St. Catherine University
ENGL 2100 M01: Prose and Poetry
Summer, 2013
June 3-July 19
Instructor: Elizabeth Fontaine
Office: 408 Old Main
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday: 1:30-3:30pm
Phone: 651-690-7741
Email: ekfontaine@stkate.edu
Course Description
This online, writing-based, literature course introduces you to a variety of ways in
which the written word can be used to express, analyze and critique an array of
personal, cultural and political themes and experiences. You will study closely
the writings of emerging, established and renowned authors working in a variety
of age groups with a focus on fiction writing for children, adolescents, and adults.
You will simultaneously engage in a series of creative writing exercises and
projects that allow you to explore the implications of the written word in your daily
life. In addition, you are required to attend a reading by a published author in the
local community. Prerequisites: ENGL 1100.
Relationship to the College of St. Catherine’s Mission Statement
The classroom experience will reflect the College of St. Catherine's commitment
to social justice, diversity and service. Our commitment to these values will
shape course process, content and the active search for different points of view.
The course content was chosen to illustrate the diversity of perspectives of the
students as well as the authors and the context in which they write.
Student Services
The Learning Center (http://minerva.stkate.edu/learningcenter.nsf) offers daily
one-on-one tutoring with student peers and professionals for most coursework on
the Minneapolis Campus. There are also services for writing and language
needs available. The schedule for tutoring can be found outside of room 370 in
the Education building, or contact Debra Evon for more information (#7832).
Students with disabilities who believe they may need an accommodation in this
class are encouraged to contact Jody Hoffman, the Coordinator of Student
Disability Services, in room 369 Education Building or by phone at extension
8160.
Required Textbooks
 Burroway, Janet. Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft. 3rd ed.
Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.
Liberal Arts Goals: ENGL2100 supports the following Liberal Arts Goals of St.
Catherine University:
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Critical and Creative Inquiry: The ability to gather, analyze and critically
evaluate information to develop reasonable arguments, sound judgments
and effective solutions. This ability is founded on a broad knowledge of the
achievements of human creativity and the variety of disciplinary
approaches for exploring truths.
Effective Communication in a Variety of Modes: The ability to read,
write, speak, view and listen effectively; the ability to present information in
a clear and engaging manner.
Purposeful Life-long Learning: The ability to continue personal and
professional development based on ongoing self-assessment, feedback
from others and new learning.
Long Term Goals
1+ years from the end of the course, students will:
 Understand that writing is an intentional process.
 Write with an ability to engage the reader.
 Write agilely, understanding how different audiences and contexts require
different writing.
 Enjoy reading various genres and for various age groups.
 Read with an eye for language, style, and format.
 Read prose and poetry with appreciation.
 Appreciate the work that goes into published creative writing.
Course Objectives
In this course, students will:
1. React to and discuss prose and poetry.
2. Apply basic literary terms to multiple genres.
3. Write literary analysis paragraphs and essays about the texts we read.
4. Write engaging prose and poetry.
Responsibilities of students and instructor:
To be a successful student in this course, you must:
 Have access to a computer and a reliable internet connection.
 Be comfortable working on a computer.
 Be able to work independently and cooperatively with the instructor and
other students.
 Be comfortable using St. Kate’s Email and D2L.
 Be willing to log in at least four times a week into the D2L class site and
St. Kate’s email.
 Keep up with readings and complete online assignments and in-class
course work on time.
 Watch posts and read emails that instructor sends out.
 Apply instructor feedback on your assignments to future assignments.
As the instructor, I will:
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Check my email Monday through Friday at least two times a day.
Respond to your questions in a timely manner.
Grade your papers in a timely manner.
Use my St. Kate’s email and D2L to communicate course content.
Create and post videos, send emails, and post links to help your learning
throughout the course as needs arise.
Give feedback on all your assignments through D2L.
Explanation and Breakdown of Course Grading:
All work for the class will be submitted and posted in D2L. I will not accept
emailed assignments. You can find resources and more information in the
content area of our D2L site. If you have any questions at all about any of the
assignments or need additional resources, please feel free to email me or stop in
during office hours.
