•This unit is a study of a wide range of historical to contemporary poetry in the English language, focusing on poetic style, form, genre, and practices in context, from oral storytelling to literary coteries to Slam events. The unit addresses the theory and practice of using poetic techniques, such as symbolism, imagery and figurative language, rhyme, metre and special verse forms. It explores the relationship between poet, ‘speaker’ and readers/audiences, and the ways in which meaning can be created ‘between the lines’ of a text. It will encourage imaginative and approaches to using and interpreting language in texts, which are strikingly and effectively demonstrated though poetry, but which can be applied across genres, and which permeate almost every aspect of language and culture.
•traditional ballads, their functions in society, development of the literary ballad, and connections with music and other media
•the study and appreciation of specific techniques used in poetic writing (rhyme, rhythm, metre, line and stanza structures) and figurative language (e.g. imagery, metaphor, symbolism and ‘sound effects’), and how these underpin a poem’s tone and effect
•verse forms (such as the sonnet, limerick, or haiku) with specific rules beyond those of form, demonstrating the ways in which poet and readers work within understood traditions
•free verse, both historically as a revolution in poetic form and technically as a way of writing poetry, and the related categories of surreal, experimental, and visual poetry
•contemporary spoken word poetry: ‘live’, Slam events, and in digital media. |