LIT4930 Crafting Poetry--The Examples of Whitman and Yeats

SECTION 1843 T4th period, R4th-5th period
Professor Craddock TUR 4332 Office hours 6th period TWR. Phone 392-6650 ext 259; email pcraddoc@english.ufl.edu; on-line syllabus http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/pcraddoc/craftsyl.htm

Texts (Available at Goerings at Bageland (1717 NW 1st Avenue): Whitman, Leaves of Grass 1855 (Penguin, ed. Malcolm Cowley); Whitman, Leaves of Grass
1892 (Bantam, ed. Kaplan). NOTE: You need Both. Yeats, Collected Poems, ed. Finneran.

New February: some representative web sites
Purpose of the Course:
"The skill, the art, the craft of any new poet is to make words do what words cannot do (or have not until then done), and it is a conscious, deliberate, and intense effort: the sedulous rewriting of lines in different combinations, the different ways of writing about himself, the experiments in trying to reach his imaginary audience, the exercises in different tones, the search for words with emotive connotations, the tentative assertiveness (the tentativeness is [the poet's], the assertiveness, the persona's), the many reminders to himself about what is important" (C. Carroll Hollis 1983, pp. 82-83).

In this class we are going to try to identify precisely what it is that Whitman (1819-92) and Yeats (1865-1939) succeed in making words do that they have not done before, and how they do it: their respective selections from the many tools of the writing trade, and the new shapes and uses they give those tools. For example, virtually every writer uses the tool of imagery. Are there identifiable qualities in the sources, placement, development, presentation of sensory input in words in these two poets? Do these qualities remain the same throughout the poets' careers, or do they vary either through time or with different types of poems or different poetic occasions?

Grading:

I. (30%--probably 7-10 pages) One paper comparing a poem by Yeats with one by Whitman (I hope I do not have to tell you that "comparison" implies finding differences as well as similarities, and implies using the juxtaposition to enrich the reader's understanding of each poem)
II. (30%) Either of two choices:

One paper comparing two versions of a poem by one of the poets, or a poem by one of the poets with a poem that seems to have inspired him, or been inspired by him. Students may choose to write the poem they compare to Yeats or Whitman. OR

A hypertextual edition of one of the poems, providing links to analyses of diction, musical effects, imagistic patterns, organization, etc.--that is, you must write the texts for your reader to consult, not just link the poem to existing internet resources. Some of the materials you provide may be images or sounds or texts (duly acknowledged) by other authors. Example

III. (20%) For the writer not chosen for II., a "tool chest"--a list of the methods the writer typically chooses to embody his vision, with explanations and examples. It would be a good idea to keep "tool chests" notebooks for both poets from the beginning. You will find the one you don't turn in invaluable for writing papers I and II.
IV. (10%) Group Discussions and Reports (aka Trios and Quartets). You will divide yourselves into groups of 3 or 4 students. Generally, on Tuesdays you will work in those groups to analyze a particular poem or poems, or a particular technique and report to the class as a whole. The group will receive a grade for the work, omitting persons who are absent. At the end of the term members of the group will evaluate themselves and each other; this evaluation, and my evaluation of respective contributions and preparedness, may modify the credit an individual member receives for this element of the course.
V. (10%) Attendance. Everyone will start with 80 points (a minimal B) in "attendance." You will turn in a 3x5 index card whenever you are present. If you do not turn in a card, you will lose a point. If you are absent unavoidably, however, you will not lose a point. If you wish, you may gain additional points by writing a comment or question on your card relating to the reading and making it clear that you have been reading thoughtfully. You will not get these extra credit points automatically just because you write something, but if you earn more extra credit than you need for this aspect of the course, it will be applied to other aspects.
VI. (Possibly) If I find that people are not actually doing the reading assignments, I will have to introduce quizzes requiring the identification of quotations. If so, the aggregate grade on such quizzes will count 10% and assignments I and II will count 25% each instead of 30%.

Plagiarism: DON'T
NOTE: I am required to tell you, as if you didn't know, that you are not permitted to plagiarize and the minimum penalty for doing so is a 0 (much worse than an F) on the assignment. Note that using web sources without acknowledgement is plagiarism; note also that web sources are of very different value. Do not use material from a web site without identifying it, and do not trust it unless you can find proof of the author's expertise.

Tentative Reading and Discussion Schedule

(Films and Prose Selections, if any, will be announced later: ALWAYS CHECK ONLINE SYLLABUS if you are late or absent). Assignments for future dates may be made more specific, as in the assignment for January 10, if and as that seems useful. You are responsible for finding out about changes.

Please read ASAP. Brief biographies of the poets: Yeats, by Louise Bogan, in the Atlantic Monthly, May 1938. Online For Whitman, see introduction to texts and the online discussion of the way biographers have interpreted his life, written by J. Mitchell, a doctoral candidate at the University of Mississippi

January
8 Introduction
10 LG 1855, pp 25-43 (end at l. 387). LG 1892, pp. 22-37. Try to spot all the differences between the two versions, some of which are large (title, sections numbered by poet, not editor) and some small but significant (introduction of parentheses, changes of tense). What image of himself (that is, of the persona he presents as himself in the poem), his reader, and the work of the poet does Whitman seem to establish in this, his opening statement to the world as a poet? Cowley's introduction can help. Browse Yeats 7-50. Check Yeats's notes (453-54); do this for all assignments. You may also wish to consult the editor's explanatory notes. Try to think why Yeats has selected these poems as representative of his first two volumes and why he has arranged them in the order they have. He did not simply reprint the original texts. Select several poems that stand out to you as especially well crafted. What does he seem to see as the role of the poet, or the poet in Ireland? Consider Bogan's quotation from Yeats's speech accepting the Nobel prize, in which he talks about himself and his muse in youth.
15 Trios and Quartets complete discussion of the preceding assignment.
17 Complete Song of Myself, in both versions. Yeats's The Wind among the Reeds.
22 Trios and Quartets.
24 Other poems from 1855, with later versions where available. Yeats: In the Seven Woods; The Green Helmet and Other Poems
29 Trios and Quartets
31 Leaves 1855 Introduction (prose); Yeats Responsibilities
February
5 Trios and Quartets
7 Whitman Children of Adam; Yeats The Wild Swans at Coole
12 T&Q
14Whitman Calamus; Yeats Michael Robartes
19 T&Q
21Whitman Sea-Drift; Yeats The Tower
26 FIRST PAPER
28 T&Q

March
5-7 SPRING BREAK

12 Whitman By the Roadside Yeats The Winding Stair
14 T&Q
19 T&Q
21 Whitman Drum-Taps Yeats Parnell's Funeral and Other Poems
26 T&Q
28 Whitman Memories of President Lincoln, By Blue Ontario's Shore, and Reversals; Yeats New Poems
April
2 T&Q
4 Whitman Whispers of Heavenly Death, Songs of Parting; Yeats: Last Poems
9 T&Q
11 T&Q
16 SECOND PAPER For examples of poems inspired by our poets and for ideas for your toolbox assignment, click here.
18 T&Q
23 Tool Box
25 (Not a class day): rewrites due.