Chapbook
(50%) Creative Writing II Course Work (Assignments)
Chapbook
(50%)
"A tree crying out to be covered with leaves."
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 should have a chapbook made of your completed fiction and poetry projects, along with any other work you think would fit well. Minimum contents: your chapbook must include the final drafts of 3 fiction projects and 4 poetry projects. These drafts should have undergone thoughtful and active revision, taking into consideration feedback from your teacher and classmates. You may organize these pieces in the chapbook however best suits you, preferably to make a meaningful whole.
Fiction Project 1 Fiction Project 2
Poetry Project #1 Poetry Project #2 Poetry Project #3
Note: these projects are, to some extent, negotiable. If you're very interested in a different sort of writing, 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.
Audience and Purpose : any avid reader of quality fiction and poetry. Assume your audience is very well-read in both literature and the arts, likes to be surprised by new perspectives and daring uses of language, and also wants to be moved.(I.e., try to blow their hair back!) This reader 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 to me what you've learned about writing poetry and fiction.
Evaluation criteria: Your portfolio should follow the instructions stated above. Each final draft of your projects should adhere to the criteria established in their respective assignments. Be sure as well to carefully edit and proofread your work for lapses in style, mechanics, and cosmetics.
Workshop Reflection Essays (20%)
Instructions: sometime following each of your two required workshop sessions, you will write a brief reflective essay. Each essay (aprx. 2 pages, typed, double-spaced, and stapled) should summarize and examine the feedback you received during the session, and explain how you subsequently revised, or plan to revise, your work. You should address what you learned about the strengths and weaknesses of your workshopped piece, the possibilities and directions for future work which came out of the session, and in general what you learned about writing. You should also put your thoughts into the larger context of your overall progress and development as a writer.
The purpose of these essays is to help you remember and understand the feedback you receive, and to help you take active responsibility for your own growth. The purpose is also to show me that you've thought carefully about the feedback you received, and that you have applied it to engaged, ongoing revisions of your work.
Audience: these essays are for me and for yourself. They should demonstrate your commitment to improvement, and help me to evaluate your progress and seriousness as a student.
Evaluation criteria: your essays should carefully follow the instructions described above. They should include headings which read, "Reflective Essay: Workshop Session 1" and "Reflective Essay: Workshop Session 2." Provide well-developed and focused paragraphs, and be sure your essays are edited and proofread for lapses in style or mechanics.
Community Event Reports (20%)
As part of your introduction to what writers do, you'll attend at least two outside-of-class literary events (a reading, a talk, a workshop, etc.). For 10 points each, you'll write a 1-page, typed report summarizing the event in detail and reflecting on its significance to our class, your writing, your understanding of literature, and your experience of the literary world.
Audience and Purpose: these reports are for your instructor. They are intended to show me that you've made an effort to participate in relevant events which are ever-ongoing in F/M or any community. They are also meant to show that you've reflected on those events and their significance to your own work.
Evaluation criteria: in addition to instructions given above, your brief essay must include ample specific, concrete, description detail. Part of the report should be a detailed summary of the event, and part should be reflection upon that event. Avoid judging it; I'm mostly interested in what understanding you gained about writing and writers. Edit and proofread your work. Finally: please clearly label your report.
Misc. Daily Work and Participation (unscored, but tracked)