Fall 2015
INTD: 101-05
RAMAPO COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY
First-Year Seminar
Creative Writing
Course Information
Prerequisites and/or Co-requisites: First-time, first-year student status
Class time/ place: Monday/Thursday 3:05-5:15, Room Location:
Instructor Information
Instructor's Name: Ms. Adamo
Office Location:
Office Hours: by appointment
E-mail: madamo1@ramapo.edu
Mailbox Location: B-213
School Office Location: B-213
Course Description
In this course, students will read and write short stories and poems in order to introduce the Creative Writing
concentration and minor options here on campus as well as the art of creative writing in general. Throughout the
semester, students will read contemporary works in each genre, questioning their construction to formulate their own
responses to each piece. In this class, we will move beyond simply “liking” or “disliking” a work in order to fully
analyze the text and our reasons for such feelings. Examining a poem or story’s form, style, and content will guide
and shape students’ own writing. Students will regularly read from craft textbooks as well as complete various
writing exercises to hone their skills and prepare for more formal assignments. Students will also read contemporary
work and have the opportunity to ask the authors questions about their writing throughout the semester. The class
will hold regular workshops in which students share their work to get constructive criticism and positive feedback,
helping students learn to edit their work as well as others’. Most of these workshops will be in small groups, but
each student must also have their creative pieces go through a workshop with the whole class twice in the semester.
Students will put together two portfolios of their creative work to show their progress. This course, like all FYS
courses, will also include a research paper, a presentation (which will be a student reading), and two essays on the
summer reading. These requirements will be based on creative writing topics to further broaden knowledge of this
field.
Course Goals
Students will explore aspects of creative writing in terms of form, content, and style. Students will learn to write in a
clear, cohesive way, both critically and creatively. Students should be able to identify the nuanced ways in which
texts of different genres act upon readers/viewers; to engage and analyze increasingly complex and ambiguous ideas
and readings through close textual analysis; to create and construct a sustained, analytical, argumentative essay that
intellectually synthesizes complex ideas and draws on multiple sources for support; to conduct, evaluate, and
incorporate research in support of independent interpretations; to attribute and cite words and ideas from primary
and secondary sources; and to demonstrate control of grammar and syntax as well as to clearly and effectively
convey ideas in standard English.
Measurable Student Learning Outcomes
Students will:
demonstrate the ability to think
critically and creatively
demonstrate proficiency in
written communication
Research
Paper/
Analytical
Essay
X
Class
Discussions and
Workshops
Presentation
/ Reading
Creative
Writing
x
X
x
X
x
X
x
Fall 2015
INTD: 101-05
x
demonstrate proficiency in oral
communication
demonstrate information
literacy and technological
competency
x
X
Common Course Description
Designed for first-time, full-time, first-year students, First-Year Seminar (FYS) provides a comprehensive
introduction to college-level learning. Seminar courses are developed around an academic theme or topic that is
based on one of Ramapo College’s academic pillars. First-Year students will have the opportunity to select a
seminar that best suits their interests while learning about Ramapo’s academic foundation. The First-Year Seminar
course helps students in their transition from high school to college life both in and out of the classroom. The
common learning outcomes of FYS are: critical and creative thinking, college-level writing, oral communication,
information literacy, and technological competency. FYS classes are small to emphasize open discussion and
experiential learning within the context of the theme of the seminar course. Peer facilitators play an essential role in
each FYS class ensuring that first-year students have guidance from a more experienced student. FYS is also the
home of the Ramapo Summer Reading Program; all first-year students read the same book and discuss and write
about it in their seminars. FYS encourages new students to participate in a community of learners, to strengthen their
critical thinking skills, and to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.
Peer Facilitators
As an added resource for first-year students, each section of First-Year Seminar (FYS) will have a peer
facilitator. These upper-level students will attend FYS classes and assist the instructor with the academic topics
covered in this seminar. They will serve as discussion leaders on issues that pertain to your personal and social
development and they will facilitate weekly discussions on the class readings. Your peer facilitator will be your
mentor and will be available to you to provide guidance on navigating the different personal and social hurdles that
you may encounter in your first year at Ramapo.
