English 202:

Modern British and American Poetry

            Spring 2008

Stephen C. Behrendt
319 Andrews; 472-1806
Office: 1230-130 TR
and by appointment

Email Dr. Behrendt

                Kazimir Malevich, Still Life (1913)

Required Texts:

Modern Poems: A Norton Introduction, 2nd ed. Richard Ellmann and Robert O’Clair, eds.
Nebraska Presence: An Anthology of Poetry. Greg Kosmicki and Mary K. Stillwell, eds.

Aims of This Course:

This is an introductory survey of some of the major poetry written in English during the past century or so. The main objective of this course is to help each of you become familiar with modern poetry and to gain both experience and confidence in talking and writing about it. During the semester we will try to identify some of the major themes treated in this poetry, consider some of the major social, intellectual, and aesthetic issues addressed in that poetry, and examine the variety of poetic forms and devices used by the poets we will be studying. One of our objectives, then, will be for each of you to get to know this body of poetry from the representative sampling we can study during a single semester. Another objective will be for you better to understand some of the ways that poetry intersects with the main currents of “modern” thought and the modern world in all its diversity. And, finally, another objective, which emerges toward the end of the course, will be for us to situate the work of contemporary poets from Nebraska within this broader context of modern poetry.

Teaching Method:

We will work almost exclusively through classroom discussion based upon the assigned readings. Occasionally, I may offer some brief mini-lectures to provide background information we may need. Everyone will be responsible for participation in the daily discussions, and each of you will be responsible at least once in the semester for getting the discussion started on a poem of your choice.

Requirements:

1. Reading: You must read – in advance – the poems assigned for each day’s session.
2. Attendance: It should go without saying, but the legal department requires me to say it anyway: you must attend all class sessions, unless dire circumstances, natural (or unnatural) disasters, massive snowbanks, a hundred-year flood, or the onset of plague, catarrh, or la grippe makes your presence impossible.
3. Discussion: You must contribute on a regular basis to classroom discussion of the assigned readings. To earn an “A” in the discussion component of the course, you must be participating on a daily basis; the occasional comment from time to time will not earn you a passing grade for discussion. I will enforce this requirement, and I will assign discussion grades accordingly.
4. Writing: You will write two brief papers during the course of the semester, probably not involving research. You will also write a comprehensive final examination at the semester’s end. And you will complete a course evaluation during the semester’s final week.

Grade Weights and Policy for English 202:

• 2 brief papers. Each will count for 25% of your course grade                (50%)
• comprehensive final examination. This will count for 35% of your grade (35%)
• discussion. Discussion constitutes 15% of your course grade                 (15%)
                                                                                                              100%

NO ONE will receive a course grade above a “B” who does not contribute to discussions on a regular basis, regardless of grades on examinations and papers.

NOTE: Your enrollment in this course constitutes your acceptance of these course requirements and grading expectations.

Questions, Problems, etc.

I am often available at times other than my posted office hours, and we can generally set up appointments at mutually convenient times if you need to chat about the course or other university matters.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact the instructor for a confidential discussion of their individual needs for academic accommodation. It is the policy of the University of Nebraska - Lincoln to provide flexible and individualized accommodation to students with documented disabilities that may affect their ability to fully participate in course activities or to meet course requirements. To receive accommodation services, students must be registered with the services for students with Disabilities (SSD) office, 132 Canfield Administration, 472-3787 voice or TTY.