English 3200-05W: Creative Writing
Dr. Margaret E. Mitchell
Spring 2008 TTH 11-12:15 TLC 1204
Office: TLC 2235
Email: mmitchel@westga.edu
Website: http: //www.westga.edu/~mmitchel
Phone: 678.839.4852
Office Hours: M 2-4, W 10-12 and 1-3, Th 4:30-5:30, also by appt.
Class Description:
This class will provide an introduction to the writing of fiction and poetry. Students will explore their creative potential while studying craft—the strategies and techniques that give form to imagination. Readings in poetry and short fiction will strengthen your familiarity with the contemporary literary landscape and encourage you to situate your own emerging voice among those of other writers. Workshops will allow you to benefit from intense discussions of your own work and that of other students. We will emphasize revision; by the end of the semester you will have produced a polished portfolio of your best work.
Course Texts
The Poet’s Companion, Addonizio and Laux; Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction; The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetry.
Requirements:
Frequent writing assignments, portfolio of revised work, 2 short critical essays, responses to student work, writing journal.
Grade Breakdown:
20% -- Participation (includes participation in discussions, workshops, in-class writing, journal). If quizzes become necessary, they will count here.
20% --short critical essays
20% -- Drafts of Poems and Stories (10% poetry, 10% Fiction)
40% -- Portfolios (20% Poetry; 20% Fiction)
Poems and short stories will be graded on a “check system” as you write them. Checks should serve as progress markers, and do not “equal” grades in that checks are not static like grades: you have a chance to improve your checks with each revision, and you may revise as many times as you like. Only checks on final, portfolio drafts translate into grades.
Minus: Technically incomplete (did not meet requirements of assignment)
CheckMinus: Technically complete, but minimally so: clearly undeveloped
Check: Meets requirements of assignment, shows understanding of basic concepts
CheckPlus: Well developed, successful execution on multiple levels, effort is obvious
Plus: Superior; usually reserved for revisions
Policies
◊Please come to class on time. If you are late three times it will count as an absence; lateness may also affect your ability to complete in-class assignments within the amount of time allowed. Please turn off cell phones and other potential sources of electronic disturbance before you enter class and remove them from your desk or your person. If such a device does go off during class, I will mark you late.
◊Your active presence is essential to the success of the class. In-class exercises cannot be made up regardless of the reason for your absence unless we have made arrangements in advance. You may not turn assignments in late. If you miss more than three classes, your grade will suffer. There is no such thing as an excused absence. I assume that illness or other pressing circumstances may legitimately cause you to miss three classes in the course of the semester; I don’t need to know your reasons. Beyond that, however, absences will lower your final grade by half a letter grade each. If you do miss class, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed and arrange to obtain relevant readings or assignments. If you miss 6 classes, you will not pass. (If you have truly extraordinary circumstances documented by the university, you should look into obtaining a hardship withdrawal.)
◊ Student Writing: Everything you turn in as a formal assignment MUST be typewritten in a standard font. If your story or poem is being critiqued, you are responsible for making copies for all of your classmates. When the stories and poems are received, they should be read well in advance of class. You should come to class with your copy of the student work marked up (critiqued), ready to provide helpful commentary for the writer. Keep your journal in a separate notebook that you can turn in—don’t combine it with your class notebook. Date your entries—you should have 3 entries a week for the entire semester. These may be either creative or reflective. I will provide detailed guidelines. Keep ALL of your written work in a folder for your portfolio.
◊ I check my email regularly; this is always a good way to contact me. University policy dictates that we correspond via your westga email account rather than any email accounts you might have. Make sure to use your My Westga account when you write to me.
◊I expect you to preserve an atmosphere of courtesy, respect, and intellectual maturity in the classroom, to take your own work and that of the other students seriously. We will critique everyone’s writing at some point during the semester. When making suggestions or critiques, remember that the comments should be helpful. I would never want you to hold back any sincere criticism that you wish to make; workshops won’t be effective if everyone is overly cautious in their comments. But remember your purpose in making any critiques: to lend help to your classmates. And don’t be afraid to emphasize what you LIKE about someone’s work as well. The success of this class absolutely depends upon this.
◊If you have special needs of which I should be aware, please meet with me as soon as possible to discuss satisfactory arrangements.
Academic Honesty:
Presenting the language or ideas of someone else as your own constitutes plagiarism--whether your source is a friend, a relative, or a critic; whether the uncredited material is a phrase, an idea, or an entire poem or story. Plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the class, and may have consequences at the university level.
This schedule of readings is designed to be flexible, and I reserve the right to make changes as the semester goes on, should it seem like a good idea….
Schedule:
Th Jan 10. Introduction
T Jan 15 In The Poet’s Companion (PC, hereafter) read “Writing and Knowing” and “Poetry of Place”; in The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetry (VB), read “Filling Station” (33) and “In the Waiting Room” (34) (remember to work on your language poem, too)
Th Jan 17 Place poem due. Writing exercise.
T Jan 22 In PC, read “Images” and “Simile and Metaphor.” In VB, read "The Evening of the Mind" (Donald Justice, 198), "Why I am Not a Painter" (Frank O'Hara, 208), and "The Lady in Kicking Horse Reservoir" (Richrad Hugo, 184).
Th Jan 24 Poems TBA; writing exercise.
