Course Syllabus

 

College Creative Writing College.doc

College Creative Writing

English EWCU

Fall 2012

Prof. Sean Mills

 

COURSE SCHEDULE

This schedule will be updated weekly. Please refer to it often for updates.

WEEK 1

Thursday, 9/13 (Period 4): First class meeting

Course introduction. Syllabus with course description, objectives, expectations, and grading policies and grading breakdown posted above (see link) as Word document.

• Read-around of excerpt from Joe Brainard's book I Remember, New York: Granary Books, Inc., 1975
• Write a reader response to I Remember in your journal. For every journal entry, put the date and label the assignment.
  

Friday, 9/14 (Period 4):

IN-CLASS EXERCISE:

• "I Remember," Part I: Timed exercise in the style of Joe Brainard; write for 20 minutes without stopping.
• Volunteers to read aloud.
• Return to your exercise later on; read it aloud and look at our your own writing, closely taking account of narrative threads. Try to isolate a passage or thread that is ripe for narrative and be prepared to write prose, in the second stage for Tuesday's class.

WEEK 2

Thursday, 9/20

READ:

• Marcel Proust paragraph on the nature of memory.

JOURNAL REFLECTION:

• As a separate dated entry, write a reflection on Joe Brainard's "I Remember" in conjunction with the Proust paragraph. How do these readings relate to or enhance your own experience your own "I remember" list poem?
  

IN-CLASS EXERCISE:

• "I Remember," Part II: Isolate a story in a passage or thread from your list poem (the first stage you did in the first class last Thursday).
• Write prose narrative (in paragraphs) for 20 minutes without stopping. You should focus on one aspect and tell a story; try to be engaging and put the reader in your shoes.
• Volunteers to read aloud.

HOMEWORK:

• Expand and develop your autobiographical prose narrative to tell a good story from beginning to end. Make sure to paint the scene with details as vivid as the ones you discovered in the first stage; develop voice, create character, describe setting, and consider reconstructing from memory (perhaps embellishing) so as to make this a well-organized composition.

Friday, 9/21:

• Continue to work on your "I Remember" narrative and develop now into a complete autobiographical story.
  
• Voluntary in-class readings and workshop-style discussions of student narratives that have shown significant development.

HOMEWORK:

• For Tuesday's class, in your journal, keep working on your "I Remember" narrative. We will hear more of them read aloud by volunteers in the next class. In your expansion process as you continue to draft, you will potentially bring this piece to workshop when you sign up next week.
• Following the instructions of Jayne Ann Phillips's "Wedding Pictures" writing exercise (to be handed out in class), select a photograph of a wedding (e.g., a couple) or a family photo of people you may or may not know well but want to get to know better through a writing exercise we'll do in class on Monday. Bring in a copy of a photograph that is particularly meaningful to you--one that has rich possibility for story.

TEXTBOOK TO BE HANDED OUT:

THE ART OF THE PERSONAL ESSAY by Phillip Lopate is our first text; it will be handed out at the end of class. We will see Olga Russell to have these texts signed out to you under your account. Please treat these texts carefully, like a library book; they are yours throughout this course. Do not mark in them with pen. If you want to make light pencil annotations in the margins as you read, do so with care and erase any pencil markings when you return the text at the end of the course.

WEEK 3

Tuesday, 9/27 (Periods 5 & 6)

JOURNAL WORK:

• Keep working on your "I Remember" story in preparation for workshop.
• Following the instructions of the "Wedding Pictures/Family Photo" writing exercise I handed out last Thursday, bring in a copy of a photograph that is meaningful to you--one that has rich possibility for story. 

IN-CLASS EXERCISE:

• "Wedding Picture/Family Photo": we'll go around the room and do a "show and tell" of your photo. Give us a verbal caption of that photograph explaining who the people in the picture are and what the occasion for the photograph is. In your journal, write down your caption in one succinct sentence. Now write for 20 minutes nonstop about the photo in whatever way you can enter it to tell a story.
• Continue to expand the story or the photograph in your journal; volunteers prepare to read aloud in Tuesday's class.

