Literature 309 - Modern American Poets I

Institution:

Bard College

Subject:

Description:

The first American modernists (Pound, Eliot, and H. D.) were driven by cultural anxiety-the longing for a tradition they didn't have-toinvent a new kind of poetry. Others went in different directions: Gertrude Stein, by radically severing her language from syntactical and narrative meaning; Wallace Stevens, by writing poems of linguistic event and philosophical meditation; Marianne Moore, by depersonalizing the lyric subject in syllabic prose poems. Last but not least, Robert Frost and William Carlos Williams-one a traditionalist, the other a modernist-found new ways of speaking in a "homemade"American voice. In this course, students identify what is distinctive about each of these poets, taking into account the traditions from which their work derives (English Romanticism, French symbolism, Japanese haiku, etc.), while also acknowledging the lasting influence of Emerson's call for intellectual independence in American letters. Some attention is also given to lesser voices, such as Robinson Jeffers, John Crowe Ransom, and e. e. cummings.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.bard.edu

Phone Number:

(845) 758-6822

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

The Course Profile information is provided and updated by third parties including the respective institutions. While the institutions are able to update their information at any time, the information is not independently validated, and no party associated with this website can accept responsibility for its accuracy.