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NORTH SEATTLE COLLEGE
ARTS, HUMANITIES, AND SOCIAL SCIENCES DIVISION
Syllabus for English 151, 152, 153
Creative Writing--Distance Learning
Spring 2014
Instructor: Molly Tenenbaum
Campus contact: molly.tenenbaum@seattlecolleges.edu
Course site: https://canvas.northseattle.edu/login
Best way to reach me: E-mail me through our Canvas course site: click on your inbox in
the upper right and begin typing my name in the “To” field.
Office: IB2423C, Suite 9
In-person office hours: M & W, 1-2pm, and by appointment.
Phone: (206) 934-4556
Distance Learning Office:
E-mail: north.elearning@seattlecolleges.edu
Phone: 206 934-3738
Web Site: http://www.virtualcollege.org/
Canvas help: http://guides.instructure.com/m/4212
Course Philosophy: I believe that writing is—at least when it goes well—fun,
exhilarating, and life-enhancing. I also believe that the more you know about it, the more
fun it is and the better it goes: writing requires knowledge, courage, commitment, and
discipline, not to mention imagination, playfulness, and a spirit of experimentation. I
hope that you will come away from this course with a big pile of new writing, more ideas
about how and what to continue writing, knowledge of your own writing process, and
more knowledge in general about literature of the past and present.
To practice this philosophy, we will:
 Generate lots of new poetry and fiction;
 Practice bounty and flexibility in our writing;
Generate more ideas together then each of us could alone;
 Engage with the reading and writing of poetry and fiction to such a degree that
we discover new ways to write and new things to say;
 Practice some essentials of the craft of writing poetry and fiction;
 Enter into mystery by engaging in writing projects we can’t imagine the
outcome of;
 Use revision to expand our writing capability and deepen our insight into what
we’ve written.
Credit: This class provides VLPA credit (Visual, Literary, and Performing Arts) toward
NSCC’s A.A. degree, and CMN (Communications) credit.
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Required Course Materials
Books:
 The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms, 2nd Revised Edition,
edited by Ron Padgett.
 Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, 9th Edition, by Janet Burroway,
Elizabeth Stuckey-French, and Ned Stucky-French.
Other:
 A variety of online resources
Other requirements:
 A reliable computer
 An up-to-date Safari, Chrome, or Firefox browser.
 A reliable internet connection
 The ability to save documents in .doc or .rtf format (For more about the course’s
technical requirements, see http://www.virtualcollege.org/)
 A notebook for writing in if you’re not near your computer or other electronic
device. (although you may do this course’s writing entirely on computer).
 A back-up plan in case of computer/internet failure.
About Online Classes
Time commitment required: Approximately 10 hrs a week, including several
hours of uninterrupted time to write, read, and concentrate. However, note that
those who do the best work and receive the highest grades frequently spend more
time than this.
Attendance: You’ll need to log in, at the minimum, about 4 times a week or
you’ll get behind with the discussions and assignments. Again, those who do the
best work and receive the highest grades often log in daily or even several times a
day. No classroom meetings are required.
My availability: I am available only through our class e-mail. I generally will not
see late-night messages until the next day. I aim to respond to you within 24
hours, though I usually respond sooner. I generally take one “No Computer” day a
week, usually Saturday. Whenever I do this, I will let you know.
Your learning: How much you learn will be directly proportional to how much
you participate in the online community, how well you manage your time, and
how well you follow written directions.
Find out more about online learning through your NSCC’s e-learning office:
http://www.virtualcollege.org/ . From there, navigate to “Student Information and
Help Desk.”
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Student Responsibilities
 Have a solid back-up plan in case of computer or internet failure.
 Become familiar with the Canvas learning platform. Take the Canvas Tutorial.
 Have basic computer skills: Uploading and downloading files, copying and
attaching text to e-mail messages, and knowing how your browser and computer
system work.
 Keep the instructor informed of any difficulties: I do my best to help out, or to
direct you to the best resource.
 Meet technical challenges: I expect that you bring some computer expertise to
help in troubleshooting and solving any problems that arise. If you have technical
problems, the distance learning office is available to help you.
http://www.virtualcollege.org/
 Write carefully, and proofread: This is an English class. Spell-check, and use
standard punctuation and capitalization (except where the requirements of the
specific assignment allow variation).
