This LibGuide written and compiled by Stokley Klasovsky. Updated and maintained by Tammy Voelker.
The Creative Writing: Poetry guide is designed to provide information about writing poetry, from the broad overviews presented in introductory texts to the more advanced, nuanced texts that provide information on individual elements of poetry. In addition, links to organizations, associations, journals and various databases and websites that relate to the discipline are provided.
Introduction: Offers information on introductory texts for getting started writing poetry. Links to departments and programs on campus are available here, as are links to relevant organizations and websites that suppor poetry as an art form.
Textbooks: Indicates a number of texts often used in creative writing classrooms for poetry instruction. Some of these texts include information on other genres, such as fiction and playwriting, and often show how fundamental elements from various genres relate. Reading poetry is an essential component in writing classrooms, therefore important academic poetry anthologies are included here as well.
Lineation & Syntax: Suggests readings that discuss line formation and its role in writing poetry, and addresses grammar and syntax issues which are bound together with lineation.
Diction: Examines the role of words in determining meaning and providing expression in poetry by presenting texts that review the role of word choice, provide options in selecting words, and consider how diction plays a role in language.
Trope: Takes a look at texts that discuss how language can subtly, or not so subtly, mean doubly. The selected texts examine both the theory and history of metaphor, and provide practical, if not at times unusual, examples and guidelines for usage. The role of tropes in literature is also discussed.
Rhetoric & Mode: The selected texts review the application of rhetoric to the writing of poetry. They also consider the history and philosophical implications of rhetoric, and provide explanations for practical terms within the discipline.
Meter & Prosody: Reviews the role of meter in poetry. These selections focus on the essential link between sound and poetry, attending to the methods, theories, and applications that govern this relationship.
Stanza & Rhyme: Continues to examine the role of sound, but through the lense of how words relate to one another more specifically through sound. It also considers how this relationship is furthered through the use of forms, and how forms relate to poetry independently.
Analysis, Criticism & Reference: Uses texts that give a thorough treatment of all concerns, critical and analytical, as they relate to poetry, including aggregations of terms and definitions. It includes both dictionaries and encyclopedias that attend to criticism, theory, and literary analysis.
Kinzie, M. (1999). A Poet’s Guide to Poetry. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
"literary criticism" World Encyclopedia. Philip's, 2008. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Kent State University. 1 May 2012 <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t142.e6811>
DiYanni, R. (2002). Glossary of poetic terms. McGraw-Hill Online Learning Center. Retrieved from http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072405228/student_view0/poetic_glossary.html
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