Heartland Community College
Division: Humanities and Fine Arts
COURSE PREFIX & NUMBER: ENGL 206
COURSE TITLE: Creative Writing
CREDIT HOURS: 3
CATALOG DESCRIPTION
An introductory course in writing in the principal belletristic genres, providing extensive practice
in writing and in-class analysis and discussion of student work, with particular attention to the
development of technique.
TEXTBOOK:
Bernays, Anne and Pamela Painter. What If?, 2nd edition. 0-321-10717-9
RELATIONSHIP TO ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AND
TRANSFERABILITY:
ENGL 206 fulfills 3 hours of elective credit for the A.A. and A.S. degrees. It should
transfer to most colleges and universities as an elective course. However, since ENGL
206 is not part of either the General Education Core Curriculum or a baccalaureate major
program described in the Illinois Articulation Initiative, students should check with an
academic advisor for information about its transferability to other institutions.
COURSE OBJECTIVES (Learning Outcomes)
Students who successfully complete ENGL 206 should be able to:
1.
Understand the importance of keeping a notebook or journal and explain how
recollections of personal experience provide source material for fictional and nonfictional writing.
2.
Recognize and demonstrate the formal characteristics of various literary genre.
3.
Demonstrate a proficiency in various writing techniques that are not genrespecific (e.g., characterization, point of view, dialog, etc).
4.
Plan, revise, and edit both short and long literary compositions that are original,
interesting, and technically proficient.
5.
Explain the concept of verisimilitude or believability as it applies to works of
fiction and demonstrate how it may be achieved.
6.
Describe the process of finding literary markets and explain the steps writers
typically go through to get a work published.
7.
Demonstrate a familiarity with the research process and identify common
bibliographic and other research tools and conventions.
METHOD OF EVALUATION (Tests/Exams, Grading System):
The largest portion of students’ grades will be based upon portfolio assessment.
Exercises in Form & Workshop Participation: 40%
Portfolio: 60%
Student portfolios should capture the process of producing the works represented in it. In
other words, there should be samples as works in progress as well as “finished” products.
Portfolios should display two types of student work. These are broadly:
A.
A set of 16 to 20 formal exercises. These will be evaluated based on their
technical proficiency. Workshop participation, which includes
preparedness and articulation of original analysis.
B.
A substantial body of original writing, preferably developed from initial
formal exercises. Examples: at least 25 lyric poems, or 10 short stories,
or 3 one-act plays, or one 3-to-5 act play, etc. This body of work will be
evaluated on the basis of originality, craftsmanship, and audience appeal.
It will comprise 60% of the course grade.
REQUIRED WRITING AND READING:
Students will read extensively from the course textbook and numerous handouts. They will
also read one another's work, as well as several representative stories, poems, and songs by
professional writers. Each student will complete 16 to 20 short writing assignments to foster
practice of particular writing techniques. In addition, each student will produce a substantial
body of original writing (for examples, at least 25 lyric poems, or 10 short stories, or song
cycles, essays, etc).
Notes on workshops:
Workshops are serious places. I presume that you are here because you want to be here and I
expect you demonstrate that desire by arriving prepared in all the obvious “academic” ways you
prepare for any class: assignment completed (and distributed) on time, reading accomplished,
processing work ready for you to share. But I also have a less obvious but equally important
expectation…
I expect you to treat each other as writers. This means you allow for differences in levels of skill
and experience. You recognize the difference between I expect you to strive for improvement in
your critical skills as you apply them—with care—to others’ work.
So when you arrive late, or unprepared, or underprepared I want you to understand that you are
shorting yourself the experience of workshop but you are also shorting the others the experience
of workshop. More than any other class you are taking this semester, this group’s success
depends on you.
And while I hope you will take each other seriously, and take the work others share seriously, I
hope you are able to take yourself not so seriously. The class isn’t about proving what you can
do, it’s about trying new things. While everybody enjoys praise, nobody learns much from it.