English 150 - Amherst Poets

From Emily Dickinson to Robert Frost to Sonia Sánchez, Amherst is world-famous because of its poets. More than twenty well-known poets have written, lived and taught in the area where we find ourselves living. This introductory course is designed to welcome students who have not previously taken a college-level English course into the literary environment of Amherst, as well as into the literary community of poetry readers across the globe. Our main focus will be on the close-reading skills needed to engage with poetry of all kinds, and on the skills needed to write a college-level essay. We will engage in frequent writing workshops together. The class includes several field trips to places important to Amherst writers, and makes use of manuscript versions of poems held by the Frost Library.

No prior experience of poetry will be assumed. Limited to 18 first-year students. Fall semester. Professor Worsley.