70% Assignments 1-7
These assignments make up the majority of points for the class. They are
designed to help you read and think critically and write clearly about
complex ideas. In the content of D2L for this class, I have posted a R-T-W
worksheet to help you manage and understand what I expect in these
assignments. Please print out the worksheet as many times as you need.
Completing the worksheet will greatly help your paragraph writing for the
assignments.
10% Discussion Board
There are two dates listed for your discussion board work. The first date
is the date that you are to post your own response to the prompt. You can
find the prompt in discussion board, and by replying, others will be able to
read it and respond to you. The second date is the date by which you
need to post your (at least three) responses. This work will be graded by
the quality of your original post as well as your thoughtful responses to
others.
10% Weekly Journals
The journals are your own creative freewriting. You are expected to write
at least 3 pages, double-spaced, of original free-writing every week. You
will use the grey boxes in the chapters as prompts for generating original
writing. I will be grading this on having the correct number of pages (3) of
original work.
10% Final Creative Project
The final creative writing project will most probably be based on one or
more of the journal entries. You will be expected to have 5 pages of
quality prose or poetry. This might be a short story or a group of poems.
Either way, I will be grading on form, creativity, and use of literary
techniques.
A (100-93); A- (92-90); B+ (89-87); B (86-83); B- (82-80); C+ (79-77); C (76-73);
C- (72-70); D+ (69-67); D (66-63); D- (62-60); F (59 and below).
Important Note about Plagiarism:
In this class, you will be reading prose and poetry that have had much
written about them online. There is nothing wrong with reading what others have
written about the stories or poems. The problem is when you use the words of
another and represent them as your own words or ideas. This is plagiarism.
The assignments ask for your original work and thinking, and I am
available to help you through the process of reading, thinking and writing about
the poems and short stories you will be analyzing.
When you use the words from any source (the poems and short stories),
you must both use quotation marks and provide a citation. If you use ideas from
a source, you must use citations. If you have no quotation marks or citations,
you are representing that the words and ideas are your own. In other words, you
must use citations for all direct quotes, paraphrases and summaries. If you don’t
know how to cite, it is your responsibility to make an appointment with me
immediately. We will go over citation methods.
I know that most of you will follow these guidelines out of a sense of
ethical responsibility. Please remember that illness, excessive work hours,
difficult classes, etc., are good reasons to request an extension on an
assignment—they are not reasons to plagiarize, and they are certainly not
excuses to plagiarize.
If you make a decision to use the ideas or words of a source without citation
in an assignment, you will have a zero on that assignment. You will receive a
zero on the assignment even if you have read the book because you have
represented the words of another as your own. If you use work from a student
previously or currently in the class, you should know two important points: 1) I
change the syllabus every term, and 2) both you and the person sharing
information will be subject to serious consequences. The message should be
clear. Do this work on your own. Please use the following web sites as
guides and resources:
 Here is a link to go to for more information about what plagiarism is:
http://www.clic.edu/plagiarism
 The following web site gives instruction and a quiz on what constitutes
plagiarism. Please take the quiz:
https://www.indiana.edu/~tedfrick/plagiarism/index2.html
Submitting Assignments
Please follow these guidelines carefully before submitting assignments:
 All work must be word-processed with your name, date, course number
and name or number of assignment at the top of the page,
 All work must be saved and submitted as either .rtf, .doc, or .docx file (I
cannot open .wsp or other kinds of files),
 All work must be submitted via D2L within the Dropbox feature,
 Due dates are NOT flexible. Late work is not accepted,
 I will be using D2L as a means to post details about assignments,
announcements and grades, and to give feedback on assignments.
Literary Reading
Something to start thinking about:
Attending a public reading: You are required to attend one public reading by a
published author. Go to the following links to find good resources for finding a
public reading:
 http://www.loft.org/
 http://www.citypages.com/
 http://eventful.com/minneapolis/events/categories/books/
 You can also contact a local bookstore or library; they often have readings
that are not posted online or at the above sites.
