General Education Course Template for a New Course



Application for General Education Course Template for a New General Education Course

Department: English

Course Prefix and Number: English 323

Course Title: Creative Writing II

Instructor: Cindy Nichols

This form was completed by: Cindy Nichols

Date: July 23, 2006

Campus phone #: 231-7024 Email: Cindy.Nichols@ndsu.edu

1. Course Information

Category for which I am submitting this course: Submitted for the Humanities and Fine Arts. category in General Education.

Course title/number/credits: Creative Writing II, English 323, 3 Credits.

Catalog Description: Imaginative writing with a concentration in one or two genres. Emphasis on developing critical awareness and becoming acquainted with the literary fine arts. Prereq: Engl 120.

Students for whom English 323 is intended: all students seeking an introduction to the fine arts generally and fine art writing in particular, writing, with a somewhat more concentrated genre focus than English 322.

Though English 323 currently fulfills elective Major and Minor credits for English Liberal Arts and English Education, as well as elective Major credits for some fields outside of English (Accountancy; Apparels & Textiles), it is eminently suited, as the English department’s entry-level fine arts writing course, to the elective General Education curriculum in Humanities and Fine Arts.

The only prerequisite is English 120 (a General Education Course).

2. Textbooks/Course Materials

Online materials (created by instructor):

Writer’s Link:

’sLink/index.htm

Form and Poetry:

Harmonious Confusion:



Skittish Libations:

Textbooks (these will vary somewhat from semester to semester):

Paula Geyh et al, ed. Postmodern American Fiction: A Norton Anthology, 1st edition (W. W. Norton & Company 1997)

Neil Astley, ed. Staying Alive: Real Poems for Unreal Times. (Miramax Books 2003).

Other materials:

Lannan Literary Video Collection, Lannan Foundation.

aA number of poems and stories are available free online, viafrom a variety of sites on the Web at large. Links to these sites can be found in the 323 online Class Library:



3. Intended Course Outcomes and Their Relationship to General Education

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

This course provides students with an understanding of “purposeful exchange of information” as understood in the literary fine arts. That is, it introduces them to the basic aims, methods, and habits of mind associated with entry-level fine arts writing, and includes intensive intensive practice in a workshop setting. In effect, students in this course begin to think generally like writers, and are introduced to values commonly held by workingpracticing artistspoets, fiction writers, and playwrights. Such values include love of language for its sake, appreciation for its sensory and sensual qualities, its ambiguity and richness, and its endlessly renewed and renewing power in real lives. Students also enlarge their received notions of creativity, gaining exposure to a wide spectrum of ideas about what any work of arta poem (or story or play or film script) is and does. Audience awareness is critical to any kind of effective communication, and students in the course are introduced broadly to contemporary literary audiences and communities, ranging from the commercial mass-market to the experimental and hermetic. And, finally, this course requires that students produce work in several formats, for several contexts: the manuscript collection; the public performance or reading; the public display (Poetry on Wheels department project); the online magazine, Blackboard fForum, and weblog.. Students thus learn to anticipate and satisfy the specific communication demands of each context.

Overall, thise course offers introducestory practice in the art of communication, an important component of any general education.

Outcome #3: “Comprehend the concepts and perspectives needed to function in national and international societies.”

Any full membership in a globalized world requires an understanding of the creative arts and their inextricable place in national and international societies. Such an understanding is incomplete without attention to these arts as ongoing, living enterprises, engaged by living writers who are both products and active producers of their respective cultures. By requiring students to function as working artists—creating, publishing and/or performing their work for real audiences (local, national, and even global, via web publication)—English 323 sharpens their awareness of literary art as just such a living enterprise.

Additionally, Creative Writing II impresses upon students the inseparability of art and culture, art and context. That is, it enlarges their understanding of poetry and fiction from personal expression to social and cultural expression. Most undergraduate students arrive in this course with a grasp of creative writing as personal expression, but are relatively uninformed about its ongoing role in the world at large. Select and culturally varied course materials (anthologies, videos, websites), attendance at public readings, performance in public readings, and the collaborative workshop method all contribute to students’ growing awareness of artwriting as inherently social as well as culturally complex and diverse.

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

Literary writing, like any, must be coherent if it is to be effective. Indeed, it might be argued that aesthetic writing in particular stresses coherence in all its parts, including an especially seamless interaction or conflation of form and content. Producing successful poems or, sto stories, scripts, or plays in English 323 necessarily requires that students integrate knowledge and ideas coherently. In fulfilling the basic requirements of the course, in other words, they are achieving Outcome 6.

