English 309.01
Mary Adams, Instructor
TR 11-12:15 Coulter 304
About this course
This course is designed to improve your poetry. Sometimes,
that means learning about things you're not interested in,
and always, it means reading a lot of work by other people.
We will learn to think about four levels of poetry (typographic,
sonic, sensory, ideational) and will develop a vocabulary
to talk about writing, reading, experiencing, and improving
poems.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course, you should have developed or improved
the following skills, which will be measured by your grades
in class assignments:
- Understanding of rudimentary poetic meter and form
- Critical vocabulary for analyzing and workshopping original
work
- Ability to work in a range of structured and free forms
- Knowledge of current practices by contemporary American
poets
You will also gain resources for continuing to write, publish,
and get support beyond the classroom.
Texts:
- Rental: Bishop, Wendy. Thirteen Ways of Lookng at
a Poem. 6th Edition. 0321011309.
- Purchase:
- McClatchy, J.D. Vintage Book of Contemporary American
Poetry, 2nd Edition.
- Kowit, Steve. In the Palm of Your Hand: The Poet's
Portable Workshop. Revised edition 2007.
- One of the following three books, according to assignment:
- Affrilachia, by Frank X. Walker
- Coming to Rest, by Kathryn Stripling Byer
- Shadow Box, by Fred Chappell
Assignments:
- Poems
- 30% 10 poems total required. Due on assigned days.
Assignments with (*) next to them are required; for
other assignments, you may make substitutions.
- Other Assignments
- Quizzes 15%. I will give a short quiz almost every
day. You will be able to use your notes but not the
book.
- Critical
Paper 15%. Topic choices:
- Do a critical analysis of one book of poems by writer who was assigned to you (Chappell, Byer, or Walker)
- Do a critical analysis of one book of poems by another poet who has written mostly after 1948.
- Reading sheets (15%). These will be based on the poems
in the McClatchy book. Don't use other poems. Make sure
to use a different poet every week.
- Participation (in class and in online workshopping)
15%
- Class Portfolio with preface (Final exam) 10%. I won't
accept any poems that haven't received either comments
from me or comments from workshop.
Policies:
- Computers,
cell phones, and other electronic devices
- Workshopping:
- Several times during the course of the semester, we
will have workshop periods. During these times, half
the students will workshop in class, while the other
half will post online. For each workshop day, we will
discuss the poems of four students in-class and four
students online. For each poem you workshop, you will
use the same
prompt.
- For in-class workshopping, all classmates must print
out each poem as well as two copies of their comments.
You will give one copy of your comments to the poet
and one copy to me. Make sure your name is on them.
All students must send me their poems at the beginning
of the workshop period. I will post the poems on the
web page and on the class bulletin board.
- I won't accept handwritten poems without titles, and
I won't accept poems copied into the email. Each student
will probably have 4 poems workshopped during the semester.
- Peers should have one week to respond to the poems
online. You should use the same general vocabulary/
scriptwe use in class to talk about poems online.
- In workshopping, we follow a prescribed format. It
is important for us to help each other, but we must
always also be respectful of each other's work.
- Other Poems:
- You will hand in a total of 10 poems in the course
of the semester. Only four of these will be workshopped.
Poems with an * are required. With the others, you can
choose to write on the topic or mode we discuss in class,
or you can choose to write something else. But you must
hand in a poem on the prescribed day. I will not accept
poems in your final portfolio unless I have seen them
during the semester.
- Hand in Assignments in PC Format (MS Word or RTF preferred).
Send poems as attachments; do not copy them into the text
of the email.
- Grading: I use a plus/minus grading scale, but I don't
grade individual poems. Students who do all poems (5 formal,
5other) will receive at least a B unless they do not do
the assignment or are plagiarized (see below); poems that
evince extraordinary effort or skill will receive an A.
All other written assignments will be graded like other
English papers.
- Academic honesty: Turning in work
not your own will result in failure for the paper
without the opportunity to revise and may also result
in failure for the course. I will also place a letter
in your files and make a formal report to the Head
of the English Department and the Dean of Student
Affairs. Below is WCU's most recent academic honest policy:
Western Carolina University, a community of scholarship, is also a community of honor. Faculty, staff, administrators, and students work together to achieve the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Academic dishonesty is a serious offense at WCU because it threatens the quality of scholarship and defrauds those who depend on knowledge and integrity. Academic dishonesty includes the following:
- Cheating. Using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise.
- Fabrication. Falsification or invention of information or citation in an academic exercise.
- Plagiarism. Representing the words or ideas of someone else as one’s own in an academic exercise.
- Facilitation of Academic Dishonesty. Helping or attempting to help someone else to commit an act of academic dishonesty, such as allowing another to copy information during an examination or other academic exercise.
