ENGL 197: |
Upper-Division Seminar
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Metaphysical Poets |
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| Winter 2007 |
| Instructor: Ken Hiltner |
| Meets on: MW 9:30 AM - 10:45 AM SH 2617 |
| Prerequisites: Writing 2, 50, or 109; English 10; or upper-division standing |
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| This course cannot be repeated and is limited to upper-division English majors only. |
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A generation after Shakespeare, a group of brash young poets boldly set out to reinvent English literature. Arguing that poetry had become boring and bloated--an endless, mindless repetition of classical references and tired themes--they attempted to shock the world with something entirely new. And shock it they did. When writing about love, for example, they not only penned some of the most beautiful poetry that has ever been written, but they did so openly and audaciously: in a single poem John Donne not only unflinchingly gave our words "sex" and "ecstasy" their modern meanings, but forever yoked the two together. This course will introduce the major themes of the poetry of Donne, Herbert, Marvell, Vaughan, and others. |
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