 READ AND DISCUSS:

• In the Lopate anthology, read "Goodbye to All That" by Joan Didion, pp 681-688; respond to the essay in your journal in terms of craft. Take note of the way memory works in the piece (in particular how often she writes "I remember" or "I recall). Comment on the way the essay is put together to give a sense of dimension, scope, and the passage of time.

Thursday, 9/29 (Periods 5 & 6)

NO CLASS: Rosh Hashanah (holiday)

WEEK 4

Tuesday, 10/4 (Periods 5 & 6)

READ AND DISCUSS:

• The entire Introduction from Lopate's THE ART OF THE PERSONAL ESSAY, pp. xxiii-liv.
  

JOURNAL EXERCISES AND FURTHER WRITING:

• Expand and revise "Wedding Photo/Family Photo" exercise; more volunteers prepare to read aloud today and on Tuesday, 10/4.

 STUDENTS HANDING OUT FOR THURSDAY WORKSHOP:

• Jeniadys Lyn Shue
• Ashley Ilardo
  
• Aaron Lober

NOTE: Bring in 20 copies total--enough copies of your worksheet for every member of the class, plus me (the instructor) to read and prepare written comments for Thursday.

• WORKSHOP SIGN-UP SHEET FOR REST OF CLASS TO BE PASSED AROUND. Be ready to pick a workshop date when you think you'll be ready to have your work discussed; make sure to be ready to hand out in the class meeting before your worksheet draft is discussed.

Thursday, 10/6 (Periods 5 & 6)

READ AND DISCUSS:

• Phillip Lopate's "Writing Personal Essays: On the Necessity of Turning Oneself Into a Character" (hand-out in class).

FIRST WORKSHOP OF ESSAYS HANDED OUT IN THE LAST CLASS: Your workshop drafts are to grow from your journal writing and exercises. For example, they can arise from, but are not limited to, your "I Remember" exercise, 2nd stage, where you've written an autobiographical story and developed it. Your essay can also come from the "Wedding Photos/Family Photos" exercise, any other exercise, or any compelling story or persona you discover that is ripe for expansion from your journal work.

Workshop

STUDENTS ESSAYS UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Jeniadys Lyn Shue
• Ashley Ilardo
  
• Aaron Lober (rescheduled for Tuesday, 10/25)
  

STUDENTS HANDING OUT FOR TUESDAY, 10/11:

• Alexi Thomas
  
• Brandon Funaro
  

WEEK 5

Tuesday, 10/11 (Periods 5 & 6)

READ AND DISCUSS:

• Phillip Lopate's "Writing Personal Essays: On the Necessity of Turning Oneself Into a Character" (hand-out in class; carried over from last week).
• Seneca, "On Noise" and "Asthma" (pp. 3-9)
  
• Sei Shonagon, "Hateful Things" (pp. 23-28)
  

JOURNAL EXERCISE:

• "Complaint Box: Public Grooming" by Lion Calandra (hand-out we read in class). Make a list of pet peeves or personal grievances and pick one that is most easy for you to complain about. Write for at least 20 minutes with righteousness; try to get to the bottom of your ranting by taking the writing to another level, "opening a new box" and saying something reflective about human behavior. Be prepared to read your exercise aloud in class.

Workshop

STUDENTS ESSAYS UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Alexi Thomas
• Brandon Funaro

STUDENTS HANDING OUT FOR THURSDAY, 10/13:

• Valbona Curovic
  
• Michelle Gallo
• Saima Mistry
  

Thursday, 10/13 (Periods 5 & 6)

READ AND DISCUSS:

• Seneca, "On Noise" and "Asthma" (pp. 3-9)
  
• Sei Shonagon, "Hateful Things" (pp. 23-28)

JOURNALS: 

• More volunteers to read from developing exercises/essays of complaint.
  

