Kevin Clark Poetry
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“For me the initial delight is in the surprise of remembering something I didn’t know I already knew.”

—Robert Frost

“Poetry is a dream dreamed in the presence of reason.”

—Tommaso Ceva

“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.”

—Mark Twain

“There is only one plot: Things are not what they seem.”

—Jim Thompson

“Let’s play two.”

—Ernie Banks

“Keep your eye clear and hit ’em where they ain’t.”

—Wee Willie Keeler

“In the midst of our happiness we were very pleased.”

—Gertrude Stein

“A work of art is never completed, merely abandoned.”

—Paul Valery

“The art of running the mile consists, in essence, of reaching the threshold of consciousness at the instant of breasting the tape.”

—Paul O’Neil

“The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe.”

—David Hare

“Poetry begins where certitude ends.”

—Eavan Boland

“I like restraint—if doesn’t go too far.”

—Mae West

“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?”

—Satchell Page

Sample Quarter Syllabus

Based on The Mind’s Eye: A Guide for Writing Poetry by Kevin Clark

Secondary text: Contemporary American Poetry, edited by R.S. Gwynn and April Lindner

Date | Reading | Writing & Quizzes

Week One: Imagery, Idiom, & Inspiration

Day 1

First day

Day 2

The Mind’s Eye: Introduction, Chapters 1 & 2
Chapter 1 exercise [NOT COPIED]

Contemporary American Poetry
Stern “The Dancing” 78
Wright “Autumn Begins …” 145, “Lying in a Hammock …” 146
Rich “Living in Sin” 163, “Diving into the Wreck” 164
Barrax “Strangers Like Us …” 205
Williams “Hood” 226


Week Two: Sound, Imagery, & Revision

Day 1

Chapter 2 exercise [COPIED]

Contemporary American Poetry
Olds “Topography” 299
Nye “The Traveling Onion” 418
Addonizio “Target” 449

Day 2

The Mind’s Eye: Chapter 3

READING QUIZ


Week Three: Conflict, Transformation, & Revision

Day 1

Chapter 3 exercise [NOT COPIED]

Contemporary American Poetry
Ammons “First Carolina Said-Song” 101
Levine “They Feed They Lion” 150
Goldbarth “Dog, Fish, Shoes (or Beans)” 357

Day 2

The Mind’s Eye: Chapter 4

Contemporary American Poetry
Kinnell “After Making Love We Hear Footsteps” 128
Ruark “Polio” 273


Week Four: Psychological Portraiture / Narrative Tension

Day 1

Chapter 4 exercise [COPIED]

Contemporary American Poetry
Lim “Starlight Haven” 323
Emanuel “Frying Trout While Drunk” 369
Dove “Adolescence III” 424

Day 2

The Mind’s Eye: Chapters 5 & 6

Contemporary American Poetry
Doty “Bill’s Story” 437
Fennelly “Asked for a Happy Memory” 483
Hoffman “Bob” 55
Stokesbury “The Day Kennedy Died” 332
Peacock “A Favor of Love” 346
Rose “Grandmother Rattler” 363


Week Five: Plot, Drama, & Sequence

Day 1

Choice of exercise: Chapter 5 or 6 [NOT COPIED]

Contemporary American Poetry
Sexton “Cinderella” 159
Rich “Rape” 167
Plath “Daddy” 197
Wiman “Afterwards” 473

Day 2

The Mind’s Eye: Chapter 7
READING QUIZ


Week Six: The Shapes of Poems

Day 1

Chapter 7 exercise [NOT COPIED]

Contemporary American Poetry
Kinnell “Goodbye” 129
Goldbarth “Rarefied” 359

Day 2

The Mind’s Eye: Chapters 8 & 9

Contemporary American Poetry
Wilbur “The Pardon” 18
Williams “Folding His USA Today …” 185
Hass “A Story About the Body” 265
Forche “The Colonel” 385


Week Seven: Open Forms Vs. Traditional Forms / Realism Vs. Surrealism

Day 1

Choice of exercise: Chapter 8 or 9 [COPIED]

Contemporary American Poetry
Hacker “Wagers” 300
Alavarez “Bilingual Sestina” 384
Schnackenberg “Nightfishing” 440
Mullen “Dim Lady” 436
Addonizio “Fine” 449

Day 2

The Mind’s Eye: Chapters 10 & 11
READING QUIZ

Contemporary American Poetry
Bly “After Drinking All Night with a Friend” 125
Simic “I Was Stolen” 239
Edson “Ape” 214
Merwin “For the Anniversary of My Death” 138


Week Eight: Dream Poems, Mourning Poems, & Love Poems

Day 1

Choice of exercise: Chapter 10 or 11 [NOT COPIED]

Contemporary American Poetry
Ginsberg “A Supermarket in California” 121
Merwin “The Last One” 139
Harper “We Assume …” 237
Ai “She Didn’t Even Wave …” 353

Day 2

The Mind’s Eye: Chapters 12 & 13

Contemporary American Poetry
Dickey “Adultery” 40
Espaillat “Visiting Day” 192
Dunn “The Sexual Revolution” 252
Cortez “Undressing a Cop” 377
Dove “American Smooth” 426
Andrews “Primping in the Rearview Mirror” 461
Nelson “Lonely Eagles” 335
Hudgins “Air View of an Industrial Scene” 408


Week Nine: Poems of Desire / Poems of History

Day 1

Choice of exercise: Chapter 12 or 13 [NOT COPIED]

Contemporary American Poetry
Hall “Sperm Count” 349
Rios “The Purpose of Altar Boys” 429
Duhamel “Ego” 467

Day 2

The Mind’s Eye: Chapters 14 & 15
READING QUIZ


Week Ten: Imagination & “Final” Revisions

Day 1

NO POEM DUE
Focus on final revisions (During your revision process, you might want to consider some of the ideas from Chapters 14 and 15.)

Day 2

Catch-up workshop


Final Exam

FINAL PORTFOLIO DUE
The final exam is the submission of your poetry portfolio. Each poem’s revision should be stapled above its original. Please place all poems in a manila envelope and write your name and contact information on the outside of the envelope.

Downloadable Syllabus

Click the button below to download a Word document of this syllabus.

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