Creative Writing II Schedule, Spring 2009
Last updated:
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. Be sure as well to check your email and this online schedule regularly for changes and updates.
June 16 —(Introduction to course. Self-profiles. "Snow." Warm-up writing.)
June 17 —
By class time, do the following:
- Read
our Homepage and browse around
Skittish Libations
as well as Harmonious Confusion.
- Read about Workshop.
- Check your email and/or the Blackboard Discussion Board "Workshop" Forum for anything your classmates may have submitted for discussion this week. (Be sure to read that material carefully before class.)
- In Wolff, read "Cathedral," pp. 108-124 and "Lawns," pp. 445-466.
- Read "Syle."
(Discuss "Snow #3." Look at two short stories in Wolff. Continue warm-up writing. Look at style samples and discuss figurative language. Surrealism.)
June 18 —"Art is thinking is images."—Aleksander Potebnya
By class time:
- Read in Wolff: see assignment for last week.
- Read flash fiction samples (pay attention especially to those with an * by their name).
- Elements of fiction: plot and character. Take a look at two documents to help you develop characters in your stories: Character Tips and Characterization (U. of Berkeley).
June 19 —
No new readings this week. We'll discuss "Lawns" in your Wolff text and look at some material on the web.
June 22 —
By class time:
· Read in Wolff:
- "Emergency," p. 274-285
- "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", p. 347-365
- "All the Way in Flagstaff, Arizona," p. 13-28
(Reading quiz. Discuss character and plot in readings. Update your own character sketches from previous week. Details of plot: elements, devices, structure, traditional and nontraditional, ways to improve. Workshop!)
June 23—
By class time:
- Read in Small Box: all of Dave Eggers, and all of Sarah Manguso, 144 pp. (aprx. 24 short pages per day).
(Possible notebook check.)
June 24 —
By class time:
- Read in Small Box: all of Deb Olin Unferth.
- Be sure to post your self-profile and views on creative writing in Blackboard, if you haven't done so yet.
(Pecker—1 & 1/2 hr. Review art views from earlier in semester. Perspectives wheel. Workshop.)
March 1: Deadline for submission to Northern Eclecta
June 25 —(Discuss Pecker as fiction: plot and character. Eggers et al imitations and other exercises to date. Intensive workshopping.)
June 26—(Intensive workshopping.)
June 29—SPRING BREAK 
June 30—Did you know this is National Poetry Month? Visit Poetry.org
(Semester review. The Flood and your notebooks. Discuss chapbook samples. Intensive workshop.)
July 1—
By class time:
- Skim: Poetry and Form.
- Read short-short poems online: Click here.
- Read online: Kooser.
- Read online Bidart.
- Read online: Wright (especially "To a Blossoming Pear Tree," "Northern Pike," "A Blessing," and "On the Skeleton of a Hound")
- Read online: Merwin
- Read online: Olds (try to read a few)
- Visit sound poetry sites,
TBA.
(Thoughts on the Writer's Link: career options, further education, publication. Begin work with poetry. Poetry on Wheels project and short-short poems. Crash course in poetry and form. Discuss readings. Begin discussion of new media project—worth 4 pts.—and work with spoken word poetry. Homer. Old English. Native American verse. The Beats. Slam poetry. Audio recordings. Workshop.)
July 2—
By class time:
- Read online some Rodney Jones.
- Thoroughly explore the Electronic Poetry Center and UBUWeb.
(Performances sign-up. Listen to Jones on web? Review Power Point presentations on Writer's Link, spoken word poetry, and visual-new media poetry. Intensive workshop.)
July 3 —Holiday
July 6—(Spoken word
performances. ASSIGNMNENT IS AT THE END OF THE POWER POINT TITLED,
"THE
July 7 — (Visual-new media performances. ASSIGNMNENT IS AT THE END OF THE POWER POINT TITLED, "THE VISUAL TRADITION" in Blackboard Course Documents. Intensive workshopping. Course evaluations.)
July 8
July 9
July 10
July 13
July 14
July 15
July 16
July 17
July 20
July 21
July 22
July 23
July 24
July 27
July 28
July 29
July 30
July 31
Finals Week Special Office Hours:
Mon. May 11—2-5:00
Wed. May 13—1-3:00
Thurs. May 14—12-3:00
May 16—All final work (chapbook, notebook, any late exercises) is due
no later than
