Engl 10203. Intro to CW
Williams, Fall 2011
How Do I Read a Poem?
First, you must realize that there is never just one way to read a poem. Poetry is often written to evoke personal feelings, and your personal responses—your feelings about a poem—are not necessarily incorrect just because they seem off the wall. All poetry combines sound and sense; thus you should always be aware of the lyric elements in a poem—how the poem sounds to your ear.
Also, always be aware of connotation as well as denotation; all words have echoes and references beyond their immediate meaning, and quite often poets are not only cognizant of these echoes but are also employing them to help convey their meaning. Consider, for instance, “blue sky.” This denotes a weather condition, but it also connotes the possibility of someone or something being beautiful, serene, or heavenly.
Always identify the poem’s situation. What is said is always conditioned by where and when it is being said, and by who is saying it. Identifying the speaker and his or her context places his or her utterances in perspective. I have always found it helpful to imagine making a video of the poem. Imagine that you are going to make a film of a poem—what would you place in front of the camera. See the poem imaginatively through this lens.
Always read the syntax literally. What the words say literally in normal sentences is only a starting point, but it is the best place to start. Not all poems use normal syntax and grammar, but you should start reading the poem by paraphrasing (in plain syntax, rephrasing what the poem literally says).
Always consider what the title, subject, and situation make you expect or assume. Often poets will offer a title, subject, or situation as a clue to reading their poems. Although poets will often surprise readers by reversing expectations (the nature of irony), you should be conscious of where you are expected to begin. Take what the poet gives you.
Also, always be willing to be surprised. Like fiction writers, poets will often defy conventions and traditions. What is first suggested can possibly contradict itself by the end of the poem, or at least offer significant qualification or variation. Be aware that, instead of serenity and bliss, “blue sky” might ironically indicate emotional turbulence.
Always consider what is implied by the literary and cultural traditions behind the poem. Verse forms, poetic structures, and metrical patterns all have frames of reference, traditions of the way they have usually been used and for what reasons. Poets are especially close readers of other poets. Thus, when a poet writes an elegy or a sonnet, you can be sure that he or she is fully aware of the elegy or sonnet tradition. Quite possibly he or she is not only aware of Milton or Shakespeare, but that he or she is writing in response to their poems.
Always consider the poet’s cultural and historical context. As cultural artifacts, a poem is constructed in a particular time and place—and your time and place of reading of the poem occurs in a completely different time and place. Obviously, times change. Not only the meaning of words, but whole ways of looking at the universe vary in different ages and cultural perspectives. You should always be aware of your time and place and the poet’s time and place. A word he or she used might have had different denotations and connotations than its current and more familiar uses.
Always assume that there is a reason for everything. Poetry relies on an extremely careful use of words, and you should always assume that poets have not made mistakes in constructing their poems, that poets have verbal control of their texts. Since words are carefully chosen, always consider why a word choice seems unusual, surprising, or curious. Try to discern a pattern in the poet’s choices.
Always look up anything you don’t understand—unfamiliar words, or familiar words used in unfamiliar ways, references to places, people, events, or myths, anything that the poem makes use of.
Also, always use discussion as a tool for clarification. One of the best ways to read a poem is to read it with other people (especially reading it aloud). Sharing responses and interpretations always helps to clarify a poem’s meaning (or meanings). In some ways, even the most private, personal poems are public events, and you should not feel that you have to rely solely on your own assumptions and reactions.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Engl 10203, Intro to Creative Writing
Williams, Spring 2011
Poetry, Turning Phrases into Lines
Below are three short poems written as sentences and phrases. Break them up into lines, and see how close you can come to the original poet’s version.
In the desert I saw a creature, naked, bestial, who, squatting upon the ground, held his heart in his hands, and ate of it. I said, “Is it good, friend?” “It is bitter—bitter,” he answered; “But I like it because it is bitter and because it is my heart.”
--Stephen Crane, untitled
Let us go then you and I, when the evening is spread out against the sky like a patient etherized upon a table; Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets, the muttering retreats of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels and sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells: Streets that follow like a tedious argument of insidious intent to lead you to an overwhelming questions . . . .Oh, do not ask, “What is it?” Let us go and make our visit. In the room women come and go talking of Michelangelo.
