2009 Courses

Courses for January Term 2009

ENLT 223: How to Read a Poem [3]

Mark Edmundson, Professor

This is a course for students who have little or no background in the reading of poetry but a strong desire to learn how to do it.  (Students who are interested but find poems intimidating shouldn’t be reluctant to sign on.)  We’ll learn the basics: figurative language, scansion, poetic forms, and all the rest.  The emphasis will be on learning to read so as to gain both pleasure and instruction from poems.  Students will write a little poetry of their own, but mostly as a way to learn to read better.

 

ENSP 106: Public Speaking [3]

Margaret Gardiner, Instructor  

Through theoretical instruction and practice, students will learn to prepare and deliver public presentations. We will learn techniques for handling speech anxiety, analyzing your audience, organizing and composing an effective argument, and improving diction, projection, and delivery. We will also be discussing the difference between oral and written style in language, the role of the body in public speaking, and how to achieve specific goals in speeches: speaking to inform, to persuade, to commemorate. We will begin every class period with physical, vocal, and relaxation exercises. Grades will be based on class attendance, participation, and the preparation and delivery of two 6-8 minute presentations. Our goal is neither to memorize nor to read these speeches, but to learn the art of extemporaneous delivery, where a carefully prepared and rehearsed speech may seem to arise spontaneously in the moment.