Endicott College
Beverly, Massachusetts
School of Arts and Sciences
Course Syllabus
Course No: ENG 108 03/
Course Title: Introduction to Creative Writing
Course Type: Seminar
Class Location: AC 109
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
Semester and Year: Fall 2015
Class Time: Tues/Thursday
Office Hours: 10 to 11:30AM Tues/Thurs
Faculty: Doug Holder
Office Location:AC 211A
Telephone: 617-710-0163
E-Mail: dholder@endicott.edu
Office Hours: 7AM to 7:45A.M. and 11A.M. to 12PM Tues/Thursday and by appointment.
Catalog Description: This course will examine the genres of short fiction, poetry and memoir. Students will read and reflect about work from established writers, and learn to write their own creative pieces. There will be workshops, and comprehensive feedback from teacher and students. Students will be expected to produce a chapbook of well-crafted poetry and a short fiction or memoir piece during the course of the class. Students will be expected to attend at least one poetry reading at the college and write a reflection paper about it.
Required Texts:
Keith, Michael C. The Next Better Place..Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 2004.
Gardner, Janet E. : Literature : A Portable Anthology. 2nd Edition. Boston: Bedford, 2009. Print.
Course Objectives:At the completion of this course the student should be able to:
1. Express themselves in clear and compelling poetry and prose
2. Learn to make sense of the world through creative writing
3. Read, interpret, and analyze models of creative writing that will help them reflect on their own culture and their own writing.
4. Understand and employ the tools of self-editing and peer review
5. Use the tools of brainstorming, pre-writing and re-writing
6. Reflect on their own lives in carefully crafted memoirs and short autobiographies.
7. Interpret other people’s work through the lens of the creative writer.
8. Understand the literary traditions, genres, and artistic dimensions of creative writing.
9. Explore and question the aesthetic concepts and cultural assumptions of creative writing
10. Understand the art of revising and re-seeing
11. Engage with an audience
12. Explore and undertake the necessary challenges of imaginative writing
Evaluation Methods:
Participation (Includes attendance!!) 40%
Poetry Chapbook 20%
Memoir 20%
Short Story 20%
Attendance Policy and Other Key Info.
Your participation in class is most necessary to get a good grade. Absence from class will result in the lowering of your grade. All assignments must be completed to pass the course. You cannot receive a grade of A if you have missed more than 3 classes, and more than three absences may lower your grade further.
Academic Integrity Plagiarism is the appropriation of someone else’s language and/or ideas without proper citation and will not be tolerated in this class. As a college student, it’s your responsibility to understand what plagiarism is and how to avoid doing it. Familiarize yourself with Endicott’s policy on academic honesty. We’ll talk a lot about how to cite sources further into the course; you can also find this information in the Diana Hacker guide, or online at: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/
If you have any questions about the policy or how to avoid academic dishonesty, please let me know. If you attempt to plagiarize, you will receive an F for the assignment, and possibly the course, and may face further action by the college.
Course Expectations For each credit hour, students are expected to spend a minimum of two hours on work outside of class each week. For this three credit course, this is a minimum of six hours each week. Students must review the Academic Calendar published by the Registar's Office online at: http://www.endicott.edu/Academics/AcademicCalendar.aspx
Formatting Please use the following format for submitting written assignments unless instructed
otherwise or unless you’re following specific genre conventions:
• Provide a basic head in the upper left hand corner of Page 1:
Your Name
Course Section and Number
Date
Assignment Title
• Double space the text
• Use one-inch margins
• STAPLE! I will not accept unstapled papers.
• Use a standard 12-point font, such as Times New Roman.
• Number all pages.
• Use a works cited page as needed.
Accommodations for Students with DisabilitiesStudents with disabilities are encouraged to contact me for a confidential discussion of their individual needs for academic accommodation. Endicott College is committed to ensuring full participation of all students in its programs. If you have a documented disability, or think you may have a disability of any nature, and, as a result, need reasonable accommodation to participate in this class, complete course requirements, or benefit from the College’s programs and services, then you should speak with me directly and/or contact Student Disability Services, for a confidential discussion of your needs and creation of any appropriate academic accommodation plan. This should be done at the earliest possible time in the semester.
Please note that academic accommodations will not be provided unless appropriate documentation is submitted to the SDS office to support the need.
Academic Resources There are several peer tutors at the Writing Center who are Creative Writers themselves; feel free to use the Writing Center as an additional source for feedback, help with brainstorming, revision, reading journals, etc... The Writing Center is located in Room 126, Halle Library. To make an appointment, call or email: 978-232-2490 writingcenter@endicott.edu
CLASS SCHEDULE
Class 1-- Sept 1, 2015 Introduction to Creative Writing.
