CQUniversity Unit Profile
LITR19049 Romantic and Contemporary Poetry
Romantic and Contemporary Poetry
All details in this unit profile for LITR19049 have been officially approved by CQUniversity and represent a learning partnership between the University and you (our student).
The information will not be changed unless absolutely necessary and any change will be clearly indicated by an approved correction included in the profile.
General Information

Overview

Poetry, as they say, is a many splendid thing: the art of the unsayable, an outlet for expressing innermost thoughts and feelings, a special use of language and poetic forms such as metaphor and metonymy, a certain kind of discourse, an aesthetic practice, a form of knowing that sits outside conventional epistemologies - the list goes on. Poetry has had a significant influence on contemporary intellectual thought: Freud, for example, repeatedly acknowledged that the poets preceded him in all his thoughts. The aim of this unit is to introduce students to the plethora of poets and poetic forms represented in the Romantic and Contemporary eras, to show them a form of advanced poetics that will inform their reading practices, and to introduce the sorts of challenges to modern poetic orthodoxies represented by recent developments in post-structuralist literary theory. Students will also explore the main influences poetry has had on contemporary thought.

Details

Career Level: Undergraduate
Unit Level: Level 2
Credit Points: 6
Student Contribution Band: 7
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load: 0.125

Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

There are no requisites for this unit.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Offerings For Term 2 - 2017

Distance

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Class and Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Class Timetable

Bundaberg, Cairns, Emerald, Gladstone, Mackay, Rockhampton, Townsville
Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney

Assessment Overview

1. Written Assessment
Weighting: 20%
2. Written Assessment
Weighting: 30%
3. Written Assessment
Weighting: 50%

Assessment Grading

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.

Previous Student Feedback

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Feedback from Student feedback.

Feedback

"Leave weekly journals open so can submit when able to."

Recommendation

While it is not appropriate to leave blog platforms open indefinitely (as this would actually defeat the purpose of a "weekly journal") platforms will be open for two weeks during the 2017 offering of the unit (rather than one week). This will also ensure students to not complete all blogs in "one hit", which again, actually defeats the purpose of this assessment item.

Feedback from Student feedback.

Feedback

"Inclusion of contemporary artists makes us aware that though the format has changed, poetry still exists and is as important, or even more so than ever before."

Recommendation

The inclusion of the selected contemporary poets will remain unchanged in 2017.

Feedback from Student feedback.

Feedback

"I like to [sic] forum element so everyone can have their say. There are a variety of perspectives that not everyone is aware of, and the forums and blog posts help give insight. "

Recommendation

The inclusion of forum platforms for students to express their thoughts and ideas regarding poetry and poets will remain a feature of the unit offering in 2017.

Unit Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
  1. Analyse selected poems from the Romantic and contemporary eras using advanced poetics.
  2. Identify and evaluate ideas that both affirm and contest orthodox canonic views of poetry, such as the transparency of language, the fixity of meaning, the unity of the self, and non-ideological access to universal truth, within the framework of modern poetry.
  3. Communicate research outcomes and cogent arguments with advanced oral and written communication skills.
Alignment of Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Graduate Attributes
N/A Level
Introductory Level
Intermediate Level
Graduate Level
Professional Level
Advanced Level

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes

Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Written Assessment - 20%
2 - Written Assessment - 30%
3 - Written Assessment - 50%

Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes

Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Communication
2 - Problem Solving
3 - Critical Thinking
4 - Information Literacy
5 - Team Work
6 - Information Technology Competence
7 - Cross Cultural Competence
8 - Ethical practice
9 - Social Innovation
10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes

Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Written Assessment - 20%
2 - Written Assessment - 30%
3 - Written Assessment - 50%
Textbooks and Resources

Textbooks

Prescribed

Norton Anthology of Poetry

Edition: 5th edn revised (2005)
Authors: Ferguson, M., Salter, M. J., & Stallworthy, J. (eds).
WW Norton & Company.
New York New York , NY , USA
ISBN: 9780393979206
Binding: Paperback

IT Resources

You will need access to the following IT resources:
  • CQUniversity Student Email
  • Internet
  • Unit Website (Moodle)
Referencing Style

All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Harvard (author-date)

For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.

