KWB212 Poetry and Poetics


To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.


Unit Outline: Semester 2 2024, Kelvin Grove, Internal

Unit code:KWB212
Credit points:12
Coordinator:Sarah Holland-Batt | sarah.hollandbatt@qut.edu.au
Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of the teaching period.

Overview

This unit provides important creative and critical skills in writing poetry and cultivating an understanding of how to interpret and use poetic techniques. It explores a spectrum of contemporary and traditional forms of poetry, and is designed for those who are interested in poetics and the use of words in precise, innovative, concentrated and musical ways. It equips students with knowledge of the techniques, poetic forms and modes, and the opportunity to apply this vocabulary in analysing and reading a wide range of contemporary poetry. The unit provides key creative and critical skills in writing poetry, while offering you the chance to practice in a variety of poetic forms and modes, reflectively writing about your own poetry and analytically writing about the stylistics of another person’s work. The unit occurs at the mid-point of the creative writing major, building on KWB211 Creative Writing: Style and Technique, and preparing you for the advanced work of third year.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

  1. Write and edit a portfolio of poetry to a professional standard.
  2. Analyse and discuss the stylistic features of a range of poetic forms.
  3. Apply critically reflective techniques, independently and collaboratively, to your personal practice in poetry writing.

Content

The unit assists an understanding and appreciation of modern and contemporary poets’ work, equips students to apply a knowledge of poetics and style in writing and editing their own poetry, and instils a technical vocabulary allowing students to provide constructive criticism of other writers’ work.

Learning Approaches

A combination of lectures and tutorials  will support students’ achievement of learning outcomes through modelling pedagogy, small group work, peer critique and formative as well as summative assessment.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Students will receive formative feedback through in-class writing exercises and oral peer-critiques, and summative feedback through written and oral feedback on creative practice and critical/reflective writing.

Assessment

Overview

Assessment tasks will include: creative practice; self-reflective analysis; and critical analysis of other writers’ work.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Explication Essay

Write an explication essay that analyses the stylistic features of a poem selected from a provided list.

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Weight: 40
Individual/Group: Individual
Due (indicative): Mid-Semester
Related Unit learning outcomes: 1, 2, 3

Assessment: Portfolio

Compile a creative portfolio of formal and free verse comprising:
1. 10 finished poems
2. A 'writer's statement' that introduces your poems
3. One early draft of each poem and/or other evidence of integration of feedback

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Weight: 60
Individual/Group: Individual
Due (indicative): Late Semester
Related Unit learning outcomes: 1, 2, 3

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.

Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Requirements to Study

Requirements

All students and staff who access campus buildings and facilities are required to complete the Tier 1 General Health and Safety Induction. This must be completed online.

Resources

Resource Materials

Prescribed text(s)

A Poetry Handbook, by Mary Oliver (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994).

The Making of a Poem, eds. Mark Strand and Eavan Boland (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2001).

Recommended text(s)

Australian Poetry since 1788 eds. Gray, R & Lehmann, G (Sydney: University of NSW Press, 2011).

The Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry ed. John Kinsella (Melbourne: Penguin, 2009).

Other

To enable your full participation in the virtual learning environment, for example, participating in online activities and engaging with online learning materials, you will need access to a reliable computer with an internet connection, webcam, headset and microphone, as well as a learning environment where you are able to fully participate undisturbed when required.

Risk Assessment Statement

For risks associated with using campus buildings or facilities, refer to the Tier 1 General Health and Safety Induction.

There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.

Where substantial computer-based work is required, particularly in the case of fully online students, you are recommended to take regular rest breaks when engaging in prolonged computer-based work, and ensure that your workstation is set up for optimal comfort to prevent strain or injury.

Course Learning Outcomes

This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.

KK34 Bachelor of Fine Arts

  1. Cite and discuss a broad and coherent knowledge of historical and contemporary cultural contexts for creative practice, including the contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges.
    Relates to: ULO1
  2. Demonstrate complex problem solving through iterative experimentation and the creative and critical development of ideas and outcomes.
    Relates to: ULO1
  3. Demonstrate technical proficiency in at least one area of your field of creative practice.
    Relates to: ULO2
  4. Communicate independent learning clearly and coherently in diverse modes relevant to your field of creative practice.
    Relates to: ULO1
  5. Represent and promote your work in ways relevant to your creative field.
    Relates to: ULO3
  6. Discern, critically analyse and synthesise knowledge in complex creative practice settings.
    Relates to: ULO3
  7. Work productively as a leader and collaborator in disciplinary and interdisciplinary creative practice.
    Relates to: ULO2
  8. Demonstrate respect for cultural and social differences, and work with integrity across creative practice networks.
    Relates to: ULO2
  9. Operate with initiative, ethical judgement and professionalism in creative practice, both alone and in groups.
    Relates to: ULO3

KK43 Bachelor of Creative Industries

  1. Demonstrate broad and coherent theoretical and practical knowledge required for creative enterprise, career development and interdisciplinary collaborations, supported by depth in at least one creative disciplinary area.
    Relates to: ULO1, ULO2, ULO3
  2. Demonstrate well-developed cognitive and ideation skills to identify, analyse and evaluate opportunities to address authentic complex problems.
    Relates to: ULO1
  3. Communicate effectively in a range of forms across multiple media modes, for sharing and disseminating knowledge, skills and ideas, and collaborative practice and navigation of social networks.
    Relates to: ULO1
  4. Apply and adapt creative disciplinary knowledge and skills with agility in a range of industry, community and intercultural contexts.
    Relates to: ULO2, ULO3
  5. Practise self-management of career and learning with enterprise and an entrepreneurial outlook, including the building of personal and professional relationships and partnerships.
    Relates to: ULO3