Cirrus@Austlit

Outcomes: Students (1) become familiar with literary and historical material which broadens an understanding of the cultural complexity of poetry now and in the past; (2) better understand the concepts of poetry and poetics, and their relationship to cultural and philosophical debates; (3) develop understanding of some key philosophical ideas about perception, the relationship of self to the surrounding world, and the relationship between experience and language; (4) enhance their sensitivity to the capacities and subtleties of the English language and to its imaginative usage; (5) demonstrate the capacity to present a convincing and well-researched argument in written and spoken form; and (6) develop generic skills in analysis, oral and written communication, library and computer usage.

Content: This unit examines poetic language and concepts of poetry through a study of some of the most highly regarded poems in the English language plus contemporary works that show how poetry functions today. The study includes poems by Sidney, Shakespeare, Amelia Lanier, Pope, Keats, Emily Dickinson, Slessor and a number of contemporary poets. Students are given considerable opportunity to focus on poems of their choice, from the texts, from CD-ROMs and the World Wide Web.