Paul Nelson CTM/Lesley University Masters Study Plan
1. Your name, address, telephone number, and email address
Paul Nelson, 908 I Street N.E. #4,
2. The proposed title of your area of specialization, and whether you plan to be working towards a certificate or a certificate and an M.A., M.Ed. or C.A.G.S. degree
Open Form in North American Poetry: A Path to Liberation. I intend to work toward an M.A.
3. One Paragraph description of Major.
How an Open Form poetry writing discipline leads to a deepening of consciousness. In studying the North American Open Form lineage, including Walt Whitman, William Carlos Williams, Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Michael McClure, George Bowering and others, I will define Open Form and Consciousness as used in this line of inquiry, will illustrate how the above named poets (and others) have used this mode of poetics to increase their own consciousness, and will show why, specifically, this mode deepens consciousness through the experience of these poets and my own experience.
Overall goals-
What do I want to know and be able to do upon completion of my graduate program?
· I want to have a deep understanding of the Open-Form writing of North American poets and how writing (as a discipline) in this spontaneous, free-associative process enables the practitioner to deepen his/her own consciousness.
· I will have a basic understanding of some important Canadian practitioners of this method.
· I will begin the process of creating an anthology based on the processes herein described to elaborate as fully as possible the lineage of Open Form poets from Walt Whitman to poets writing today.
· I want to develop a sense of place utilizing Salish (and other indigenous) ways of knowing.[1]
· I’ll complete no less than one phase of composition of an epic poem[2] including Salish perspectives on place.
Specific learning goals
What knowledge do I need to have, what
skills do I need to develop, and what do I need to study in order to accomplish
my overall goals?
This is no less than a six semester process. At least ten essays on the material studied will be written during this process.
Title of specialization: Open Form in North American Poetry: A Path
to Liberation
Paragraph description of
specialization: How an Open Form poetry writing discipline leads to a
deepening of consciousness. In studying the North American Open Form lineage,
including Walt Whitman, William Carlos Williams, Charles Olson, Robert Duncan,
Michael McClure, George Bowering and others, I will define Open Form and Consciousness
as used in this line of inquiry, will illustrate how the above named poets (and
others) have used this mode of poetics to increase their own consciousness, and
will show why, specifically, this mode deepens consciousness through the experience
of these poets and my own experience.
Team Members: Dr. Frank
Trocco, Dr. David Thomson and Judith Roche.
Semester #1: Dates, number of credits, Theme/course title
August – December ’04. Six Credits. What is
Open Form? Walt Whitman: Poet of Parturition.
Goals: To have a deep understanding of the power behind Walt
Whitman’s work through re-reading of his poetry and a review of the most
important works written about him and his work. To better understand other
modes of knowing, especially Indigenous Northwest and Indigenous Tibetan
models. To begin to articulate the line of inquiry through the practice of
teaching writers at all levels of knowledge and experience. To re-visit
interviews I have done with Open Form practitioners as a refresher course and
to develop those materials for use in future workshops.
Activities: The focus of study will be a definition of Open Form
poetry and of consciousness as used in this line of inquiry, how Walt Whitman pioneered a poetics unique
to
Documentation: During this semester I will document my learning with a Annotated Bibliographic essay and essays entitled: What is Open Form Poetry; Walt Whitman Poet of Parturition; What Is Consciousness and The Tibetan View of Sound and Field Poetics. All essays will have relevant bibliographic citations including a summary, commentary, relevance to learning and references. These essays may be based on interviews of recognized scholars on the material covered.
Bibliography:
Asselineau, Roger. The Evolution of Walt
Whitman.
Ballard, Arthur/ Watson, Greg. Mythology of
Berman, Morris. The Re-Enchantment of the
World.
Breslin, James. Whitman and the Early
Development of William Carlos Williams.
PMLA, 1967, Dec; 1982.
Carpenter, Frederic. Walt Whitman’s Eidolon. College English, 1942.
Cuddy, Lois. Exploration of Whitman’s
Eidolons.
Eckrom, J.A. Remembered Drums: A History
of the
Flewelling, Stan. Shirakawa: Stories from a
Community.
Gates, Rosemary. Forging an American Poetry from Speech Rhythms. Tel Aviv: Porter
Institute for Poetics, 1987.
