Instr: Brenda Cardenas
Office: CRT 589; 229-6993
e-mail: cardenab@uwm.edu
Office hours: TBA
Course Information: W 3:30pm-6:10pm; CRT 286
In this workshop, we will explore how various rhythmic and sonic structures and devices establish, or at least influence, the musicality of poems. To this end, we will examine sound as an organizing strategy and emotive force in formal verse, spoken word/performance poetries, and experimental poetries. We will consider formal meter and rhyme patterns, (and how, for example, they underscore meaning), various forms of repetition and refrain, the effects of line and space on rhythm, and experimental emphases on sound that fall outside of traditional semantics. To accomplish this, we will read and listen to a variety of texts, as well as completing exercises in metrical analyses and poetic composition based on a variety of sound-related prompts. A major component of the course will involve students composing their own sound-sensitive poems and bringing them to class to be discussed and critiqued by their classmates.
