ENGL 2690 - American Poetry Since 1850

(crosslisted) AMST 2690
(ALC-AS, LA-AS)

Fall or Spring. 4 credits. Student option grading.

This course counts toward the Literatures of the Americas and post-1800 requirements for English majors.

G. Hutchinson.

This course introduces students to major American poets from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. It is designed for anyone wanting to deepen their knowledge of and appreciation for poetry while also addressing its relationship to modern American social and cultural history. It addresses questions about what poetry is for, why it is often “difficult,” how it is related to language-play as a basic human drive that engages with personal anxieties, bodily rhythms, social and existential tensions, and the riddles of existence. Another through-line of this course is the relationship of poetry to democracy in the United States.