Gelpi, Albert. The Poetics of Open Form: The Mixed Message
of Whitman and Williams.
The Cast of Consciousness, 1987.
Hansard, Christopher.
The Tibetan Art
of Living.
Pearce, Roy Harvey. ed., Whitman: A Collection of Critical Essays.
Prentice-Hall, 1962.
Shapiro & Associates. The
Mill Creek Drainage Basin: An Historical Overview of the
Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. 1892
ed.
Semester #2 Dates, number of credits, Theme/course title
January – May, 2005. Six credits. Writing
Out of Hell: The Practice of William Carlos Williams
and My Latino Heritage.
Goals: I will have a deep understanding of Williams’ contribution to this poetic lineage through reading some of his most important works, will continue my study of the Tibetan Bon mode of knowing and Northwest Indigenous ways of knowing, will continue the process of open form poetry, especially with my own epic poem: A Time Before Slaughter and will investigate my own cultural connections through a ten day trip to Cuba and visit with my relatives there.
Activities: I will read the most relevant poetry of William Carlos
Williams and critical reviews of his work to determine how he used his practice
to achieve deeper states of consciousness. A trip to
Documentation: I will document my learning through essays on
William Carlos Williams (Writing Out of Hell: The Practice of William Carlos Williams), (a response by
Amalio Madueño,)
on the Nuu-chah-nulth way of knowing and how it relates to this line of inquiry
(The Oosumich of Open Form), and
through letters from workshop participants. A photographic journal of my
Bibliography:
Atleo, Richard. Tsawalk: A Nuu-chah-nulth Worldview.
Breslin, James. William Carlos Williams and the Whitman Tradition. PMLA, 1967.
Carter, Steven. Reversible
Syntax vs. Irreversible Time: Nonlinear Dynamics and the
Poetics of Open Form. The Language Quarterly, 1993.
Chomsky, Noam/Dietrich, Heinz.
Hansard, Christopher. The Tibetan Art of Positive Thinking.
2003.
Lloyd, Margaret Glynne.
William Carlos Williams’s
Cranbery, NJ.: Associated University Presses, Inc., 1980.
Mariani, Paul. William Carlos Williams: The Poet and His
Critics.
Library Association, 1975.
Miller, Jay. Lushootseed Culture and the Shamanic
Odyssey: An Anchored Radiance.
Ornstein, Robert. The Psychology of
Consciousness.
Vine, Josie Emmons.
Williams, William Carlos.
Selected Poems. 8th Ed.
Williams, William Carlos.
The Collected
Later Poems.
1963.
Williams, William Carlos.
Williams, William Carlos.
Pictures From
Brueghel. 3rd Ed.,
Directions, 1962.
Williams, William Carlos.
Selected Essays. 6th Ed.
Semester #3: Dates, number of credits, Theme/course title
September – December ’05. Six Credits. Olson’s Process and Stance Toward Reality.
Goals: To have a deep understanding of the work of Charles Olson and discover why his poetics are critical to the shift from a Newtonian/Cartesian paradigm to one organismic in nature. To better understand the nature of a discipline in writing short poems, how it relates to my line of inquiry, and to credibly teach that to an audience made up of people who specialize in writing short poems. I will also begin study of the Canadian Open Form tradition.
Activities: I will study the poetry, poetics and consciousness of
Charles Olson, specifically his articulation and practice of Open Form, as well
as his use of history in poetry. I will also study relevant criticism of his
poetry and poetics. A Time Before Slaughter writing activities and information
gathering will continue, as well as study of the Tibetan Bon mode of knowing. I
will participate, again, in some manner, with the
Documentation: I will demonstrate with essays on Olson’s
contribution to the Open Form tradition, in his poetry and poetics: Dualism and Olson's Antidote,
and The Sound of the Field, through an essay on American Sentences, (
American Sentences: Catching the Shadow of the Moment (Chronicling
Post-Modern Velocity)), through a response to an essay in response to "Free Market Verse" by Steve Evans,
entitled: Changing a Culture and through an interview with George Bowering on
Open Form in Canada, which I will later use as the basis for an essay. I will present
a letter from a workshop taught at
Bram, Shahar.
Charles Olson and Alfred North Whitehead: An Essay on Poetry.
Lewisburg:
Olson, Charles.