--T. S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (first section only)
The penny candy store beyond the El is where I first fell in love with unreality Jellybeans glowed in the semi-gloom of that september afternoon. A cat upon the counter moved among the licorice sticks and tootsie rolls and Oh Boy Gum. Outside the leaves were falling as they died. A wind had blown away the sun. A girl ran in. Her hair was rainy. Her breasts were breathless in the little room. Outside the leaves were falling and they cried Too soon! Too soon!
--Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “The pennycandystore beyond the El”
Williams, Spring 2011
Poetry, Turning Phrases into Lines
Below are three short poems written as sentences and phrases. Break them up into lines, and see how close you can come to the original poet’s version.
In the desert I saw a creature, naked, bestial, who, squatting upon the ground, held his heart in his hands, and ate of it. I said, “Is it good, friend?” “It is bitter—bitter,” he answered; “But I like it because it is bitter and because it is my heart.”
--Stephen Crane, untitled
Let us go then you and I, when the evening is spread out against the sky like a patient etherized upon a table; Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets, the muttering retreats of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels and sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells: Streets that follow like a tedious argument of insidious intent to lead you to an overwhelming questions . . . .Oh, do not ask, “What is it?” Let us go and make our visit. In the room women come and go talking of Michelangelo.
--T. S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (first section only)
The penny candy store beyond the El is where I first fell in love with unreality Jellybeans glowed in the semi-gloom of that september afternoon. A cat upon the counter moved among the licorice sticks and tootsie rolls and Oh Boy Gum. Outside the leaves were falling as they died. A wind had blown away the sun. A girl ran in. Her hair was rainy. Her breasts were breathless in the little room. Outside the leaves were falling and they cried Too soon! Too soon!
--Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “The pennycandystore beyond the El”
Engl 20923, Intro to Creative Writing
Williams, Spring 2011
Poetry?
John Milton (1608-1674) compared poetry to philosophical discourse and found it “more simple, sensuous, and passionate.”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1771-1834) said that poetry’s “proper and immediate object” was “the communication of immediate pleasure.” Coleridge also distinguished the differences between prose and poetry as “prose—words in their best order; poetry--the best words in the best order.”
Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) stated: “Poetry is simply the most beautiful, impressive and wisely effective mode of saying things.”
Robert Frost (1874-1963) claimed that poetry “begins with delight and ends in wisdom.”
Horace (65-8 BC) declared that poetry instructs while it pleases.
William Wordsworth (1770-1850) defined poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” and said that it “takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.”
John Keats (1795-1821) stated: “Poetry should surprise by a fine excess, and not by singularity. It should strike the reader as a wording of his own highest thoughts, and appear almost as a remembrance.”
The Oxford Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms: Poetry, language sung, chanted, spoken, or written according to some pattern of recurrence that emphasizes the relationships between words on a basis of sound as well as sense; this pattern is almost always a rhythm or meter, which may be supplemented by a rhyme or alliteration or both. The demands of verbal patterning usually make poetry a more condensed medium than prose or everyday speech, often involving variations in syntax, the use of special words and phrases, and a more frequent and elaborate use of figures of speech (images, metaphors, similes). All cultures have their poetry, using it in various purposes from sacred ritual to obscene insult, but it is generally employed in those utterances and writings that call for heightened intensity of emotion, dignity of expression, or subtlety of mediation. Poetry is valued for combining pleasures of sound with freshness of ideas.
W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) wrote: The crown of literature is poetry. It is its end and aim. It is the sublimest activity of the human mind. It is the achievement of beauty and delicacy. The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes.
President John Kennedy (1917-1963) declared: “When power leads a man to arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.”
Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) stated: “Poetry is the opening and closing of a door, leaving those who look through to guess about what was seen during a moment.
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) commented: “If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.
Louise Bogan (1897-1970) stated: It’s silly to suggest that the writing of poetry is something ethereal, a sort of soul-crashing emotional experience that wrings you. I have no fancy ideas about poetry. It doesn’t come to you on the wings of a dove. It’s something you work hard at.
