ENGL 4640: Advanced Poetry Writing

Beyond the Provincial: Place -Based Poems

Rose McLarney
Office Hours: 12:00-2:30, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays,
and by appointment throughout the morning, and on other days as needed
Morrill Hall 201B
rose.mclarney@okstate.edu
405-744-6221 (email preferred)
Syllabus
Course Materials
Postwar Polish Poetry, edited by Czeslaw Milosz
Poems of the American South, edited by David Biespiel
A notebook dedicated to writing prompts to bring to every class meeting
Printing: You must photocopy or print multiple copies of poems for distribution to classmates, so
budget for this as well.
Course Description___________________________________________________________________
This offering of Advanced Poetry will focus on regional writing. We will study poetry from Poland and
the American Southtwo among many examples of areas with distinctive literary culturesas we write
and revise our own place-based poems. Adam Zagajewski notes that Polish poets forged a literature that
answered historys menace in universal, not provincial ways, while C. D. Wright resists calling herself a
Southern poet because, My ear has been licked by so many other tongues. We will consider how
poets identified by place of origin refer to their distinctive homes in ways that do not create limiting
allegiances, but rather, turn an attentive eye to detail for transcendent purposes. How do they avoid
reductive writing that relies on inside references or limits itself to stock material? How do they use
regionalism to bring authority, distinction, specificity, and color to their writing? How might the style,
voice, customs, scenery, and other features particular to your homeplace inform your poetry?
Throughout the course, we will generate new work through the use of writing prompts. Some will
encourage you to think about your location (often under-represented in the arts) by drawing on
information about Oklahoma from This Land press. Many will involve using the texts we are studying as
models of craftsmanship.
Our readings will come from two anthologies that take different approaches to representing their areas
one focused on a particular time period and organized by poet, the other organized by the editors
attempts to identify distinctive sub-regions within the South. We will read to learn about these places and
to study how the poems inspired by them are crafted. Then, for your final project, you will create a
portfolio of your own revised poems. You will also research and give a presentation on a poet from
Oklahoma, chosen from a list I will provide and using books available in our library.
Expectations for preparation and participation are highin order to make it possible for us use class time
in creative and lively ways. If everyone is prepared and involved, my classes are occasions students look

forward to and enjoy. Arrive on time and always expect to work until the end of the class period. Our
meeting time is short and (even if it is right before lunch) we will use all of it, every day.
Grading____________________________________________________________________________
-30% preparation and participation
-20% reading journal
-10% poems in progress
-20% presentation
-20% portfolio
Assignments__________________________________________________________________________
Poems
You will draft numerous poems and submit 9 of them to the class. You will exhaustively revise these 9,
first guided by workshop feedback, then on your own. For each workshop session, submit 2 poems,
arranged in order of preference (so that we are sure to discuss the work that is most important to you).
Two topics on which to focus each set of poems are suggested in the syllabus and will be discussed in
class.
Reading Journal
You will be expected to articulate your analysis of assigned readings in critical writings turned in every
time the class meets. These informal papers of at least 2 pages should respond to aspects of craft (not
qualitative, personal opinion, summary, or explication of theme). Focus in extreme detail on elements of
craft such as syntax, diction, image, metaphor, the line, stanza, form, etc. I will post thinking prompts
and hints on which poems well focus on in class discussionin the online classroom each week, so be
sure to visit (and contribute to) that forum. Examples of successful journals are also available in the
online classroom.
Workshop Feedback
If you do not bring copies of your poems to class when they are due, you cannot expect us to respond to
work distributed through email or to mail boxes. Your piece will not be discussed and your grade will
suffer.
To prepare for workshop, you must write detailed commentary on every poem in advance. All workshop
comments must be coherent, constructive, and fully articulated. I will collect copies of your feedback to
assess your preparedness, so bring a copy for me. You may either type your comments and print two
copies or write on the poem itself, if you do so legibly, and make a photocopy for me.
Portfolio
The final portfolio will contain a letter and revised, final versions of at least 5 of your poems. Each poem
must be accompanied by earlier drafts, demonstrating the steps in revision through which you have taken
the work. The letter will guide me through the portfolio, describing the progress youve made.
Save each version of each piece you write. (Dont save changes over your old versions.) Keep and back
up the files. You will need to refer back to the versions to create your portfolio. You are responsible for
continually working, under your own direction, on revisions throughout the semester. Only you can be
sure you are pacing yourself appropriately to complete your portfolio.
Mid-semester, we will devote a day of class to exploring and understanding the portfolio and presentation
assignments.

Participation
Everyone must participate in discussion. Thorough preparation for discussion and workshop are essential
to an interactive class like ours. If you have trouble talking in groups, see me. You will not receive credit
for attendance if you are not prepared. Neither will you receive credit if I see you texting or using your
phone in class. Lets make our class engaging enough that no ones mind is elsewhere.
In-class writing prompts and activities are required. Be certain to bring your texts with you to every class
this is a part of participation.
Attendance____________________________________________________________________
Your attendance is expected at every class session. However, to accommodate illness and other issues,
you may miss as many as 3 classes, if necessary. I do not accept sick notes; 3 absences are allowed,
regardless of the cause. You should schedule work and medical and other appointments for hours when
you are not in class. Lateness or early departure is equivalent to absence. Absences in excess of 3 will
reduce your final grade by 1 letter. Miss 6 or more classes and you will fail the course. Know that in
every case you are responsible for missed work and assignments that are due.
If weather makes it unsafe to travel to campus and we cannot hold class, I will try to keep the course on
schedule by emailing information and activities to your university email account. You are responsible for
accessing your account and completing the assignments by the time the class meets again.
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism______________________________________________________
Plagiarism is unacceptable. If you plagiarize, you will receive a failing grade for the course, and may
receive a notation of a violation of academic integrity on your transcript (F!), and be suspended from the
University. Properly cite sources in all your work. Any content submitted without citation is assumed to
be your original work. Plagiarism includes copying words and phrases and presenting ideas or text from
published sources, websites, friends or other students, and elsewhere as your own. If you have questions
about plagiarism, always err on the side of caution, ask me, or consult Academic Integrity resources.
Accommodations_______________

