Writing Poetry

Module description

The purpose of this module is to educate students in the main features of the art form, how to achieve them on the page, and how to recognize and appreciate the literary contexts out of which they emerge. Students will work through their notebooks and workshops to recognize their own poetic impulses and render them with greater precision in what they write. Students will be encouraged to write poems in the workshops, to be discussed by the group. There will be a mid-term essay in criticism, picking up on what has been learned, and an end of term examination of five poems written by each student.

Assessment details

End of term assessment: 1 x 1000 word essay (30%) and 6 Poems (70%)

Educational aims & objectives

• Introduce poetry as a practical artistic discipline.
• Focus on the different characteristics of the poem, looking at meter, pattern, rhythm, rhyme, structure, and modes of address.
• The emphasis will not be on criticism so much as on writing itself: students will be encouraged to find their voice in relation to the characteristics of the form.
• The module should promote an understanding of the main strands in poetry writing across the main movements in English literature, if only as a means of reference for the student poets themselves in their own creative process.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students will be able to demonstrate intellectual, transferable and practicable skills appropriate to a Level 5 module and in particular will be able to:

1. undertake the writing of poems with greater skill and understanding;
   
   
2. demonstrate greater insight into the choices they have made and the traditions they might appeal to in supporting those choices;
   
   
3. develop the knowledge and skills to reflect critically on the practice of writing poetry, demonstrated through writing a critical essay;
   
   
4. produce five poems that, whatever they are in themselves, show a response to what students have learned, experimenting with form and the constituent elements of poetry.

Teaching pattern

1 x 1-hour lecture and 1 x 1-hour seminar, weekly

Module description disclaimer

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change. We suggest you keep an eye on the course finder on our website for updates.

Please note that modules with a practical component will be capped due to educational requirements, which may mean that we cannot guarantee a place to all students who elect to study this module.

Please note that the module descriptions above are related to the current academic year and are subject to change.