01   M7, 8  CAC   73463   COIRO   SC-204

Andrew Marvell is perhaps best known for “To His Coy Mistress,” a poem which approaches sexual seduction with remorseless logic. The rest of Marvell’s body of lyric and satiric verse is relatively small but stunning in its variety and subtlety. Marvell also wrote incisive political prose. A Marvell seminar offers the unusual opportunity to become deeply immersed in one brilliant, enigmatic mind.

We will read all of Marvell’s English poetry and two important prose pieces. In order to contextualize Marvell’s work we will also read poems by contemporary writers (such as Milton, Bradstreet, Herrick, Dryden, Rochester) and discuss the turbulent, exciting, indeed revolutionary, time in which Marvell lived. Our focus will be on genre (including, for example, pastoral, epigram, country house poem, and ode), gender, literary history, and, above all, on the skill of close reading. We will also focus throughout the semester on advanced writing skills. By reading some of the outstanding essays on Marvell’s work, by workshopping student writing, and simply by practicing the craft of critical writing regularly, seminar members should see a significant improvement in their writing.

This seminar requires near perfect attendance (since we will meet only once a week, more than one missed class will seriously impact your grade). Active participation in class is important as well. Each week members of the class will write either a one-page response to a poem or passage or a summary of a critical argument.  There will also be two brief papers (3-4 pp.) and a longer final paper which can be a developed version of one of the earlier papers or one-page memos (10-12 pp.). There will also be an optional final exam.