An introduction to 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.

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 practice 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 practice 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: three modules
Duration: three months
Course fee: R3,995

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.

Tutor:
Fiona Zerbst is the author of four poetry collections to date: Oleander (Modjaji Books, 2009), Time and Again (UCT Younger Poets Series No 1/Snailpress, 2002), the small zone (Snailpress, 1995) and Parting Shots (Carrefour Press, 1991). She received an MA in creative writing from UCT, studying under the late Stephen Watson.

Her poems have been anthologised in The Heart in Exile, eds Tromp and De Kock, Penguin, 1996, Imagination in a Troubled space, Poetry Salzburg, 2004, The Pick of Snailpress, 2000 and City in Words, David Philip, 2001. Most recently, two of her poems were selected for inclusion in the prestigious US literary magazine The Common (www.thecommononline.org).

Admission requirements:
- Students must be proficient in the English language
- Email and internet access required
- No previous tertiary qualification required

Curriculum:

Module one: an introduction to poetry - wWhere 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