T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) remarked: “No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone. His significance, his appreciation, is the appreciation of his relation to the dead poets and artists. You cannot value him alone; you must set him, for contrast and comparison, among the dead.
While explaining why he gave up boxing in college, T. S. Eliot also commented: “I was too slow a mover. It was much easier to be a poet.”
Eliot on his term, objective correlative: “An objective correlative is an object, an action, a situation which is never the ‘formula’ of that particular emotion and which, when presented to the reader, produces a sense of impression that elicits the emotion.”
Translations of a Japanese haiku:
The morning glory—
another thing
that will never be my friend.
The morning glory
is a separate being
and I can never know it intimately.
The morning glory
is yet another object
with which I will never become closely acquainted.
The morning glory—
something else
that won’t call me companion.
Which is better?
Williams, Spring 2011
Poetry?
John Milton (1608-1674) compared poetry to philosophical discourse and found it “more simple, sensuous, and passionate.”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1771-1834) said that poetry’s “proper and immediate object” was “the communication of immediate pleasure.” Coleridge also distinguished the differences between prose and poetry as “prose—words in their best order; poetry--the best words in the best order.”
Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) stated: “Poetry is simply the most beautiful, impressive and wisely effective mode of saying things.”
Robert Frost (1874-1963) claimed that poetry “begins with delight and ends in wisdom.”
Horace (65-8 BC) declared that poetry instructs while it pleases.
William Wordsworth (1770-1850) defined poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” and said that it “takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.”
John Keats (1795-1821) stated: “Poetry should surprise by a fine excess, and not by singularity. It should strike the reader as a wording of his own highest thoughts, and appear almost as a remembrance.”
The Oxford Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms: Poetry, language sung, chanted, spoken, or written according to some pattern of recurrence that emphasizes the relationships between words on a basis of sound as well as sense; this pattern is almost always a rhythm or meter, which may be supplemented by a rhyme or alliteration or both. The demands of verbal patterning usually make poetry a more condensed medium than prose or everyday speech, often involving variations in syntax, the use of special words and phrases, and a more frequent and elaborate use of figures of speech (images, metaphors, similes). All cultures have their poetry, using it in various purposes from sacred ritual to obscene insult, but it is generally employed in those utterances and writings that call for heightened intensity of emotion, dignity of expression, or subtlety of mediation. Poetry is valued for combining pleasures of sound with freshness of ideas.
W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) wrote: The crown of literature is poetry. It is its end and aim. It is the sublimest activity of the human mind. It is the achievement of beauty and delicacy. The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes.
President John Kennedy (1917-1963) declared: “When power leads a man to arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.”
Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) stated: “Poetry is the opening and closing of a door, leaving those who look through to guess about what was seen during a moment.
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) commented: “If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.
Louise Bogan (1897-1970) stated: It’s silly to suggest that the writing of poetry is something ethereal, a sort of soul-crashing emotional experience that wrings you. I have no fancy ideas about poetry. It doesn’t come to you on the wings of a dove. It’s something you work hard at.
T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) remarked: “No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone. His significance, his appreciation, is the appreciation of his relation to the dead poets and artists. You cannot value him alone; you must set him, for contrast and comparison, among the dead.
While explaining why he gave up boxing in college, T. S. Eliot also commented: “I was too slow a mover. It was much easier to be a poet.”
Eliot on his term, objective correlative: “An objective correlative is an object, an action, a situation which is never the ‘formula’ of that particular emotion and which, when presented to the reader, produces a sense of impression that elicits the emotion.”
Translations of a Japanese haiku:
The morning glory—
another thing
that will never be my friend.
The morning glory
is a separate being
and I can never know it intimately.
The morning glory
is yet another object
with which I will never become closely acquainted.
The morning glory—
something else
that won’t call me companion.
Which is better?
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Syllabus
Introduction to Creative Writing
Engl 10203, sec. 060
Reed 417
Williams, Spring Semester 2011
Course description:
Introduction to Creative Writing is intended to help students develop their imaginative writing skills. The course will be primarily conducted as a workshop, and students will be expected to submit their creative work in several different styles and forms, including poetry, fiction, and drama. In addition to the workshops, there will also be discussions of literary genres, elements, and techniques, and there will be assigned readings to illustrate the discussions. Previous experience in creative writing is not necessary. Interest and enthusiasm are required.
