If you want to write poetry, this course will help you to create your best possible work. You'll learn the formal elements of the craft, become aware of how particular forms work, and explore many avenues for possible poetry topics. Interactive exercises will help you to create at least one poem with formal elements, and you'll receive instruction and commentary in a constructive and nurturing environment. If you're serious about becoming a published poet, you'll also learn how to prepare a manuscript for publication and where to send it for the best possible results.

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Syllabus:

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when the lesson is released, but you must complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

A new section of each course starts on the second or third Wednesday of each month. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

Week One

Wednesday - Lesson 01

Getting Started

Friday - Lesson 02

Write What you Know

Week Two

Wednesday - Lesson 03

Line Breaks

Friday - Lesson 04

Imagery

Week Three

Wednesday - Lesson 05

Writer's Block

Friday - Lesson 06

Repetition and Rhyme

Week Four

Wednesday - Lesson 07

The Art of Revision

Friday - Lesson 08

Sentiment versus sentimentality

Week Five

Wednesday - Lesson 09

Experimentation with language

Friday - Lesson 10

Finding your niche

Week Six

Wednesday - Lesson 11

Publishing Options

Friday - Lesson 12

Publication Specifics

This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Melody Gough.

Melody Gough is a poet with numerous publications to her credit. She recently earned a Master of Arts degree in Teaching English, with an emphasis in creative writing. She teaches university level writing courses and facilitates writing workshops for aspiring poets. She is often called upon to edit and critique literary manuscripts for published fiction writers and poets.

Requirements:

Internet access, e-mail, the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and the Adobe Flash and PDF plug-ins (two free and simple downloads you obtain at http://www.adobe.com/downloads by clicking Get Adobe Flash Player and Get Adobe Reader).

Student Reviews:

"Cannot say enough about this course, or Melody as a mentor and teacher. This is the perfect course for anyone with any interest in poetry. Melody's critiques combined with class input help bring home what it takes to effective write poetry-all without brusing one's ego. Again, Melody is an exceptional mentor and teacher. While I plan to take other writing courses, I would jump at the chance to take a follow-on to this course under her instruction."

"Even though my every day work load got really heavy during this class period of time, I was still able to go on-line when it was most convenient for me. I still have a lot of writing to do, but I gained a lot of knowledge from this course. I particularly enjoyed the discussion area and reading my classmates work - it was a joy!"

"Excellent course that really started me pushing myself as a poet. I would welcome another course to further and complement this one."

"from the first lesson to the last i have enjoyed "the pleasures of poetry" my mentor - Melody - has been with me in each line of every poem - she suggested revisions - offered much praise - and displayed intellect - wit - and a great sense of fun through out the workshop - i am truly sad the workshop has ended..."

"GREAT COURSE!!! I loved it!! Thanks!!!!!"

"I considered several classroom writing courses and online writing courses before choosing Pleasures of Poetry with Melody Gough. I looked at the writing of several of the instructors offering writing courses; Melody's voice was the one I most admired. She did not let me down. I am honored and grateful to have had her as my teacher, to have been her student, if only for a very short time."

"I enjoyed it thoroughly and it did truly help me take a look at my potential objectively.-Thanks!"

"I felt that the instructor gave useful feedback on my work. She was very positive and encouraging. I will probably take this course again because there is a lot that I can learn in this area."

"I found the course challenging and even inspiring. As a teacher, Melody Gough had constructive critique methods and always made suggestions with consideration to the student's own creative efforts and abilities. I got actually more out of it than I expected."

"I have taken a number of on-line writing classes, but found this one the most enjoyable and informative. Instructor feedback was honest, helpful and thoughtful!!"

"I have taken several community education courses in poetry writing and have also taken classes for credit at the local community college. I have never found another course as enjoyable and informative as this one. I would encourage anyone interested in poetry to take this course. I have never had feedback on my writing like I found here. Thank you so much for an outstanding experience."

"I hesitated to take this class for two reasons--time commitment during August and September and because I am very much a novice at writing poetry. I am so pleased to have had the opportunity to take this course. It exceeded my expectations and has given me a foundation in writing poetry from which I plan to continue to build. Melody is a great teacher. I admire the way she works with students. She has the gift of telling it as it really is and yet making the student feel good about the poem he/she wrote and shared. Anyone interested in improving his/her poetry-writing skills would benefit from her instruction."

