Course details

Name: ENGL - 294

Title: WOMENS POETRY

Section: 02

Semester: Fall - 2012

Credits: 3

Description:
Women’s poetry first emerged as a modern cultural force in nineteenth-century Britain. Felicia Hemans, now a little-known figure, was one of the bestselling poets of the century. Annual "gift books" edited by influential writers such as L.E.L. (Letitia Elizabeth Landon) sold out every Christmas season. This course provides an introduction to women’s poetry by looking closely at these and several other nineteenth-century British poets, including such major figures as Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Christina Rossetti. Issues we’ll explore will include the emergence of the "poetess" tradition, the use of the dramatic monologue form by women poets, the problem of a woman writing for a literary marketplace that strongly discouraged female authorship, and women’s representations of love, marriage, motherhood, and war.

In the second half of the term, we’ll establish some counterpoints and parallels by turning to the emergence of four major African-American women poets in the late twentieth century: Gwendolyn Brooks, Rita Dove, Lucille Clifton, and Audre Lorde. Like their nineteenth-century British predecessors, these poets engage with a male-dominated tradition in seeking to define a space for the woman writer in the larger culture, even as they in some respects advance a specifically black (and in the case of Audre Lorde, lesbian) political and lyric sensibility.

By the end of the semester, you will have developed an understanding and appreciation for two major sets of writers in Anglo-American literary history, as well as an enhanced set of tools for analyzing poetry. Requirements include 3 short papers and at least 1 exam.

Last updated on By Behlman Lee (behlmanl)

Schedule: Tuesday From 1:00 pm To 3:30 pm

Graduation requirements:

  • ()
  • Genre Study (Poetry)
  • ()
  • ()
  • ()
  • ()
  • Pre-1900 (1c)
  • Ethnic Studies (3b)
  • Women and Gender Studies (3c)
  • World Cultures (TE 7a)

Teaching Faculty: Behlman Lee (behlmanl)

Is course canceled: No