Office
hours:
_______________ |
- 1-3-5: 9-11:30 A.M.
and by appointment. I am often in my office beyond my office hours, so
check by at other times. You may also contact me by leaving a message on
my voice mail (2394) or sending me an email
message (mthamert@csbsju.edu).
|
Texts:
_______________ |
 | 1. How to Read a Poem--And Start a Poetry Circle by
Molly Peacock 1999 McClelland &
Stewart; (April 1999) ISBN: 0771069839 or 1999 Riverhead Books;
ISBN: 1573221287 |
|
| 2. A Book of Luminous Things: by
Czeslaw Milosz 1998 Harcourt Brace; ISBN: 0156005743 ; |
|
| 3. Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke, Joan Burnham
(Translator), Kent Nerburn Hardcover - 128 pages 2000 New World
Library; ISBN: 1577311558 |
|
| 4. The Essential Rumi by Jelalludin
Rumi 1997 Harper San Francisco; ISBN: 0062509594 PAPERBACK
PLEASE, not hardcover. |
|
| 5. The Poetry of Our World : An International Anthology of
Contemporary Poetry
by
Ed J. Paine 2001 Perennial; ISBN: 0060951931 |
|
| 6. The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart by
James Hillman 1993 Harperperennial Library; ISBN: 0060924209 |
|
| WWW sites and library resources for biographical information and select
secondary literature about our authors and their works. |
|
Scope:
_______________ |
- Works read according to several of the following
themes: Human Wildness; Family Relations; The Experience of the
Poet; Kinds of Love in Human Experience; God and Transcendence; Death and
the Afterlife. Seminar members have a
role in determining the schedule of readings for each theme.
- Applying the ideas and moral debates within the
works to how we live our own lives.
- Discussions at several interpretive levels:
intrapersonal, one-on-one, communal and national , international and
global, cosmic and God-centered relationships.
|
Aims:
_______________ |
By the end of this seminar, you will
- have read and discussed a wide range of great
poets from countries worldwide.
- have an understanding of how these works
interrelate thematically and chronologically and know something about
their place in the history of ideas.
- have a personal library several dozen poets for
the sake of lifelong reading.
-
demonstrate proficiency in the use of various
approaches used to discuss
and write about great works of literature and social thought, including
the following approaches: structural, new historical,
reader response, genre-historical, biographical, deconstructionist,
gender-centered and ethical.
-
have memorized about seven poems which you
regard as particularly meaningful.
-
understand the importance of reading
great poets for life-long learning.
|
Assignments:
_______________ |
- Readings according to the mutually agreed upon schedule.
As is common in honors courses, students have a role in
determining the schedule of readings and course activities.
-
Frequent e-mail essays on works we are
reading as preparation for seminar discussions.
These can be read
by seminar members at All Public Folders > Academic >
Honors > Mark Thamert courses
> HONR 250 -- Spring 2004.
-
Group Book Report in
April on
poems not covered in seminar discussion.
-
Term paper on two or
more works we have covered.
-
Learning by heart
poems from seven authors. These quotes may serve as your life
talismans, quotes which strike a
particular resonance within you which you can ponder for years to
come. Taken together your talismans will
be about 300 words of material learned by heart.
- Final Course Book including a collection of all
your edited e-mail essays, a chapter for your term paper, a table of contents,
a page for works cited, a prolog
of 500 words or more,
and an epilog of 600 words or more, and a chapter transcribing and
commenting on the quotes you have learned by heart --
your talismans from the course.
|
Semester grade
based upon:
_______________ |
- Class attendance. You must be present at all
14 seminar meetings. Your grade will be effected after one absence.
- Participation in seminar discussions and group book
report -- Here's our
Discussion Guide. (10%)
- E-mail assignments -- quality of thought,
writerly tension, timeliness, personal commitment. Here's our
Writing Guide. (15%)
- Recitation and
discussion of seven
talismans in April -- done by appointment with Fr. Mark. (15 %)
- Final Course Book with Term Paper -- Here's our
Writing Guide. (60%)
|
|