Workshop

STUDENTS ESSAYS UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Valbona Curovic (uploaded to Canvas; print out)
  
• Michelle Gallo (uploaded to Canvas; print out--NOTE: discussion moved to next workshop)
  
• Saima Mistry

 STUDENTS HANDING OUT FOR TUESDAY, 10/18:

• Liam Schwarz
• Alex Ortiz
  
• Chrysoulla Vasiliou
  

WEEK 6

 Tuesday, 10/18

 READ AND DISCUSS:

William Hazlitt, "On the Pleasure of Hating" (pp. 179-180; 189-198).

JOURNAL EXERCISE:

• Diana Abu-Jaber, "Truthful Dare" (handout; start exercise in class and continue in you journal outside of class).

STUDENTS ESSAYS UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Michelle Gallo
• Liam Schwarz
• Alex Ortiz
  

 STUDENTS HANDING OUT FOR THURSDAY, 10/20:

• Michael Peguero
  
• Kendra Ellis
  
• Jasprit Kaur
  

Thursday, 10/20

READ AND DISCUSS:

• William Hazlitt, "On the Pleasure of Hating" (pp. 179-180; 189-198--carried over from Tuesday).

• Montaigne, "Of a Monstrous Child" (pp. 44-48); NOTE: Because of time constraints, "Of Books," a longer essay, will not be discussed in class--I'm dropping this as a reading assignment, but feel free to read it on your own.
  

STUDENTS ESSAYS UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Alex Ortiz (reread--wrap-up and final comments)
• Chrysoulla Vasiliou
• Kendra Ellis
  
• Jasprit Kaur

STUDENTS HANDING OUT FOR TUESDAY, 10/25:

• Sean St. John
• Aaron Lober
• Michael Peguero (uploaded as a Word doc; see under "Files"--print out and mark up)
  

WEEK 7

Tuesday, 10/25

READ AND DISCUSS:

• William Hazlitt, "On the Pleasure of Hating" (pp. 179-180; 189-198) and Montaigne, "Of a Monstrous Child" (pp. 44-48)--both carried over from last week). 
  

STUDENTS ESSAYS UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Sean St. John
• Aaron Lober
• Michael Peguero (uploaded as a Word doc)

STUDENTS HANDING OUT FOR THURSDAY, 10/27:

• Rachel Abraham
  
• Beckie Choe
  

Thursday, 10/20

JOURNALS DUE

READ AND DISCUSS:

• Virginia Woolf, "The Death of the Moth" (pp. 255-256 and 265-267)
  
• Robert Benchley, "My Face" (pp. 510-512)
  

STUDENTS ESSAYS UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Sean St. John (carried over from Tuesday)
  
• Aaron Lober (carried over from Tuesday)
  

• Rachel Abraham
  
• Beckie Choe

STUDENTS HANDING OUT FOR TUESDAY, 11/1:

• Dana O'Brady
• Micheli Alonso
• Jeni Lyn Shue (possible new essay draft--TBA)

 WEEK 8

 Tuesday, 11/1

 READ AND DISCUSS:

• Virginia Woolf, "The Death of the Moth" and Robert Benchley, "My Face" (carried over from last Thursday)
  

STUDENTS ESSAYS UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Dana O'Brady
• Micheli Alonso

HANDING OUT FOR THURSDAY, 11/3

• Jeni Lyn Shue (new essay draft)

Thursday, 11/3:

 READ AND DISCUSS:

• Virginia Woolf, "The Death of the Moth" (discussion carried over from Tuesday)
• Annie Dillard, "Seeing"

FICTION EXERCISE:

• Handout to be posted to Canvas site under "Files" by 11/12
  

STUDENT WORK UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Jeni Lyn Shue (new essay draft)

WEEK 9

NO CLASSES because of Professional Development Day (Tues) and Parent-Teacher conferences (Thurs).

READ: "Spin" and "How to Tell a True War Story" by Tim O'Brien (in-class handout)

• Read thoroughly and write a journal response entry, to be inserted in your journal when they are handed back.
  

Look for further assignments for Tuesday, 11/15 to be posted here by Saturday, 11/12.

WEEK 10

 Tuesday, 11/15:

READ AND DISCUSS:

"Spin" and "How to Tell a True War Story" by Tim O'Brien (in-class handout).

