syllabus

English 270: Introduction to Creative Writing,

Spring 2014

( Updated January 21) 1

Jerry Gabriel

Office: Glendening 241

240-895-2213

Office Hours: Friday: 2-4 and by appointment gdgabriel@smcm.edu

This course is an introductory course in the theory, practice, and reading of prose, poetry, and forms in between. We will start with the idea that the willingness to experiment, the willingness to practice, and an interest in language are the prerequisites of becoming a committed writer. Experiment is essential because it allows you to discover new ways of seeing; practice is important because it allows you to make the best use you can of those insights. Thus, we’ll spend a lot of time working on and talking about exercises intended to inspire your best work in poetry and prose. Your interest in language—your own and that of your classmates—is the most important element of the class; your slippery medium and sometime ally, it can make or take apart a whole world.

In this class we’ll read tons of prose and poetry for all the reasons a person usually does: to be entertained, to be surprised or inspired, to participate in our own print culture. But the difference is that as writers of these forms, we will also be reading with an eye to the tricks, strengths, tools, and techniques of other writers. Nobody, the truism goes, can teach you how to write: writers learn for themselves how to do it: from example (reading good work), from experiment and practice, and from feedback (listening to and responding to the comments of others). So, in a nutshell, that’s what this course is about.

Course Goals

1.

To understand the importance of elements of the craft: image, voice, meter, character setting and story, to name but a few.

2. To read examples of published creative writing (creative non-fiction, fiction, poetry and possibly even a little drama), as well as examples of student work.

3. To develop skills (for lack of a better word) for revising poetry and prose, and further, to appreciate the process of development and revision.

4. To practice and develop discussion and analysis skills through written and oral assignments.

5. To learn self-motivation for developing your writing from an idea into a polished final draft.


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Books (available in the Campus Store)

Best American Short Stories , 2013, edited by Elizabeth Strout

An Anthology for Creative Writers: A Garden of Forking Paths , edited by Anstandig &

Killough

Supplies

You need a slender, two-pocket, three-prong folder to serve as your writing portfolio— not a big three-ring binder, please. I would also like you to have colored tabs to separate the various sections of the portfolio.

Your portfolio will contain all writing assignments for this class—exercises, formal drafts and revisions, and copies of your comments to others, as well as a number of other kinds of writing I will ask you to do. There will be a list of what it must include on the wiki under the “Portfolio” tab.

I will use the portfolio as an important source for evaluating your performance in the course. You should bring your portfolio with you to any meetings you and I have.

Costs

In addition to the two texts we will be using, you will be required to make copies of your work for your group or possibly for the rest of the class (the size of the class will be in the ballpark of 16, plus or minus a few).

Attendance

Attendance is mandatory in this class. As a seminar-style class, we just don’t get much done if people are missing all the time. To this end, I am very serious about my attendance policy. Basically, you get three absences. Use them as you see fit. After that, you drop a letter grade for Participation with each absence. If you miss seven classes, you will get an F for Participation. Above seven absences and chances are you will fail the course.

I take attendance at the beginning of class, so if you’re late, it’s your job to catch me after class to make sure that I marked you present. Being late, by the way, also counts against you; three tardies equals one absence. Feel free to check with me at any time to remind yourself of where you stand.


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If, for whatever reason, you do miss class, you are responsible for knowing what you missed and for getting the assignment(s) for that day and completing them on time; the best way to do this is not to send me an email saying something like, "Did I miss anything important?" Much better to write or call a classmate and say, "What do we need to do for Monday?" Although most of the texts you need to read will be mentioned in the schedule, some may be passed out in class and added at the last minute. It's your job to be caught up with everything.

Finally, if you have an on-going medical problem, please see me. I will try to work something out insofar as that’s possible. Unfortunately, sometimes it's just not; that is, missing nine classes with or without a medical excuse is still going to compromise your performance severely in the course.

Revision Policy

You are allowed to revise your formal pieces for the final portfolio. You don’t have to, but if you choose to, you have two options. The first requires more of you, but might allow you to improve your grade more than the somewhat superficial second option.

Either way, the revisions are due in the final portfolio, not before. I am happy, however, to meet with you anytime to discuss your drafts. Here are the two options:

Option One for Revision

If you choose this option for any of your workshop pieces, you need to submit a proposal to me that is meant to convince me that you have a master plan for real, serious revision.

