Module: Poetry in Public

Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

Module Title	Poetry in Public
Module Code	LIT1032 (ITS: EL302)
Faculty	English	School	Humanities & Social Sciences
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	5

Description

This module analyses poetry’s ability to explore themes and demonstrate ideas, focusing on its responsiveness to history, culture and politics. The module will move across history and tradition, demonstrating poetry’s ability to regenerate thematic discourses, both local and transnational.

Learning Outcomes

1. Show how poetry acts as a criticism of culture.
2. Compare and contrast poetry across a range of contexts and cultural situations.
3. Perform a close analysis of a poem that demonstrates how form and style relate to theme and subject matter.
4. Talk about poetry as a political medium.
5. Understand the continuities of theme that permeate the poetic tradition

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full time hours per semester
Lecture	21	Lectures
Tutorial	3	Tutorials
Independent Study	101	Independent Learning
Total Workload: 125

Section Breakdown
CRN	20655	Part of Term	Semester 2
Coursework	0%	Examination Weight	0%
Grade Scale	40PASS	Pass Both Elements	Y
Resit Category	RC1	Best Mark	N
Module Co-ordinator	Michael Hinds	Module Teacher	Jack Quin, Kit Fryatt

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Assessment Breakdown
In Class Test	Class test	25%	n/a
Formal Examination	Exam	75%	End-of-Semester

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; RC1: A resit is available for both^* components of the module. RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module. RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element. ^* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Poetry and Sexuality
Bawdy and scatology: Shakespeare, Rochester, Swift , Feminisms: Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Adrienne Rich

Poetry of Death and Grief
Milton, Tennyson, Hardy

Poetry and God
George Herbert, Henry Vaughan

Poetry and War
Anglo-Saxon war poetry (in translation), Isaac Rosenberg, Anna Ahkmatova

Poetry in Character
Robert Browning, modern dramatic monologues

Poetry, Protest and Politics
Marvell, Yeats, Auden, Dylan, Hip-Hop

Indicative Reading List

Books:

Cook, John: 2004, Poetry in Theory, Blackwell, Oxford,
John Lennard: 2006, The Poetry Handbook, Oxford University Press, Oxford,
Longley, Edna: 1999, Poetry and Posterity, Bloodaxe, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne,
Martigny, Erik: 2011, Poetic Genres, Blackwell, Oxford,
Michael Schmidt: 1999, The Lives of the Poets, Random House, New York,
Paulin, Tom: 0, Minotaur, Faber, London,

Articles:
None

Other Resources

Website: Academy of American Poets, http://www.poets.org/
Website: Norton Anthology of Poetry, http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nap/Poetry_Workshop.htm