• Read thoroughly and write a journal response entry, to be inserted in your journal when they are handed back.

FICTION EXERCISE:

• "Through the Senses" by Robert Olen Butler (handout; uploaded to Canvas under "Files"). Complete as a journal entry for class today, following all of the steps very closely, as instructed in the exercise PDF.

Workshop:

STUDENTS FICTION UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Alexi Thomas (moved to Thursday--download, print, and mark up)
  
• Ashley Ilardo 

(Both stories uploaded under "Files" on Canvas.)

HANDING OUT FOR THURSDAY, 11/17

• Valbona Curovic
• Aaron Lober
• Sean St. John
  

 Thursday, 11/17:

READ AND DISCUSS:

"White Angel" by Michael Cunningham (in-class handout--discussion moved to Monday).

• Read thoroughly and write a journal response entry, to be inserted in your journal when they are handed back.

FICTION EXERCISE READING:

• "Through the Senses" by Robert Olen Butler (handout exercise assigned for this week; uploaded to Canvas under "Files"). Be prepared to share with the class.
  

Workshop:

STUDENTS FICTION UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Alexi Thomas (moved from Tuesday--download, print, and mark up)
• Valbona Curovic
• Aaron Lober

HANDING OUT FOR TUESDAY, 11/22:

• Sean St. John--electronic file now uploaded to Canvas under "Files" and "Workshop Pieces (Worksheets)"; please print out and mark up.

Hard copies handed out in class today:

• Michelle Gallo
• Brandon Funaro
• Kendra Ellis
  

WEEK 11

Tuesday, 11/22:

READ AND DISCUSS:

• "White Angel" by Michael Cunningham (in-class handout carried over from last week).

READ FOR NEXT TUESDAY:

• "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities" by Delmore Schwartz (handout in class)
  

Workshop:

STUDENTS FICTION UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Sean St. John (uploaded to Canvas last Friday--print and mark up)
• Michelle Gallo
• Brandon Funaro
• Kendra Ellis
  

HANDING OUT FOR TUESDAY, 11/29:

• Rachel Abraham
• Chrysoulla Vasiliou
• Jasprit Kaur

Thursday, 11/24:

NO CLASS: Happy Thanksgiving!

WEEK 12

Tuesday, 11/29:

WRITING EXERCISE:

Daphne Kalotay, "Third-Person Narration and Psychic Distance" (hand-out from last week); read the exercise carefully and write in your journal. Be prepared to share in class.

Workshop:

STUDENT FICTION UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Michelle Gallo (carried over from last week)
• Rachel Abraham
• Chrysoulla Vasiliou (on Canvas under "Files"; print out and mark up)
  
• Jasprit Kaur (on Canvas under "Files"; print out and mark up)

HANDING OUT FOR THURSDAY, 12/1:

• Sean St. John (on Canvas under "Files"--moved from last week to Thursday, 12/1; print out and mark up)
• Jasprit Kaur (on Canvas under "Files"--moved to from today to Thursday, 12/1; print out and mark up)
• Jeni Salcedo
  
• Michael Peguero
  

Thursday, 12/1:

READ AND DISCUSS:

"In Dreams Begin Responsibilities" by Delmore Schwartz (handout in class)

Workshop

STUDENTS FICTION UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Chrysoulla Vasiliou (finish discussion in first ten minutes of workshop)
• Sean St. John
• Jasprit Kaur
  
• Jeni Salcedo
  
• Michael Peguero

 HANDING OUT FOR TUESDAY, 12/6:

• Alejandro Ortiz

 WEEK 13

Tuesday, 12/6:

READ AND DISCUSS:

• "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities" by Delmore Schwartz (handout in class)

WRITING EXERCISE:

Jim Heynen, "The Character of Setting"--posted on Canvas under "Files" and "Reading Assignments and Exercises"; read the exercise carefully and write in your journal. Be prepared to share in class.