Assignment For Tues: Write a poem (at least 12 lines) with a controlling image, metaphor, or simile. (There may be more than one, or a combination, but one should dominate.)
T Jan 29 Image Poem due. Small group workshop.
Th Jan 31 In PC, read “The Family: Inspiration and Obstacle” and “The Shadow.” In VB: Anne Sexton, "The Room of My Life" (310); Carolyn Kizer, "Amusing Our Daughters" (195); Howard Moss, "The Wars" (147); Mona Van Duyn, "The Twins" (139). Image poem REALLY due.
T Feb 5 In PC, read “The Music of the Line” and “Meter, Rhyme, and Form.” Writing exercise.
Th Feb 7 DRAFT of family/shadow poem due—should make interesting use of line breaks, meter, or rhyme. In VB: excerpt from The Dream Songs (Berryman), 48; "Teleology," 97, and "Unconscious Came a Beauty," 98 (Swenson); "Consequences," 113-115 (Meredith); "Reflective," 271 (Ammons).
T Feb 12 In PC, read “Voice and Style” and “The Energy of Revision.” Poem # 3 due, along with a paragraph (at least 150 words) explaining the important choices you've made about line breaks, meter, rhythm--or the lack thereof: what are your intentions? How do you see the form of your poem in relation to its content? Critical essay assigned.
Th Feb 14 VB poems TBA. Writing exercise.
T Feb 19 In PC, read “Witnessing.” In VB, read
Howard Nemerov, “The War in the Air” (123); Donald Justice, “The Assassination” (202); Adrienne Rich, “Paula Becker to Clara Westhoff” (355); Yusef Komunyakka, “Facing It” (537)
Also: turn in ONE serious revision
Th Feb 21 Short critical essay due (on poem of your choice--detailed guidelines will be provided well in advance)
T Feb 26 Political or Historical Poem due Use the instructions for either #1 or #2 under "Ideas for Writing" in the PC. Start Fiction unit. In The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Fiction, read “Death by Landscape” and “Sarah Cole: A Type of Love Story”
Th Feb 28 Writing exercise.
[M Mar 3 Last day to withdraw with a W]
T Mar 4 First person narrative due. In SA, read “Customs of the Country” and “Silver Water”
Th Mar 6 In SA, read “Emergency” and “Marie”
T Mar 11 Writing exercise. Reading TBA.
Th Mar 13 Story scene due. Small group workshop.
SPRING BREAK
T Mar 25 In SA, read “Meneseteung” and “Ghost Girls”
Th Mar 27 Story opening due. (Bring 5 possible story beginnings--first lines based on the handout. Choose one and write two pages...)Discuss.
T Apr 1 In SA, read Sherman Alexie story. Expand story beginning to 4 or 5 pages.
Th Apr 3 Writing exercise: dialogue.
T Apr 8 dialogue assignment due (2-3 pages, dialogue-based story scene)
Th Apr 10 Individual conferences
** Submit the piece you want to workshop to me AT LEAST 3 days in advance so everyone will have time to print, read, and comment on your work. (Everyone will be responsible for keeping up with this, and submitting written evaluations of each piece.)
T Apr 15 Workshop: Randy. 5 page story due--open assignment. No genre fiction.
Workshop procedure: print out the poems and stories scheduled to be workshopped in advance. Read them carefully--more than once, ideally. For each piece, bring approximately a page (double-spaced) of written comments, to be turned in first to me and then to the writers themselves.
Here are some guidelines for your comments:
1. Start by talking about what is most successful.
2. Make all of your criticism constructive.
3. For fiction, consider: characterization, dialogue, plot, beginning, conclusion (if there is one), voice, language.
For poetry, consider language, imagery, line breaks, rhythm, and clarity and resonance of subject matter.
Th Apr 17 Workshop: Adam, Jonathan, Angela
T Apr 22 Workshop: Darryl, Jeff, Jeanelle
Critical essay #2 due (on story of your choice).
A one to two page discussion of any story in the anthology (whether we’ve read it or not) and what you learn from it about one particular element of the craft of fiction writing: characterization, dialogue, management of time, evocation of place—look through your handouts for ideas about other possible focuses. Working closely with the story—using the language of the story, that is, to support your case—show how the story manages this task and what principles you might draw from the strategies employed by this writer. This is not as formal an essay as the first; you’ll be introducing a personal element, but I’d still like you to maintain an academic tone throughout—lets say “academic casual,” in the same way that a restaurant might say that its dress code is “business casual.” Due April 22.
Th Apr 24 Workshop: Lauren, Whitney, Priscilla
T Apr29 Workshop: Ryan, Claudia. Conclusion....
Portfolios due May 5. Construct your portfolio in a folder. On the right, insert clean copies of the best version all your formal assignments for the semester: 4 poems, 4 stories. These should be as polished--as close to finished--as you can make them. On the left, enclose all of your originals and revisions, along with your critical essays. You MAY also include any informal writing assignments that you feel help to create a more complete picture of your work and your progress this semester.
Course Goals:
· Students will learn to write in the genres of poetry and short fiction and become conversant with issues of technique in both disciplines.
· Students will develop an understanding of the defining characteristics of both genres
· Students will become more adept readers and writers as they consider model texts from a writer’s perspective
· Students will learn to offer and receive constructive criticism in a public forum.