Class Information

Phone/Voicemail
480-965-3800

Email
aarios@asu.edu

Office Hours
M, 1:30-2:00; T, 9:30-11:30, and by appointment.

Prerequisites
MFA candidate, Poetry.  No exceptions without prior permission of professor.

Emergency site
Philomathian bench, on Old Main common, behind Language and
Literature building.

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e will write one poem a week.  These will be submitted, discussed, and carefully tracked.  Though the success of the poem as a Poem will be a healthy consideration, more important, especially in the more complicated forms, will be adherence to--and understanding of--the rules of the form.  To paraphrase Frost, there's no sense in playing tennis without a net, at least in a course of this nature.  The best, certainly, will be the poem that neither compromises nor neglects either consideration.  Some of the forms will be chosen by you, though most will be assigned.

     I expect you to submit work as completely and professionally as possible, always typed.  I don't want to belabor this point, but you get the idea: You will want to consider grammar, typing, proofreading, and so on.  I know I will.  Yes, spelling counts.  Please bring a folder for me to keep your work in.  As you submit assignments, make sure you have a copy of what you give me.  I will keep your poems in a folder
--please bring one to class next time, with your name written on the outside.  Bring enough copies of your poem to pass out to other students.  Each assignment should be submitted with your name, the name of the form, and the number of the assignment at the top.  Each poem should be typed once single-spaced--or whatever your preference is--and, on the same page or on the reverse, should be typed double-spaced (or triple-spaced) and scanned, as the form dictates.  I'll explain further in class.

     You may wish to hand in two poems for an assignment, one in a form, the other in free verse, not for extra credit but for your own illumination and that of the class.  You may also wish to try the same subject in several different forms, which I think would be fun.

     You will write a required research paper, with appropriate endnotes and bibliography, of at least one bazillion words, or 5 pages, whichever comes first.  As far as the grade is concerned, this paper will count as the value of approximately three assigned poems.  The paper will be due about 3/4 of the way through the semester.  The subject matter will be the devising of your own form and the writing of your own poem within that form, with appropriate discussion and example.  You will also write an anti-paper for me at the end of the semester
--more to come on this later.

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