EVANGEL UNIVERSITY                                                                              Humanities Department

 

ENGLISH 436 / COMJ 436   Creative Writing   Fall 2008   Tu/Th  2:00-3:15 p.m.   Trask 308

Instructor: SC Vekasy   Voice Mail: x 8647   Office Hours: Posted 312-A

E-mail: vekasys@evangel.edu    Personal web page: www.wordtinker.com

 

CATALOG DESCRIPTION:  A course in imaginative writing providing guidance and practice in the following genre: poetry, fiction, drama. Course requirements include submitting work to national publications.

Prerequisite: One literature course and either ENGL 211 or ENGL 236 or permission.

 

COURSE PURPOSE:  To provide beginning writers with basic tools and guidance in the crafting of poetry, fiction, and drama, encourage writing talent, and instill appreciation of the writing arts

 

TEXTBOOK:  Minot, Stephen.  Three Genres: The Writing of Fiction/Literary Nonfiction, Poetry, and Drama.

   8th edition. Prentice Hall. 2007.

                

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

 

At the end of the course, the student should have learned

     1.  to regularly practice the discipline of writing a significant amount

     2.  to understand the composing process, including getting beyond “writer's block" 

     3.  to better appreciate good literature through experiencing the basic elements of the short story from a writer's

               perspective

     4.  to write poetry (not merely verse) in both traditional and modern forms

     5.  to both solicit and value peers' and instructor's criticism

     6.  to understand the necessity of extensive revision

     7.  to know the basic conventions of submitting for publication

     8.  to experience the frustrations and joys of the creative process and the satisfaction of having "birthed" poems,  

               short fiction, and short drama

     9.  to grow through the experience of both formal and informal oral presentations

    10. to grasp pedagogical methods of encouraging creative writing (i.e., in the church, public schools, etc.)

    11. to respond appropriately to work written by and for both male and female peers   

 

 METHODS AND PROCEDURES:

 

          1.  Assignment and review of text material / required reading notes submitted to TurnItIn.com

          2.  Supplemental lectures on writing with class discussion

          3.  In-class exercises / optional quizzes on stories

          4.  Group "cell" meetings in class to respond to others' work and receive feedback on weekly writing

          5.  Written and oral response to work done outside of class

          6.  Individual conferences

          7.  Performance of original work

          8.  Submission of work to publishers

          9.  Preparation of formal manuscripts

         10. Participation in reader’s theater performances

 

UNITS:

 

        Poetry                                                                      Fiction                                                                               Drama

          What Makes a Poem a Poem?                    Fiction: The Freedom to Invent                                             Drama: A Live Performance

          Plunging In: A Selection of Poems              Finding and Shaping Fresh Material                                      The Dramatic Plot

          Sources: Where Poems Come From            Viewpoint: Who’s Seeing This?                                            Conflict: Generating Emotional

          The Impact of Images                                 The Making of a Story                                                              Impact              

          Using The Sound of Words                         Structure: From Scenes to Plot                                            The Nonrealistic Play

          Traditional Rhythms                                    Creating Tension                                                                 Dramatic Characterization

          Stanzas: A Choice of Fixed Forms                             Setting: Where Are We?                                                       Visual Impact

          Free-Verse: Creating Unique Forms             Dialogue: The Illusion of Speech                                          The Voices of Comedy

          A Sense of Order                                       Characterization: Creating Credible People                            Dramatic Themes

          Varieties of Tone                                        Liberating the Imagination                                                    Troubleshooting Guide: Drama

          Poems for Self Study                                 Heightened Meaning: Metaphor, Symbol, and Theme

          Troubleshooting Guide: Poetry                    Style and Tone                                                                                                                                                                                            Troubleshooting Guide: Fiction

         

    

 

 

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:                                        

 

1.  Active participation in class activities, cell discussions, and formal reading sessions.

 

2.  Weekly assignments (See daily schedule and assignment sheet) for workshop portions of class.

     Always bring at least two copies of your work for the current cell session.

 

3.  Discussion notes for each chapter assigned. Minimum of 200 words of meaningful text content/personal   

     response for each chapter or story marked (RN) in one’s own words submitted to TurnItIn.com before each

     class session. Each day’s assignments will be submitted in one file with appropriate labeling of chapters.

     Format: double-spaced, 12-point font, Times New Roman or Arial. Bring a copy of your underlined text or your

     reading notes to class for that day’s discussion.        

 

4.  "Report of Writing Progress" sheet DUE THE DAY OF EACH CELL MEETING. Fill it out before class!    

 

5.  Completion of 25- to 30-page manuscript (typed and semi-formally bound) collection of original poetry,

     fiction, and drama in edited form (approx. 10 pages of each genre). DUE Tuesday, Nov. 18.

 

6.  Portfolio interview during final 2 weeks of the term

 

7.  Note: On the 8th absence, a student is dropped from the course. This includes school-sponsored and

     sports absences. The value of the course as a workshop can only be obtained if one is physically

     present in class. Being with the class “in spirit,” unfortunately, does not count. Arriving late to  

     class reveals a lack of consideration for others, reflects a careless attitude toward one’s work, and  

     calls negative attention to one’s self. One should not report late to work each day.