To do this, you will need to submit paper copies to me of two things:

1.

A 200 word description of what your plans are for revision.

2.

The copy of the draft with my comments OR the note that I wrote to you about the piece (depending on which you received from me).

I will take a look at your plan and if I think it makes sense—that is, it suggests more than just superficial “cleaning up”—then I will okay it. If I okay it, then you can carry on with your plan, or we can meet to discuss your plan further if you like. In either case, though, the absolute final version will be due at the end of the semester in the portfolio, and I will regrade the story/essay/poems wholesale (though understand that your grade cannot go down). You can move from a C- to an A, if the improvement is that great.


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On the other hand, if I don’t okay the proposal, then, well, sorry: you are not able to revise the story/essay/poems and your grade stands—or you are stuck with option two.

Option Two for Revision

The second way you can improve your grade, as I suggest above, is an easier and somewhat more superficial approach. If you don’t want to go through the rigmarole of submitting a proposal to revise—and if it’s not important to you to potentially raise your grade by more than a third of a letter grade (B- becomes a B, B becomes a B+, etc.)— then you can indeed address yourself to the comments you’ve received on your draft and do general tidying up of the story/essay/poems. I will re-grade the piece(s) with an eye toward your thoroughness in addressing my comments, and if it seems you’ve done so satisfactorily, I’ll raise the grade a third of a letter grade.

So if you decide to revise one or more of your formal pieces—by either option—you must turn in (in the final portfolio):

For Option One,

1.

A print out of the Revision Plan that I have okayed.

2.

Behind that, the revised story/poem(s)/essay with word REVISION in the upper left hand corner.

3.

And behind that, the original copy with my comments attached.

For Option Two,

1.

The revised story/poem(s)/essay with word REVISION in the upper left hand corner.

2.

Behind that, the original copy with my comments attached.

Teams

We will work in groups a significant amount of the time in this class. You will be randomly tossed into a group early in the semester and will remain with that group throughout.

You will rely on these folks (and they will rely on you) to be your support system, your cheerleaders, your champions. They will be the folks most intimate with your work

(because they will be reading it closely and all semester long). In essence, groups are important to the success of the class and they are important to the success of the


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( Updated January 21) 5 individuals in the class. I like the group format because it gives you a different, smaller dynamic in which to operate.

In your groups you'll be responsible for various things, including leading both reading and workshop discussions. If you have problems with your group, please come see me to talk about it. If you feel like someone is not holding up their end of the bargain in your group, it’s important that the problem get addressed. You can do it, or I can do it. It’s up to you.

Team One

Hadfield, Dylan

Brill, Rachel

Strzegowski, Morgan

Hylton, Nicole

Team Two

Francis, Knakia

Bromber, Mariana

Adams, Kareem

Power, Bradley

Group Three

Srinivasan, Arvind

Hogya, Sadie

Eibling, Rachel

Team Four

Bernstein, Henry

Mattingly, Katelyn

Edwards-Smith, Jessica

Course Conduct

• All cell phones must be turned off before you enter class.

• You need to bring to class the text(s) that we are discussing (in addition to the textbooks for the class, this includes any texts that I email to you or post on the wiki, and those that get passed out in class). If you do not have a copy of the assigned reading—and, worse, haven’t done the reading—you'll receive a zero for participation for that day.


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• Do not keep your opinions to yourself. A big part of the success of this course is rooted in the participation of everyone. In essence, you learn not just from the texts and from me, but from each other. So it’s vital that you jump in.

Conferences

At least once during the semester, you'll meet with me to discuss your writing. We'll be canceling a few classes to do this, and missing the meeting is the same as missing a class.

I'll ask you to prepare for the meeting closer to the time. You can of course meet with me any time; just email me to schedule a time to get together.

Workshopping

Workshop days have a number of ground rules, which we’ll go over early in the semester.

When taking in to account that we’ll also be workshopping some of the exercises we write, you can see that more than half of our class time will be spent workshopping one another’s work. It is important, then, that we respect one another in this process. That we come to these interactions with the best of intentions and that we work very hard to step outside of our “likes” and “dislikes” to see what the story/poem/essay is actually doing.

