Reading and Writing the Lyric Essay

LIT4166.01
Course System Home Terms Spring 2019 Reading and Writing the Lyric Essay

Course Description

Summary

The lyric essay is a term given to work that is both poetic and discursive and that defies clear categorization. In these hybrid forms, the essayist may begin breaking into lines of verse, or poet may engage in a lengthier argument too rangy for the confines of a syllable count. In this course we will read Whitman’s Specimen Days, Dickinson’s letters, short essays by Virginia Woolf, Joan Didion, Julio Cortazar, Anne Carson, Jean Toomer and a score of other very contemporary writers whose work is uncomfortable with typical genre labels. Students will write their own hybrid forms and will write critically in creative forms. Corequisites: Please note that students enrolled in this course are required to attend Poetry at ¿­ÐýÃŹÙÍø and Literature Evening events on Wednesday nights at 7:00 PM.

Prerequisites

Students should submit up to five pages of poetry or prose (critical or creative) to MWunderlich@bennington.edu by Monday, November 19. Please write Lyric Essay in the email heading. Class lists will be posted outside the Literature office on Monday, November 26.

Please contact the faculty member :

Corequisites

Corequisites

Instructor

  • Mark Wunderlich

Day and Time

Academic Term

Spring 2019

Area of Study

Credits

4

Course Level

4000

Maximum Enrollment

15