English 684 offers both micro and macro analysis of the field of Twentieth-Century American poetry. Course participants can expect close, careful reading of individual twentieth-century poems and, at the same time, exploration of the range of American poetry written in the twentieth century. This dual project demands an understanding of Modernism and Postmodernism and their uniquely challenging poetics. It also demands an engagement with trends that escape, or cut across, these movements: the persistence of the "genteel" tradition; the "New Negro" Renaissance; the Beats; and recent trends in multiculturalism. The primary mode of instruction will be discussion, supplemented by lectures and student presentations.

One presentation; final exam; one shorter essay and a term paper; class attendance and participation in discussion mandatory. Besides readings in the primary texts listed below, course participants can expect regular assignments in poetry criticism and literary history.