You can find the guidelines for leading workshops under Documents on the wiki. You will also find general guidelines for workshop participation there. We will discuss both of these documents before we begin workshopping.

A Word about Genre Writing

On the topic of genre writing (horror, fantasy, science fiction, etc), I want to be clear up front so there’s no confusion down the road. I won’t accept genre writing in this class. In this course, we are interested in character-based fiction and poetry only. We will talk (ad nauseum probably) about what this means, but in a nut-shell, it means that the fiction we're interested in talking about and writing is rooted in the development of a character

(or characters). The formula is relatively simple: your character starts out at Point A, something happens, he/she moves to Point B. There is change in your character wrought out of the situation he/she finds him/herself and out of who he/she was before this moment. This is perhaps a little simplistic as an explanation, but note that change in the character is an important part of this.

Without getting drawn into an overly complicated defense of this policy, let me clarify why I have this “rule.” This course is situated within an English department. The endeavor of this—and every other—English department is to examine what literature and


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( Updated January 21) 7 writing have to offer us in terms of understanding the world and the human condition.

The vast majority of genre fiction has much less lofty aims—that is, to entertain. “Vast majority” is operative; of course there are plenty of exceptions, but it is my experience that it doesn’t pay (us as a class) to sort the wheat from the chaff in this case. If this is a deal breaker for you, then I suggest you reconsider your decision to take the course.

Communication

I can be reached by phone at my office frequently, though not unfailingly. So it’s best to reach me by email at gdgabriel@smcm.edu. I generally check my email a few times a day.

I communicate with the class often by email and will expect you to check your email at least once between each class.

Plagiarism

Each student in this course is expected to create the works they turn in themselves.

Plagiarism is the act of appropriating and using the words, ideas, symbols, images, or other works of original expression of others as one's own without giving credit to the person who created the work. For a detailed account of what plagiarism is and how to avoid it, read the College’s description: http://www.smcm.edu/academicservices/policies_misconduct_plagarism.html

If I catch you plagiarizing in this course, you will fail the course, end of story.


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Assignments/Portfolio

Much of the graded work in this course will be due at the end of the semester in a final portfolio. Please see the Portfolio tab on the wiki to see what must be included; there will be updates there throughout the term. Note, too, that you will turn in a midterm portfolio just before spring break.

Formal Writing Assignments 30%

You will turn in three formal assignments in this course, one of which will be

“workshopped" by your group (you can read further about workshopping on the on the wiki under “Documents”); the other two will be workshopped by the class. You will be required to turn in a short story, an essay, and a packet of two poems. This work is entirely of your own making. It should not be directly related to any of the exercises we do in class.

I base the grade for these pieces on two important aspects of the work:

1.

The ambition of the piece: What I mean by this is how well you use the fundamentals and tools we will be discussing in class and working on in the many exercises we do during the semester.

2.

The success of the piece: How well does the story/poems/essay achieve what it has set out to achieve.

Obviously, these are subjective criteria, as are most things related to grading. Don't be surprised if your grades are not what you'd hope on the first go. But don't fear. You will have ample opportunity to revise and improve your grade(s).

Formal Assignment Submissions: the nitty gritty

(You must submit, over the course of the term, one story, one essay and one packet of two poems)



January 31. Your choice: either short story, essay or two poems.



March 7. Your choice: either short story, essay or two poems.



April 11. Your choice: either short story, essay or two poems.

For each of these three pieces, you need to bring one unstapled copy to class. Please use the formatting guidelines on the wiki under the Format tab. If your document is not in


Spring 2014

( Updated January 21) 9 this format, it will not be accepted. Don't wait until the morning an assignment is due to print it in the library; something will invariably go wrong, and you will hold up class while you straighten it out.

The stories and essays must be between 750 and 1500 words (3-6 pages, double spaced in

Times New Roman). In addition to turning paper copies in for the class, you must also upload an electronic copy of your formal pieces to the wiki under the “Posts” tab. Follow the directions there for how to do this.

If you turn your piece in late—that is, if you come to class the day it is due and you don’t have it or you just don't come to class that day—you can’t do better than a C on the assignment. Technical issues (printers, computers, whatever) are not acceptable excuses.

