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Course: Introduction to Poetry
Fee: R2495.00
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Overview:
This online course provides an introduction to the art of Poetry.
Students will study the key elements of poetry in the three months, with expert feedback and loads of encouragement along the way.
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An introductory course for those wanting to write poetry
"Poetry has power. It opens mind, heals a broken day, steals a heart, steels it too. It stirs one to action and leads one to find the core of one's thoughts, hopes and aspirations." Liesl Jobson
This online course teaches the basic tools of poetry, looking at line length, figures of speech, metered verse, tone, imagery and lyricism. Students will find ways to practise these concepts in their own poetry. They are encouraged to explore the truth that resides in a cliché and to coax this truth into fresh lines. They are guided to craft their words into workable forms with the goal of preparation for publication.
Each unit will present standard concepts, offer new tools as they appear in a poem from the canon of English literature, and students will have the opportunity to practise new skills. The tasks are interactive so that by the end of the three modules, the student has an integrated sense of his or her own writing and a finer sense of what kind of poetry he or she wants to write.
Course Details:
Modules: 3 Modules
Duration: 3 months
Course Fee: R2495
Start date: At any time; applications all year round
Student completes 15 poetry exercises with one-on-one instruction from a tutor. By the end of the three month period, students should have three to six poems ready to submit to a literary journal.
Course Tutor:
Liesl Jobson is the author of a collection of prose poems and flash fiction, 100 Papers (Botsotso, 2008), which received the 2006 Ernst van Heerden Creative Writing Award from Wits University, where she graduated with an M.A. in Creative Writing (Cum Laude). Her volume of poetry, View from an Escalator (Botsotso, 2008) was published with a grant from the Centre for the Book.
Her writing has appeared in numerous journals including Quick Fiction, The Southern Review, Mississippi Review, Carapace, New Coin, New Contrast and Chimurenga, and anthologies: Touch, Open, Letters to the World, Aftershocks: the Poetry of Recovery, White Ink and Home Away. Liesl won the 2003 Inglis House Poetry Competition and the 2005 POWA Women's Writing Poetry Competition.
She edits the online literary journal, South African domain of Poetry International. She is deputy editor of the online website: BookSA.
Admission Requirements:
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Students must be proficient in the English Language
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E-mail and Internet access required
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No previous tertiary qualification required
Curriculum:
Module One: An Introduction to Poetry - Where do poets find their inspiration?
•- Where do poets find their inspiration?
•- Line length and line breaks
•- Tasks
Module Two: Figures of Speech in Poetry
•- Why we use figures of speech
•- Understanding metaphors, similes and poetic devices
•- Tasks
Module Three: Rhythm and Rhyme
•- Must a poem rhyme?
•- Understanding rhythm
•- Using assonance, consonance, alliteration and other sound effects
•- Tasks
How does the course work?
The course consists of three modules. Detailed class notes covering the content of each module are e-mailed to students.
At the end of each section, students will be required to complete several writing exercises..
Once the writing assignment has been completed, and e-mailed to the lecturer, an assessment and feedback will be sent to the student, and the module will be considered complete. The next module will then be e-mailed to the student.
Conditions of Certification:
Students will receive an SA Writers College Certificate upon successful completion of the course, provided they meet the following conditions:
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Students must have completed all 15 writing assignments.
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The course must have been completed within four months of registration.
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Students are expected to attain a minimum average of 50% for the course
Minimum Estimated Time Commitment:
This course requires ongoing informal research. The poet will read and buy poetry books and journals in order to discover what moves his or her own poetic mind. Hopefully, this "research" is also an enjoyable hobby that becomes an ongoing pleasure nourishing the student's poetry for life.
Additionally, there is the discipline of writing and reflection on the process. A poet cannot wait for the muse. The muse waits for the poet. When you write, the muse shows up. You will be inspired, even when you feel uninspired. Because regular writing and re-writing is integral to the process of poetry-making, the course is designed so that one module takes one month.
After studying the modules, the exercises should take an hour or two per week to complete. Ideally, students spend 10 minutes daily writing in a poetry journal, a portion of which is submitted in the final portfolio.
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