ENG201Y: More readings for Reading poetry
We haven’t yet discussed many of these topics formally, but I’ll be mentioning points ad hoc in class. You’re responsible for everything from Adams, and for reading the relevant entries for each unit in Abrams (or in guides to literary terms/concepts like Harmon & Holman’s Handbook to literature) and in the New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. I also strongly recommend that you read everything else!
Adams, Attridge, Fussell, and Hollander are on short-term loan at Gerstein; the others are in the reference sections of various libraries. There may be glitches with different editions and new call numbers—let me know if there are any inconsistenci es.
If you’re anxious about writing essays about poetry, or literature generally, do have a look at Roberts or Barnet. And all of you can take advantage of your College Writing Centres: they can help you with all stages of the writing process. Just remember to book early, and to keep your appointments.
SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WRITING ENGLISH ESSAYS: (any edition will do!)
Barnet, Sylvan. "Writing about poetry". A short guide to writing about literature. 7th edition. New York: HarperCollins, 1996. [PE 1479 C7 B3/PN 81 B35 1996 ROBA, TRIF]
Roberts, Edgar. "Writing about Prosody: rhythm, sound, and rhyme in poetry". "Writing two themes based on a close reading: I. General content and II. Style". Writing themes about literature. 7th ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1991. [PE 1408 R593 ROBA], or
Roberts, Edgar. Writing about literature. 8th ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1995. [PE 1408 R593 ROBA, UNIV, VUPT]
*Abrams, M.H. "Alliteration", "Onomatopoeia", "Rhyme"; "Sonnet", "Stanza" A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1999. [PN 44.5 A2 1999].
Adams, Stephen. Chapter 3: "Stanza and Form", and Appendix 1: The Terminology of Rhyming. Poetic designs. Broadview, 1997.
Fussell, Paul. "The English stanzas". Poetic meter and poetic form. Rev. ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979. [PE 1505 F78 STL]
Hollander, John. Rhyme’s reason: a guide to English verse. New, enlarged edition. New Haven and London: 1989. [It’s short!] [PE 1505 H6 1989 STL]
"Alliteration", "Assonance", "Consonance", "Onomatopoia", "Rhyme", "Sonnet", "Stanza." The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Ed. Alex Preminger and T.V.F. Brogan. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1993. [PN 1021 E5 1993]
Barbara Herrnstein Smith’s Poetic Closure:A Study of How Poems End (Chicago and London: U of Chicago Press, 1968) has a useful discussion of "thematic structure". Is your poem ordered sequentially? if so, is that sequen ce temporal? logical? Is the order more associative? random/levelling?
*Abrams, M.H. "Meter." A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1999. [PN 44.5 A2 1999].
Adams, Stephen. Chapters 1 and 2: "Meter and Rhythm", "Beyond Iambic Pentameter", and Appendix 2: Sample Scansions, with commentary. Poetic designs. Broadview, 1997.
Attridge, Derek. "Functions of rhythms in poetry". Poetic rhythm: an introduction. Cambridge and New York: CUP, 1995. [PE 1505 A86 1995 STL]
Fussell, Paul. "The technique of scansion", "Metrical variations", and "Some critical implications of metrical analysis.". Poetic meter &poetic form. Rev. ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979. [PE 1505 F78 STL]
"Meter. VI. Functions." The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Ed. Alex Preminger and T.V.F. Brogan. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1993. [PN 1021 E5 1993]