Here's this section of 619 as described in the Spring '99 English Course Descriptions booklet: 

This workshop will be modeled on the legendary Corcoran School of Art assignment called "80 Works," described in the Washington Post, October 20, 1996 .... [A photo-reduced copy is attached to this syllabus] We will use Behbsp;    Norton Anthology of Poetry, ed. Ellison et alia (Norton, pb). Any edition.

NAMP    Morton Anthology of Modern Poetry, ed. Ellmann et alia (Norton, pb). Any edition. CP Contemporary American Poetry, 4th, 5th, or 6th ed., ed. Al Poulin, Jr. (Houghton Mifflin)

PH       Princeton Handbook of Poetry & Poetics, ed.
Preminger et alia, (Princeton, pb). (Alternative to PEP and NF)

PEP      Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, ed. Preminger et alia (Princeton, cl & pb). (Preferred alternative to NF.)

NAP, NAMP and CP are basic: only the cumulative expense of texts for this course prevented me from listing them as "required." PEP is an extremely valuable reference, but it is quite expensive in the full-length version and is not essential for 619. PH is an abridged version of PEP.

RR      Rhyme's Reavon, Hollander (Yale, pb).

SM     Strong Measures: Recent American Poetry in Traditional Forms, ed. Dacey & Jones (Harper & Row, pb).

RR is entertaining & instructive but hardly necessary for 619. SM is one of a number of anthologies of current poetry in traditional forms.

"On Reserve" (this semester "in my office")

A number of useful folders, books and other materials; the Menu includes references to them. A list of some of these items is at the end of this syllabus.

In addition, any number of "introduction to creative writing" and "introduction to poetry writing" textbooks can be interesting sources for the assignments you make to the class or for the unassigned poems among your 80 works.

NATURE OF "80 WORKS"

Even on this second incarnation, "80 Works" is an experiment for me as well as for you. Although I will say something about my aims for the course at our first meeting, I hope you will feel free to offer suggestions and modifications. I won't be distressed if the course is revised as we create it together, and I trust you won't metamorphose into a Teppichfresser when such changes occur.

MINUMUM / MAXIMUM
NUMBERS OF POEMS

You must do all the poems required of everyone, you must do the minimum number of poems indicated for designated groups, you must do at least 5 assignments invented by other members of the class, and you must do at least 5 self-assigned poems. You must do 80 Works to get an A in this workshop.

NO INCOMPLETES! Because of the nature of this workshop, you do not have the stress-reducing option of taking an Incomplete. All work must be completed by Spring Break. Of course, if you die in the next 7 weeks, you may petition the Dean to withdraw from the course.

You may do up to 4 responses to any one assignment and count each of them as "a work." If you do 10 responses to one assignment, however, only 4 will count toward your 80 works.

CLASS MEETINGS

We will try to balance workshop sessions so that we spend enough time clarifying assignments and the rest of our time responding to your poems. If we have extra meetings (i.e., more than the 14 listed in the schedule), we will probably devote these entirely to your poems.
Discussions of your work should be quick, pointed and-because of the circumstances under which the poems will be written-largely "nonjudgmental." That is, we will read and listen to a poem, make a few brief comments which emphasize what we find exciting or promising, and move on.

In so far as there are readings, you really must do them by the dates when they will be discussed.

Please try to get to class by 7:20 so that you don't waste everyone else's time & tuition. (We have lots to do!) If you have a class from 4:30-7: 1 0, you might leave that early sometimes in order to get to 619 on time or to give yourself breathing time between classes. If other commitments mean that you will regularly be late to class, please let us know so that we don't assume Except if specified, I don't care if you revise during these 7 weeks or not.

SMALL GROUPS

At the first meeting we will divide into small groups of 3 or 4 poets each. These have two purposes. (1) Members of a group will work on collaborative poems together. (2) Members of a group will be particularly careful to give each other feedback (oral or written) on all work they produce. For small groups I want to gather people who have not previously worked together, either in other workshops' small groups or outside of classes.

MANUSCRIPT FORMAT & ASSEMBLING HANDOUTS

All poems submitted must be typed, unless they would not be set in type in connection with publication, exhibition or performance. If a poem is 2 or more pages, please copy on one side of a page only (or in two columns, side by side) and staple poems into sets. Then assemble those individual poems or sets into packets in numerical order and clip them together.

