Skip to main content
Department of English
Search
Log in
Navigation
About
Current Office Hours
Diversity Resources
English Library
Faculty Statement Archives
Internal Dept Resources
Medieval and Early Modern Studies
University Writing Program
Video Guides & Worksheets
Visit us on Facebook
Major/Minor in English
Advising
Creative Writing Application
Honors Program
Internships
Literary Magazines
Major Requirements Guide & FAQ
Minor Requirements
Study Abroad
Why Major in English?
MFA in Creative Writing
Admissions
Events, Prizes, and Resources
MFA Program Faculty
Newly Admitted Grad Students
Resources
Ph.D. in Literature
About
Admissions
Newly Admitted Grad Students
PhD Alumni Directory
Resources
Courses & Schedules
People
News & Events
Off the Syllabus Podcast
Recent News
Contests
Contest Winners
Previous Contest Winners
Newsletters
You are here
Home
»
Courses & Schedules
English 168 - Winter, 2012
20th Century American Poetry
Class Information
Instructor:
Wenderoth, Joe
CRN:
53865
Time:
MWF 11:00-11:50
Location:
229 Wellman
Description
This course will investigate John Berryman’s “The Dream Songs.” The poems of The Dream Songs will be considered in terms of their relationship to Walt Whitman’s notion of Song, and to Whitman's poem, “Song Of Myself." The goal of the course is to develop an understanding of the space wherein Poetry and Song (as Whitman formulated it) might merge and/or diverge, and then to articulate a particular history of that space in 20th century American poetry, at least insofar as Berryman’s “Dream Songs” allow for it. In articulating this history, we will produce and pursue questions relevant to readers and writers of Contemporary American poetry, such as: what hopes, if any, do poems nowadays evidence? are poems sung by, at, or for the subject they implicitly concern? are poems like songs in that they must take place? do poems thus necessitate and prefigure populations? and is it possible for poetry to be “democratic” (again, using Whitman’s definition of this term)?
Grading
Occasional reader's responses: 20%
small essay: 15%
large essay: 30%
final exam: 35%
Texts
The Dream Songs
, John Berryman