HomeMy WebLinkAboutENG-207
Bergen Community College
Division of Humanities
English Department
Course Syllabus
ENG 207: Creative Writing Workshop - Poetry
Course Description:
This is a course in which students write poetry using both lyric and narrative styles. The course
will focus on a study of contemporary poetry, but students will also gain an understanding of
traditional poetic forms such as the sonnet, villanelle, sestina, ode, and elegy. In addition to
producing a portfolio of original poems, students will read and discuss each other’s work as
well as that of published authors.
Credits: 3; Lecture 3
Prerequisite: ENG-101 Composition I
Corequisite: None
Student Learning Objectives:
As a result of meeting the requirements in this course, you will be able to:
1. Identify the special genre demands of poetry by reading and discussing the work of
published poets.
2. Use the elements of craft and style to write original poems.
3. Understand publication conventions and apply standards of professional manuscript
preparation for classroom submissions or submissions for publication.
4. Employ critical approaches and exercise aesthetic sensibilities through interaction with
others in the workshop process.
5. Locate and evaluate important writer resources such as publications, markets, and
continuing educational opportunities.
Means of Assessment:
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Students will be required to do the following:
1. Write and revise several works of poetry in various styles and forms. (SLO 1-3)
2. Employ poetic techniques through on exercises that will be reviewed by both the instructor
and peers. (SLO 1, 2, 4)
3. Read, interpret, and analyze the craft of professional literary works and model student
works. (SLO 1, 4)
4. Comprehend and apply various literary terms/techniques in discussion of professional and
student works. (SLO 1, 4)
5. Present various works in workshop and participate in the discussion of other students’ work.
(SLO 1, 4)
6. Complete other class activities that support the development of quality work. (SLO 1, 3, 4)
7. Demonstrate an understanding of publication conventions and apply standards of
professional manuscript preparation. (SLO 5)
Grading Policy
Instructor’s specific grading policy must be included in the syllabus distributed to students. Instructors
must include an explicit statement on penalties for late or missed assignments.
Attendance Policy
BCC Attendance Policy: “All students are expected to attend punctually every scheduled meeting of
each course in which they are registered. Attendance and lateness policies and sanctions are to be
determined by the instructor for each section of each course. These will be established in writing on the
individual course outline. Attendance will be kept by the instructor for administrative and counseling
purposes.”
Instructor’s specific attendance policy must be included in the syllabus distributed to students.
Course Texts and Other Required Materials
Specific required textbook(s) will be included in each instructor’s syllabus.
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Example: Behn, Robin and Chase Twichell, eds. The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises from Poets
Who Teach. Harper, 1992.
BCC Statement on Academic integrity (2022-23 Catalog):
Bergen Community College is committed to academic integrity – the honest, fair, and continuing pursuit
of knowledge, free from fraud or deception.
Students are responsible for their own work. Faculty and academic support services staff will take
appropriate measures to discourage academic dishonesty.
The College recognizes the following general categories of violations of academic integrity. Academic
integrity is violated whenever a student does one or more of the following:
1. Uses unauthorized assistance in any academic work.
● copies from another student’s exam
● uses notes, books, electronic devices or other aids of any kind during an exam, when
doing so is prohibited
● steals an exam or possesses a stolen copy of any exam
2. Gives unauthorized assistance to another student
● completes a graded academic activity or takes an exam for someone else
● gives answers to or shares answers with another student before or during an exam or
other graded academic activity
● shares answers during an exam by using a system of signals
3. Fabricates data in support of an academic assignment
● cites sources that do not exist
● cites sources that were not used
● submits any academic assignment which contains falsified or fabricated data or results
4. Inappropriately or unethically uses technological means to gain academic advantage
● inappropriately or unethically acquires material via the Internet or by any other means
● uses any devices (electronic or hidden) for communication or unauthorized retrieval of
information during an exam
Accessibility Statement
Bergen Community College is committed to ensuring the full participation of all students in its
programs. If you have a documented disability (or think you may have a disability) and, as a result, need
a reasonable accommodation to participate in this class, complete course requirements, or benefit from
the College’s programs or services, contact the Office of Special Services (OSS) as soon as possible at
201-612-5270 or www.bergen.edu/oss. To receive any academic accommodation, you must be
appropriately registered with OSS. The OSS works with students confidentially and does not disclose
any disability-related information without their permission. The OSS serves as a clearinghouse on
disability issues and works in partnership with faculty and all other student service offices.
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Support Services
Distance Learning Office Room C
334
201-612-5581
psimms@bergen.edu
English Language Resource
Center
Room E-
156
201-612-5292
http://www.bergen.edu/pages/2182.asp
Writing Center Room L
125
201-447- 7489
http://www.bergen.edu/pages/1795.asp
Office of Specialized
Services
Room L
116
201-612-5270
www.bergen.edu/oss
Sidney Silverman Library Room L-
226
201-447-7131
www.bergen.edu/library
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Sample 15-Week Course Syllabus
Week 1: Introduction
Favorite Poem Discussion
Week 2:
Free Verse vs. Traditional Forms
Lyric Poems vs. Narrative Poems (McClatchey: selected poems)
Exercise 1: Thinking Lyrically
Week 3: Basics of Poetry – Line, Meter, Stanza (Strand: 136-161) The
Sounds of Words: Alliteration, Assonance, Rhyme
(McClatchey: selected poems)
Exercise 2: Line Breaks
Week 4: The Importance of Image and Image Patters (McClatchey: selected poems)
Exercise 3: The Natural World as Image
Workshop
Week 5 Figures of Speech: Metaphor, Simile, Personification, Hyperbole
Exercise 4: Create an Image Pattern
Workshop
Week 6 Voice and Tone (McClatchey: selected poems)
Exercise 5: Working with Metaphor
Workshop
Week 7 Poetic Endings (McClatchey: selected poems)
Exercise 6: Creating sound patterns
Workshop
Week 8 The Sonnet (Strand: 55-72)
Exercise 7: Art as Inspiration
Workshop
Week 9 The Villanelle and The Pantoum (Strand: 5-20; 43-54)
Exercise 8: Repeating Oneself
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Workshop
Week 10 The Ballad and Blank Verse (Strand: 73-100; 101-120)
Exercise 9: Historic Allusions
Workshop
Week 11 The Ode and The Elegy (Strand: 167-205; 240-258)
Exercise 10: Sincerity and Sentimentality
Workshop
Week 12 The Pastoral (Strand: 207-238)
Exercise 11: Free Association
Workshop
Week 13 Writing About Things That Matter: The Difficulty of Current Affairs
Exercise 12: Current Event
Workshop
Week 14 Discussion on Publication Markets
The Art of Submission
Week 15 Why Poetry Matters (Selected Poems)
Portfolios Due