Instructor: Dr. Robin Chen-hsing Tsai
Hours: Thursday 8:20-10:10 AM
Course Objective: To impart a familiarity with English and American poetry by examining their poetic forms in terms of "sound and sense" and to learn how to apply various interpretive strategies to the reading of poetry in general.
Textbook: Thomas R. Arp, Perrine's Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry. New York:
                HB, 1997.
Grading: Midterm 30%, Final 40%, Class Discussion 30%
Requirement: Class attendance is mandatory.

Wk Date     Description
1     9/24      Introduction
2     10/1      What makes a poem a poem?--terza rima, octava rima, spenserian stanza, sonnet
                    concrete poetry, quatrain, quintain, sapphic stanza, blank verse, free verse
3     10/8      Analyzing a poem: Imagery (ch. 4)
4     10/15    Analyzing a poem: Allusion (ch. 8)
5     10/22    Analyzing a poem: Tone (ch. 10)
6     10/29    Analyzing a poem: Figurative Speech: Simile and metaphor (ch. 5)
7     11/5      Analyzing a poem: Symbol and Allegory (ch. 6)
8     11/12    HOLIDAY
9     11/19    Midterm
10   11/26     Analyzing a poem: Irony and Paradox (ch. 7)
11   12/3       Sound and Meaning (ch. 13)
12   12/10     Meaning and Sense (ch. 9)
13   12/17     Denotation and Connotation (ch. 3)
14   12/24     Music Devices (ch. 11)
15   12/31     Pattern (ch. 14)
16   1/7         Wrap-up
17   1/15       Final