In other words, at each meeting you should distribute packets for that day, with the poems due and the poems you did on your own in the same order in which they occur in the Menu. Put poems which respond to another student's assignment after those on the menu, and put poems that respond to your own assignments at the end of the packet.

(I can understand a desire to economize by fitting poems onto pages however they can be packed in most tightly, but that's a misguided economy if it means we waste huge amounts of class time simply trying to figure out where things are. For the same reason, I ask that you distribute your assignments separately and that, if you are passing out poems late (or early), you make those a separate handout.)

Because I often include successful work from classes in future handouts, for general bookkeeping during this 7 weeks, and to help us locate poems quickly, please:

(1) include the following info in the upper right corner of the first page of each typed poem or packet

:Your Name, Date Distributed
80 Works, Spring 99'
A list of the assignments that follow (Assignment # and Name or Assignment by ________ and Name)

(2) Type the number and name of the assignment just above the title of each poem.

SCANSIONS

Some of the assignments have formal metrical requirements, and for these you will be asked to submit 2 copies of each poem: the first copy may be either single or double-spaced, the second must be double-spaced and include the scansion.
 

Use - for an unstressed syllable, / for a stressed syllable, (/) for a "courtesy stress" (a stress created by the rhythm of words before and after), and in those rare cases where it is justified, * for a "hovering stress" (a syllable which can but-poems you feel are "finished" and "representative." These should be handed out separately from other work and can be printed on 2 sides of a page. These poems do not count toward the 80 works: they are simply to help us get acquainted. (2) Bring a line, passage or stanza of your own that you like, have never been able to use, and are willing to give away. (3) Assignments 6 (Part 1); 7A (Part 1); 7B (i.e., bring the line, passage or stanza); 14A or 14B; 15; 26A or 26B or 26C; and either 28A or 28B. Note that Assignment 27 will be due later in the course-start looking!

Remember that, unless the Menu says otherwise, you must always bring enough copies of work for everyone, including yourself & the instructor. That looks like it will be 19 copies.

M 2/01
BRING: (1) An assignment you are making to the class.
(2) Assignments 6 (Part U) and 7A (Part II)-that is, responses to the "Part I's" you received on 2/28. (3) Assignments 12; 16; 18 or 19; 21; 58 or 59 or 60.

R 2/04
BRING: (1) A response to an assignment from another student, distributed on Monday (2) 7B, 18 or 19; the first of the assignments numbered 65-74.

M 2/08
BRING: (1) An assignment you are making to the class.
(2) Assignments 1; 2; 2 1; 55; 61 or 62 or 63, 64;

R 2/11
(1) A response to an assignment from another student, distributed on Monday (2) Assignment XI (Part 1); 29; the second of the assignments numbered 65-74; one of the assignments in the "(a)" group [8, 84 or 85].

M 2/15
(1) An assignment you are making to the class.
(2) Group members bring written responses to other group members Assignment XI (Part 1); (3) Responses to one of the assignments numbered 22-25, one of the assignments numbered 34-39; the third of the assignments 65-75; one of the assignments 86-88; X4.

R 2/18
(1) A response to an assignment from another student, distributed on Monday (2) Assignment XI(Part 11); Assignment XI (Part 111); 3A; 27.

M 2/22
(1) An assignment you are making to the class.
(2) Assignment XI (Part IV); 31 or 32; 40; one of the assignments numbered 75-81; one of the assignments
89- 91; the first of the assignments numbered 92-97;

R 2/25
Bring: (1) A response to an assignment from another student, distributed on Monday (2) Assignment 3B; one of the assignments numbered 43-47; 82

SUNDAY 2/28 (Time TBA)
Assignment 48 or 49; the second of the assignments numbered 92-97; one of the assignments numbered 9 8- 1 0 1;

M 3/01
(1) An assignment you are making to the class.
(2) Assignment 52 or 53; one of the assignments numbered 102-1 10

THURSDAY 3/04: POETRY READING BY ROBERT CREELEY, 8 PM, THE BISTRO, JOHNSON CENTER (no class)

SUNDAY 3/07 (Time TBA)
(1) A response to an assignment from another student, distributed on Monday (2) Assignment X2; 5; 33, one of the assignments numbered 111- 113; 118

MONDAY 3/08: POETRY READING BY ALLISON FIINK, 8 PM, GMU BOOKSTORE, JOHNSON CENTER (no class)

R 3/11-> 9. Experimentation should not be confused with mere dilettantism: the quest is serious, the stakes are mortal, the poet's desire must answer a desire in the reader.