Interdisciplinary Arts 0249 - Writing the Sonnet

The sonnet is one of our oldest and most ubiquitous poetic forms. For centuries, writers as disparate as William Shakespeare, Marilyn Nelson, Wanda Coleman, and David Wojahn have dabbled, innovated, succeeded, and sometimes failed with the form. In this course, we will explore the demands and nuances of the sonnet, in an effort to discover what has attracted and continues to attract so many practitioners. By semester's end, students will possess greater facility with the form itself, as well as skills and techniques that may be of use when composing future poems, whether formal or free-verse.

Culture, Humanities, and Languages Multiple Cultural Perspectives Independent Work In this course, students are expected to spend at least six to eight hours a week of preparation and work outside of class time. This time includes reading, writing, research.