Creative Writing II Schedule, Spring 2009

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.

Jan. 12—(Introduction to course. Self-profiles. Eat snow. Introduction to fiction exercises.)

Jan. 14—

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.)

Jan. 21— "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).
Jan. 28—(No new readings this week. We'll discuss "Lawns" in your Wolff text and look at some material on the web. Workshop.)
Feb. 4—

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!)

Feb. 11 —

By class time:

  • Read in Small Box: all of Dave Eggers, and all of Sarah Manguso.

(Possible notebook check.)

Feb. 18—

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

Feb. 25 —

(Discuss Pecker as fiction: plot and character. Eggers et al imitations and other exercises to date. Intensive workshopping.)

March 4 —(Catch up on film and reading discussions. Intensive workshopping.)

March 11—(Introduction to poetry exercises. Workshop as needed.)

March 18 —SPRING BREAK
March 25—(Semester review. The Flood and your notebooks. Discuss chapbook samples. Intensive workshop.)
April 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 and work with spoken word poetry. Homer. Old English. Native American verse. The Beats. Slam poetry. Audio recordings. Workshop.)
—
April 8—

By class time:

(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.)

April 15 —(Spoken word performances. ASSIGNMNENT IS AT THE END OF THE POWER POINT TITLED, "THE ORAL TRADITION" in Blackboard Course Documents. Workshop.)

April 22 —(Spoken word performances. ASSIGNMNENT IS AT THE END OF THE POWER POINT TITLED, "THE ORAL TRADITION" in Blackboard Course Documents. Workshop.)

April 29 — (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.)

May 6—Intensive workshopping, wrap-up, and course evaluation.

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 midnight. Exceptions are made only with documented evidence of serious hardship or illness.

 

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