Reading Poetry

Upon completion of any first-year English literature course, the successful student should be able to

1. read analytically and reflectively with attention to the subtleties of language;
2. recognize and understand literary devices;
3. practice writing as a process involving pre-writing, drafting, revising and editing;
4. write an essay of literary analysis that develops an argumentative thesis supported by appropriate, correctly integrated and cited evidence; and
5. give and receive constructive criticism on written work.

Upon completion of English 1114, the successful student should also be able to recognize and understand a range of poetic devices and features, including

1. A poem’s situation and speaker;
2. Theme;
3. Poetic forms (open / free verse versus closed or constraint-driven forms, such as the ballad, sonnet or lipogram);
4. Emotional tone (such as irony);
5. Figurative language (such as imagery, metaphor and symbolism);
6. Literary allusions;
7. Diction (such as formal versus colloquial, and the differences between denotative and connotative meaning);
8. Syntax and other details of grammar and style (such as enjambment);
9. Prosody and sound effects (such as alliteration, rhythm and rhyme).