Workshop:

STUDENT FICTION UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Alejandro Ortiz
  

HANDING OUT FOR THURSDAY, 12/8:

• Liam Schwarz
• Saima Mistry
• Beckie Choe
• Micheli Alonso
  

 Thursday, 12/8:

READ AND DISCUSS:

• Flannery O'Connor: "Good Country People" (short story) and "Writing Short Stories" (essay)--posted together (in the same PDF document) on Canvas under "Files" and "Reading Assignments and Exercises"; print out, read carefully, and bring to class.
  

Workshop

STUDENTS FICTION UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Liam Schwarz
• Saima Mistry
• Beckie Choe

HANDING OUT FOR TUESDAY, 12/13:

• Beckie Choe (cont.)
• Micheli Alonso
• Dana O'Brady

 WEEK 14

Tuesday, 12/13:

 READ AND DISCUSS:

• Flash Fiction Packet: Short short stories by Elizabeth Kemper French, Lydia Davis, and Dave Eggers
  

 Workshop (last round for fiction):

 STUDENTS FICTION UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Beckie Choe (cont.)
• Micheli Alonso
• Dana O'Brady (moved to Thursday)
  

 Thursday, 12/15:

 READ AND DISCUSS:

• Poetry chapter from Janet Burroway's Imaginative Writing: "Formal and Free Verse" and "Working with Sound" and "The Poetic Line," pp. 294-302

WORKSHOP:

• Dana O'Brady (short story workshop--carried over from Tuesday)

POETRY WORKSHOP BEGINS: As usual, bring 20 copies of your poem worksheets

Brave students bringing in poems for readings and discussion today:

• Alexi Thomas
• Ashley Ilardo
• Aaron Lober

Handing out in class today for Tuesday, 12/20:

• Jeni Salcedo
• Michael Peguero
• Alex Ortiz
• Michelle Gallo

WEEK 15

Tuesday, 12/20

READ AND DISCUSS: Form Poems:

• Poetry chapter from Janet Burroway's Imaginative Writing: "Formal and Free Verse" and "Working with Sound" and "The Poetic Line" (cont.)
• Sonnet packet--six sonnets (handout in class)
• Villanelle packet--Dylan Thomas and Elizabeth Bishop

WRITING EXERCISE:

• "Try This" 10.3, from the Burroway poetry chapter handout: "Make a list of terms that relate to any subject you know well..." Follow the instructions closely, combing your list, referring to the chapter for guidance with examples of alliteration, consonance, assonance, rhyme, and off-rhyme. Then write an ode, or a lyric poem, exalting your subject. You can do this as an extension of the list poem you wrote in class on Thursday (from "Try This" 10.2 based on "The Car" by Raymond Carver) or start with a fresh subject.
  

Workshop:

HANDING OUT FOR THURSDAY, 12/22:

• Liam Schwarz
• Sean St. John
• Saima Mistry
• Valbona Curovic
  

STUDENT POEMS UP FOR DISCUSSION

• Brief discussion of written comments on Alexi's, Ashley's, and Aaron's poems read in class last Thursday
  

• Jeni Salcedo
• Michael Peguero
• Alex Ortiz
• Michelle Gallo

Thursday, 12/22

READ AND DISCUSS:

• Poetry chapter from Janet Burroway's Imaginative Writing (cont.) "Imagery, Connotation, and Metaphor" and "Density and Intensity" (pp. 302-310); also read "Stillborn" by Sylvia Plath and "The Grammar Lesson" by Steve Kowit (pp. 312-313)
  
• Villanelle packet--Dylan Thomas and Elizabeth Bishop

WRITING EXERCISE:

"Try This" 10.12 (p. 313), from the Burroway poetry chapter handout: Write a self-reflexive poem, using reading assignment examples above for inspiration. If you're feeling ambitious, try writing a villanelle--see form poem handout above for direction.

