ENGLISH 131 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Enjambment, Polysemy
Document Summary
Usually we assume that form serves function. Ex: the particular structure of sonnets makes them a good vehicle for shakespeare"s love poems. But maybe love poems happen to fit in well to the form of the sonnet. Shakespeare wants to use - maybe topic drives form . This class is narrowed down to american poetry. We can think about am poetry blooming or erupting out of british poetry - daunted by, sometimes wants to align w/ or against british poetry. There"s an immense history of form from british poetry, but no long history of local native content. Poets must attach themselves to or refuse the dominant formal norms of britain, creating a growing am archive of poetic shapes/contents. Subsequent am poets are then triangulated by the british + budding am archives. And what about the african american man or woman, who both must learn.