You must start looking for a reading at the beginning of the semester; if you wait
until the end of the term, there is a strong possibility there will be no available
events. What you learn from this public reading will be included in Assignment 7
due July 14.
Invitation to the Writer
Reading and writing prose and poetry is best done with some understanding of
both the hard work and experimental play that goes into any creative writing.
Writers might call how they begin to write “warming up” or “getting started, ” but
really what they are doing when they first sit down to write is playing. They are
playing with ideas, characters, places, memories, and words. Then comes the
hard work of crafting, revising, and editing. This first week, you will read, watch
and listen to the result of some poets’ hard work and play and you will read the
first chapter in our textbook, “Invitation to Writing,” which will urge you to begin
some of your own playing in your journals.
Read Chapter 1 “Invitation to the Writer” (1-12) by June 4.
Discussion Board 1: View the following spoken-word poets:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIAQENsqcuM (Kay)
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Th04ZQCt5A (Mohammed)
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6wJl37N9C0 (Makkai)
Post your response to the Kay, Mohammed, and Makkai prompt by June 4
(midnight), and respond to at least three other posts in a meaningful way that
illustrates your critical thinking and good writing by June 6 (midnight).
View “Introduction to Summary Writing” Power Point (posted in content of
course in D2L.
Journal 1 due June 6: Using 2 or more of the grey boxes on pages 1-12 as a
springboard for your own original creative writing, write three, double-spaced
pages. This will be graded on page length, but I may also provide ideas for
revision or expansion of your work.
Image
Image is a broad term used to express the pictures that come to mind when you
read good writing. Good prose writing allows the reader to picture the setting
and the actions of the characters. Good poetry can give a picture of an abstract
idea. You will learn in this chapter many concepts, such as “concrete, significant
details” and “figures of speech” and “metaphors.” Applying these concepts to the
chapter’s poetry and prose will help you think and write critically about the
images used in the poems and prose you read and write.
Read Chapter 2 “Image” (13-46) by June 10
Discussion Board 2: View the following spoken-word poets:
1. “Toothbrush to Bicycle Tire”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIAQENsqcuM (Kay)
2. “Coming Up” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q9Wsgt8Ocg
(Difranco)
3. “Apology to my Unborn”
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzyrHsYTveE Ikpi)
Post your response to the image prompt by June 11 (midnight), and respond to
at least three other posts in a meaningful way that illustrates your critical thinking
and good writing by June 13 (midnight).
Assignment 1 due June 12: This assignment will ask that you use the summary
method outlined in the PowerPoint from the previous unit in paragraph one. It
will then ask that you connect one of the chapter terms to one of the poems or
short stories.
Paragraph 1: Summarize the “Image” chapter in one paragraph.
Paragraph 2: Choose one of the poems or short stories from the “Image”
chapter (26-40) and explain how its use of either concrete, significant details
or metaphor create impact or meaning for the reader (please see D2L content
for an example of this work—because there is an example posted, you cannot
use “from Heaven and Earth in Jest” for this assignment).
Journal 2 due June 16: Using 2 or more of the grey boxes on pages 13-36 as a
springboard for your own original creative writing, write three, double-spaced
pages.
Voice
It is important when considering voice that you don’t just think about the
author’s voice. While the voice of the author, or persona, is a very real and
intentional process for any writer, it isn’t the only way to consider voice. For
example, you might have a first person narration of events that is not the
author’s voice; it is the voice of someone the author is making up. This can
also be the case in prose writing with third person point of view. Moreover,
characters speak, as in dialogue, and the voices of these characters must be
authentic in order to be believable. This week we will focus on the many
voices of poets and prose writers.
Read the “Voice” chapter (47-83) by June 17
Discussion Board 3: Post your response to the voice prompt by June 18
(midnight), and respond to at least three other posts in a meaningful way that
illustrates your critical thinking and good writing by June 20 (midnight).
Assignment 3 due June 19:
Paragraph 1: Summarize the “Voice” chapter in one paragraph.