Human Universe.
(Collected Prose)
Olson, Charles.
Proprioception. . (Collected
Prose)
Olson, Charles.
The Maximus
Poems.
Olson, Charles.
The Maximus
Poems.
Paul, Sherman.
Olson’s Push.
Upledger, John.
Cell Talk.
von Hallberg, Robert. Charles
Olson: The Scholar’s Art.
University Press, 1978.
Semester #4: Dates, number of credits, Theme/course title
January ’06 – May ’06. Six Credits. The
Opening of the Field:
Goals: I will have a deep understanding of the Robert Duncan’s poetry and poetics, specifically his articulation and practice of Open Form, as well as his articulation of individuation through poetry and poetics.
Activities: I will read Duncan’s relevant work extensively, as well as criticism of his work and will conduct workshops in Mill Creek, Oak Harbor and at the Washington State’s Cultural Congress in Leavenworth. I will participate in the Skagit River Poetry Festival and the &Now Literary Arts Conference at Lake Forest College in Illinois where I will present a paper relevant to my studies.
Documentation: An essay entitled Organic Poetry will be written,
as well as one on the Letters of Robert Duncan and Denise Levertov entitled:
Evolving The Organic. I'll get letters documenting
my approach to teaching open form and my understanding of the material and the stance toward
poem-making.
Skykomish School
King County Youth Services Center
Mill Creek
Washington State Cultural Congress
Plateau Area Writer's Association
Bibliography:
Jarnot, Lisa. Robert Duncan: The Ambassador from Venus.
1999
Duncan, Robert. Letters.
Duncan, Robert. Selected Poems.
Duncan, Robert. The Opening of the Field.
Duncan, Robert. Bending the Bow.
Duncan, Robert, Levertov, Denise. The Letters of Robert Duncan and Denise Levertov,
Stanford: Stanford Press, 2004.
Schwartz, Leonard. Robert Duncan and His
Inheritors. Talisman: A
Journal of
Contemporary Poetry and Poetics,
23-26 (2001-2002), pp. 64-81.
Semester #5: Dates, number of credits, Theme/course title
September – December ’06. Six Credits. Deep Consciousness: Building a Soul Through a Writing Practice.
Goals: I will have a deep understanding of the poetry and poetics of Michael McClure, especially as it relates to the effort to use an open form practice to deepen one’s consciousness, as well as a deep understanding of the work of George Bowering and the factors behind the movement of the Open Form front from San Francisco to Vancouver by the mid-60’s.
Activities: I will write Inside Dolphin Skull an essay on Michael McClure's long poem and one on George Bowering on topics consistent with my line of inquiry, will study in Canada, to write essays and conduct interviews with George Bowering , Robin Blaser, as well as Sam Hamill and others involved in this lineage, will attend the Blaser book launch, continue with workshop facilitation, and study and practice of Tibetan Bon ways of knowing.
Documentation: I will write essays on Michael McClure (Deep Consciousness: Inside Michael McClure’s
Dolphin Skull) and George Bowering Crafting the Organic Poem: George Bowering's Kerrisdale Elegies, I will conduct workshops
and get letters from organizers demonstrating my grasp of the subject matter and my
ability to articulate it.
Bibliography:
Hawkins, David. Power vs. Force. 6th Ed. Sedona: Veritas Press, 2004.
McClure, Michael. Three Poems.
Blaser, Robin. The Recovery of the Public World: Essays on
Poetics in Honor of Robin
Blaser.
Blaser, Robin. The Practice of Outside. The Collected Books of Jack Spicer. Santa
Bowering, George. George
Bowering Selected: Poems 1961 -1992.
McClelland & Stewart, 1993.
Semester #6: Dates, number of credits, Theme/course title
December ’06 – May ’07. Six Credits. Organic Poetry.
Goals: I will develop a web anthology with all my writings on the subject/s, as well as links to other relevant essays and poems. I will create no less than a 25 page Introduction/Essay, suitable for teaching college-level Literature, which will cull all the wisdom gleaned from this line of inquiry and present it in a credible, academic manner.
Activities: The website will be posted at Organic Poetry.org and will include essays written during my studies, and eventually links to other relevant essays. An introductory essay on what I've learned will be written, including: History, Definitions, Consciousness, Examples and Explication of a poem.