01/10. M
introduction
01/17, M
MLK Day
“Chapter 1, Getting Started,” Field of Words, 1-24
01/24, M
“Chapter 4, Poetry,” Field of Words, 98-131
Poetry Workshop
01/31, M
“Chapter 4, Poetry,” Field of Words, 131-153
Poetry Workshop
02/07, M
“Chapter 4, Poetry,” Field of Words, 153-199
Poetry Workshop
02/14, M
“Chapter 2, Fiction,” Field of Words, 25-42
Fiction Workshop
02/21, M
Class Cancelled
02/28, M
“Chapter 2, Fiction,” Field of Words, 42-74
Fiction Workshop
03/07, M
“Chapter 3, Creative Nonfiction,” Field of Words, 75-97
Fiction Workshop
03/14, M
Spring Break
03/21, M
Sailing Around the Room (selections)
Fiction Workshop
03/28, M
Sailing Around the Room (selections)
Drama Workshop
[Thursday, 7 PM, March 31, Billy Collins Reading—Required!]
04/04, M
“Chapter 5, Revising,” Field of Words, 200-210
Drama Workshop
04/11, M
Drama Workshop
04/18, M
Student Presentations
04/25, M
Student Presentations
Requirements:
1. Creative Writing Assignments. During the semester you will be required to write and submit a minimum of three original poems, one original short story, and one dramatic dialogue (or one-act play). These must be submitted on their due dates; late submissions will receive only partial credit.
2. Short Writing Assignments. Throughout the semester you will be given creative prompts, such as a quotation, question, or challenge, and asked to write responses. These assignments might be sketches, scene descriptions, character studies, or remembrances, and they will be in prose, poetry, and dramatic dialogue. The short assignments will be written in class, out of class, and online.
3. Workshops. The class will primarily be run as a workshop in which students will help each other improve their creative writing. At different times during the semester you must submit your primary creative writing assignments for peer review. Before the scheduled workshop dates, you must post your story, poem, or dramatic dialogue online for the rest of the class to read.
We will use a course blog for our postings and distributions. In order to do this you must
first create your own individual blog. With the help of technology at Blogger
(http://www.blogger.com?), you will build your own web log, or “blog,” and throughout
the semester when you are scheduled for peer review you will upload your creative work,
which will then be linked to our central course blog.
In addition to posting your creative work, you will also use the course blog to respond in
writing to the work submitted by your fellow students. You do not have to comment on
every poem, story, or dramatic dialogue submitted, but by the end of the semester you
should have responded to a minimum of 10 poems, 5 stories, and 5 dramatic dialogues
(out of the 60 poems, 20 stories, and 20 dramatic dialogues that we will be generating
as a class). What you write is up to you. You do not have to write a long critical analysis, analyzing the placement of different elements and techniques. Your purpose is to offer constructive, supportive help to the writer—that is, you must offer specific suggestions for improving the text. Comment on what you like in the text and then offer ideas for enhancing, developing, or polishing it. Please do not simply write: “I think this is really great as it is. Doesn’t need a thing.” And please do not write: “I just don’t get it. Better start over.” Always be polite and helpful. We are working together as collaborators, and our overall intention is to create a writing community within our class. No one writes alone in a vacuum. Your responses should be from a paragraph to a page in length. At the end of the semester your responses will receive a cumulative grade according to how helpful and constructive they were.
You are also welcome to use your blog to reflect on your experiences throughout the
semester, as a writer, as a student, as an individual living in a complex world, commenting on whatever moves or inspires you. But please remember that a blog is not a personal—and private—diary.
Blogging is a less formal form of writing than an essay, and thus blogs are a good forum to reflect, analyze, vent, explore, and consider. But blogs are also a more public form of writing and, because of the technology, an excellent way of sharing, collaborating, and responding. But please keep in mind that blogs are a public forum, accessible to anyone who has internet access, so please do not post anything that you would not share with the classroom and internet communities. I do not formally restrict or limit subjects or language, but please bear in mind that what you post—as a writer or responder—reflects who you are. By no means do you want to be perceived as ignorant, vulgar, or obscene.
