W 6:30-9:30
“‘I must Create a System, or be enslav’d by another Man’s.’”
Blake, Jerusalem, Plate 10, line 20)
William Blake and William Butler Yeats, poets whose lives are separated by roughly a century, both seem intent on—some would say obsessed with—envisioning a metaphysical system, a myth, that would explain the true nature of our reality. Both men’s mythologies emphasize the play of opposites—Blake’s contraries and Yeats’s antinomies—and indeed Blake may have inspired Yeats, who, along with Edwin Ellis, created one of the first major editions of Blake’s work, published in 1893.
In these and many other ways, Blake and Yeats seem to invite comparison, and that opportunity forms the rationale for studying the major poetic works of both writers in this course. In addition to analyzing original texts, we will explore and question selected critical writings about these works and will synthesize and integrate this material with our own critical responses.
Lively discussion is the key to a successful seminar, so please make a special effort to keep up with the assigned reading as shown on the attached class schedule. You may also find that a reading journal is a useful tool in preparing for discussions and written assignments.
Seminar members will each present an oral analysis of an assigned critical article on two occasions during the semester. Following these presentations, the presenter will summarize the article in the form of an annotated bibliographic entry.
The major project of this seminar will be a critical paper of some twelve to fifteen pages engaging some aspect of the poetry of Blake or Yeats or offering a meaningful comparison between them. Included in this project is to be an annotated bibliography of critical sources consulted its preparation. Each seminar member will also make an oral presentation of the paper itself.
Each presentation analyzing a critical article and the accompanying bibliographic entry will receive a letter grade. The average of these two grades will account for 40 percent of the final grade.
The seminar paper and its annotated bibliography will also receive a letter grade, which will constitute the remaining 60 percent of the final grade.
All written work should follow MLA manuscript and citation format.
I expect all presentations and projects to be completed as scheduled. Please see me at once if problems arise at any point in the term.
Since this seminar only meets fifteen times (including the final exam period), it is critical that you attend every meeting.
If for some reason it is impossible for you to attend a seminar meeting, please make every effort to inform me in advance.