 

 

 EVALUATION:    1. Daily average from assignments, reading notes,

                                       exercises, participation in cell groups, etc.           60%

                              2. Portfolio of poetry, fiction, drama                               40%                                                                                          

                                                                                                                    100%

 

Creative Writing -- Daily Schedule – Fall 2008  (Use in conjunction with Assignment Sheet)

 

Aug 28             Introduction to the Course / Personal Information Profiles

         ____________________________________________________________________

 

Sep 2               Preface for Students (ix-xii) / Analysis of Types

                        Reading Notes Explained = (RN) / Cells / Quality vs. Effort / Creativity

 

Sep 4               Ch 25 – What Makes a Poem a Poem? (RN)

                        Ch 26 – Plunging In: A Selection of Poems   ASSIGNMENT 1 DUE

 


Sep 9               Ch 27 – Sources: Where Poems Come From (RN)

                        Ch 28 – The Impact of Images (RN)     ASSIGNMENT 2 DUE

 

Sep 11             Ch 29 – Using the Sound of Words (RN)

                        Ch 30 – Traditional Rhythms (RN)     ASSIGNMENT 3 DUE     [CELLS]

 


Sep 16             Ch 31 – Stanzas: A Choice of Fixed Forms (RN)      ASSIGNMENT 4 DUE

                        Ch 32 – Free-Verse: Creating Unique Forms (RN)  IN-CLASS POEM    (Villanelles)

 

Sep 18             Ch 33 – A Sense of Order (RN)    (Found Poems)   ASSIGNMENT 5 DUE   

                        Ch 34 – Varieties of Tone (RN)     [CELLS] 

                              Sign up for Critical Review of a Poem in Ch 35 (Sheet is on my office door after class)

           

Sep 23             Ch 35 – Poetry for Self Study   ASSIGNMENT 6 DUE (Recitation of Critical Review)   

 

Sep 25             Poetry Reading Session (7-9 minutes of your favorite original poetry)

 

 


Sep 30             Ch 6 – Fiction: The Freedom to Invent (RN)      ASSIGNMENT 7 DUE

                        Ch 7 – Finding and Shaping Fresh Material (RN)    

                        Ch 8 – “Escapes” - A Story by Ann Hood (RN)    

 

Oct 2                Ch 9 – Viewpoint: Who’s Seeing This? (RN)

                        Ch 10 – “Rwanda” – A Story by Stephen Minot (RN)        

                        Ch 11 – The Making of a Story (RN)     [CELLS]

 


Oct 7                Ch 12 – Structure: From Scenes to Plot (RN)     ASSIGNMENT 8 DUE

Library Reserve: “Sausage and Beer” - A Story by Stephen Minot and “The Making of a

                               Story” (Chapters edition on reserve at EU Library Desk)

Ch 14 – Creating Tension (RN)     [CELLS]

 

Oct 9                Ch 15 –  Setting: Where Are We? (RN)       ASSIGNMENT 9 DUE

                        Ch 16 – “Obst Vw”- A Story by Sharon Solwitz

Ch 17 – Dialogue: The Illusion of Speech (RN)

                        FILM-“Publishers and Big Bucks”     Distribute character name list  

                       

Oct 14              Ch 18 – Characterization: Creating Credible People (RN)     [CELLS]

                        Oral Presentation of a Character Sketch  (RN)   ASSIGNMENT 10 DUE

 

Oct 16              Ch 20 – Liberating the Imagination (RN)     ASSIGNMENT 11 DUE

Ch 21 – Heightened Meaning: Metaphor, Symbol, and Theme (RN)  [CELLS]

           

           

Oct 21              FALL BREAK

 

Oct 23              Ch 22 – “Gotta Dance” - A Story by Jackson Jodie Daviss (RN)    ASSIGNMENT 12  DUE

                        Ch 23 – Style and Tone (RN)                 [CELLS]

           

 

Oct 28              Fiction Reading Session (7-9 minutes of your favorite original fiction)

 

Oct 30              Ch 37 – Drama: A Live Performance (RN)         ASSIGNMENT 13 DUE 

                        Ch 38 – Hello Out There - A Play by William Saroyan (RN)

                        Ch 39 – The Dramatic Plot (RN)      IN-CLASS EXERCISE     [MINI-CELLS]

        _____________________________________________________________________

 

Nov 4               Ch 40 – Reckoning – A Play by Tony Padilla (RN)

Ch 41 – Conflict: Generating Emotional Impact (RN)     ASSIGNMENT 14 DUE

                        Ch 42 – Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda - A Play by Glenn Alterman (RN)

Ch 43 – The Nonrealistic Play (RN)    [CELLS]

 

Nov 6               Ch 44 – Dramatic Characterization (RN)       ASSIGNMENT 15 DUE

                        Ch 45 – Visual Impact (RN)

                        Ch 46 – Valley Forgery - A Play by Patricia Montley (RN)     [CELLS]

 

           

Nov 11             Ch 47 – The Voices of Comedy (RN)         ASSIGNMENT 16 DUE

                        Ch 48 – Dramatic Themes (RN)       [CELLS = Casting Call]

 

Nov 13             Time Off for Rehearsals

 


Nov 18             Reader’s Theater (TBA)  (Same as above)   PORTFOLIOS DUE

           

Nov 20             Reader’s Theater (TBA)  (Same as above)

 

 


Nov 25             Reader’s Theater (TBA)  (Same as above)

           

Nov 27             THANKSGIVING BREAK – No class meeting

 

 


Dec 2               Portfolio Interviews

 

Dec 4               Portfolio Interviews

 


Dec 9              Portfolio Interviews  

 

 

ASSIGNMENTS FOR CREATIVE WRITING

Always bring two copies of your work in progress for cell sessions.