First-Year Academic Advising Each First-Year Seminar course is assigned a professional Academic Advisor from
the Center for Academic Advising and First-Year Experience (CAAFYE) who serves as your Academic Advisor
during your first year. This advisor will attend your First-Year Seminar class for a group advisement session to
review general academic advising policies and procedures. They will also be available to answer any general
questions regarding college policies/practices. Students are encouraged to schedule individual appointments with
their CAAFYE Advisor for assistance with course selection and the development of a personal academic plan. If
you have any questions regarding Academic Advisement please call CAAFYE at (201) 684-7441 or via email at:
caafye@ramapo.edu
General Education Program Course
This course fulfills the First-Year Seminar category of the general education curriculum at Ramapo College.
Common to all First-Year Seminar (FYS) courses, you will develop critical thinking skills that are basic to college
level study, regardless of your area of interest. You will be reading, writing, and participating in thoughtful group
discussions with the aim of developing the skills of a scholar. You will learn to support your arguments using a
foundation of knowledge and facts rather than simply using personal opinions and experiences. This course also
fulfills Ramapo’s pillars in experiential learning through its course enrichment requirements and in international
education and intercultural understanding through diverse reading selections.
Writing Intensive (WI) Course
Writing will be integrated into the life of this course. You will receive comments, direction, and support as you work
on strengthening your writing skills. Your writing will be evaluated and returned in a timely fashion, allowing you
to incorporate my comments into your future work. For help outside the classroom, please see me during my office
hours and/or work with a writing tutor in the Center for Reading and Writing (CRW), Room: L-211, x7557,
crw@ramapo.edu.
Electronic Forms of Communication
Fall 2015
INTD: 101-05
In accordance with College policy, I will use your Ramapo College email address (@ramapo.edu) to communicate
with you about all course-related matters. I will also post homework and readings on our course Moodle page
regularly. Make sure you check this and/or your Ramapo email daily.
Students with Disabilities:
If you need course adaptation or accommodations because of a disability that has been documented with the Office
of Specialized Services, please make an appointment with me and present your OSS form to me within the first
week of classes. For additional information, contact the Office of Specialized Services (OSS) at x7514 or email at
oss@ramapo.edu. Please do not place a time limit on when students may request accommodation, as they may not
be aware of their need until later in the semester.
Texts, Readings, Materials
Klay, Phil. Redeployment. New York: Penguin, 2014. Print
Novakovich, Josip. Fiction Writer’s Workshop. Cincinnati: Story Press, 1995. Print.
The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises from Poets who Teach. Ed. Robin Behn and Chase Twichell. New York:
Collins Reference, 1992. Print.
Suggested Readings: Doty, Mark. The Art of Description: World into Word. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2010.
Print.
Hacker, Diana, and Nancy Sommers. Rules for Writers (7th ed.). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. Print.
*Posted poems, short stories, and conversations with writers will be on Moodle. (You must print these and bring to
class with your notes on them)
Assignments
For every reading you complete at home, you must come into class prepared to explain the text, giving your peers an
oral outline of the text, your questions, or your overall insight/opinions. Students will be chosen randomly every
time we meet to share their notes. I will also be randomly checking your notes prior to discussions to make sure you
are actively reading the assignments. (Refer to your schedule for due dates on readings, writings, and other
assignments.) Each time you are unprepared for class, it will be written down and thus lower your participation
grade. (See Attendance for further details.)
All work is due on the dates indicated. Papers not submitted the due date/time will be marked or lowered half a letter
grade; papers that are one week late will be lowered one full letter grade; papers over one week late will receive a
failing grade. The research paper, however, cannot be turned in over one week late at all, or it will receive a failing
grade. All work must be submitted. A failing grade is better than a zero. For the research and analytical paper,
students will also submit their outlines, drafts, peer editing review sheets, or other required materials (refer to
reading schedule) for full credit. Your final grade on the research paper will be lowered half to one full letter grade,
depending on the amount of missing work. Writing is a process and in order to do well in this class, you must
complete all steps.
Attendance Policy
In addition to benefiting you as a student and writer, attendance is mandatory. You are permitted three absences to
be used for family emergencies, sick days, etc. After that, your final grade will be marked down by a full letter. You
will fail the course if you miss more than six classes. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each session;
therefore, please arrive by the scheduled time. Two late arrivals (within 10 minutes of the start of class) are
considered an absence. If you leave class early for any reason, they are counted the same way Lates are. Moreover,
if you are consistently just a few minutes late, I will begin to count those as Lates as well. Even if you are absent,
you are responsible for all assignments. If you are absent on a day work is due, that work is still due and should be
turned in via email. If you miss class due, contact me for missing work/notes. You are expected to come to the next
class fully caught up on all reading and writing assignments. In addition, college policy states that students must
notify faculty within the first three weeks of the semester if they anticipate missing any classes due to religious
observance.