 Be courteous.
 If you are a Running Start Student, you are responsible for managing your high
school and college commitments so that they don’t interfere with each other.
 Turn in all assignments on time.
 Ask questions early and often.
 In online discussions, contribute early, and respond promptly. Read all existing
posts before you respond to a discussion.
Course Goals
 To practice the strategies and techniques of one or more literary forms, and to
gain a working knowledge of the vocabulary of poetry- and fiction-writing, for
example: line, line break, stanza, diction, tone, image, metaphor, meter, rhyme,
scene, character, conflict, development, point of view, showing vs. telling. To
recognize clichés and dull language.
 To effectively read and respond to each other’s work in workshop groups.
 To look at good examples of creative writing and to understand what makes them
good.
 To experience, explore, and expand your own creative processes.
 To produce a body of work by writing and revising on a regular basis.
 To become aware of ways to go about submitting your work for possible
publication in literary magazines.
 And, of course, to understand artistic expression as essential to appreciate the
fullness of the human condition.
Assignments and schedule
Here is a brief overview of our course work. Detailed instructions are provided each
week. You’ll find more about the assignments in general in the “General Course
Information” module.
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Introductions and other “getting started” assignments, week 1.
Four poetry assignments, to be turned in on by 9am Mondays, weeks 2-5.
One poetry revision, due 9am Monday, week 6
Four fiction assignments, due 9am Mondays, weeks 7-10.
One fiction revision, due 9am Monday, week 11.
Weekly online writing workshop discussions, Monday-Friday, with initial
detailed posts due by midnight Wednesdays, and replies due by midnight
Fridays.
7. Weekly online discussions of the readings, Monday-Friday, with initial
posts due by midnight Wednesdays, and replies due by midnight Fridays.
8. 1-2 small writing exercises per week. These exercises might be practices
to help build toward the weekly writing assignment, or they might be
entirely other kinds of assignments to give you more experience with the
different kinds of poetry and fiction there are in the world.
9. A small final project to sum it all up: To be announced.
10. Deadlines might change in the event of a holiday or other irregularity.
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Late assignments and discussion posts are not accepted.
About Sharing Your Work
This is a collaborative class which asks you to share a great deal of your writing with
others. We can inspire each other with the bounty and variation of all our different
approaches. You’ll be discussing each others’ work, and you’ll be posting writing
exercises so everyone can see. If we were in a classroom together, we’d be going around
the circle, reading aloud, hearing what everyone came up with, and each person would
have several chances to have the whole class critique their work. I hope that you’ll find it
as exciting as I do to hear everyone’s various approaches. We do not want to judge or
evaluate; we simply want to observe and notice. Even in the workshop groups, our
training will be not to judge, but to notice specific things about the craft of writing. The
words “good” and “bad” are not allowed! I know it can be nerve-wracking to put your
writing out there, and this process may be challenging to get used to. I will provide
guidelines for workshop discussions.
About the Designations English 151, 152, and 153
These numbers refer to how many times a student has taken Creative Writing here at
North: A student registered for English 151 has taken it once, a student registered for 152
has taken it twice, etc. Thus, the course numbers do not always reflect writing experience,
since a 151 student may have had a lot of writing experience elsewhere. This is to say
that we are a mixed-level class of both experienced and beginning writers.
Students of all sections take on the same assignments. I hope that you all, whatever your
writing level, hold yourselves to high standards, and that you all work to improve your
writing beyond what you can now imagine.
Grades
Your grades are based on the points that you earn for completing assignments. The chart
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below shows the maximum number of points possible for each assignment. In some cases
a range of points is given because we don’t know yet how many of these assignments
there will be, since short exercises and discussion questions may be added as inspiration
strikes.
Assignment
8 weekly writing assns
8 workshop discussions
8-10 reading discussions
2 revisions
10-33 writing exercises
Small final project
Total qtr points
pts each
20
10
8
40
5-10
10-20
Qtr points
160
80
64-100
80
50-165
10-20
444-595
Your grade is the percentage of points you earn out of the total points possible. Below is
a chart to show how percentages convert to grades on the 4-point system. These
conversions are standard across all Seattle Community College campuses.