"I LOVED this course sooooooooooooo much! I wish I could take it again."

"I really enjoyed the lessons and learned a great deal from them. I've always wanted to take a poetry class and I was extremely pleased with the structure and organization of this one."

"I really enjoyed this course.Melody showed me that poetry is in everything. I have been writing since my teens, my biggest fans were my family. Now I feel confident that I can branch out. Thank you for such a wonderful experience!"

"I really liked this class and this instructor. The lessons were full of exercises to prepare for the assignment and the instructor was very supportive and a great help in her critique of my work. I appreciated her using her own poetry as examples for us - she is a talented artist."

"I thoroughly enjoyed this class, and I thoroughly enjoyed having Melody as an instructor. She readily answered all of my queries in clear language that was easily understandable. And I would like to thank her at this time for all of the help that she gave me. This was the first poetry class I have taken, and I would like to take another poetry class should it become available. It would be very nice of Melody would be teaching it."

"I was a little apprehensive about getting feedback (I had taken a one day poetry workshop and don't think I was ready for criticism at that point!) and I was very pleasantly surprised at how constructive the instructor's feedback was and how kindly it was given. Classmates also gave very good feedback. The material was well organized and fun to do. I didn't get to do all the exercises but hope to do some more as I keep working on my poetry. So, the bottom line for me is that I am inspired to continue writing, thanks, Melody!"

"I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of personal attention this instructor gave each participant, with timely and to the point suggestions. I am sorry it is over!"

"I was really challenged by the material. It progressed evenly, so that I could continue to build on the previous lessons. Since I haven't studied for a long time, and never studied writing poetry, this was very important to me! The discussion area was initially my biggest obstacle. Then I learned how it was to be used, and I will miss it the most for that is where Melody really helped me. Her honest, thoughtful, incisive feedback helped me to really learn by practicing. I also watched the other students learning and found that very encouraging! Melody, I especially enjoyed reading your poetry because you have done a lot of living, like me! The Halloween and "MELODYLAND" poems ended up being my favorites!"

"I was thrilled with this course - it gave me so much creative energy, welcome and useful feedback, and I think Melody Gough is a wonderful instructor: caring, encouraging, and focused on exactly what I needed to improve and modify my writing to bring out its strengths. I highly recommend this course, and especially this instructor to anyone else. I could not have been happier!"

"I was very impressed with the course content. I never realised there were so many forms of poetry that I was capable of writing! This course has expanded my knowledge of form and structure, and I will be able to now go away and better revise my existing poetry. I would have liked to see more focus on the publishing side of things, but the two lessons on this topic have certainly given me a strong start to my writing career!"

"I would LOVE to take a part II of this same course with Melody. There is just so much more to learn and the instructor has really fired my imagination on this. She is absolutely excellent, very honest and practical as well. I also really enjoyed the fact that the students were from all over the world. This was absolutely stunning opportunity to get worldly feedback not available in normal class environment. Additionally, it means the instructor can be located anywhere too, so you can get a much better selection of qualified instructors rather than working with whatever is available locally. The discussion area was absolutely brilliant - so much interaction - fantastic!"

"Lots of fun and I learned a lot. Please continue to offer more of the same."

"Melody is a gifted and talented mentor and poet. She covered complex material comprehensively and concisely within the course and also made learning enjoyable. I truly appreciated the extra time and care she spent responding in detail with concrete analysis of each student's work and helpful suggestions for improvement. I would love to take another course with Melody Gough, especially an advanced poetry workshop."

"Melody is an excellent teacher and brought to this class a genuine personal interest as well as a supportive personality. Because we had a travel date that took me away from the computer for several weeks I missed linking into some valuable discussion experiences. I plan to take the course again next year if it is offered. Melody's presentation was absolutely outstanding."

"Melody, I want to thank you for the class lessons. Your class opened up many new ways to express my feelings. I can use my pain to bring to light that there is joy. For this I thank you!"

"Melody was always upbeat, positive and worked to encourage the students. Her lessons were useful and concise. I enjoyed the class!"

"Melody was helpful and encouraging to all students and gave honest opinions in a positive manner. I enjoyed both the course and her poetry and look forward to reading more of her work."