Grading Policy
A: 95-100 A-: 90-94
Fall 2015
INTD: 101-05
B+: 87-89 B: 84-86 B-:80-83
C+: 77-79 C: 74-76 C-: 70-73
D+:67-69 D: 64-66
D-: 60-63 F: 57-59
**Please note: Ramapo does not have D- grades; thus, if you receive a D- on an assignment that is considered a
Failing grade. Also, if you receive any slash grades (for example: A-/B+) that means your number grade will be the
lowest number of the highest letter; so an A-/B+ would be a 90. These grades are usually given if I see the effort but
you do not quite fulfill the requirements of that grade. See writing Rubric.
Academic Integrity Policy
All members of the community are expected to be honest and forthright in their academic endeavors. Since
violations of academic integrity erode community confidence and undermine the pursuit of truth and knowledge at
the College, academic dishonesty must be avoided.
Procedures
The Office of the Provost has responsibility for the oversight and enforcement of the Academic Integrity Policy and
for making the policy an institutional priority. The Office of the Provost is also responsible for publishing the
policy and for educating both faculty and students about the policy.
Faculty members play a crucial role in the Academic Integrity Policy. They are responsible for educating their
students about the importance of academic integrity and for communicating to students their expectations with
respect to academic integrity in course work. They are also urged to report alleged violations of the policy to the
Vice Provost.
Students have the responsibility to understand the Academic Integrity Policy and to comply with the policy in their
academic work.
More details on Ramapo College’s academic integrity policy can be found here:
http://www.ramapo.edu/catalog_13_14/academic-policies.html
Course Requirements
Classroom Participation – 10% Class is mandatory as is participation. Students must come to class
prepared and on time. They must actively participate in class writing assignments and discussions. Students
must also submit questions for authors we read, and will be expected to discuss their answers in class
discussion. When in a creative writing workshop, all students must be respectful of other students and offer
constructive criticism of the piece only. All students must participate in a class workshop. Students can
volunteer when they want to go, but all students must do this at least twice. On other workshop days,
students will only need to make 2-3 copies of their work for when we break out into smaller workshops.
Each workshop day, students must come prepared with notes on their classmates’ work. Notes much be
written out (can be typed). Terminal comments must include listing strengths, weaknesses, and suggestions
(at least 2 for each). Students should also make line edits/marginal comments throughout the piece.
Summer Reading – 20% Students will write two essays on the summer reading, one of which will be a
creative piece and will be graded/weighed as other creative writing assignments. For this, students will
rewrite a section, chapter, or idea from the summer reading book to examine writing style, character, form,
or tone. The second will be an essay that analyzes the effectiveness of the author’s work. It will not include
personal opinion; instead, it will analyze the author’s writing style and theme only. For this paper, students
will write a critical, argumentative paper to prepare them for the research paper and will cite using MLA
format. The paper will be 3 pages. It will be graded similar to the research paper. See writing rubric.
Presentations – 10% Students will each read from their creative work at the end of the semester. They will
be allotted five to eight minutes. Going over or under will affect their grade. They may read poems or a
short story, but they must make sure they introduce themselves and their work before reading instead of
jumping right in. See reading rubric.
Fall 2015
INTD: 101-05
Peer Facilitator Sessions – 10% Each week your peer facilitators will be leading the class. Your
participation, journals, and overall effort will be graded by them.
Research Paper – 20% For the research paper, students will explore a topic within the creative writing
discipline. Students can write about a form, genre, literary movement, or author. They can also write about
current debates in this field today, such as print vs digital or the fate of bookstores and/or libraries. No
matter what topic students choose, they should come up with an argument about it in order to write an
analytical research paper. Students should not merely summarize works or sources. Additionally, for this
research paper, students will also turn in steps from the writing process all throughout the semester: a paper
proposal before our library session, an annotated bibliography after, an outline, and a draft. All citations
will follow MLA guidelines. Students must have at least 3 scholarly articles from the databases. Students
can include other outside sources in addition to the 3 library sources.
Portfolios – 30% Students will put together two collections of their creative work in clean, labeled,
organized in a 1/2 inch, hard cover binder. Rubrics must be the first page. Each portfolio will be organized
by genre. The final copy as well as earlier drafts should highlight and annotate key changes made. Some
students put together a key for clarity. There should be at least 2 drafts for each work (except 1 that does
not require a new draft) to trace their writing progress through the course as well as drafts with student
notes on it. Also, one prose selection and one poem should have at least 3 drafts and should be
highlighted/labeled as the student’s favorite. All exercises will also be included in a separate section.