STUDENT POEMS UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Michael Peguero (cont.)
• Jeni Salcedo
• Alex Ortiz
• Michelle Gallo
• Liam Schwarz
• Saima Mistry
• Valbona Curovic

HANDING OUT FOR TUESDAY, 1/3:

• Rachel Abraham
• Jasprit Kaur
• Chrysoulla Vasiliou
• Sean St. John
• Micheli Alonso

 WEEK 16

Tuesday, 1/3:

 Form Poem: The Villanelle

• Read the villanelle handout thoroughly and get a handle on the vilanelle form in terms of lines, stanzas, repetition, and rhyme scheme.
• Study the two famous vilannelles, Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" (on handout) and Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art" (Burroway, pp. 211-213)
• Write a villannelle, playing around with the form first in your journal, perhaps developing it from your list poem or some other writing exercise; then type it up in stanzas, single-spaced, with nineteen lines--five tercets and one quatrain--with two repeating rhymes and two refrains. Bring it to class and be prepared to share it.

 READ AND DISCUSS:

• Burroway, Chapter 11, Drama, pp. 321-334
• In your journal this week, do writing exercise "Try This" 11.1

 Workshop:

STUDENT POEMS UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Liam Schwarz
• Saima Mistry
• Valbona Curovic
• Rachel Abraham

 FOR THURSDAY, 1/5:

NOTE: Since we are a bit behind, I am revising the workshop schedule so we can catch up. We'll discuss this in class today; if you have not yet handed out, you will do so on Thursday.

READ AND DISCUSS:

• Burroway, Chapter 11, Drama, pp. 321-334
• In your journal this week, do writing exercise Try This 11.1, p. 324
  (from the Burroway drama chapter)
  
• Also, over the weekend, do Try This 11.2, p. 327
  

 Workshop:

 STUDENT POEMS UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Jasprit Kaur
• Chrysoulla Vasiliou
• Sean St. John

HANDING OUT POEMS FOR TUESDAY, 1/10:

• Micheli Alonso
• Dana O'Brady
• Kendra Ellis
• Beckie Choe
• Brandon Funaro

WEEK 17

Tuesday, 1/10:

READ AND DISCUSS:

• Burroway, Chapter 11, Drama, pp. 321-334 (cont.)
  
• Don Nigro, "Come into the Garden, Maud" (a ten-minute play, on Canvas under the "Files"); print out and bring to class for a reading; volunteers to read needed!
• Jose Rivera, "Gas," a dramatic monologue (on Canvas under "Files"; print out and bring to class
  
• Respond to either or both plays in your journal
  

 Workshop:

 STUDENT POEMS UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Micheli Alonso
• Dana O'Brady
• Kendra Ellis
• Beckie Choe
• Brandon Funaro

 Thursday, 1/12:

 READ AND DISCUSS:

• Burroway, Chapter 11, Drama, pp. 321-334 (cont.)
  
• Anton Chekhov, "The Proposal" (handout on Canvas--print out and bring to class
  
• Respond to the play in your journal

STUDENT WORK UP FOR DISCUSSION

• Brandon Funaro (poem carried over from Tuesday)
  

OPEN WORKSHOP BEGINS: Bring any new piece (e.g., a short play or drama piece) or a rewrite to class for today--or, up to five people can hand out 20 copies for workshop on Tuesday, 1/17. If you have a poem rewrite or a short piece for Thursday, 1/12, feel free to bring for workshop tomorrow after Brandon's poem and we'll read aloud and critique in class. NOTE: If you intend to bring a longer work--such as an essay or short story revision, bring your copies to hand out for Tuesday, the last class. I didn't receive any e-mailed pieces yet today, so we'll have to take the weekend to read longer pieces for the last open workshop.

 Tuesday, 1/17: Last Class

The Neutral Play: In your journal, continue your in-class writing exercise that continues the following four lines, determining what "it" is and where these two characters are talking. Also, what are their names?

A: Did you bring it?

B: Why?

A: Don't you ever listen to me?

B: Of course I do.

Building a Character: Try creating or enhancing a character for the stage using the 8-question handout I passed out in class.

Be prepared to share your exercises in class.

OPEN WORKSHOP: STUDENT WORK UP FOR DISCUSSION:

• Alexi Thomas: drama piece--handed out in class last Thursday
• Beckie Choe: drama piece--uploaded to Canvas; print out and bring to class
• Jeni Salcedo: no workshop revision--she will meet with me separately