I will immediately take down anything that I consider overtly offensive (anything racist or insulting to others). If you think you want to test the boundaries of decorum and civility, and are unsure if you should post, please see me ahead of time.
The course blog will be our forum for dialogue and exchange.
4. Final Presentations. During the last two class sessions you will be expected to present
what you consider your best work of the semester back to the class. You may choose to
present poetry, fiction, or drama, and you will have a 5 to 10 minute slot for your
presentation. How you present is up to you. You may give a reading, use PowerPoint, create a video, act out a part, stage a dramatization, use props, costumes, puppets . . . The possibilities are numerous, and you may ask the help of your classmates if you need another reader, actor, or stage hand. I ask three things. First, consider carefully what you think is your best work and how best to present it as a reflection of your semester’s work. Second, put some creative thought into your presentation. I would like the presentations be engaging and interesting. And three, please keep in mind the time limit. Though ten minutes seems like a long time, it’s really not. The average page of prose read quickly takes around 2 minutes, so without any gestures or effects a prose reading will max out at 5 pages. You might have to read only a section of a long poem, story, or dramatic
dialogue. Please check your time beforehand.
5. Final Portfolios. At the end of the semester, no later than 4:00 PM on the last day of our
class (April 25) you will be required to submit a final portfolio of your creative
writing texts in their final drafts (three poems, one story, and one dramatic
dialogue). In addition, you will also be required to write a brief self-reflective essay
introducing and reflecting on your writing. This portfolio will showcase your creative
writing skills.
6. Attendance and Participation. You are required to take an active part in this course and
to assume responsibility for its success. Both attendance and participation are required.
Missing more than three classes will result in failure.. Borderline grades will be
affected by participation. Those who actively contribute will always receive the benefit of doubt.
7. An appreciation of irony and a sense of humor are required.
Grading Scale:
3 to 4 Poems Submitted-- 15%
1 Story Submitted-- 15%
1 Dramatic Dialogue Submitted 15%
Responses-- 15%
Final Presentation 15%
Final Portfolios-- 15%
Short Assignments-- 5%
Oral Participation-- 5%
Required Text:
Esstess and McCann, In a Field of Words
Collins, Sailing Around the Room
Notice: due to either natural or unnatural catastrophes, all of the above is subject to change.
Dan Williams
Reed 414D, or TCU Press (3000 Sandage)
Office hours: Friday, 10-12 AM and by appointment
Phone: #6250 (campus office), or #5907 (TCU Press)
Email: d.e.williams@tcu.edu
Course Outcomes:
--gain a familiarity with the craft and techniques of imaginative writing
--develop the basic skills of imaginative writing
--demonstrate strategies of literary analysis through writing about the assigned texts in class
--identify representative authors and works in a particular literary tradition
--produce a final portfolio of original poetry, fiction, and drama that demonstrates a close
attention to language, character, plot, motivation, and/or sound
Academic Conduct: An academic community requires the highest standards of honor and integrity in all of its participants if it is to fulfill its missions. In such a community faculty, students, and staff are expected to maintain high standards of academic conduct. The purpose of this policy is to make all aware of these expectations. Additionally, the policy outlines some, but not all, of the situations which can arise that violate these standards. Further, the policy sets forth a set of procedures, characterized by a "sense of fair play," which will be used when these standards are violated. In this spirit, definitions of academic misconduct are listed below. These are not meant to be exhaustive. I. ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT Any act that violates the spirit of the academic conduct policy is considered academic misconduct. Specific examples include, but are not limited to: A. Cheating. Includes, but is not limited to: 1. Copying from another student's test paper, laboratory report, other report, or computer files and listings. 2. Using in any academic exercise or academic setting, material and/or devices not authorized by the person in charge of the test. 3. Collaborating with or seeking aid from another student during an academic exercise without the permission of the person in charge of the exercise. 4. Knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting in its entirety or in part, the contents of a test or other assignment unauthorized for release. 5. Substituting for another student, or permitting another student to substitute for oneself, in a manner that leads to misrepresentation of either or both students work. B. Plagiarism. The appropriation, theft, purchase, or obtaining by any means another's work, and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of that work as one's own offered for credit. Appropriation includes the quoting or paraphrasing of another's work without giving credit therefore. C. Collusion. The unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing work offered for credit. D. Abuse of resource materials. Mutilating, destroying, concealing, or stealing such materials. E. Computer misuse. Unauthorized or illegal use of computer software or hardware through the TCU Computer Center or through any programs, terminals, or freestanding computers owned, leased, or operated by TCU or any of its academic units for the purpose of affecting the academic standing of a student. F. Fabrication and falsification. Unauthorized alteration or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise. Falsification involves altering information for use in any academic exercise. Fabrication involves inventing or counterfeiting information for use in any academic exercise. G. Multiple submission. The submission by the same individual of substantial portions of the same academic work (including oral reports) for credit more than once in the same or another class without authorization. H. Complicity in academic misconduct. Helping another to commit an act of academic misconduct. I. Bearing false witness. Knowingly and falsely accusing another student of academic misconduct.
