2020-21 Academic Catalog

In this course we will look at the shifting boundary between genres that share a common root in lyrical expression. From the sonnet to chart topping pop to underground rap, what it means to be American has been built and is continually refurbished from the lyric up. We will be asking many questions. How does Kendrick Lamar’s song “i” echo and update Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself”? What happens in the overlap between T. S. Eliot and Missy Elliott? How is the new generation of American poets integrating song and rap into their work? Our answers will come in both critical and creative forms. Prerequisite: Not open to students who have taken ENGL 100.00 Fall 2016