Chapbook 30 pts. Deadline: Tuesday, May 8th, 1:00 Length Requirement For poetry, roughly 10-15 pages; for fiction, roughly 20 pages. If your chapbook is a mix of poetry and fiction, then go for about half of those numbers for each. (Length is VERY hard to dictate and is negotiable; talk with instructor if you feel uncertain.)
Instructions A chapbook is like a regular book, but shorter in length, less expensively produced, and often self-published. At the end of the term, you will have a chapbook made up of the new material you've produced, compiled to make a unified and readable collection. You may (and probably will want to) include all of your required projects, as well as any other items you worked on through the term. Your chapbook materials should have undergone thoughtful and active revision, taking into consideration, as much as time permits, feedback from your teacher and classmates. You should try to bind the collection in a cosmetically appealing way, with the conventions of any book: title page, contents, dedication page, pagination, notes, etc. A fancy exterior is not mandatory; if you want to put some effort into it, I will make a note of your work, but a bare-bones folder or whatnot is also fine, as long as you have all of the other necessary conventions in place.
Contents Most likely, your chapbook will include some or all of the poetry and fiction projects you'll have completed this term. You're free to include other work you've done during the semester, however, and the chapbook contents are generally negotiable. If you're very interested in a kind of writing I have't assigned, and/or are actively engaged in a project of your own, feel free to run it by me. OR: if one or more of your projects don't work to your satisfaction, you may substitute them with alternatives (but NOT work from some previous class). I'll try, as much as possible, to tailor the course to suit your interests. The fundamental requirements and criteria will remain the same for most assignments, but we can probably allow for some flexibility.
Reflective Letter You will also include in your chapbook, just as a separate document or loose piece of paper, a 2-3 page (typed and double-space) reflective letter to me discussing what you learned in workshopped, how your work has improved, and plans you have to further improve it. This letter will provide me with evidence that you paid careful attention to workshop sessions on your poems and stories.
Audience and Purpose Any avid reader of quality fiction and poetry. Assume your audience is well-read in both literature and the arts, likes to be surprised by new perspectives and fresh language, and also wants to be moved. (I.e., blow their hair back!) Your audience for these project is not especially interested in formulaic writing of any kind, nor anything intended primarily for the commercial mass market. Your purpose is to move and provoke your reader, and to demonstrate what you've learned about writing poetry and fiction.
Evaluation Criteria Your chapbook should heed all of the above. Be sure as well to carefully edit and proofread your work for surface errors (mechanical and grammatical). "No iron can pierce the heart with such force as a period put just at the right place" (Isaac Babel, qtd. by Carver, "In Writing"). Note: your chapbook must steer clear of sentimentality, triteness, and commercial formulas (unless you are innovating on a forumla). No cheesy, floral fonts (unless for ironic effect), no topics having to do with teddy bears, and no pictures of such things as bunnies or flowers (unless, again, for ironic or some other non-sentimental effect). "Sentimentality" as used in discussions of literature means a failure of imagination.
Chapbook Grade Scale:
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