Creative Writing II Schedule, Spring 2006
Last Updated January 16, 2006
Following each date below are reading or other assignments due for that day. In parentheses are tentative activities and topics for the class period. If you miss a meeting, you should 1) get full notes and updates from several classmates; and 2) check with me again if you have specific, informed questions. Because this schedule is very flexible and subject to change, and because it's a workshop course, it's vital that you attend regularly and keep up with current announcements.
Tues. Jan. 10—(Introduction to course. Email procedures. Exchange phone numbers. )
Thurs. Jan. 12—By today's class time, post a self-profile and response to questions about art in our Blackboard Discussion Board.
Also, please print out the following:
1) our complete homepage;
2) this schedule;
3) "Art Views" from last year's class;
4) "Skittish Libations." Be sure to paginate "Skittish Libations" before you print it out in IE by going to File-Page Setup and typing "&p" on the header or footer line. While you're at it, you can also delete the URL info. in Page Setup for a cleaner-looking printout. Click "OK" and and then print the document.
(Begin Pecker, 1 hr. 26 min.)
Tues. Jan. 17—(Finish Pecker and discuss perspectives on art represented in the film. Begin work with fiction and discuss form fundamentals as they apply to the crafting of any story. Discuss formal elements of Pecker. Discuss first fiction project. "Sonny's Blues" distributed. )
Thurs. Jan. 19 —Please do the following by class time:
1) take optional extra credit online survey (do not complete this survey if you have done it before; I'll give you an alternative assignment);
2) print out this schedule;
3) print out assignment for Fiction Project #1.
4) Print out and read Ray Carver's "Cathedral," then print out, but do not complete, Questions about "Cathedral."
(Extra credit survey quiz. Continue discussion of Carver. Characterization, plot, scene development. Snow snack?)
Tues. Jan. 24—Read Baldwin, "Sonny's Blues" handout. (Discuss story. Review workshop procedures.)
Thurs. Jan. 26—(Workshop. O'Brien and Moore stories distributed.)
Tues. Jan. 31 —(Workshop and/or continue work with fiction.)
Thurs. Feb. 2 —Print out Fiction Project #2. Read O'Brien handout, "How to Tell a True War Story" and Moore handout, "How to Talk with Your Mother." (Nontraditional plots.)
Tues. Feb. 7 —(Continue work with fiction.)
Thurs. Feb. 9 —Print out and read: Márquez, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" and "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World." Also print out, but do not complete, Questions about Márquez Stories.
(Discuss Márquez stories.)
Tues. Feb. 14 —Read Calvino, selections from Invisible Cities. Also read flash fiction samples. (Discuss Calvino and micro or flash fiction. Dollar bill exercise.)
Thurs. Feb. 16—(Workshop.)
Tues. Feb. 21 —(Workshop.)
Thurs. Feb. 23— Print out and read poems by Bishop (1), Neruda, Simic, and Ponge. Print out Poetry Project #1. (Begin work with poetry; Poetry Project #1. The luminous object.)
(Begin work with poetry.)
Tues. Feb. 28—(Sound and style: look at song titles—jazz, hip-hop)
Thurs. March 2— (Continue work with poetry.)
Tues. March 7—Print out and read poems by Bishop (2), Stafford, James Wright, Tony Hoagland.
(Begin discussion of memory poems and love/hate poems.)
Thurs. March 9 —(Free writing day. Electronic conferencing.)
Tues. March 14 and 16—Spring Break
Tues. March 21—Poetry and Form materials in our Class Library. (Discussion of readings. Discuss Poetry Project #2. Traditional form. Poetry on Wheels short-short poem assignment.)
Thurs. March 23— (Visit by guest poet?)
Tues. March 28—(Be working on Project #2 and short-short poems for Poetry on Wheels project. See notes for full instructions. Kim Blaser, poet, will be Regional Studies lecturer on campus.)
Thurs. March 30— (Electronic—or other—workshop. Write Writer's Link reports.)
Tues. April 4 —Read TBA. (Short-short poems due. Continue work with form. Free verse. Lineation, if we don't get to this sooner. Workshop.)
Thurs. April 6 — (Writer's Link reports due. The visual tradition. Presentation.) [GPACW is April 8 +]
Tues. April 11— "Do not commit your poems to pages alone, sing them I pray you." —Virgil (qtd. by Amos).
(Begin work with Poetry Project #3. The oral tradition. View and discuss video segments: SlamNation.)
Thurs. April 13— "Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud." —Hermann Hesse (qtd. by Amos). (View additional video segments: The 2000 National Poetry Slam Finals. Workshop.)
Tues. April 18— (Workshop.)
Thurs. April 20— (Planning and printing the chapbook. Workshop. )
Tues. April 25— "To read a poem is to hear it with your eyes; to hear it is to see it with your ears." Octavio Paz)
(Workshop. Rehearsals/performance tips.)
Thurs. April 27— (Performances.)
Tues. May 2 — (Performances. Workshop.)
Thurs. May 4 — (MEET IN COMPUTER CLUSTER. Extra credit poetry exit survey. Finish workshopping. Course wrap-up. Course evaluation.)
Mon., May 8 — (Open office hours.)
Tues. May 9 —Chapbooks are due in my SE 318 mailbox or in a labeled box on hallway floor by 5pm. Any chapbooks, community event reports, or workshop reflective essays turned in after 5 pm will not be accepted except for documented emergencies or illness.
