Major Poets

Curriculum Guideline

Effective Date:
Course
Discontinued
No
Course Code
ENGL 2314
Descriptive
Major Poets
Department
English
Faculty
Language, Literature & Performing Arts
Credits
3.00
Start Date
End Term
Not Specified
PLAR
No
Semester Length
15 weeks
Max Class Size
35
Contact Hours
4 hours per week
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Learning Activities
  • lecture/discussion
  • interviews
  • group work
  • instructor feedback on students’ written work
Course Description
This course is a study of representative works of poetry by two or three major poets writing in English, from at least two different periods.
Course Content

Selected literary texts (see sample list).

Selected secondary source materials:

  • autobiographical material
  • biography
  • literary criticism and theory
  • cultural and intellectual history
  • other arts (music, fine arts, film, etc.)
Learning Outcomes

The successful student should be able to

  1. recognize the significance of the literary and non-literary or cultural context of a work being studied, such as biographical, historical, mythological, and philosophical contexts;
  2. read critically secondary sources, such as criticism and other texts by the same author, as an aid to comprehending the primary text being studied;
  3. read critically and independently works or aspects of works not discussed in class;
  4. discern both continuity and change within the body of poetry written in English; and
  5. formulate a thesis on a given subject in one or more specific works and develop this, using suitable textual evidence.
Means of Assessment

A minimum of 15% must be in-class paragraphs or essays.

A minimum of four evaluations, two of which must be academic essays with a combined value of at least 40% of the course grade.

Writing Competency Bar:

A student must achieve a grade of C- or better upon first submission of at least one required essay in order to achieve a grade of better than P in any university-transfer English course.

Textbook Materials

Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students

Sample reading list:

  • Blake, Songs of Innocence and Experience
  • Plath, Ariel
  • Yeats, Selected Poetry
Prerequisites

Any TWO university-transfer first-year English literature courses, or ONE university-transfer first-year English literature course and ONE university-transfer first-year Creative Writing or English writing course.