Revision cannot improve this grade. To get full credit for an assignment, you must turn in a paper copy AND upload an electronic copy.

Exercises 10%

Because this class is oriented towards experimentation and practice, we will do exercises throughout the semester with the intention of promoting successful writing practices— everything from getting started to drafting and revision. In general, the idea with exercises is to stretch your limits as writers. A willingness to try new things is no less crucial in this course than a weekly commitment to writing. Sometimes we will do these exercises in class, sometimes outside. On occasion I will comment on this work; other times, we might workshop it in class (usually in small groups). Exercises are a vital part of the experience of this course, helping you prepare your thoughts for discussion or work on an important concept.

I will ask you to save all of these and will collect them at the end of the semester in the portfolio. I never know exactly how many exercises there will be, but usually it is somewhere around 10. I’ll maintain a list of the exercises on the wiki under “Portfolio.”

Late exercises will be treated the same as late assignments with an automatic C.

Due: Midterm and Final Portfolios


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Class participation: 15%

This should go without saying: You are this class. So, really, you need to be here (see the syllabus for a very clear explanation of the attendance policy). But you also need to be awake, involved, contributing. I assume that you're taking this course because you're interested and I assume, too, that you are going to be prepared for our meetings. This means that you have read the material carefully and have a considered response to it that you are ready to articulate and integrate with the discussion. Everyone needs to find both a way to contribute to the group and a way to help others contribute, though these methods needn’t be the same from person to person. If you're not doing those things, it can't help but be reflected in your participation grade. It is necessary that everyone is engaged and participating; that is, everyone must talk in class. And everyone will receive a grade for their involvement. If you don't talk, that grade is necessarily lower.

Group Work: 5%

You will work with the same group of folks (3-4 people, depending on the class size) all semester, especially in prepping to lead workshop and reading discussions. In leading discussion, you will be responsible for creating materials for the class that will promote discussion and discovery.

For the group work grade, I will assess you as a group (that is, each member will receive the same grade on these assignments, unless I feel there are extenuating circumstances).

I will ask your group to be responsible for leading a certain number of workshops throughout the semester as well as a certain number of reading discussions (I’ll clarify how many as soon as we know exactly how many people are in the class). On these days, everyone in your group must be present and be prepared to guide us through our discussion. You can find guides for leading workshops and leading reading discussions on the wiki under “Documents.”

Public Reading: 5%

All students will give a 4-5 minute public reading at the end of the semester. You will need to read a polished piece that you have written and revised over the course of the semester; this can be a formal piece or an exercise, or some combination.


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Due: Last Week of Class

Responses to Stories, Essays, Poems: 10%

You will be required to write a response (at least 300 words) to the formal pieces that your group is in charge of leading the discussion on. I will expect a copy of each of these letters in your portfolio (another copy goes to the authors of the stories/poems/essays at the end of the class they’ve been workshopped in). You may also be asked to write shorter commentary in response to exercises.

Due: Final Portfolio

VOICES Write-ups: 5%

There are some great writers coming to campus this semester and you will be required to attend at least three of the readings and write a response to them (at least 300 words for each). The schedule for the readings is available on the wiki under “Portfolio” (this links to the English Department's Events Calendar).

Due: Final Portfolio.

Author Presentation: 10%

In pairs, you will be asked to choose and do research on a contemporary author of poems, essays or fiction whose work is available in one of our two texts. This assignment will include familiarizing yourself with their work, generally, as well as reading AT LEAST one of their books and two interviews they have given. If you can’t find any interviews by your author, you need to change authors.

These presentations will be spaced out over the course of the semester and are designed to introduce the class to contemporary writers. And so, I would like you to choose three possible writers you are interested in and post them on the wiki under “Posts” and then

“Presentation Author Wishlist” by the date given on the schedule; you and I will then negotiate which of the three you'll present on. I obviously don’t want more than one presentation on a particular author. See below for how to get started.

The nitty gritty


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The presentations should be done using presentation software (i.e., PowerPoint), be between 12 and 15 minutes long (this is a strict window, which means you will need to practice your presentation several times in order to time it correctly) and should include:

1.

The biography of the writer (where is she from? what does she do? where did she study? etc.).

2.

Thoughts they've had about writing (taken from multiple interviews)

3.

