Creative Writing II Homepage

Summer 2010, Online, 3 Credits, #9957

Instructor: Cindy Nichols
Office location: SE 318F
Office hours: Mon. 9-11 (and by appt.)
Office phone: 231-7024
E-mail: Cindy.Nichols@ndsu.edu

Anyone with special needs: please see me as soon as possible to discuss ways I can assist you.

Course Information

The career of flowers differs from ours only in audibleness. —Dickinson

Welcome to Creative Writing II. This is a flexible, introductory workshop course in "[i]maginative writing with a concentration in one or two genres." It will help you to develop critical awareness and aquaint you with the literary fine arts. We'll read a number of poets and fiction writers, complete a variety of exercises and writing prompts, and possibly venture into the F/M community to attend literary readings and talks. Most of the course, however, will be given over to students' own writing through drafting and intensive workshop sessions, with the goal of producing a publishable collection of work.

Weekly Routine

Each week you will do the following:

Work on your own stories, poems, and/or creative nonfiction. This is independent work of your own choosing, to be submitted for workshop and, ultimately, your chapbook. You are expected to be self-motivated, but if you ever feel stuck, contact me. I have many, many prompts and writing ideas.
Work on an assigned exercise, one per week.
Read a selection of contemporary writers.
Submit your independent work for Workshop, whenever you have some ready.
Workshop any of your classmates' work which may be submitted.

Textbooks

Robert Pinsky, ed. The Sounds of Poetry, A Brief Guide (at bookstore).

Denman and Shoup, eds. Story Matters (at bookstore).

Helpful Optional Resources for the Serious Writer

Amy Holman, An Insider's Guide to Creative Writing Programs: Choosing the Right MFA or MA Program, Colony, Residency,Grant or Fellowship, Prentice Hall Press, 2006.

Wendy Bishop, Keywords in Creative Writing, Utah State University Press, 2006.

Important Note About This Electronic Class

It probably goes without saying that you need to be at least somewhat web- and email-saavy for this course. But I'll say it anyway: you need to be pretty web- and email-saavy for this course :) An understanding of Blackboard will be crucial, you'll need to check email and our Blackboard Announcements page on a regular basis, and you'll want to be comfortable writing and reading on-screen, attaching documents to Discussion Board postings and so on.

If you do have any technical trouble, please first call the ITS Help Desk at 231-8685. They can answer most questions, or refer you to someone who can. You might also schedule a visit to the Technology Learning and Media Center in IACC. Staff are on hand there to help with just about everything computer-related.

Aims of this Course

to complete a chapbook of fiction and/or poetry;
to learn beginning skills necessary for writing short fiction and poetry;
to help you locate and explore your own centers of interest in a setting both supportive and challenging;
to learn how to access local and national resources for creative writers;
to improve critical awareness, which includes understanding the standards and expectations of various literary communities, especially within the established (noncommericial, non-mass market) fine arts;
to understand "literature" as both corpus of knowledge to be studied and as ongoing, evolving, living enterprise;
to enjoy stories and poems, and to explore a variety of course readings for models.

In some ways this class is like the proverbial arts enclave: a comfortable meeting place for writers who are seeking the support, feedback, and stimulation of other writers. We sit down together, share and discuss our writing. (Well, we "sit down" together in cyberspace.) That's the gist of it.

This is also an academic experience, of course, and I do need to ultimately assign a grade for each student. Though much of the class is student-directed and open, you'll complete some assigned projects as well as a self-published chapbook.

Grades

Grading is based on a simple point system, in which your aim is to earn as close to 100 as possible. You’ll start the semester with 0, then earn credit for the coursework described below. To arrive at a specific number of points for a given assignment, I generally first assign a grade where Outstanding=A; Very Good=B; Fair=C; Poor=D; Unacceptable=F. I then fine-tune that letter grade judgment with points.

At the end of the term, I tally the points you've earned for all course work and determine a semester grade where

88-100 pts. = A
75-87 pts. = B
62-74 pts. = C
49-61 pts. = D

Coursework

Blackboard Weekly Exercises and Discussion (30 pts. possible or 30% of semester total)

You will complete an assortment of short exercises in our Blackboard Weekly Exercises Assignments and Weekly Exercises Drop Box, where you can post messages and attach documents. These assignments will include warm-up exercises, skills practice, brief reports, and any number of sometimes odd and challenging something-somethings. Expect the unexpected. These assignments will also include discussion questions, which I hope will engage all of us in good conversation back and forth.

You will also need to include a to-be-announced number of completed assignments in your Portfolio (see below).

First 4 weeks = 9 pts. total

Fiction Worksheet = 4 pts.
Writer's Link Report - 4 pts.
"It's About Time We Talked" = 1 pt.

This material may be completed late, but no later than midnight, Aug. 6.

Second 4 weeks = 21 pts.

Weekly Class Discussions = 4 pts. per week = 16 pts.

Postings for each class discussion week must be completed by the end of the week in question.

Poetry Exercises = 5 pts.

Exercises may be completed late, but no later than midnight, Aug. 6. I MUCH PREFER THAT YOU DO THE EXERCISES IN A TIMELY MANNER, HOWEVER, AS THEY CAN HELP TO FEED SOME OF OUR WEEKLY CLASS DISCUSSIONS.

