Week 1 message sent to all ModPo people (9/5/2021)

by Al Filreis · September 5, 2021

For the next seven days we will be reading and discussing a very small sampling of poems by Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman. In ModPo we think of then as proto-modernist poets. Whether that is finally an accurate designation, or not, is perhaps not the point of thinking of ED and WW in the way we do here; the point is that they can helpfully lead us toward the poets we read in the rest of the course. They precede the modernist turn, but they point the way to it.

In addition to the short (4.5-minute) video intro to week 1 HERE, you can also listen to a more in-depth 15-minute audio introduction HERE.

The ideal way to approach any week in ModPo is this (and it can be done simply by following the syllabus in order): 1) read the poem; 2) listen to an audio recording of the poem being recited (if available); 3) watch the short film of us discussing the poem; 4) then go to the poem-specific subforum and see what others are saying about the poem. (There’s a link to that subforum on every page presenting the text of the poem.)

The ModPo discussion forums are crucial to the way this interpretive community functions. So if you are having ANY problems getting to the right forum, subforum, or thread, please ask for help. You can go to the “Hopelessly Lost” thread for week 1 and ask for help there. That’s where our amazing, beloved Community TAs (CTAs) are set up to support you. You can also post a question for Zach Carduner—one of our two talented, long-time tech support gurus—in ModPo’s own “Tech Help” forum. You can also write to us at modpo@writing.upenn.edu.

Our office hours will begin tomorrow. Go HERE to see the schedule and find the links to the discussion forums where you will “meet” and talk with the TAs and Laynie Browne and me. For your convenience, I have added Monday’s and Tuesday’s office hours to this message, below.

What makes ModPo different from other massive open online courses (MOOCs)? Well, we like to think that there are many differences. Perhaps the main difference is to be found in the office hours and the weekly live webcasts. We are here! We are in the course with you! We are present, not just people to be seen in pre-recorded videos. We are proud of ModPo’s intense, personal interactivity, and that’s why we encourage you to JOIN THE OFFICE HOURS and to PARTICIPATE IN THE WEBCASTS!

Hoping you too will learn to “tell it slant,”

–Al

upcoming office hours (all times given are Philadephia time):