and receptive (not defensive) to the class feedback. The idea is that what has been submitted is a draft, and the rest of the class will function as your helpful editorial board. NOTE: if it is not your week to submit for the workshop, but you also want to write a response to the week’s assignment, please go ahead and do so—but do not email your assignment to the whole class (it will not be workshopped); if there is time at the end of a workshop to hear a few extra responses, we could share these then. The class email list is: engl472w-e100@sfu.ca

PORTFOLIO:

Your portfolio should comprise 15-25 pages of poetry, plus a one-page prose introduction describing the grouping of poems and the process. The portfolio could, but does not have to, include poems you workshop during the course; it should not include work written prior to the course. What I am asking you to do is think holistically about the group of poems you include in your portfolio, as they connect to your on-going research topic: this topic is wide open, but could relate to any number of “sites” of research or sets of documents around which you might develop your poems. This “site” could be a (historical) person, place, or thing (object / event); it could be a historical or contemporary cultural phenomenon; it could be a documents or documents you have chosen to focus on. The point is to explore the poem as a means of gathering and organizing understanding and/or information about some “site” of investigation or set of documents.