Poetry: The Voice Within - 4 credits

A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it."—Dylan Thomas. This poetry course provides students a way to make a contribution to themselves and to the world. Students read poems in various forms and from various historical periods. Attention is given to how the poet expresses what is in his heart and mind on the page using image, line, perspective, gesture, metaphor, content, and form. Each class begins with a contemporary poem used as a model. Becoming a strong athlete or a concert pianist requires practice. Students write and revise many poems as well as offer constructive criticism of their classmates’ poems. As a final project, students prepare a chapbook of their best poems.