 

Assignment 1

·        Select your favorite poem from Chapter 26. Be prepared to explain your choice to the class.

·        Write the poem that you feel you just have to write. Get it all out. Then either put it away somewhere or trash it, and forget about it.

 

Assignment 2

·        Do the exercise on p. 231 in Three Genres. Make a list of ten words for each shape. 

·        Choose a small, common object and study it until you find the words to describe it. Include plenty of details. Try to tease it into poetic form. 

 

Assignment 3

·        Think of a piece of art that has affected you (painting, musical performance, statue, building, etc.). Write a poem about a favorite place that clusters images like Kumin’s “Morning Swim” on p. 211.

·        Write about a true, painful experience you know about. Try to capture its reality/unreality in a poem.

 

Assignment 4

·        Select a familiar object. First, describe it in a prose paragraph. Include connotations or associations that come to mind. Then, describe this object in four lines of iambic pentameter. Scan your work with pencilled accent marks and divisions between the feet. Next, describe the object in three lines of trochaic trimeter. Finally, describe it in four lines of anapestic tetrameter. Which do you feel is most successful and why?

·        Write a poem, either serious or humorous, using the class’s randomly chosen dictionary words.

 

Assignment 5

·        Construct three symbols that represent three themes in your life. Work these symbols into a poem without naming the themes to express emotional states that resist literal explanation.

·        Develop a poem or two from “brainstorming” lists like one of the following: future events you imagine, things from your past, objects that intrigue or irritate you, recurring dreams or fantasies, favorite things, things you dislike, words that appeal to you, sensory things (like a color, texture, temperature, sound, smell, taste, etc.).

 

Assignment 6

·        FOR CLASS RECITATION, using the questions on p. 310 as your guide, prepare a 5-minute presentation on the poem you selected in Chapter 35 “Poems for Self-Study.”

·        Write a two-part poem, using two opposed or contrasting tones to make a point.

·        Rework your previous poems, the villanelle, dictionary poem, etc. Bring multiple versions to cells for comparison.

 

Assignment 7

·        Bring to class one paragraph of a fiction writer whose style you respond to. What techniques does the writer use that make his or her writing effective? Be prepared to share your thoughts with the class.

·        In one page, using first person point of view, describe an actual personal experience that involved you and a person of the same age. Include some action and reaction that results in a kind of conflict.

·        Transform this incident by shifting the point of view to the other character. Stay in first person, but add information (like motive or reaction) that was not given in the first version. Use dialogue, action, and internal thoughts. (This has now become fiction.)

Assignment 8

·        Rework your story from Assignment 7 by adding a third character, using him or her as the means of perception and shifting the viewpoint from first to third. Remember, you cannot include the thoughts and inner reactions of the other two characters.

·        Write a short story that is exactly one hundred words. In order to manage a conflict, a

crisis, and a resolution in this small space, you’ll have to introduce the conflict immediately.

 

 

Assignment 9

·        Write a scene involving one character that is uncomfortable in his or her surroundings. Use

active verbs in your description as you build conflict between the person and the setting.

·        Let your narrator begin with an illogical, ignorant, bigoted, or insane premise. Try to make the reader gradually come to sympathize with his or her view.

Assignment 10

·        Write thumbnail sketches for a least five of the names on the character name list. Write a story using one or more of the characters. Include dialogue whenever possible.

·        Pick two contrasting qualities of your own personality. Create a character that embodies each, and put them in conflict with one another. Make each character different from yourself in at least one fundamental aspect of type: age, race, gender, nationality, or social class.

 

Assignment 11

·        Using p. 146-147 of Three Genres as a guide, try your hand at the four techniques he suggests: “What-If,” “It Is,” “Undirected Fantasy,” or “Stylistic Games.” Be prepared to share one of your attempts with the class.

 

Assignment 12

·        Choose a contemporary problem or attitude in society today and show the ridiculousness of human reasoning or behavior by poking fun in a satirical story. If you need to, read a piece of satire to get you jump-started.

·        Spend most of your time doing final revisions on earlier work.

 

Assignment 13

·        Prepare a brief outline for a one-act dramatic sketch similar to the model on p. 332. Be prepared to share it with the class.

 

Assignment 14

·        Provide a list of characters (and their descriptions) for the sketch above (or one you have developed since then). Work out the scenes (see p. 349).

 

Assignment 15

·        Complete a rough-cut version of the action and dialogue of your play for cell discussion.

 

Assignment 16

·        Do revising, polishing, and final touches on your play for final cell discussion.