Disabilities Statement:
Texas Christian University complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 regarding students with disabilities. Eligible students seeking accommodations should contact the Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities in the Center for Academic Services located in Sadler Hall, 11. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations. Further information can be obtained from the Center for Academic Services, TCU Box 297710, Fort Worth, TX 76129, or at (817) 257-7486.
Adequate time must be allowed to arrange accommodations and accommodations are not retroactive; therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the academic term for which they are seeking accommodations. Each eligible student is responsible for presenting relevant, verifiable, professional documentation and/or assessment reports to the Coordinator. Guidelines for documentation may be found at http://www.acs.tcu.edu/DISABILITY.HTM.
Students with emergency medical information or needing special arrangements in case a building must be evacuated should discuss this information with their instructor/professor as soon as possible.
If there is a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it. --Toni Morrison
As to the Adjective: when in doubt, strike it out. --Mark Twain
Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines, a machine no unnecessary parts. --William Strunk
Engl 10203, sec. 060
Reed 417
Williams, Spring Semester 2011
Course description:
Introduction to Creative Writing is intended to help students develop their imaginative writing skills. The course will be primarily conducted as a workshop, and students will be expected to submit their creative work in several different styles and forms, including poetry, fiction, and drama. In addition to the workshops, there will also be discussions of literary genres, elements, and techniques, and there will be assigned readings to illustrate the discussions. Previous experience in creative writing is not necessary. Interest and enthusiasm are required.
01/10. M
introduction
01/17, M
MLK Day
“Chapter 1, Getting Started,” Field of Words, 1-24
01/24, M
“Chapter 4, Poetry,” Field of Words, 98-131
Poetry Workshop
01/31, M
“Chapter 4, Poetry,” Field of Words, 131-153
Poetry Workshop
02/07, M
“Chapter 4, Poetry,” Field of Words, 153-199
Poetry Workshop
02/14, M
“Chapter 2, Fiction,” Field of Words, 25-42
Fiction Workshop
02/21, M
Class Cancelled
02/28, M
“Chapter 2, Fiction,” Field of Words, 42-74
Fiction Workshop
03/07, M
“Chapter 3, Creative Nonfiction,” Field of Words, 75-97
Fiction Workshop
03/14, M
Spring Break
03/21, M
Sailing Around the Room (selections)
Fiction Workshop
03/28, M
Sailing Around the Room (selections)
Drama Workshop
[Thursday, 7 PM, March 31, Billy Collins Reading—Required!]
04/04, M
“Chapter 5, Revising,” Field of Words, 200-210
Drama Workshop
04/11, M
Drama Workshop
04/18, M
Student Presentations
04/25, M
Student Presentations
Requirements:
1. Creative Writing Assignments. During the semester you will be required to write and submit a minimum of three original poems, one original short story, and one dramatic dialogue (or one-act play). These must be submitted on their due dates; late submissions will receive only partial credit.
2. Short Writing Assignments. Throughout the semester you will be given creative prompts, such as a quotation, question, or challenge, and asked to write responses. These assignments might be sketches, scene descriptions, character studies, or remembrances, and they will be in prose, poetry, and dramatic dialogue. The short assignments will be written in class, out of class, and online.
