Tuesday Morning Cantos class page

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Welcome to the "Tuesday Morning Cantos" class page

The canto is a principal form of division in a long poem, especially the epic. The word comes from Italian, from the Latin cantus, meaning "song," and has a corollary in the Sanskrit kāṇḍa, or "chapter." Famous examples of epic poetry which employ the canto division are Valmiki's The Ramayana (7 cantos), Dante's The Divine Comedy (100 cantos), and Ezra Pound's The Cantos (120 cantos).  This class is designed to make your poems sing.

The class is perfect for the serious student who is interested in exploring the creative world of poetry.  Both novice poets and those established in the genre will benefit from this course.  Whether you will be exposed to poetry's various components and forms for the first time in our classroom, or the limits of your copious poetry writing skills will be stretched while attempting the weekly assigned poems, your understanding of poetry will expand through this class. 

We have utilized the book, How to Write Poetry by Diane Mehta, as well as various internet sources and a few library books, in the creation of this course, which is based on the theme "Building a Chain". Each lesson will add such links as poetry genres, definitions, styles, devices, ideas, pictures, line breaks, pace, pauses, rhythm and rhyme. Throughout this term, we will discuss our own writing samples as well as examples from both published poets and members of Writing.com.

We will learn from each other, be inspired by each other’s creativity, and grow as poets.  Get your muses ready, it’s almost time to get started!

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Class Rules

Work at your own pace does not mean turning in an assignment every two months.   We have eight lessons in a ten week semester. We will post a lesson a week for the first eight weeks. If you finish in eight weeks you are free to sign-up for another class or you can brow-beat your Instructor for the remaining two weeks. You could even jump in and start helping those students who are struggling. As long as you complete the course in ten weeks, we're happy!

No one fails. We will give you everything you need to ensure that you learn the material and can apply what you have learned in your writing. We will never turn away a student in need. If you need anything, contact me, NOVAcatmando or Keith (Dutch) Kuttner . If I can not resolve the issue, feel free to bring it to Sariah in Administration.  Together, we will resolve any issues immediately.

The grading scale is simple, Assignments count as 75% of your grade. Participation in the Discussion Topic and interacting with fellow classmates counts as 25%.

This means if you complete an assignment and get everything correct but do not participate in the discussions you could only get a 75 = C.

The Discussion Topic is 25% of your grade and is broken down into two grading opportunities. Answering the Discussion Topic is 15% of the original 25%. Actively responding to your classmates posts and/or becoming involved with ongoing, lesson related discussions make up 10% of the original 25%.

This means if you complete the assignment completely, with no errors, answering the Discussion Topic, but not becoming actively involved with the discussion (at least one post to a classmate that makes a point. "Good Job" or "Well Done!" does not count) you would only receive a 90 = A-


The grading scale:
95 - 100 = A
90 - 94 = A-
85 - 89 = B
80 - 84 = B-
75 - 79 = C
70 - 74 = C-
65 - 69 = D
60 - 64 = D-
No one will score below a 60. We will see to it.
All grades are kept confidential. Students will be emailed their individual grades.


Most of the Assignments turned in need to be on your port as a static item and posted in the forum in bitem format. Please post your assignments and Discusion topics as replies to the original posts.  (Each assignment will include detailed procedures when "handing in" your work.)

Class Outline:

Lesson One:  Linking Words - Focus: Poetry Genres & Definitions

Lesson Two:  Linking Subject, Inspiration, and Sensation - Focus: Word Choice

Lesson Three:  Linking Sounds - Focus: Poetic Devices

Lesson Four:  Linking Ideas - Focus: Figurative Speech

Lesson Five:  Linking Pictures - Focus: Use of Imagery

Lesson Six:  Linking Spaces - Focus: Line Breaks, Pace & Pauses

Lesson Seven:  Linking Words for Rhyme - Focus: Pure Rhymes, Slant Rhymes, Internal Rhymes

Lesson Eight:  Closing the Chain - Focus: Wrap-up of Form, Rhyme & Meter

Additional Materials:

Bonus Lesson: Polishing Our Creation - Focus: Revision (not a course requirement)

Bonus: Glossary of Poetry Terms

Bonus: A Glance at Poetry Throughout the Ages (Just for Fun)

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Primary Instructor: NOVAcatmando
Associate Instructor: Keith (Dutch) Kuttner

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