POST-1865 and DIVERSITY.

The goal of this course is to attempt to answer certain questions raised by the African-American presence in American life through its literature. By addressing issues of identity and ethnicity; in other words, looking at the implications of what it means to be “African American” as explored through literature, we will try to unravel and situate the larger construct within literary modernity, of the relationship between race and art in a meaningful way. In other words, this course will raise such important questions as, how does the African-American or Black artist negotiate what Du Bois once theorized and concluded to be the “strangeness of being black in America?” What is “the Blackness of Blackness?” and of course, how does African-American literature negotiate that complicated but foundational thesis of the Du Boisian, “double consciousness,” in its relationship with a general American reality, a well indeed as the Black Atlantic? At the end of this semester we may come to some understanding of the aesthetic as well as historical, and even political dimensions of African-American literature by examining how African American writers have used different artistic and narrative techniques to raise questions, explore, and even expand the relationship between history and art.

The best poetry is one which engages in a dialogue with poets from across the world, and from across periods; and with the poets of the past and those exercising and sharpening their craft in the contemporary moment. The best works of poetry are inspired and nurtured by reading and listening to other poets, and even other writers in general, and discovering the nuances of language that can affect your poetry in a deep and intimate way. We will write poetry this semester by engaging with poets – both from the past, and of the present; poetry from across the world, as well as poetry written by American pets; including contemporary American poets. 

In this course, our objective would be discovery, exploration, and expression/production of original poetry. There will be four units of class this semester. Each unit will contain modules for three weeks of activity. The first week in each unit will be devoted to experiencing, exploring, and discussing modern and contemporary poetry. The second week in the unit will be devoted to writing poetry; and the third week will be workshop with your peers that would help you develop your voice and other technical aspects of the craft of poetry through close reading. You will be encouraged, as well as required to experiment with various styles and techniques, and to develop confidence and originality, as well as expand your range of language and imagery that should enrich your experience; your power of expression, as well as your ability to contribute to poetic discourse.

This Writing Workshop is an intensive creative writing clinic for honing the craft of 

poetry. It will involve both Critique and Writing. Students are expected to take charge of 

this workshop by providing clear feedback to their peers, through the writing process 

underscored by three key principles and outcomes of this workshop. The principles of 

craft, analysis and rigor. Rigor means the care you put into the craft, and it demands 

self-criticism and personal aesthetic accountability. Analysis presupposes an acquisition 

of critical insight that will help you in the long run examine carefully and engage in the 

meaningful discussion of poetry and poetics, with insight and clarity. You will engage in 

a critique of your peers mindful of your awareness of the craft of poetry, with respect 

and empathy, as well as with honesty. As a community, we will be accountable to each 

other; we will engage in meaningful and respectful discussions, first of the general 

principles and constraints of craft using the examples of our class readings, then with 

each other's work. In other words, we will read established poets, and using their 

examples, craft and revise our own poems through a workshop process. We will 

consider how well we arrange language, and structure the topography of the poem with 

care and intention. We will workshop our poems, revise, and submit our works, within 

the very constraints of allowable time this summer. By the end of this workshop, each 

student would have written and revised a set of 5 poems in different forms, around the 

subject of Space, the found Object, the Magic of Night and waking, and on Music. 

These themes shall form the larger subjects of our detailed and unique responses.