Poetry as Persuasion

by Carl Dennis

Focusing on the relation of the poet to the reader, Carl Dennis proposes that poems are acts of persuasion and that the strength of a poem's speaker is the key to winning the reader's sympathetic attention. Dennis identifies the qualities of passion, discrimination, and inclusiveness as essential in creating a compelling speaker. This emphasis on character leads to fresh discussions of point of view, irony, myth, and genre. Each subject is developed through careful readings of a wide variety of poets―from Whitman and Dickinson to contemporaries. Lucidly written, Poetry as Persuasion offers both inspiration and important advice for practicing poets, and at the same time provides anyone with an interest in poetry a fresh understanding of its appeal.

Genres: Poetry

216 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2001

About the author

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Reviews

[Jay]

The first couple of chapters have changed my relationship to poetry forever in the best possible way.

Regretfully, the collection will be forever marred by its endorsing and using as an example one of THE Gigazionist poets.

I have to recommend this to anyone looking to deepen their relationship to their own poetic voice; likewise, I can’t not offer a warning about this one truly egregious lapse in judgement.