To explore and explain the prominence of such poets as Wallace Stevens, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Lowell and Allen Ginsberg in twentieth-century American poetry.
To familiarise you with the work of some of their representative inheritors and followers in the "Confessional", “Beat” and “New York” schools.
To address the major concerns of the American tradition in the wake of Modernism: reactions to materialism, the role of Emersonian individualism, the use of idiomatic language, and the development of the poetic line.
To analyse parallel and later developments, including some or all of the following: relations between the literary and the oral; the growth of jazz-inflected poetry and relations between poetry and song; the feminist poetics of Adrienne Rich; and the postmodern aesthetic of John Ashbery.

(LO1) Improved reading skills applied to American poetry since 1930 and to poetry more generally.

(LO2) An enhanced understanding of poetics.

(LO3) An increased understanding of the literary, methodological, historical and cultural contexts of the poetic writing of the period.

(LO4) An ability to question the presuppositions of these contexts in a critically informed manner.

(S1) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Presentation skills - written

(S2) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Influencing skills – argumentation

(S3) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Communicating for audience

Authors covered typically include: Wallace Stevens, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Lowell, Frank O'Hara, John Berryman, Adrienne Rich, Theodore Roethke, Jorie Graham, Allen Ginsberg, John Ashbery and Adrienne Rich.

Teaching Method 1 - Lecture
Description:
Attendance Recorded: Yes
Notes: The lectures occur once a week

Teaching Method 2 - Tutorial
Description:
Attendance Recorded: No
Notes: The weekly tutorials are 90 minutes long