Reading Poetry

What is poetry? What is poetical language and how do we differentiate it from everyday language? How do we read poetry and what are the main characteristics of a poetical work? These are some of the main questions that this seminar will address. The course will entail a discussion of lyrical works from various periods of English literature. We will begin with an overview of the poetical works of the Middle Ages through the Renaissance and Restoration, the Enlightenment and the Romantic Period to the Victorian era, the Modernism and Post-Modernism. The course will attempt to provide an overview of the history of poetry in England, the theoretical scope relevant to the analysis of a poetic work and the methods a critic requires to interpret a work of poetry. Some of the authors whose works will be discussed in the seminar are Shakespeare, Milton, Byron and Shelley, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, T. S. Eliot, W. B. Yates and many others. Several guest lectures will provide insight into the poetic works of other English-speaking authors from the USA, South Africa and Jamaica. Participation in the seminar will require a lot of reading of both poetry and theoretical works. Each seminar participant will be asked to prepare an interpretation of a poem included in the seminar programme. A Semesterapparat containing both primary and secondary sources will be prepared by the beginning of the semester Anglistik - Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft General Requirements - Regular participation; active contribution to the discussion; a short term paper and/or oral presentation on a selected topic 2 Kreditpunkte - Short oral presentation and/or short written assignment (1000-1500 words) 5 Kreditpunkte - Short oral presentation and a short written assignment (2500 - 3000 words) Universität Siegen WiSe 2010/11 M.A. Drenkov Boris M.A