While this course will be taught in different ways depending 
on the interests and expertise of the instructor, all versions 
of the course will address the following learning objectives:

-- Students will learn the relationship between poetry and 
popular song.

-- Students will be exposed to the critical debate surrounding 
this topic.

-- Students will learn to analyze and evaluate popular song 
lyrics with critical tools generally applied to canonical 
English and American poetry; or

-- Students will learn to identify the presence and 
significance of popular music in canonical poetry or poetry that 
addresses itself primarily to an audience other than that found 
in the popular sphere.

-- Students will learn to identify poetic devices such as 
rhythm and meter, structure, speaker, theme, alliteration and 
assonance, metaphor and simile, symbol, and image.

-- Students will present fully developed written analyses 
incorporating knowledge of poetic devices as well as the 
specific contexts and cultures of the popular songs at the 
center of their study.

As stated above, the course is adaptable and will be configured 
in various ways by various instructors. Inasmuch as "popular 
song" suggests the songs of the populace, some instructors may 
wish to investigate the relationship between Early English 
Ballads and the songs of the early English Stage (from 
Shakespeare to John Gay). Some may fashion a course around the 
work of poet and songwriter Robert Burns or around the hymns of 
Charles Wesley and Isaac Watts and their influence on poets such 
as William Blake and Anna Letitia Barbauld. Of course, many 
instructors will configure the course as one that highlights 
popular music of the twentieth century such as rock and folk. 
Some others may choose to focus on stage and screen musicals and 
the ability of poetry to convey and elaborate a dramatic 
narrative. Other instructors will focus on the lyrics of Rap and 
Hip Hop. And some may choose to explore the relationship 
between Jazz and Poetry. 

The following is a topical outline of a course focused on Bob 
Dylan and Leonard Cohen.

1. The Times: Review of the culture and concerns of the 1960s; 
Leonard Cohen's first books of poetry and ventures into fiction 
(influences of Keats and Joyce); Bob Dylan's Freewheelin' 
(influences of Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie).

2. Changing: Songs of Leonard Cohen (The Canadian Bob Dylan); 
Dylan and Civil Rights (The Times They are a'Changing).

3. Spiritual Journeys: And the influence on the music and 
poetry. Dylan's Christian period; Cohen's search from 
Scientology to Buddhism. Judaism in the works of both. ("Along 
the Watchtower," Dylan; "Story of Isaac," Cohen).

4. Music Technology and Controversy: Electric Dylan and Cohen's 
"Wall of Sound."

5. Masterworks: Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and Cohen's 
"Hallelujah."

6. Touring and the creation of the public poet: Dylan's 
"Brilliant Lies" and Cohen's "Church of Cohen."

7. Love Songs: Dylan's "Lay, Lady, Lay" and Cohen's "Dance Me 
to the End of Love" (and other poems of student choice and 
instructor direction--many to choose from).

8. Nashville Return: Both poets began with connection to 
Nashville, and they keep coming back in covers, in references, 
in spirit. This unit will explore the influence of country music 
and  lyric in the work of two rock icons.

9. Keeping it going: What is a rock icon to do? This unit will 
explore the ventures of each poet/singer/songwriter into new 
media and new audiences.