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Modern & Contemporary Poetry(ENG -423): Course Outline(ENG -423)

Modern and contemporary poetry, spanning from the late 19th century to the present, captures dramatic shifts in cultural, social, and artistic values. Known for its experimental forms and diverse styles, this era explores themes of personal and societal s

Course description

An analysis of modern poetry from the turn of the twentieth century up through the post-WWII period, drawing on a range of poets from diverse backgrounds, this course focuses on modern poetry as a driving force of literary innovation in terms of both poetic form and self-expression. This course aims to enable students to critically read and analyze poetry from the War and Post World War II era and Modern and Contemporary times. Students will examine the poetic response to developments in British and European history. They will also identify elements of poetic experimentation in form, style and theme analysis of modern poetry from the turn of the twentieth century up through the post-WWII period, drawing on a range of poets from a diverse set of backgrounds, this course focuses on modern poetry as a driving force of literary innovation in terms of both poetic form and self-expression. This course aims to enable students to critically read and analyze poetry from the War and Post World War II era and Modern and Contemporary times. Students will examine the poetic response to developments in British and European history. They will also identify elements of poetic experimentation in form, style, and theme

Course objectives

 

  • To mark a departure from early poetry it is therefore important that students be introduced to Modern & Contemporary Poetry
  • To introduce the students to the trend of English poetry in the early twentieth century in respect of subject matter and style.
  • To develop an understanding of various English and local poets
  • To help students comprehend poets’ perception of the ills of the modern civilization
  • To develop an understanding of variations in the themes and techniques of the major modern & contemporary poets
  • Introduce the students to local cultural themes and issues in Pakistani poetry in English

Teaching-learning Strategies

Teaching will be done through the lecture method with a combination of tasks/projects and presentations

Assessment and Examinations

Assessment will be done as per university/department policy.

Course contents

Unit-I: Taufiq Raffat

  • Wedding in the Flood
  • The Stone Chat
  • The Last Visit

Unit-II: Agha Shahid Ali

  • Tonight – from Call Me Ishmael Tonight

Unit-III: Ted Hughes

  • Thought Fox
  • Chances
  • That Morning
  • Full Moon and Frieda
  • Love Song

Unit-IV: Sylvia Plath

  • Daddy
  • Lady Lazarus
  • Bee Poems
  • Ariel

Unit-V: Seamus Heaney

  • Digging
  • Personal Helicon
  • The Tollund Man
  • Casting and Gathering
  • A Constable Calls

Unit-VI: T.S. Eliot

  • The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock
  • Hawk’s Monologue

Unit-VII: Adrienne Rich

  • Divining into the Wreck
  • Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
  • Gabriel
  • Final Notation

Unit-VIII: John Ashbury

  • Melodic Train
  • Painter

Unit-IX: Richard Wilbur

  • Still Citizen Sparrow
  • Marginalia
  • After the Last Bulletin

Unit-X: Phillip Larkin

  • Mr. Bleaney
  • Church Going
  • Ambulances
  • MCMXIV 1914
  • September 1st 1939

Textbooks

Suggested Readings