Teaching Contacts
Nicole Anae Unit Coordinator
n.anae@cqu.edu.au
Schedule
Week 1 Begin Date: 10 Jul 2017

Module/Topic

Introduction

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 2 Begin Date: 17 Jul 2017

Module/Topic

Reading Poetry: Meaning Beyond Sense

Chapter

John Stephens (Chapters 5 & 6) - Library CRO

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 3 Begin Date: 24 Jul 2017

Module/Topic

Romantic Poetry

Chapter

Blake, Wordsworth

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 4 Begin Date: 31 Jul 2017

Module/Topic

Romantic Poetry

Chapter

Shelley, Coleridge

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 5 Begin Date: 07 Aug 2017

Module/Topic

Romantic Poetry

Chapter

Byron, Keats, Barrett Browning

Events and Submissions/Topic

Vacation Week Begin Date: 14 Aug 2017

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 6 Begin Date: 21 Aug 2017

Module/Topic

Romantic Poetry; Victorians, early modern poetry

Chapter

Tennyson, Emerson, Whitman, Arnold, Dickinson

Events and Submissions/Topic

Assessment Item 1: Short Paper Due: Week 6 Friday (25 Aug 2017) 5:00 pm AEST
Week 7 Begin Date: 28 Aug 2017

Module/Topic

Early Modern(ist) Poetry

Chapter

Yeats, Hopkins, Frost, Stevens, Carlos Williams, Lawrence

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 8 Begin Date: 04 Sep 2017

Module/Topic

Modern(ist) Poetry

Chapter

Pound, Eliot, Parker, Cummings, Moore.

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 9 Begin Date: 11 Sep 2017

Module/Topic

Modern(ist) Poetry

Chapter

Empson, Auden, Roethke, Thomas

Events and Submissions/Topic

Essay Due: Week 9 Friday (15 Sept 2017) 5:00 pm AEST
Week 10 Begin Date: 18 Sep 2017

Module/Topic

Contemporary Poetry

Chapter

Meredith, Koch, Ginsberg, O'Hara

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 11 Begin Date: 25 Sep 2017

Module/Topic

Contemporary Poetry

Chapter

Ashberry, Rich, Hughes, Plath, Lorde, Murray

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 12 Begin Date: 02 Oct 2017

Module/Topic

Contemporary Poetry

Chapter

Atwood, Heaney, Fenton

Events and Submissions/Topic

Poetry Journal Due: Week 12 Friday (6 Oct 2017) 5:00 pm AEST
Review/Exam Week Begin Date: 09 Oct 2017

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Exam Week Begin Date: 16 Oct 2017

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Assessment Tasks

1 Written Assessment

Assessment Title
Assessment Item 1: Short Paper

Task Description

Weighting: 20%

Due: Week 6 Friday (25-Aug-2017)

Length: 750-1000 words

Topic: Choose one of the weekly discussion questions from the unit website as the topic for your short paper (submit via Moodle).

NOTE: Poems and poets used for this short paper may not be used in the essay (Assessment 2 - Essay).

Please see unit moodle site for specific details about this assessment item.


Assessment Due Date

Week 6 Friday (25 Aug 2017) 5:00 pm AEST


Return Date to Students

Week 8 Friday (8 Sept 2017)


Weighting
20%

Assessment Criteria

The short paper will be assessed using the following criteria:

  1. The way in which the analysis of the poetry reflects an understanding of analytical techniques used in John Stephen's Reading the signs, chapters 5 & 6;
  2. The proper formatting of the prose and references according to the Harvard (author-date) referencing style;
  3. Clarity of expression and presentation (including spelling and grammar).


Referencing Style

Submission
Online

Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Analyse selected poems from the Romantic and contemporary eras using advanced poetics.
  • Identify and evaluate ideas that both affirm and contest orthodox canonic views of poetry, such as the transparency of language, the fixity of meaning, the unity of the self, and non-ideological access to universal truth, within the framework of modern poetry.
  • Communicate research outcomes and cogent arguments with advanced oral and written communication skills.


Graduate Attributes
  • Communication
  • Critical Thinking
  • Information Literacy
  • Information Technology Competence
  • Ethical practice

2 Written Assessment

Assessment Title
Essay

Task Description

Choose ONE of the following topics (poems and poets used for the short paper - Assignment 1 - may not be used in this essay):

  1. In his discussion of 'Materialism and poetry', Anthony Easthope states that 'the content and form [of a poem] cannot be separated, whether as ideological practice and signifying practice, or as the ideological and the aesthetic. The refutation to this position [...] lies in the fact of the precedence of the signifier' (Poetry as discourse 1983, p. 22). Discuss this statement using a fair selection of poetry discussed during the term.
  2. One of the characteristic of Romanticism is a fascination with the past, particularly mysticism, myths, and legends. Explore, compare, and contrast the treatment of this trope in the poetry of a good cross section of Romantic poets.
  3. Michael Riffaterre argues that poetry works by semantic indirection, a process which involves a three-way schema: 1) displacing - when the sign shifts from one meaning to another, or when one words stands for another (metaphor and metonymy); 2) distorting - when there is ambiguity, contradiction or nonsense; and 3) creating - when the textual space serves as a principle of organisation for making signs out of linguistic items that may not be meaningful otherwise (rhyme, metre, symmetry, homology) (The semiotics of poetry 1984, p. 2). Working with a selection of modern and contemporary poetry, explore the significance of Riffaterre's comment for our practice of reading poetry.
  4. Jane Dawson argues that 'Since lyric conventions subsume universality into the speaking persona's personal experience, cultural critics have denounced and contemporary poets eschewed the attendant erosion of minority identities into a predominantly male, archaic, and Western mould of humanity' (Carol Ann Duffy: Poet for our times 2016, p. 49). Examine this comment in the context of contemporary poetic challenges to the so-called the speaking persona's personal experience' as reflected in a selection of contemporary poetry.
  5. In 'The Escape from Syntax: or the aesthetics of dissolution', Julia Stanley states that 'All poets must challenge the rules of the language and make language accommodate their meanings' (Twentieth-century Poetry, Fiction, Theory 1977, p. 162). Explore the implications of this comment in the context of a selection of poetry.