General discussion of course and introductions.
ASSIGNMENT:
Read interview with Michael C. Keith
Preface to 55. "The Next Better Place'
Class 2-- Sept 3,2015.
Discussion of interview.
ASSIGNMENT:
Read; pages 55 to 110
Class 3-- Sept 8, 2015.
Discussion of Memoir.
ASSIGNMENT:
Read: 113 to 183
Class 4-- Sept. 10, 2015
In class workshop.
Getting an idea for your own memoir.
ASSIGNMENT
Read: 184 to 260
Class 5-- Sept 15, 2015
Discussion of reading.
Sensory memory
Visual Sources
Memory Lane
ASSIGNMENT:
Read: 263 to 345
Class 6-- Sept 17, 2015
Discussion of reading.
Drafting of Memoir
Memorabilia
ASSIGNMENT:
Read : Finish reading Jew Boy.
Draft of Memoir.
Quiz on Keith
Class 7-- Sept 22,2015
Draft of your memoir.
Discussion of reading.
ASSIGNMENT:
Class 8-- Sept 24, 2015
Visiting Author Series
ASSIGNMENT:
Be prepared to read from daily observational journals.
Class 9-- Sept. 29, 2015
Discussion of short stories
ASSIGNMENT:
Read in Janet Gardner: " Where are you going..." Joyce Carol Oates
Memoir due.
Class 10-- Oct 1, 2015
Discussion of story
Plotting of story
exposition
rising action
climax resolution
ASSIGNMENT:
Read John Updike in Janet Gardner (301).
Class 11-- Oct 6, 2015
Discussion of story.
Character theory (conflict)
ASSIGNMENT:
Read :James Joyce's "Araby"
Class 12-- Oct 8, 2015.
Guest speaker Michael C. Keith
ASSIGNMENT:
A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor.
Extra Credit: Report on Michael C. Keith
Class 13--Oct 13, 2015
Discussion of O'Connor
Discussion of character theory.
Discussion of James Joyce's Araby
ASSIGNMENT:
Class 14--Oct. 15, 2015
Discussion of dialogue
ASSIGNMENT:
Read "The Things They Carry" by Tim O'Brien
Class 15-- Oct.20, 2015.
Guest Speaker
ASSIGNMENT:
Extra Credit: 250 word paper on Guest Speaker.
Class 16-- Oct. 22, 2015
Discussion of Guest Speaker--
Discussion of reading.
ASSIGNMENT:
Read: " Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid
Draft of Short Story.
Class 17-- Oct 27, 2015
Discussion of Drafts
Discussion of reading
ASSIGNMENT:
Read Robert Frost's "...Snowy Evening..."
Class 18-- Oct 29, 2015
Discussion of Reading.
Introduction to Poetry.
ASSIGNMENT:
Read Marge Piercy--"Barbie Doll" (647)
Class 19-- Nov 3, 2015
Discussion of reading.
Imagery/Music/Language/Line/Stanza
ASSIGNMENT:
Read Sylvia Plath
Write your own Daddy poem.
Short Story Due.
Class 20-- Nov 5, 2015
Discussion of Plath.
Speaker/ Symbol/Irony/Content
ASSIGNMENT
Read Etheridge Knight
Take a line from Knight's poem and make one of your own.
Class 21-Nov 10, 2015
Discussion of reading.
Basic types of poems: Free Verse/ Formal/ Performance Poetry
ASSIGNMENT:
Read Anne Sexton.
Write your own Cinderella poem.
Class 22-- Nov. 12, 2015
Discussion of Sexton.
Quiz.
" No ideas bit in things.'
Abstract vs. Concrete
The Red Wheelbarrow
ASSIGNMENT:
Charles Bukowski
Take a line and make it into your own poem.
Class 23-- Nov. 17, 2015
Discussion of Bukowski
Discussion of metaphors
olfactory imagery .
ASSIGNMENT:
Read: Robert Pinsky's Shirt
Take a line and make it into your own poem.
Class 24-- Nov 19, 2015
Discussion of Pinsky
Quiz
ASSIGNMENT:
Read Billy Collins: Nostalgia
Bring in proposal of chapbook to discuss in class, and one or two poems from it...
THANKSGIVING VACATION
Class 25-- Dec 1, 2015
ASSIGNMENT:
Read Emily Dickinson.
Chapbook Due
Class 26-- Dec. 3, 2015
Poetry readings of chapbook.
Discuss Dickinson.
.
Class 27 Dec. 8, 2015.
Class 28 Dec 10,2015
Final Exam...
****Final Exam Date TBA
************* Syllabus subject to change
.