Students will be graded on effort and progress. See portfolio rubric.
Fall 2015
INTD: 101-05
Weekly Class Schedule
(readings and due dates subject to change)
Date
Class topic, reading assignment
Exam/assignment/paper
due date
Week 1
Tues. Sept.
Thurs. Sept. 3
Tues: Opening Convocation
Thurs: syllabus/course review; summer reading discussion
Thurs.
Week 2
Mon. Sept. 7
Mon: Summer Reading
Mon. Summer Reading
Story due
Thurs: Cont. discussion
Thurs. Sept. 10
Week 3
Mon. Sept. 14
Mon: Chapter 9 Voice FWW, “The Brothers,”
“Behemoth,” “Holy Mother of God”
Thurs. Sept. 17
Week 4
Mon. Sept. 21
Thurs. Thesis and Essay
Outline on Summer
Reading due
Mon. any exercise in
ch. 9 of FWW
Thurs. Story Due, Paper
Due
Thurs: students’ work
Mon: Chapter 3 Character of FWW, “Night Vision”
Mon. any exercise in
ch. 3 of FWW
Thurs: students’ work
Thurs. Sept. 24
Thurs: story due
Week 5
Mon. Sept. 28
Mon. Chapter 6 Dialogue of FWW, “Hills Like White
Elephants,” “A Very Old Love Story”
Mon. any exercise in
ch. 6 of FWW
Thurs. Oct. 1
Thurs. students’ work
Thurs. story due
Week 6
Mon. Oct. 5
Mon. Chapter 7 Beginnings/Endings of FWW, “Bullet in
the Brain,” “The School,” “The Perfect Gerbil”
Mon. any exercise in
ch. 7 in FWW
Thurs. Oct. 8
Week 7
Mon. Oct. 12
Thurs: students’ work
Mon. Chapter 10, Revision
Thurs. story due
Mon. fiction portfolio
due
Thurs. Oct. 15
Thurs: Library Session
Week 8
Mon. Oct. 19
Mon. Art of Description, “Sharks in the Rivers,” “Hail,”
“Odd Jobs” –Image and Metaphor
Thurs. paper proposal
due
Mon. any exercise from
part 2 of PP
Thurs. Oct. 22
Thurs: meet with peers only
Thurs. Annotated
bibliography
Week 9
Mon. Oct. 26
Mon. Figures of Speech, “The Body is Not an Apology,”
“What Do Women Want?” “Sasha and Malia” –The Self
and its Subject
Mon. any exercise from
part 3 of PP
Thurs. Oct. 29
Week 10
Mon. Nov. 2
Thurs. poem due
Thurs. students’ work
Mon. Understanding Poetry, “Bayamon,” “I’m Over the
Mon. any exercise from
Fall 2015
INTD: 101-05
Thurs. Nov. 5
Moon” –Truth in Strangeness
part 4 of PP
Week 11
Mon. Nov. 9
Thurs. students’ work
Mon. On Teaching the Line, “Rum Song” -Structure and
Shape
Thurs. poem due
Mon. any exercise from
part 5 of PP
Thurs. students’ work
Mon. “Bar Napkin Sonnet #11”–Sound and Rhythm
Thurs. poem due
Mon. any exercise from
part 6 of PP
Thurs. Nov. 12
Week 12
Mon. Nov. 16
Thurs. students’ work
Thurs. Nov. 19
Week 13
Mon. Nov. 23
Mon. Comp Lab
Thurs. poem due
Mon. Poetry portfolio
due
Thurs: No Class
Thurs. Nov. 26
Thanksgiving
Week 14
Mon. Nov. 30
Thurs. Dec. 3
Week 15
Mon. Dec. 7
Thurs.
Mon. Comp Lab. “The Art of Quoting”
Mon. outline due
Thurs: Workshop papers: “Connecting the Parts” “Saying
Why It Matters”
Thurs. rough draft due
Mon. Student Reading
Mon. research paper
due
Thurs. Student Reading
Thurs. Dec. 10
Final: meet if
needed for student
readings
Important Dates
First Day of Classes:
Last day for Schedule Adjustments (on the Web):
Last day to withdraw from courses with “W” grade:
Thanksgiving Recess:
Reading Day (no classes):
Final Exam Week:
Last day to request “I” grades:
Thurs.