Paragraph 2: Choose one of the poems from the list below, and discuss the
voice of the narrator or character in the poem (use two terms from the chapter
and apply that term to the poem):
1. “The Pathos of Charles Schulz” (81-82 Bondurant)
2. “Kong Looks Back on His Tryout with the Bears” (80 Trowbridge)
3. “Ethiopian Girl” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc6CJ_kUNYc
(Adiloh)
4. “You Move Me” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZytkMtQEi9E
(Loring)
Journal 3 due June 23: Using 2 or more of the grey boxes on pages 47-83 as a
springboard for your own original creative writing, write three, double-spaced
pages.
Character
Characters are the living, breathing people that populate the written page. She
might be the narrator of her own story, as in first-person narrators, or the
characters might be described in third person from a narrator who isn’t a
character in the story. To make a good character, a believable character, is a lot
of hard work.
Read the “Character” chapter (87-122) by June 24 and watch the following
Keith Gray podcast about character development:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VoZNlvSpdE
Discussion Board 4: Post your response to the character prompt by June 25
(midnight), and respond to at least three other posts in a meaningful way that
illustrates your critical thinking and good writing by June 27 (midnight).
Assignment 4 due June 19:
Paragraph 1: Summarize the “Character” chapter in one paragraph.
Paragraph 2: Choose one of the following poems and discuss how the writer
develops the character and what kind of character is in the poem (use at least
two terms from the chapter and apply those terms to the poem):
1. “I Knew a Woman” (119 Roethke)
2. “One Flesh” (122 Jennings)
3. “Tattoo” (122 Kooser)
4. “The Girl” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7pRbefTYe0 (Juntura)
Journal 4 due June 30: Using 2 or more of the grey boxes on pages 87-122 as
a springboard for your own original creative writing, write three, double-spaced
pages.
Setting
Setting is not only where and when the story takes place. It is also how the
characters interact with their environment, what the mood of the story is, and
what the narrator chooses to tell. Therefore, where and when this story takes
place is just the surface. For this unit, I urge you to dig deeply into your analysis
and your own creative writing.
Read “Setting” chapter (132-158) by July 1.
Assignment 5 due July7: Write two textual analysis paragraph answering the
following two questions:
Paragraph 1: What kind of mood is created by the description of the setting in
“The School” by Donald Barthelme?
Paragraph 2: How is setting used as camera in “At Navajo Monument Valley
Tribal School” by Sherman Alexie?
Journal 5 due July 7: Using 2 or more of the grey boxes on pages 132-158 as a
springboard for your own original creative writing, write three, double-spaced
pages.
Story
The story is not merely what happens in a poem or short story. It is not simply
what a poem or story is about. A story is the journey that the author decides to
take the reader on. The author chooses how to pace the story, what the conflict
is and how to develop the conflict, and how to resolve the story.
Read Chapter 6, “Story” (167-188) by July 8
Discussion Board due July 9: Post 1 question that asks the class to connect a
concept from the “Story” chapter to one of the poems or short stories at the end
of the chapter. The following is an example of a good question about story: “In
what way is the narrator both connected and disconnected to her own story that
she tells in “Red Sky in the Morning” by Patricia Hampl?”
Assignment 6 due July 12:
By July 11, I will send an email with the possible options for this assignment.
You will choose two of the questions and develop textual analysis
paragraphs.
Revisions, Edits, and Finals!!!
Read Chapter 7 (196-229)
Assignment 7: Final Reflection paper on literary reading due July 14.
Reflect on your experience being part of a live literary reading. (1) One
paragraph should explain who you saw, where you saw the author read, and
what kind of book they read from. Please also refer to the intended reader for
the book and the genre as well. (2) Another paragraph should reflect on how you
felt attending this event. This should reflect how you felt before, during, and after
the event. (3) The last paragraph should connect some of our course content to
what you observed or heard at the live literary event. Please use at least 3
concepts or terms that you learned in the class and connect them to what the
author said or read.
Final Creative Work due July 15.