2018 - 2019

1662-2224-01
  Identity in American Poetry                                                                          
DEPARTMENT IN HUMANITIES, FACULTY OF
Dara BarnatWebb - School of Languages102Sun1000-1200 Sem  1
Webb - School of Languages102Wed1000-1200 Sem  1
 
 
University credit hours:  4.0

Course description

Dr. Dara Barnat

 

Identity in American Poetry – Course Description

 

In this course, we will be considering how various modes of “identity” – culture, ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, and religion – have been expressed in American poetry, from the mid-19th century to date. We will explore ways in which identity is expressed in both the content and form of poetry. Poets may include Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Muriel Rukeyser, Allen Ginsberg, Sylvia Plath, Audre Lorde, Naomi Shihab Nye, Claudia Rankine, Layli Long Solider, Juan Felipe Herrera, Gustavo Pérez Firmat, and Richard Blanco. As we read these poetic works, we will be asking how the narrative of “America,” such as it is, invites subjective reflection using the lyric “I.” We will also be exploring how identity in American poetry is connected to politics and social justice, and the experience of disenfranchised groups. Alongside poetry, we will be reading critical work on specific poets, and work that interrogates the very notions of “America” and “identity.”

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