"My first on-line course; fantastic. Instructor; a true gift. The writing assignments and constructive criticism expanded my understanding of basics of poetry and encouraged continuation and pursuit of excellence. Wish there was a follow-up course by same instructor."

"My instructor, Melody has changed my life for the better. I owe her my deepest gratitude. Thank you."

"Once I got started I could not get enough of this class. I love the discussion area which should be rare for me to be able to express myself the way that I have tried too!"

"Our instructor, Melody, opened up a whole new world to me. Poetry is far more than pretty words, it is an art. Through Melody's instruction writing poetry has become a beautiful artistic endeavor. Poetry certainly can add a great deal of enjoyment to one's life."

"Overall, it was a great experience and I enjoyed it thoroughly."

"Poetry for Pleasure is the first on-line course I have taken. This particular course was very helpful and stimulating. I hope that ed2go offers more courses for writers of poetry."

"The course covered a lot of ground and was interesting and enjoyable. The instructor was helpful and informative and made my first on-line course a pleasurable experience."

"The course was excellent and I enjoyed working with Melody very much. She did an outstanding job in responding to each discussion area question, providing helpful advice and/or encouraging comments"

"The instructor's suggestions were tactfully worded, still providing explicit suggestions for improvement. The course exceeded my expectations, and I would be willing to take it or something similar again."

"The instructor was outstanding as was her course presentation in every aspect. Her comments were valuable. Her poetry is exceptional."

"The instructor was very helpful especially in giving great feedback and constructive criticisms also the poems she wrote and put in the assignments to help us understand that particular information was very helpful and kneat to read her own work."

"This course is so informative. There is material and suggestions above and beyoud the assignments that offer the opportunity to really experience the excitement of writing poetry. I can not praise Melody's ability to draw out the best in a person desire to write poetry. Super!"

"This course was very educational. Melody Gough, the instructor, is exceptional. She was very open and helpful, attending to our every question. She offered thought-provoking, and gentle feedback, understanding that poets tend to be sensitive. She is apparently knowledgeable in her craft. I would definitely take a follow-up course in poetry if she was the instructor. I trust her with my feelings."

"This is the best writing class I've taken to date from these offerings. I want it to go on forever. I would love to see a "More Pleasures of Poetry" with Melody. She does a tremendous job and always had positive, encouraging comments for everyone in the class. I wasn't always sure who in the class was on the right track with assignments. Sometimes posted assignments didn't seem to me to meet the requirements. That left me wondering if I was doing something wrong. At other times, specific feedback was given that was quite helpful - "tighten it up" or "tell me more about the person." Those comments helpd me determine the direction I needed to take. I realized during this course that I probably should be taking a more serious level of poetry study, perhaps for credit. I really wanted comments as to whether or not I have promise as a poet/writer. I realize now this wasn't the right forum for that. I did, however, learn lots and will even consider taking it again in the future because it was extremely helpful. It kept me writing, which sometimes is half the battle. Thank you so much, Melody, and I'll be watching for your name in the bookstores and journals."

"This was a great entry-level course into the world of poetry writing. Melody was a fantastic instructor - she was always encouraging and her critiques of students' submitted work were kind and gentle - always giving us someting to think about. I really enjoyed her teaching style and I learned so much in a non-threatening environment. I would definitely recommend Melody as an instructor."

"This was an excellent course. I have a BA in English Literature, so I have studied poetry, but this is my first poetry writing course. It seemed to me that the instructor, Melody, shaped the course to be accessible to all levels. I was comfortably challenged by her assignments and they certainly expanded and enhanced my creativity. The forum component was very helpful and we formed a nice workshop environment. Melody was timely and encouraging in her comments to students but at the same time I could tell that her remarks had a gentle honesty. Of course, that honesty is the only way that poets can learn to write better, more accessible poetry. I hope that someday you will offer a part II to this course."

"This was an excellent course. The instructor engages every student to do their very best. I would highly recommend this course to anyone without the slightest hesitation."

"This was a wonderfully convenient way to take a class I would not have been able to shcedule any other way. I really enjoyed the material and Melody's teaching style. I especially liked that she shared her work and was able to interact through the discussion area. I found that being able to read other students work and comments was very beneficial. I will refer back to this material often, I'm sure. Thanks, Melody."

"Very enjoyable experience--learned a lot. Instructor easy to interact with. Very knowledgeable of her subject."