3. Workshops. The class will primarily be run as a workshop in which students will help each other improve their creative writing. At different times during the semester you must submit your primary creative writing assignments for peer review. Before the scheduled workshop dates, you must post your story, poem, or dramatic dialogue online for the rest of the class to read.
We will use a course blog for our postings and distributions. In order to do this you must
first create your own individual blog. With the help of technology at Blogger
(http://www.blogger.com?), you will build your own web log, or “blog,” and throughout
the semester when you are scheduled for peer review you will upload your creative work,
which will then be linked to our central course blog.
In addition to posting your creative work, you will also use the course blog to respond in
writing to the work submitted by your fellow students. You do not have to comment on
every poem, story, or dramatic dialogue submitted, but by the end of the semester you
should have responded to a minimum of 10 poems, 5 stories, and 5 dramatic dialogues
(out of the 60 poems, 20 stories, and 20 dramatic dialogues that we will be generating
as a class). What you write is up to you. You do not have to write a long critical analysis, analyzing the placement of different elements and techniques. Your purpose is to offer constructive, supportive help to the writer—that is, you must offer specific suggestions for improving the text. Comment on what you like in the text and then offer ideas for enhancing, developing, or polishing it. Please do not simply write: “I think this is really great as it is. Doesn’t need a thing.” And please do not write: “I just don’t get it. Better start over.” Always be polite and helpful. We are working together as collaborators, and our overall intention is to create a writing community within our class. No one writes alone in a vacuum. Your responses should be from a paragraph to a page in length. At the end of the semester your responses will receive a cumulative grade according to how helpful and constructive they were.
You are also welcome to use your blog to reflect on your experiences throughout the
semester, as a writer, as a student, as an individual living in a complex world, commenting on whatever moves or inspires you. But please remember that a blog is not a personal—and private—diary.
Blogging is a less formal form of writing than an essay, and thus blogs are a good forum to reflect, analyze, vent, explore, and consider. But blogs are also a more public form of writing and, because of the technology, an excellent way of sharing, collaborating, and responding. But please keep in mind that blogs are a public forum, accessible to anyone who has internet access, so please do not post anything that you would not share with the classroom and internet communities. I do not formally restrict or limit subjects or language, but please bear in mind that what you post—as a writer or responder—reflects who you are. By no means do you want to be perceived as ignorant, vulgar, or obscene.
I will immediately take down anything that I consider overtly offensive (anything racist or insulting to others). If you think you want to test the boundaries of decorum and civility, and are unsure if you should post, please see me ahead of time.
The course blog will be our forum for dialogue and exchange.
4. Final Presentations. During the last two class sessions you will be expected to present
what you consider your best work of the semester back to the class. You may choose to
present poetry, fiction, or drama, and you will have a 5 to 10 minute slot for your
presentation. How you present is up to you. You may give a reading, use PowerPoint, create a video, act out a part, stage a dramatization, use props, costumes, puppets . . . The possibilities are numerous, and you may ask the help of your classmates if you need another reader, actor, or stage hand. I ask three things. First, consider carefully what you think is your best work and how best to present it as a reflection of your semester’s work. Second, put some creative thought into your presentation. I would like the presentations be engaging and interesting. And three, please keep in mind the time limit. Though ten minutes seems like a long time, it’s really not. The average page of prose read quickly takes around 2 minutes, so without any gestures or effects a prose reading will max out at 5 pages. You might have to read only a section of a long poem, story, or dramatic
dialogue. Please check your time beforehand.
5. Final Portfolios. At the end of the semester, no later than 4:00 PM on the last day of our
class (April 25) you will be required to submit a final portfolio of your creative
writing texts in their final drafts (three poems, one story, and one dramatic
dialogue). In addition, you will also be required to write a brief self-reflective essay
introducing and reflecting on your writing. This portfolio will showcase your creative
writing skills.
6. Attendance and Participation. You are required to take an active part in this course and
to assume responsibility for its success. Both attendance and participation are required.
Missing more than three classes will result in failure.. Borderline grades will be
affected by participation. Those who actively contribute will always receive the benefit of doubt.