Student
Performance
Excellent
High
Average
Minimum
Percentage of
Points Earned
Above 94 %
90%-93%
87%-89%
84%-86%
80%-83%
77%-79%
74%-76%
70%-73%
67%-69%
65%-66%
64% and below
Letter Grade
Equivalent
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
F
Numerical Grade
4.0-3.9
3.8-3.5
3.4-3.2
3.1-2.9
2.8-2.5
2.4-2.2
2.1-1.9
1.8-1.5
1.4-1.2
1.1-1.0
0.0
How Is Creative Writing Graded?
You might wonder how artistic expression can be graded. The instructions for each
assignment give specific grading criteria, but in general, all assignments and discussions
must:
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Fulfill the assignment, showing effort and engagement with the material.
Be on time.
Be proofread and grammatical, with any unconventionalities intended and
contributing to voice, tone, character, etc.
In discussions, you contribute early, respond promptly, and make substantial
contributions.
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The revisions show improvement, and show that you are working with the
concepts of the class and practicing to improve your writing.
About Late and Missing Work
Late work of any kind is not accepted. Period.
I will not accept excuses about computer failures or trouble with the internet. Have a
back-up plan in case of emergencies. In the case of problems with CANVAS that
affect the whole class, I will know and will make adjustments for everyone.
Always keep me informed of any situation or difficulty that comes up for you. Use
our CANVAS course e-mail to get in touch with me.
NSCC ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
POLICY ON PLAGIARISM
To take the words or ideas of someone else and present them as your own is plagiarism
and is unacceptable in academic life. The nature and causes of plagiarism may cover a
range from the accidental to the dishonest. Examples of plagiarism encountered in
academic writing may include the following:
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incorporating into your own writing, without proper acknowledgment, words and
sentences from a print, electronic, or oral source;
inserting longer passages (such as four or five consecutive sentences or whole
paragraphs) of somebody else’s writing into your own without acknowledgement;
paraphrasing so closely or so extensively from a source that sentences and ideas
really belong to the original writer;
submitting as your own whole essays written by another person or taken from a
printed source or off the internet;
receiving so much help from another person that the work could not honestly be
called your own;
submitting assignments produced for one class in another (or previous) class
without permission of both instructors (auto-plagiarism).
Students, by their attendance here, agree to adhere to the Student Code of Conduct which
states, in part, that “academic dishonesty, to include cheating, plagiarism, or knowingly
furnishing false information to the college” may bring disciplinary action. The policy of
the NSCC English faculty is to exercise its professional judgment as to the nature and
cause of each case of suspected or proven plagiarism and to respond in a manner suited to
the case. Responses may include the following:
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requiring that a piece of writing be revised to eliminate the plagiarism
denying credit for a piece of writing in which plagiarism has been found
recording a “0” grade in the student’s class record for this project, thereby
lowering the student’s final grade
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forwarding the student’s name to the Vice President for Student Services for
possible disciplinary action.
Campus Services
The Page One Writing Center: The Loft is the campus language lab/writing center,
located on the top floor of the library. One of the primary attributes of Page One is the
free tutoring! Tutoring sessions last 30 minutes, are held on a first-come, first-served
basis, and can help you with reading, writing, grammar, listening and speaking. They also
do online tutoring. In general, the more a student uses these services, the higher his/her
grades tend to be.
Location: Top floor of the library
Disability Services: If you have a condition that will affect your performance in this
class please let me know. Students with disabilities are encouraged to use Disability
Services for support in implementing reasonable accommodations.
Location: 2nd floor of the College Center, in CC2436A
Phone: 206 527-3697
Web page: http://www.northseattle.edu/services/disability/
Other services: NSCC has many other services that can be helpful: Women’s Center,
Running Start, Worker Retraining, Financial Aid, Counseling Center, and Veteran’s
Office, for example. All of these can be found through www.northseattle.edu
WELCOME
I can't wait to see what amazing things we come up with, what insights we find, and what
new work we create that none of us could have created alone, without a community to
encourage us.
We are entering the Unknown! We don’t know what will happen! Hooray!