20th Century American Poetry

A selected chronological survey of some of the major poets of the period and an examination of some of the movements, cultural and historical, that influenced them. Poets such as Frost, Stevens, Williams, Roethke, Lowell, Bishop, Ginsberg, Merwin, Ai, and Gluck will be studied in terms of historical contexts and modern and post-modern trends in poetry. The long poetic dialogue about such issues as race, gender, and religion will be considered, and this course will provide students with an understanding of how today’s writers have formed currently held poetic, aesthetic and sociopolitical values.