A 500 word book review of one of the author’s books. You’ll summarize the review for your presentation and turn in a paper copy in your portfolio.

4.

An audio/visual element. This most likely will mean a clip or clips from an interview or a clip of the author reading a short passage of their work. It could possibly also be a short clip from a screen adaptation of their work. This should not be more than three minutes.

Check the Schedule below to see when you’ll give your presentation. Though they will occur throughout the semester, my recommendation is to get started on this immediately.

In any case, you must decide which three authors you are interested in presenting on by the second week of class; I will look at your selections and, weighing the requests from the entire class, assign you the one that fits best.

Due: Post by the due date on the class schedule. Presentations are given throughout the semester.

Presentation Teams

Francis, Knakia

Hylton, Nicole

Srinivasan, Arvind

Hadfield, Dylan


Strzegowski, Morgan

Bromber, Mariana

Adams, Kareem

Brill, Rachel

Hogya, Sadie

Power, Bradley

Mattingly, Katelyn


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Eibling, Rachel

Bernstein, Henry

Final Exam: 10%

Over the course of the semester we'll talking a lot about contemporary literature and about the craft of writing prose and poetry. Contrary to common thinking on these matters, we can name important facets of these things. To wit, we shall acquire a common vocabulary for talking about things like image and point of view. These types of terms will be on the final exam. You will not only need to be able to define the term, but demonstrate some functional knowledge with it. For instance, I might ask you to determine the differences between three different types of narration.

If you show up to class and pay attention take notes, I think the exam will be a piece of cake.

Due: Monday, May 12, 9:00a.m.-11:15a.m.


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Day by Day Schedule

WEEK ONE

1.22 Wednesday

Cancelled

1.24 Friday

Intro

Syllabus

Wiki

Teams

*****

Readings

The Colonel, Forché, 357

Girl, Kincaid, 377

7 or 8 Things I Know About Her, A Stolen Biography, Ondaatje, 390

WEEK TWO

1.27 Monday

Narrative

Readings (Group One leads)

Richard, Strays, Richard, 269

Sedaris, The Youth in Asia, 110

Harrison, Rooster, 314

Workshop in groups

Due

Microfiction (exercise 1)

1.29 Wednesday

Due: Author Presentation Proposals (post to the wiki: http://eng270.wikidot.com/presentation-author-wishlist )

1.30 Thursday

VOICES Reading

Bruce Wilson, 8:15 PM, DPC

1.31 Friday

Language

Readings (Group Two leads)

Work, Johnson, 197

Counting in Chinese, Hull, 319

Woman in April, Dubus, 33


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WEEK THREE

2.3 Monday

Voice

Readings (Group Three leads)

Introduction to Non-Fiction from The Making of a Story, Laplante (handout)

Doty, Still Life with Oysters and Lemon, 475

Nye, Blood, 336

Carlson, Bigfoot Stole My Wife/I Am Bigfoot, 156

2.5 Wednesday

Presentations

Srinivasan, Arvind

Hadfield, Dylan

Readings

Ursula LeGuin,

“Winged: The Creatures on My Mind”

2.6 Thursday

VOICES Reading

Stephanie Strickland, 8:15 PM, Boyden Gallery

2.7 Friday

Image

Readings (Group 4 leads)

“The Shapely Story,” from Laplante (handout)

Not Very Loud, Stafford, 342

The Little Knife, Chabon, 173

Bausch, So Long Ago, 427

Due

First formal piece (one paper copy, unstapled; also uploaded to wiki under “posts”; see the Format tab for guidelines)

WEEK FOUR

2.10 Monday

In-class: Exercise #2

2.12 Wednesday

Workshop 1 (Group 4 leads)

Francis, Knakia

Bromber, Mariana


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2.14 Friday


Hadfield, Dylan

Bernstein, Henry

WEEK FIVE

2.17 Monday

Dialogue and Place

Readings (Group One leads)

Zavatsky essay (handout)