_____________________________________

Students who need special accommodations should contact Student Disability Services to determine
appropriate strategies and resources. Please notify me of the support services identified for you and
provide relevant documentation within the first week of class.
Course Prospectus
The prospectus is subject to change. I will notify you of any changes. Exercises not included on this
prospectus will often be assigned in class. They will be due when the next class meets.

Date

Class

Assignments
Reading
(due at the
(to be completed before class meets to
beginning of class discuss them on the date listed)
on the date listed)

Week 1
Jan. 12

Welcome

Jan. 14

What is regional
writing?

Jan. 16

Naming

-Intro to your
hometown
writing exercise
-List of
associations with
places we are
studying
-Critical response

Week 2
Jan. 19

Zagajewski

-Critical response

Jan. 21

Wright

-Critical response

Jan. 23

Intro to Polish
culture

-Essays in online classroom

Poems by Lee Ann Brown, Charles

Wright, Robert Morgan, Leopold Staff,
Czeslaw Miloz, and Zbignew Herbert in
online classroom
-Poems by Adam Zagajewski in online
classroom
-Poems by CD Wright in online
classroom
-Essays from the Polish Ministry of
Foreign Affairs in online classroom

Week 3
Jan. 26

Zagajewski
continued
evolving style

-Critical response

Jan. 28

Razewicz

Jan. 30

Workshop

-Poem 1 & 2:
Place Names and
The Unsaid
-Comments for
workshop

Week 4
Feb. 2

Syzmborska

-Critical response
-Critical response

Feb. 6

Syzmborska
continuedissues in
translation
Workshop

Week 5
Feb. 9

Herbert

-Critical response

Feb. 4

-Zagajewski section from Postwar Polish

Poetry
-Late Zagajewski poems available in
online classroom
-Razewicz section from Postwar Polish
Poetry

-Syzmborska section from Postwar

Polish Poetry
-Handout of different translations of
Symborska in online classroom

-Comments for
workshop
-Herbert section from Postwar Polish

Feb. 11

Herbert

Feb. 12

Workshop

Week 6
Feb. 16

Swir

-Critical response

Feb. 18

Swir

-Critical response

Feb. 20

Workshop

-Comments for
workshop

Week 7
Feb. 23

Wat

-Critical response

-Wat section from Postwar Polish Poetry

Feb. 25

Milosz

-Milosz section from Postwar Polish

Poetry

Feb. 27

Workshop

-Poem 4 & 5:
Landscape and
Houses
-Critical response
-Comments for
workshop

Week 8
Mar. 2

Milosz and Jeffers

-Revisions of all
poems submitted
so far
-Critical response
-Comments for
workshop
-Questions and
comments for the
visitor

-Milosz and Jeffers poems in online

classroom

Mar. 4
Mar. 6

Small group
workshop
Visiting Poet:
Allison Hedge Coke

-Poems 2 & 3:
History and
Politics
-Critical response
-Comments for
workshop

Poetry
through page 129
-Herbert section from Postwar Polish
Poetry
through page 149

-Swir section from Postwar Polish

Poetry
Through page 65
-Swir section from Postwar Polish
Poetry
Through page 71

-Handout in online classroom

Week 9
Mar.9

Final project
discussion:
This LandHow
We Write
Oklahoma
Mar. 11 Intro to Southern
Culture
Mar.

Lookouts

-Essay from Southern Cultures reader in

online classroom
-Critical response

-Lookouts section from Poems of the

13
BREAK MARCH 16-20

American South

TERM 2

Date

Class

Week 11
Mar. 23 Tar Heel
Mar. 25

Critters

Mar. 27

Workshop

Week 12
Mar. 30 Volunteersand
Bluegrass
Apr. 1
Bayou and the Lone
Star
Apr. 3
Workshop
Week 13
Apr. 6
A Cloud of Witnesses
Apr. 8
Apr. 10

Yellowhammer,
Magnolia, and the
Natural State
Workshop

Week 14
Apr. 13 Mountains and the
Old Dominion
Apr. 20 Sunshine and
Peaches

Small group
workshop
Week 15
Apr. 27 Oklahoma poet
presentations
Apr. 29

Oklahoma poet

Assignments
(due at the
beginning of
class on the
date listed)

Reading
(to be completed before class meets to
discuss them on the date listed)

-Critical
response
-Poems 6 and 7:
Speech and
Music
-Critical
response
-Comments for
workshop

-Tar Heel from Poems of the American

South
-Critters from Poems of the American
South

-Critical
response
-Critical
response
-Comments for
workshop

-Volunteers from Poems of the

American South
-Bayou from Poems of the American
South

-Critical
response
-Poems 8 and 9:
Cuisine and
Customs
-Comments for
workshop

-A Cloud from Poems of the American

South
-Yellowhammer from Poems of the
American South

-Critical
response
-Critical
response
-Revised poems
for small group
workshop
-Comments for
workshop

-Mountains from Poems of the

American South
-Sunshine from Poems of the American
South

***Final
Portfolio***

-Handouts provided by fellow students

-Handouts provided by fellow students

Apr. 31

presentation
Oklahoma poet
presentations

-Handouts provided by fellow students