Workshop (10 pts. possible or 10% of semester total; 5 pts. for each of two submissions.)

Workshopping is the heart of this course: good-spirited peer and instructor discussion of work written by class members.

Submissions: everyone must submit material for workshop at least TWICE. You're welcome to turn in as many submissions as you like, and you do receive unofficial credit--checks--for extra submissions. But you only receive point credit for 2. These must be submitted no later than July 30th.

Feedback: everyone must contribute feedback to everyone else's submissions. Responses should draw on what you've been learning through class discussion, Power Point presentations, and course readings. Also, responses should include comments about what's working well AND what could use improvement. At the end of the term, I'll look over everyone's contributions. I reserve the right to adjust your semester numerical score if you have have made no, few, or very weak responses to your classmates' work. ("Weak" = unbalanced, discourteous, perfunctory.)

Chapbook (50 pts. possible or 50% of semester total)

"A tree crying out to be covered with leaves."

This is a chance to see your finished writing in "book" form. (A "chapbook" is usually self-published, short, and sometimes bound with minimal materials, but is otherwise just like a regular book. It has a cover, a title page, table of contents, dedication page, etc.) Your chapbook will be a self-published collection containing poems, stories, or both. This should be work which you have conscientiously revised (mainly with the help of workshop feedback), and may include course projects, pieces which have developed out of class exercises, as well as any independent items you've been working on. Click here for full chapbook instructions.

Portfolio (10 pts. possible or 10% of semester total)

The portfolio is mandatory for all upper-division writing courses. It will be a compilation of your complete course work, including a minimalized version of your chapbook, selections from your Blackboard Daily Assignemnts, and a reflective letter. All of this material will go into a large-sized manilla envelope, and is given to a committee which regularly assesses our writing program. The chapbook, Blackboard material, and reflective letter are worth 3 points each for presentation. The reflective letter is also worth an additional 1 point for content, and may earn you extra credit if really well-developed. Your portfolio must have a minimum of 15 pages and 3 genres. Click here for full portfolio instructions.

Late or Missed Course Work

Blackboard Weekly Exercises

Missed/late Blackboard Weekly Exercizes must be completed no later than midnight, Aug. 6th.

Blackboard Class Discussions

Your responses/entries for each week's discussion must be completed by the end of the week in question.

Blackboard Virtual Workshop

Your two submissions must be posted no later than July 30th.
Everyone is required to offer engaged, helpful, balanced feedback to everyone else's submissions.

Chapbook and Portfolio

These are handed in at the end of the term and will not be accepted after midnight on August 13th. Exceptions are only made with documented evidence of serious harship or illness.

Feel free to visit, call, or email me if you ever have questions or concerns.

Disclaimer! I believe in the creative as well as practical value of spontaneity. I also believe that disorder is always there, lurking in any plan or scheme no matter how carefully devised— especially my own. I therefore reserve the right, if the occasion warrants it, and with ample advance notice to you, to alter some of the details on this page as the semester progresses. Fundamental aspects of the course, such as basic requirements and aims, will not change.

A Note to English Majors

During their senior year, English majors generally enroll in the English Capstone course (Engl 467), during which they assemble a portfolio containing representative written work from NDSU English courses. The English Department evaluates these portfolios to assess its undergraduate programs, analyzing how student work meets departmental outcomes. In order to facilitate the preparation of senior portfolios, English majors are encouraged to save copies of their written work (in electronic and hard copy) each semester.

Departmental Outcomes

This course meets at least three English Dept. outcomes:

Outcome 1: English majors will be able to write and speak effectively for a variety of purposes and audiences in a variety of genres and media.

Outcome 2: English majors will be able to read (analyze, interpret, critique, evaluate) written and visual texts.

Outcome 7: English majors will develop professionalism exhibited in such qualities as self-direction, cooperation, civility, reliability, and care in editing and presenting the final product.

General Education Outcomes

This course has been approved for the Humanities and Fine arts category in General Education because it 1) “promotes the appreciation of aesthetics and the expression of creativity”; and 2) “systematically explores cultural and intellectual forces shaping events, individual expression, and social values.”

The course meets the following General Education Outcomes:

#1: “Communicate effectively in a variety of contexts and formats.”

#6: “Integrate knowledge and ideas in a coherent and meaningful manner.”

Americans with Disabilities Statement/Students with Special Needs

Any students with disabilities or other special needs, who need special accommodations in this course are invited to share these concerns or requests with the instructor as soon as possible.

Student Conduct

All interactions in this course including interactions by email, weblogs, discussion boards, or other online methods will be civil and students will demonstrate respect for one another. Student conduct at NDSU is governed by the Code of Student Behavior. See http://www.ndsu.edu/ndsu/vpsa/code/ for more information.

University Statement on Academic Honesty

All work in this course must be completed in a manner consistent with NDSU University Senate Policy, Section 335: Code of Academic Responsibility and Conduct. http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/policy/335.htm

Any instances of deliberate plagiarism in English 323 will result in an F for the course.

Produced by Cindy Nichols

Last Updated June 13, 2010