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LANGUAGE ARTS
CARIBBEAN POETRY
SECONDARY
ONE
TWO
INTRODUCTION TO POETRY
3
45 HOURS

RATIONALE
Caribbean Poetry is designed to provide student-teachers with an understanding of the
development of poetry in the region and the range of issues associated with its history.
The course is intended to expose students to the works of known and lesser-known poets,
especially the contributions of women and poets from the Spanish and or French
Caribbean, and to develop an appreciation for this literary form. It is also envisioned that
students will examine major socio-economic and environmental issues and develop
values that will engender changes for sustainable development in the many areas of
Caribbean life. The course is also intended to further students interest in and
enjoyment of poetry.

OBJECTIVES
At the end of this course students should be able to:
1. identify distinctive features of Caribbean poetry and arrive at their own
definitions
2. explore the phases of Caribbean poetry and the poets who contribute to each.
3. do a close study of a poet from the Caribbean canon.
4. identify and analyse/compare common themes in Caribbean poetry.
5. examine the works of poets under study in relation to various literary
perspectives/theories in relation.
6. analyse the works of a poet from the Spanish or French Caribbean
7. appreciate, through the poems under discussion, values (related to equity, human
rights, peace, citizenship etc) that produce a sustainable society
UNIT 1: 8 HOURS
DEFINITIONS
Definitions of Caribbean poetry
Distinctive features of Caribbean poetry

UNIT 2: 4 HOURS
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Distinct phases/features of Caribbean poetry: pre 19th century; 19th century; early
mid 20th century;
The poetry of Claude McKay and Una Marson a general overview

UNIT 3: 10 HOURS
COMMON THEMES (This list is not exhaustive)
Exploration of at least two themes in a number of poems
Slavery, colonialism and power relationships
Identity
Race, colour, class
Resistance and rebellion
Exile and displacement
Relations with the empire
Fragmentation
Language
Coping strategies/survival
Oral traditions
Music and religion
Place the environment and people
UNIT 4: 17 HOURS
A LOOK AT THE CANON
Close study of one of the following:
Kamau Brathwaite
Derek Walcott
Lorna Goodison
Olive Senior
Mervyn Morris
Edward Baugh
Dennis Scott
Louise Bennett

(Literary theories: Students will be sensitized to some of these theories that may be
applied in analysing the poems under study e.g. Postcolonial, Reader Response, New
Criticism, Marxist, Feminist)
[Please note that the themes in Unit 4 may be applied to the poets being studied in Units 4
and 5]
UNIT 5: 10 HOURS

OTHER VOICES
(Copies of selected poems to be given to students)

Selections from the non-anglophone Caribbean e.g. The works of either Nicolas
Guillen or Aime Cesaire.
The contributions of women to the development of Caribbean poetry.
Caribbean voices: from the outside looking in - Dionne Brand, David Dabydeen,
Fred DAguiar, Grace Nichols and others that are chosen by the lecturer.

EVALUATION
Course Work
Examination

60%
40%

(3 pieces must include the mini project)

(2 questions)

Suggested Activities
Group presentations
Research
Discussions
Poetry readings
SUGGESTED COURSE WORK ACTIVITIES
Mini Project select a sustainability issue. Show how different poets represent as
well as suggest treatment/coping strategies. Compare your own responses and
suggestions re this issue. Use other frames of reference (e.g. the media). (Group
Work)
Select poem from any period. Identify ways in which this poem is characteristic
of this period. Find another poem from another period/geographic location, with
similar theme. Compare the treatment of this theme.
In-class test (open book). Analysis of unseen poem or response to an essay
question.
Respond to a critics reading of a poem. To what extent does this reflect your own
views? Points of departure?

References (These are some suggestions and not exhaustive)

Baugh, Edward. It Was The Singing. Sandberry Press.
Brand, Dionne. No Language is Neutral. McClelland & Stewart.
Brathwaite, Kamau Edward. The Arrivants. Oxford Univ. Press.
Breiner, Laurence. An Introduction to West Indian Poetry. Cambridge University
Press.
Brown, Stewart, Ed. Caribbean Poetry Now. Edward Arnold.

Brown, Stewart and Ian McDonald. The Heinemann Book of Caribbean Poetry.
Heinemann.
Goodison, Lorna. Selected Poems. University of Michigan Press.
Hamner, Robert. Ed. Critical Perspectives on Derek Walcott. Three Continents Press.
Nichols, Grace. I is a Long Memoried Woman. The Red Sea Press.
Morris, Mervyn. Examination Centre.
Ramchand, Kenneth and Cecil Gray. West Indian Poetry. Longman.
Senior, Olive. Gardening in the Tropics. McClelland & Stewart.