Studies in the 20th Century/Major American Poet:  E.E. Cummings

“If a poet is anybody, he is somebody to whom things made matter very little -
somebody who is obsessed by Making.”

This course is an intensive study of a single poet, designed to focus on major themes in American Literature as reflected in the work of a single author’s entire (mostly) canon, and his place in the development of the distinctive American voice in poetry. 

In a 1959 essay reprinted in his collection Babel to Byzantium, James Dickey proclaimed: “Cummings is a daringly original poet, with more vitality and more sheer, uncompromising talent than any other living American writer” (443).  Themes of Cummings’ work that appear throughout his life and in much of his work include a childlike love of nature, experimentation with Classical poetry form, love and loss, his love of Europe and especially Paris, and the eventual peace at finding a soulmate. Cummings's works combine lyricism, humor, satire, sexuality, despair.  We will discuss his experimental style, which not everyone loved, as well as his biography/life’s impact on his poetry and his enormous influence on other poets.

Grading:

Annotated Bibliography & Proposal 10%

Critical Essay: 30%

In-class report of critical article with handout: 20%

Daily Reading Journals:  20%

Attendance/Participation:  10%

Final Week Oral Reports:  10%

Final Project: Original Research Project, Critical Essay

Your final assignment for this class will be an essay on your research for the semester. The purpose of this assignment is to give you an opportunity to produce a potentially publishable essay reporting on research that you have conducted this semester. The final paper should be at least 15 pages in length (double-spaced, typewritten, 1" margins, 12-point font, and documented using the 6th edition of the MLA Guide).  The draft of this paper must include a recognizable beginning, middle, and end; be proofread carefully; and be at least 12 pages in length.

Daily Reports: 

A one-page summary of a scholarly article or book chapter is due each day.  Sign up for your report in the first class meeting.  You should bring a print copy AND post your summary on your Blog. You should have a handout for each member of the class summarizing the main points of the article/chapter you read/report.

Required Texts

  • E.E. Cummings: Complete Poems 1904-1962.  George James Firmage, Editor. New York and  Boston: Liveright Publishing Corporation, 1994.
  • The Enormous Room (1922), a memoir.  Get the 1999 version by Penguin.  For those of you who can handle electronic reading, there is also an online version at http://net.lib.byu.edu/~rdh7/wwi/memoir/cummings/roomTC.htm

Reading Schedule

Week One:   Selections from Tulips. EPITHILAMION (all poems); CHANSONS INNOCENTES (all poems); AMORES (all poems)

Week Two:  Selections from Tulips. PORTRAITS (all poems); SONNETS REALITIES (all poems); SONNETS—UNREALITIES (all poems); SONNETS—ACTUALITIES (all poems)

Week Three:  & [AND] (all poems)

Week Four:   50 Poems (first half)

Week Five:   50 Poems  (second half)

Week Six:   1 x 1 [One Times One]

Week Seven:   73 Poems (first half)

Week Eight: 73 Poems (second half)

Week Nine:  Late Poems, 1930-62

Week Ten:   The Enormous Room (I-VI)

Week Eleven:   The Enormous Room (VII-XIII)

Week Twelve:   Student presentations

Daily student critical reading reports will come from the following texts.  See me to sign up for your selection.  Each student will give a review of one of these texts in class, presenting the major argument.  Handout required.

Selected Critical Texts:

Biographies

  • Friedman, Norman E. E. Cummings: The Growth of a Writer. Carbondale: Southern  Illinois University Press, 1964.
  • Kennedy, Richard S. Dreams in the Mirror: A Biography of E. E. Cummings. Liveright, 1980. Sawyer-Lauçanno,Christopher. E.E. Cummings: A Biography.  Sourcebooks Inc., 2004.
  • Reef, Catherine.  E.E. Cummings:  A Poet’s Life. New York: Clarion, 2006.

Selected Critical Texts

  • Ahearn, Barry. Pound/Cummings: The Correspondence of Ezra Pound and E. E. Cummings. University of Michigan Press (Ann Arbor), 1996.
  • Contemporary Literary Criticism, Gale, Volume 1, 1973, Volume 3, 1975, Volume 8, 1978,  Volume 12, 1980, Volume 15, 1980.
  • Dekle, Bernard. Profiles of Modern American Authors. Tuttle, 1969.
  • Dictionary of Literary Biography. Gale, Volume 4: American Writers in Paris, 1920-1939, 1980,
  • Volume 48: American Poets, 1880-1945, second series, 1986.
    Dumas, Bethany K.  E. E. Cummings: A Remembrance of Miracles. Barnes & Noble, 1974.
  • Fairley, Irene. E. E. Cummings & Ungrammar: A Study of Syntactic Deviance in His Poems.   Windmill Press, 1975.
  • Firmage, George J. E. E. Cummings: A Bibliography. Wesleyan University Press, 1960.
  • Friedman, Norman. E. E. Cummings: The Art of His Poetry. Johns Hopkins University Press,   1960.
  • --. E. E. Cummings: The Growth of a Writer.  Southern Illinois University Press, 1964.
  • --. E. E. Cummings: A Collection of Critical Essays. Prentice-Hall, 1972.
  • --.  (Re)valuing Cummings: Further Essays on the Poet, 1962-1993. University Press of Florida  (Gainesville), 1996.
  • Heusser, Martin. I Am My Writing: The Poetry of E. E. Cummings. Stauffenburg, 1997.
  • --. E. E. Cummings Revisited, Twayne (New York City), 1994.
  • Kidder, Rushworth M. E. E. Cummings: An Introduction to the Poetry. Columbia University Press, 1979.
  • Norman, Charles. E. E. Cummings: The Magic-Maker.   Duell, Sloan & Pearce, 1964.
  • Rosenthal, M. L.  The Modern Poets: A Critical Introduction. Oxford University Press, 1960.
  • Rotella, Guy L. E. E. Cummings: A Reference Guide.  G. K. Hall, 1979.
  • Wegner, Robert E. The Poetry and Prose of E. E. Cummings, Harcourt

In addition, there are several online annotated bibliographies put out by the E.E. Cummings society that you should look at:

http://www.gvsu.edu/english/cummings/biblio6.htm

http://www.gvsu.edu/english/cummings/Rotella1.htm

http://www.gvsu.edu/english/cummings/issue2/Rotella2.htm

http://www.gvsu.edu/english/cummings/cited.htm