The purpose of this assignment is to engage you experientially in understanding Neoclassical, Romantic and Victorian poetry and the differences among them. It is possible to do well on this assignment if you are not a great creative writer, but it is not possible to do well on this assignment, no matter how good a writer you are, if you don't take it seriously and think carefully about what you're doing.
In brief, your assignment is to write three poems, each one representative of a different literary period (Neoclassical, Romantic and Victorian), and, in a separate discussion, to explain what makes those poems representative of their respective eras.
Length: each poem should be at least 20 lines long; there is no upper length limit, but since you have lots of other work to do, you should avoid 30-page poems.
Content, style, etc. Each poem should be representative of a different era; it is up to you to decide what that means. You are, in essence, imitating other poets; among the things you might try to imitate are subgenres (e.g. mock epic vs. dramatic monologue), meter, diction, typical themes and ideas, worldview (e.g. a Great Chain of Being concept of God vs. an immanent Wordsworthian "Presence" concept), attitudes and beliefs, styles of irony, etc.
It would be useful to adopt the persona of a person in that era--to write, for example, as an Augustan of a particular time, responding to actual historical persons, events or conditions, referring to or describing objects or practices that would have been used at that time (e.g. horses rather than automobiles, quill pens rather than computers, Newtonian physics but not Einsteinian physics). However, note the wording of the grading section below: I will grade on your understanding of two of the three literary periods, not directly on how representative each poem is of its era. This gives you some flexibility with respect to content. For example, although it is true that you could demonstrate understanding of the Augustan era by writing a mock epic about the death of Queen Anne and its aftermath, you could also demonstrate that understanding by writing a mock epic about a contemporary issue (e.g. the passing of the Bush era or the food in the residence halls) which made detailed and intelligent comparisons between the contemporary issue and the rise of the Whigs following the death of Queen Anne. In all cases, however, I do expect your poem to be genuine imitations; it would not be acceptable to say in your discussion, "I know this should have been a satire in heroic couplets, but I didn't know how to write one of those so I wrote this other thing instead."
Length: There is no set length for this section; how long the discussion is depends on what you're trying to say. For what it's worth, the best ones I've seen on similar assignments in the past have been at least 4-6 pages long, and many have run to 8 pages or more. I've seen decent ones of 3 pages; all the 1-pagers have been awful.
Content: In your discussion, explain what makes your poems representative of their eras. Don't assume that your definition of Neoclassical, Romantic, or Victorian coincides with my own; justify your definition with references to specific poems, criticism or other non-fiction texts (e.g. the headnotes in the Norton Anthology), accurately reproduced and clearly understood class discussion, etc. You should discuss both the form and content of your work, and refer specifically to its features, even quoting yourself where appropriate. MLA documentation of sources is required only if you use sources other than those assigned for class (alternate sources are neither forbidden nor required).
The grade for this project will be based upon my assessment of your poems and your discussion as a reflection of your understanding of Neoclassical, Romantic and Victorian poetry. Do your story and discussion reveal a profound and thoughtful understanding of the poetry of the three literary periods--their characteristic genres, ideas, poetic forms, social and historical context, etc.? Do you understand the differences between the periods and/or where those differences might not be absolute? Because these poems are imitations, I will base my grade as much upon what you DO in the poems as upon what you say about them.
I will not directly evaluate your poems as literature (i.e. their subtlety, ambition, emotional and intellectual depth, verbal power and precision, etc.). However, I will consider the quality of the poetry insofar as it is a reflection of your understanding of the poetry of the different periods. It is reasonable to think that a "good" Neoclassical poem requires a better understanding of the Neoclassical era than a Neoclassical poem which is not as good.