7. An appreciation of irony and a sense of humor are required.
Grading Scale:
3 to 4 Poems Submitted-- 15%
1 Story Submitted-- 15%
1 Dramatic Dialogue Submitted 15%
Responses-- 15%
Final Presentation 15%
Final Portfolios-- 15%
Short Assignments-- 5%
Oral Participation-- 5%
Required Text:
Esstess and McCann, In a Field of Words
Collins, Sailing Around the Room
Notice: due to either natural or unnatural catastrophes, all of the above is subject to change.
Dan Williams
Reed 414D, or TCU Press (3000 Sandage)
Office hours: Friday, 10-12 AM and by appointment
Phone: #6250 (campus office), or #5907 (TCU Press)
Email: d.e.williams@tcu.edu
Course Outcomes:
--gain a familiarity with the craft and techniques of imaginative writing
--develop the basic skills of imaginative writing
--demonstrate strategies of literary analysis through writing about the assigned texts in class
--identify representative authors and works in a particular literary tradition
--produce a final portfolio of original poetry, fiction, and drama that demonstrates a close
attention to language, character, plot, motivation, and/or sound
Academic Conduct: An academic community requires the highest standards of honor and integrity in all of its participants if it is to fulfill its missions. In such a community faculty, students, and staff are expected to maintain high standards of academic conduct. The purpose of this policy is to make all aware of these expectations. Additionally, the policy outlines some, but not all, of the situations which can arise that violate these standards. Further, the policy sets forth a set of procedures, characterized by a "sense of fair play," which will be used when these standards are violated. In this spirit, definitions of academic misconduct are listed below. These are not meant to be exhaustive. I. ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT Any act that violates the spirit of the academic conduct policy is considered academic misconduct. Specific examples include, but are not limited to: A. Cheating. Includes, but is not limited to: 1. Copying from another student's test paper, laboratory report, other report, or computer files and listings. 2. Using in any academic exercise or academic setting, material and/or devices not authorized by the person in charge of the test. 3. Collaborating with or seeking aid from another student during an academic exercise without the permission of the person in charge of the exercise. 4. Knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting in its entirety or in part, the contents of a test or other assignment unauthorized for release. 5. Substituting for another student, or permitting another student to substitute for oneself, in a manner that leads to misrepresentation of either or both students work. B. Plagiarism. The appropriation, theft, purchase, or obtaining by any means another's work, and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of that work as one's own offered for credit. Appropriation includes the quoting or paraphrasing of another's work without giving credit therefore. C. Collusion. The unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing work offered for credit. D. Abuse of resource materials. Mutilating, destroying, concealing, or stealing such materials. E. Computer misuse. Unauthorized or illegal use of computer software or hardware through the TCU Computer Center or through any programs, terminals, or freestanding computers owned, leased, or operated by TCU or any of its academic units for the purpose of affecting the academic standing of a student. F. Fabrication and falsification. Unauthorized alteration or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise. Falsification involves altering information for use in any academic exercise. Fabrication involves inventing or counterfeiting information for use in any academic exercise. G. Multiple submission. The submission by the same individual of substantial portions of the same academic work (including oral reports) for credit more than once in the same or another class without authorization. H. Complicity in academic misconduct. Helping another to commit an act of academic misconduct. I. Bearing false witness. Knowingly and falsely accusing another student of academic misconduct.
Disabilities Statement:
Texas Christian University complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 regarding students with disabilities. Eligible students seeking accommodations should contact the Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities in the Center for Academic Services located in Sadler Hall, 11. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations. Further information can be obtained from the Center for Academic Services, TCU Box 297710, Fort Worth, TX 76129, or at (817) 257-7486.
Adequate time must be allowed to arrange accommodations and accommodations are not retroactive; therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the academic term for which they are seeking accommodations. Each eligible student is responsible for presenting relevant, verifiable, professional documentation and/or assessment reports to the Coordinator. Guidelines for documentation may be found at http://www.acs.tcu.edu/DISABILITY.HTM.
Students with emergency medical information or needing special arrangements in case a building must be evacuated should discuss this information with their instructor/professor as soon as possible.
If there is a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it. --Toni Morrison
As to the Adjective: when in doubt, strike it out. --Mark Twain
Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines, a machine no unnecessary parts. --William Strunk
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