The procedures for cases involving allegations of academic dishonesty are:
1. Instructors have the right to determine the appropriate sanction or sanctions for academic dishonesty within their courses up to and including a final grade of “F” in the course. Within 5 calendar days of the event, the instructor will inform his or her department head in writing of the academic dishonesty charge and sanction.
2. The department head will meet with the student to inform them orally and in writing of the charge and the sanction imposed by the instructor within 10 calendar days of written notice from the instructor. Prior to this meeting, the department head will contact the Office of Student Judicial Affairs to establish if the student has any record of a prior academic dishonesty offense. If there is a record of a prior academic dishonesty offense, the matter must be referred directly to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs. In instances where a program does not have a department head, the Dean or Associate Dean of the college will assume the duties of department head for cases of academic dishonesty.
3. If the case is a first offense, the student can choose to accept the charge and sanction from the instructor by signing a Mutual Agreement with the department head or can choose to have a hearing with the Academic Integrity Board. Within 10 calendar days of the meeting with the student, the department head will 1) report the student’s choice of action in writing to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs, 2) file a copy of the Mutual Agreement (when applicable) with the Office of Judicial Affairs, and 3) inform the student of the sanction or sanctions to be imposed under the Mutual Agreement or inform the student of the procedure for requesting a hearing with the Academic Integrity Board if the Mutual Agreement is not accepted. Mutual Agreements are final agreements not subject to further review or appeal.
4. In instances of second offenses, or when the student chooses a hearing, the Office of Student Judicial Affairs will meet with the student to provide an orientation to the hearing process and to schedule a date no less than 10 and no more than 15 calendar days from the meeting for the hearing. The student can waive minimum notice of a hearing; however, extensions are at the sole discretion of the Office of Student Judicial Affairs. Should the student choose not to attend the orientation meeting, a hearing date will be assigned to the student.
5. The hearing procedures will follow the same format as stated in the Code of Student Conduct (Article V.A.5). The hearing body (Academic Integrity Board) will consist of 2 students from the Student Judicial Affairs Student Hearing Board and 3 faculty members. The faculty fellow for academic integrity will be one of the faculty members and will serve as the chair. The other two faculty members will be chosen by the Director of Student Judicial Affairs from a pool of eight faculty hearing officers. Each academic year, each college dean will appoint two faculty members from their college to comprise the pool of eight faculty hearing officers. When a student fails to attend the hearing for any reason, the hearing will be held in a student’s absence . The hearing body may impose any sanctions as outlined in Article V.B. in the Code of Student Conduct. Students given a sanction of probation for academic dishonesty will remain on probation at Western Carolina University until graduation.
6. Following a decision from the Academic Integrity Board, the Office of Judicial Affairs will inform the student of the sanction or sanctions to be imposed upon the student and of the student’s right to file an appeal with the University Academic Problems Committee. The appeal is limited to those rules and procedures expressly mentioned in the Code of Student Conduct (Article V.D.2) and is limited to the existing record. If the student does not file an appeal with the University Academic Problems Committee within 5 calendar days, the sanction or sanctions from the Academic Integrity Board will be imposed. The decision of the Academic Problems Committee may be appealed to the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. Any decision of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs may be appealed to the Chancellor.
7. Upon final resolution of a case involving suspension or expulsion, the Director of Student Judicial Affairs will inform the appropriate dean, department head, and the administrator in the One Stop Office who is responsible for University Withdrawals of the sanction.
An Act of academic dishonesty, including a first offense, may place the student in jeopardy of suspension from the university. A repeated violation or more serious first offense may result in expulsion. Disciplinary records for any act of academic dishonesty are retained by the Department of Student Judicial Affairs for at least five years from the date of final adjudication. These records are available to prospective employers and other educational institutions in accordance with federal regulations.
Note: Resolution of academic honesty complaints will be handled according to the provisions of the Academic Honesty Policy. Records of academic dishonesty cases are maintained in the Office of Student Judicial Affairs.
For specific information on procedures for cases involving allegations of academic dishonesty, see relevant sections in the Student Handbook.
- Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:
Western Carolina University is committed to providing equal educational opportunities for students with documented disabilities. Students who require reasonable accommodations must identify themselves as having a disability and provide current diagnostic documentation to Disability Services. All information is confidential. Please contact Disability Services for more information at (828) 227-2716 or 144 Killian Annex. You can also visit the office’s website: http://www.wcu.edu/12789.asp.
- Attendance: After THREE absences, your final grade will
be dropped one letter for each additional absence. It doesn't
matter if your absences are excused or not, so please budget
carefully. Extreme or extensive tardiness could count as
an absence. PS: Attendance is counted in participation grade,
too.
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