Approaches to Poetry
| Module title | Approaches to Poetry |
|---|---|
| Module code | TRU1910 |
| Academic year | 2020/1 |
| Credits | 15 |
| Module staff | Professor Natalie Pollard (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 50 |
|---|
Module description
This team-taught module offers a genre-based approach to poetry, introducing you to a range of texts from different periods and refining skills of close reading and literary analysis. The aim of the module is to cultivate formal and linguistic skills which can be used in combination with other interpretive and creative techniques later in the degree. There will thus be a close focus in seminars on what is at stake in following or bending or rupturing, normative or hierarchical models of language use in particular examples of poetry. As well as offering a grounding in important genres such as epic and lyric, the module will introduce you to verse forms, theories of meter and metaphor, and issues in language, power politics and interpretation, through the use of such techniques and modes as irreverence, obedience, irregularity, evasion, hybridity, silence, rupture, non-standard form, ambiguity, play.
Module aims - intentions of the module
This module will introduce you to a range of theoretical, formal, generic and political issues that are raised in the study of different poetries. It will aim to utilise a range of poems from different periods and from writers from different backgrounds in order to develop your capacity to produce sophisticated, subtle and inclusive close readings and textual analyses of a diverse range of poetries.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Demonstrate an analytical understanding of the range of formal and stylistic issues that are produced in poetic texts, and of what is at stake in their implementation
- 2. Analyse poetry in terms of genre and relate it to a theoretical and cultural context
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 3. Analyse texts from different eras and relate their modes of expression to their generic context
- 4. Interrelate texts and discourses specific to their own discipline with issues in the wider context of cultural and intellectual history
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 5. Through seminar work, demonstrate communication skills, and work both individually and in groups
- 6. Through written work, demonstrate appropriate research and bibliographic skills, construct a coherent, substantiated argument, and write clear and correct prose
Syllabus plan
An indicative list of the scope of the module is below. Individual weeks are subject to alteration. Texts and topics may include:
- What is Poetry? Forming and shaping
- Poetry and Order (metre and rhythm)
- Case Study: The Sonnet (from Italian origins to contemporary twistings)
- Poetry and the Body (could include form / gender / national bodies)
- Case Study: Elegy
- Poetic Talk (monologue, dialogue, pronouns, apostrophe, the politics of common speech, and more…)
- Case Study: Lyric
- Poetry and Technology (print technologies, digital, manuscript, song/performance, and more)
- Wordlessness and Fragmentation: Remembering (heritage / history, gaps/absences)
- Misbehaviour: Regularity and Irregularity
- Poetry amongst the Arts (may include study of ekphrasis, drama, film, opera, other mediations)
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 27.5 | 122.5 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 11 | Lectures large group teaching (11 x 1 hour) |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 16.5 | Seminars small group teaching (11 x 1.5 hours) |
| Guided Independent Study | 122.5 | Reading, researching, writing, seminar preparation, ELE- and web-based activity, attending office hours with tutor, etc |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close reading task | 700 words | 1-6 | Written |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 90 | 0 | 10 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 90 | 1500 words | 1-4, 6 | Written |
| Participation | 10 | Continuous | 1-5 | Oral feedback with opportunity for office hours follow-up |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | Essay | 1-4, 6 | Referral/deferral period |
| Participation | Repeat study or mitigation | 1-5 | N/a |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to redo the assessment(s) as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Each week there will be 6-10 short poems set for your core reading. The readings will be specified on ELE.
n.b. in some weeks there will be just 1 or 2 longer poems set.
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
Please see:
| Credit value | 15 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 7.5 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 4 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 28/03/2017 |
| Last revision date | 22/06/2020 |
