ENG.3050 Idea of the Poet From Shakespeare to Rap
This course studies how the idea of the poet and of poetry have evolved over the last five centuries. We will track this evolution by working with multiple types of evidence: poems, films, letters, prose statements, rap lyrics. The course will be divided into two units. Unit One will take a biographical approach to canonical English poets. We'll read poems and watch films about figures such as Shakespeare, Keats, Dickinson, W.C. Williams, Plath, and Neruda in order to track the changing responsibilities and aspirations of poets from 16th c. England to 20th c. Chile. The second unit will focus on the social meanings of poetry in contemporary global society. We will examine how poetry functions in different social spaces-in school classrooms, prisons, slam poetry events, weddings, religious ceremonies, and rap battle-as portrayed in recent poems, films, and documentaries. As a result of taking this course, students will gain a transhistorical and cross-cultural appreciation for the various expectations for poetry in the transition from elite culture to contemporary social formations.