B13: Understanding Poetry - 6 units
Carolyn McGrath                 
Mon. 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. - Oct. 27, Nov. 3, 10, 17, Dec. 1, 8  
Senior Center - Limit: 25

Carolyn McGrath has a degree in Classics from the University of Iowa and an M.A. in Creative Writing from Stony Brook University in New York.  For 20 years she taught full time in the Department of English at Stony Brook, subjects including creative and expository writing, drama, literary analysis and argumentation. For 10 years she was director of Stony Brook’s $1000 Fiction Prize, a competition for undergraduates throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Robert Frost declared that writing free verse was like playing tennis without a net. The pleasures of poetry are enhanced by a study of the rules of versification (the net), even when—perhaps especially when—the poet breaks or ignores the rules for effect.  But what makes free verse or a prose poem poetic? We’ll contemplate these questions, beginning by reviewing the rules and terms, then reading and discussing a variety of poems, old and new, on a variety of themes, analyzing what artistry and technique contribute to forming a great poem. Expect to memorize a poem, write a poem, share a favorite poem. If you haven’t read a poem since high school, that doesn’t mean this class is not for you! Good poetry includes a lot of wit and sparkle.