Each workshop session/reflective essay is worth 10 pts. The purpose of the essay is to help you think about and best use the feedback you received. The purpose is also to show that you were attentive to the class's responses and that you have applied those responses to engaged, ongoing revisions of your work. Due date: no later than the last day of class, 5pm. You may alternately turn your essays in anytime before the end of the term. For full instructions, see our Homepage

Essays

Everyone will write two very short essays. One of these will report what you heard and learned when your work was workshopped, and one will report what critical skills you practiced as you workshopped your classmates' work.

Workshop Reflective Essay

During and/or at the end of the term, you will write a brief reflective essay. This piece—at least 2 pages, typed, double-spaced, and stapled—should do the following:

1. summarize the feedback you received during your workshop sessions, explaining what you learned about the strengths and weaknesses of your writing;
2. explain how you revised the work in question, based on the feedback you received;
3. address the possibilities and directions for future new work which came out of these sessions;
4. put your thoughts into the larger context of your overall progress and development as a writer.

The purpose of the essay is to help you think about and best use the feedback you received. The purpose is also to show that you were attentive to the class's responses and that you have applied those responses to engaged, ongoing revisions of your work.

Critiquer's Reflective Essay

At the end of the term, you will write an additional reflective essay, at least 2 pages, typed, double-spaced and stapled. This time you should:

1. explain what new critical principles you practiced applying in this class;
2. explain how the course has revised, shaped, undermined, or enhanced how you read creative work and how you judge it.

The purpose of this essay is to help you reflect on how you read your own work as well the work of others. It is also to show me that you've grown as a critic/reader in the course of the semester.

For Both Essays

Audience: the workshop sessions are for all of us; the 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 writer.

Evaluation criteria: your essays should carefully follow the instructions described above, and each should include a heading which identifies the assignment. Provide well-developed and focused paragraphs, and be sure your essays are edited and proofread for lapses in clarity, style, and mechanics. Your workshop performance may affect your chapbook score.

Due date and penalties: Refective Essays are due in my SE 318 mailbox or in a labeled box on hallway floor by 5pm, Fri., May 2nd. Any material turned in after 5 pm will not be accepted except in cases of documented emergencies or illness.

Essay Grade Scale:

A = 14-15
B = 12-13
C = 10-11
D = 8-9

A = outstanding. Meets all of the stated criteria and instructions exceptionally well. Excels in inventiveness, originality, and energy, realitve to work produced generally in 323. Well-edited and proofed. Publishable with a bit more work.

B = very good. Meets all of the stated criteria and instructions, or meets several of them exceptionally well, despite a weak performance with others.. May be especially striking in spots, despite noticeable flaws. Very competent, but may lack originality or inventiveness, relative to work produced generally in 323. Good attention to style and mechanics. Clear attention to assignment.

C = fair. Meets some of the stated criteria, or meets all of them only partially. Uninspired but minimally competent; or very inspired but lacking competence in key areas.. May show some inattention to, or misunderstanding of, instructions. Weak proofreading and editing.

D = poor. Meets few of the criteria. May not not heed or understand instructions. May be sloppy, unproofed, unedited, and/or very perfunctory and uninspired.. An ineffective story, saved by at least minimal attention to at least one facet of the story.

F = unacceptable. Story either fails to meet any of the stated criteria, or demonstrates severe oversights or weaknesses in significant areas.