Jen, Who’s Irish, 189

Rich, Amends, 337

2.19 Wednesday

Presentations

Morgan & Jessica

Reading

Updike, How Was it Really? 278

Due: Exercise 3

2.20 Thursday

VOICES Reading

Corrie Byrne 8:15 PM, DPC

2.21 Friday


Brill, Rachel

Strzegowski, Morgan

WEEK SIX

2.24 Monday

Form


Wright, Thinking About the Poet Larry Levis One Afternoon in Late May, 291

Minot, Lust, 218

Bowden, Tortoises, 20


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2.26 Wednesday

No Class

2.28 Friday

No Class

WEEK SEVEN

3.3 Monday

Cancelled

3.5 Wednesday


Adams, Kareem

Eibling, Rachel

3.7 Friday


Srinivasan, Arvind

Hogya, Sadie

Due : Formal Piece #2 (one copy, unstapled; also uploaded to wiki under “posts”; see the

Format tab for guidelines)

WEEK EIGHT

3.10 Monday


Hylton, Nicole

Power, Bradley

3.12 Wednesday

Presentations

Bromber, Mariana

Adams, Kareem

Reading

Ruth Ellen "Poem to a Jazz Man" 324

In Class: Exercise 6

3.13 Thursday

VOICES Reading

Karl Parker 8:15 PM, DPC

3.14 Friday



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Mattingly, Katelyn


Due

Midterm Portfolio Due (exercises we’ve done so far)

WEEK NINE

3.17 Monday

No Class-Spring Break

3. 19 Wednesday


3.21 Friday


WEEK TEN

3.24 Monday

Presentations

Sadie

Brill, Rachel

Reading

Lucille Clifton, 301

3.26 Wednesday


Bernstein, Henry

Eibling, Rachel

3.28 Friday

Presentations

Power, Bradley

Mattingly, Katelyn

Reading

Sarah Vowell, Shooting Dad, 116

Due: Exercise 7

WEEK ELEVEN

3.31 Monday


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Experiment


Borges, Borges and I, 449

Moody, Primary Sources, 383

Edson, The Fall, 304

4.2 Wednesday

Workshop 9 (Group 4)

Brill, Rachel

Hadfield, Dylan

4.4 Friday

WEEK TWELVE

4.7 Monday

Workshop 10 (Group 3)

Strzegowski, Morgan

Hylton, Nicole

4.9 Wednesday

Character

Readings (No Lead):

“Recognizable People” (handout)

Hornby, Home Debut, 63

Exercise

4.10 Thursday

VOICES Reading

Cathy Chung 8:15 PM, DPC

4.11 Friday

Presentations

Eibling, Rachel

Hogya, Sadie

Reading: Dave Berry, Borrrinnng!, 18

Due: Formal Piece #3 (copies to your group members)

WEEK THIRTEEN

4.14 Monday


Srinivasan, Arvind



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4.16 Wednesday


Francis, Knakia

Bromber, Mariana

4.18 Friday

Workshop 13 (No Lead)

Adams, Kareem

Power, Bradley

WEEK FOURTEEN

4.21 Monday

Presentations

Francis, Knakia

Hylton, Nicole

Steve Martin, “Cows in Trouble.” (pg 381)

4.23 Wednesday

Workshop 14 (no lead)

Mattingly, Katelyn

Hogya, Sadie

4.24 Thursday

VOICES Reading

Kevin Moffett/Corinna Vallianatos 8:15 PM, DPC

4.25 Friday

Kevin Moffett/Corinna Vallianatos Q&A

WEEK FIFTEEN

4.28 Monday

Public Readings

Francis, Knakia

Hadfield, Dylan

Hafey, Hannah

Hogya, Sadie

Mattingly, Katelyn

Power, Bradley

Srinivasan, Arvind

Strzegowski, Morgan


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4.30 Wednesday

Exam Prep

5.2 Friday

Public Readings

Adams, Kareem

Bernstein, Henry

Brill, Rachel

Bromber, Mariana


Eibling, Rachel

Nicole

Due : Portfolio

Final Exam

Monday, May 12

9:00a.m.-11:15a.m.

LI 115

_____________________________________________________________________

Roster

Adams, Kareem

Bernstein, Henry

Brill, Rachel

Bromber, Mariana


Eibling, Rachel

Francis, Knakia

Hadfield, Dylan

Hafey, Hannah

Hogya, Sadie

Mattingly, Katelyn

Power, Bradley

Srinivasan, Arvind

Strzegowski, Morgan

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