Module Identifier ENM3220  
Module Title THE NEW POETRY AND PROSE  
Academic Year 2005/2006  
Co-ordinator Dr Matthew R Jarvis  
Semester Intended for use in future years  
Next year offered N/A  
Next semester offered N/A  
Course delivery Seminars / Tutorials   Seminar. 2 hours per week  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Assessment Essay: 1 x 5,000 word essay 
Supplementary Assessment Resubmit any failed elements and/or make good any missing elements. Where this involves re-submission of work, a new topic must be selected. 

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module students should be able to:

1. identify the main characteristics of mid-century radical poetry and prose in America;

2. explain what distinguishes and / or connects the various movements or 'schools' involved;

3. discuss individual texts in a critical, coherent, and independent manner;

4. evaluate the relationship between the literature involved and its various contexts.

Content

Donald Allen's anthology "The New American Poetry 1945-1960" remains the most important anthology of American alternative poetry in the post-war era. Despite the fact that it failed to include a sufficient number of black or women poets, it was nevertheless a remarkably accurate and useful guide to the poetry of its time and also anticipated much of the poetry and related prose that came after it. Paul Hoover's "Postmodern American Poetry" (1994) builds upon these foundations by including the Language poets and a broad base of performance-related poetries.

1. Black Mountain School and the New Poetry
 Paul Hoover (ed), "Postmodern American Poetry" (1994); Ann Charters (ed), "The Portable Beat Reader" (2003)

2. The "Beat" Writers
 Allen Ginsberg, "Howl" (1956)
Jack Kerouac, "On the Road" (1957)
See also: Paul Hoover (ed), "Postmodern American Poetry" (1994); Ann Charters (ed), "The Portable Beat Reader" (2003)

3. New American Prose
 Hubert Selby, "Last Exit to Brooklyn" (1966)
Paul Hoover (ed), "Postmodern American Poetry" (1994); Ann Charters (ed), "The Portable Beat Reader" (2003)

4. The New York Poets
 John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, James Schuyler, Frank O'Hara, in Paul Hoover (ed), "Postmodern American Poetry" (1994)

5. Poetry and Mythology
 Gary Snyder, "Turtle Island" (1974)
Further reading: "Earth House Hold" (1969)

Reading Lists

Books
** Should Be Purchased
Ann Charters, ed (2003) The Portable Beat Reader Penguin Classics 0142437530
Paul Hoover, ed (1994) Postmodern American Poetry: A Norton Anthology Norton 0393310906
Allen Ginsberg (1995) Howl and Other Poems City Lights - Pocket Poets Series 0872860175
Jack Kerouac (2000) On the Road Penguin Classics 0141182679
Hubert Selby (2000) Last Exit to Brooklyn Bloomsbury 0747549923
Gary Snyder (1974) Turtle Island New Directions 0811205460
Gary Snyder (1969) Earth House Hold: Technical Notes and Queries to Fellow Dharma Revolutionaries Norton 0811201953

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 7