    Please refer to the unit moode site for specific detail and further information.


Assessment Due Date

Week 9 Friday (15 Sept 2017) 5:00 pm AEST


Return Date to Students

Week 11 Friday (29 Sept 2017)


Weighting
30%

Assessment Criteria

The Essay will be assessed using the following criteria:

  1. The relevance, insight and depth of analysis of both direct evidence from the poems and associated issues;
  2. The extent to which the Essay demonstrates clear critical thinking skills through the clarity of arguments made and the effective use of secondary material to support both argument and analysis (no less than 5 secondary sources);
  3. The extent to which the Essay demonstrates advanced poetry reading skills;
  4. The proper acknowledgement of all in-text sources and reference list using the Harvard (author-date) referencing style; and,
  5. The extent to which the essay is carefully edited for presentation (expression, spelling and grammar) and overall clarity.


Referencing Style

Submission
Online

Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Analyse selected poems from the Romantic and contemporary eras using advanced poetics.
  • Identify and evaluate ideas that both affirm and contest orthodox canonic views of poetry, such as the transparency of language, the fixity of meaning, the unity of the self, and non-ideological access to universal truth, within the framework of modern poetry.
  • Communicate research outcomes and cogent arguments with advanced oral and written communication skills.


Graduate Attributes
  • Communication
  • Critical Thinking
  • Information Literacy
  • Information Technology Competence
  • Cross Cultural Competence
  • Ethical practice

3 Written Assessment

Assessment Title
Poetry Journal

Task Description

Students will be expected to keep a Blog Poetry Journal during the term. As the Journal is worth 50% of the overall mark, the standard expected will be high. This will require reading the set poems (and others) each week and making weekly entries in the journal that reflect your reading/interpretation of the poems and of any secondary sources as well as notes on your contributions to the discussion board on the e-unit website. You are expected to submit eight (8) total entries over the course of the Term. Each topic section of the Moodle Unit site includes a Blog platform for the respective weekly topics.

Each of the eight (8) entries MUST:

  • a) address at least ONE of the discussion questions listed for each week on the unit website, and
  • b) comments on two Journal blog posts, per week, posted by another student (either different students each week, or, the same two students over the course of the term).

The Poetry Journal must be completed in a timely manner on a weekly basis.

Please refer to the ‘Critical Reading: A Guide’, and ‘A Framework for Reading and Responding to Poetry’ documents (provided on the unit website) for suggestions regarding approaching poetry, which will be helpful for making entries in the journal.


Assessment Due Date

Week 12 Friday (6 Oct 2017) 5:00 pm AEST


Return Date to Students

Poetry Journals will be returned to students as soon as practicable following the end of term.


Weighting
50%

Assessment Criteria

Poetry Journals will be assessed using the following criteria:

  1. The extent to which each of the eight (8) Journal Entries represents an organised, weekly, and genuine attempt to develop an in depth understanding of the poems and associated issues (avoid completing all the blog entries in one 'hit');
  2. The extent to which the Journal Blog as a whole demonstrates clear poetry analysis skills, through the clarity and depth of an engagement with the poem(s), and through the effective use of secondary material to support this analysis;
  3. The Journal comments on two blog posts, per week, posted by another student (either different students each week, or, the same two students over the course of the term)
  4. The extent to which each blog entry properly acknowledges all sources using the Harvard (author-date) referencing style; and, the extent to which the blog entries are carefully edited for presentation (expression, spelling and grammar) and overall clarity.


Referencing Style

Submission
Online

Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Analyse selected poems from the Romantic and contemporary eras using advanced poetics.
  • Identify and evaluate ideas that both affirm and contest orthodox canonic views of poetry, such as the transparency of language, the fixity of meaning, the unity of the self, and non-ideological access to universal truth, within the framework of modern poetry.
  • Communicate research outcomes and cogent arguments with advanced oral and written communication skills.


Graduate Attributes
  • Communication
  • Problem Solving
  • Critical Thinking
  • Information Literacy
  • Information Technology Competence
  • Cross Cultural Competence
  • Ethical practice

Academic Integrity Statement

As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.

Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.

When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.

Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.

As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.

What is a breach of academic integrity?

A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.

Why is academic integrity important?

A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.

Where can I get assistance?

For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.

What can you do to act with integrity?