Defining Poetry

can/should we pin it down?

Getting at long-standing debate

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clip from the film The Dead Poets Society

Poetry: Getting a Grip in Groups

The questions:

How does one generate a poem? What is/are the creative process(es)? Can these be understood? In other words, what is the job of the poet? (Consider Kooser.)
What is a poem? What makes it different from other forms of writing? From prose? From other forms of art?
Why does one write a poem? What purpose does it serve? Why bother? What are its ends?

The task:

As a group, consider carefully your assigned question. Discuss it.
Brainstorm a list of possible answers to your questions; then work to refine your answer into a few sentences.
Dip into your poetry anthology for the course to support your answers or to illustrate your claims. Identify at least one poem to share in support of your points.

Write a Poetic Definition

We will work to balance the critical and the creative throughout this course...

Assignment: Let's start this ongoing conversation by writing a poem (in free verse) which attempts to illuminate the nature of a poets job or poetry itself: a poem about poetry in other words.