4. Student Activities to Promote General Education Outcomes

Activities which meet Outcome #1: “Communicate effectively in a variety of contexts and formats.”

A) Studio Workshop Activities(See included document: “Workshop Guidelines”)

Effective communication always takes into account the issue of audience, and English 323 workshop sessions focus heavily on audience analysis. These workshops are conducted according to standard studio practice, whereby students submit in-progress material for discussion and critique by their instructor and peers. Such critiques closely examine the intended reader for any given student work under discussion, including how that work does/does not effectively meet such a reader’s expectations and standards. Students therefore come away with 1) a sharpened awareness of their own assumed or desired audiences; 2) a good introductory appreciation for the wide spectrum of literary readers and reader-types; and 3) beginning skills for anticipating and accommodating any literary audience’s needs.

Additionally, the workshop approach forces students to practice oral communication skills. It provides a relaxed environment of their peers even while challenging them to articulate the complex and often elusive responses which literary writing can evoke. (See “Sample Course Document #1 below.)

B) Miscellaneous ActivitiesPublication and Community Events

Other class activities involve communication across a number of contexts and formats. In the course of the semester, 323 students produce:

o The primary course requirement is aA self-published, bound collection of poetry or , short fiction, scriptwriting, or playwriting (a chapbook) (chapbook), worth a large portion of the final grade. , intended forThe chapbook is intended for a general, noncommercial (fine arts), literary readership.

o An oral performance before a live local audience. (Whether students actually perform or not will vary from semester to semester, depending on available venues and times.)

o Students also A reflective report on attendance attend and/or participate in mat andatory community readings and talks, learning to adapt their written work for oral presentation before a live local audience.. (Whether they will actually perform or not will vary from semester to semester, depending on available venues and times. The Fargo/Moorhead and Tri-College ccommunities offer many literary readings and talks throughout the year, and English 323 students are expected to visit those communities as part of their introduction to what working writers and artists do.)

o And, finally, students in 323 publish eElectronic Web documents, such as Blackboard Forum postings, new media poetry, and weblogs.

o Creative work for submission to established literary journals and magazines.

o materials to the Web through creation of websites, submission to online journals, Weblogs, and forums. Poetry for display in local buses, through the department’s Poetry on Wheels initiative.

Each of these above contexts makes unique demands on the studentwriter, and taken together they help to produce versatile student writers—writers able to communicate well in many situations.

Activities which meet Outcome #3: “Comprehend the concepts and perspectives needed to function in national and international societies.”

A) Studio Workshop Activities

The writer’s workshop is a collaborative, social, active method of learning. By its very nature as open discussion and interaction among varied students, it forces awareness and struggle with competing perspectives. English 323 attracts students from all over campus of many ages and backgrounds, as a Major requirement or elective, as well as a completely voluntary means of personal enrichment. Its workshops are consequently lively and diverse, and students necessarily finish the semester with a broader grasp of perspectives in the fine arts and in culture generally.

BA) Diverse Course Reading and Video Viewing Activities

Students in English 323 read a range of poetry and short fiction for writing models and inspiration. These readings are selected for their diversity of mode, style, and audience, as well as, importantly, their varied authorship. That is, students read contemporary authors of multiple ethnicities, gender, geographic origins, and world views. Since literature renders unfamiliar perspectives dramatically and therefore with emotional/intellectual power, it is an excellent way to introduce students to those perspectives. (See “Sample Course Document #2” below.)

Additionally, English 323 has access to use of a full collection of copyright-free Lannan Literary Videos, which include readings by, interviews of, and documentary about important current writers. The Lannan Foundation is specifically dedicated to “cultural creativity and diversity through its programs, which identify and support exceptional contemporary artists, writers, and indigenous communities” (Lannan Literary Video case description). Students view and are quizzed on individual videos, which include such artists as Israeli poet Yehuda Amicahi, African American novelist Toni Morrison, and the Native American poet Joy Harjo.

C) Print Publication Activities

Besides self-publishing their own chapbooks, 323 students are required to investigate resources and conventions involved in actual journal or magazine publication. Students must research regional, national, and international journals via Writer’s Link (a resource I’ve developed online—see “Textbooks/Course Materials” above), locate a suitable journal based on its size, age, submission guidelines, and demographics, and then prepare materials (a cover letter and manuscript) for submission to that publication. They must also study resources at Poets and Writers Inc. (a large nonprofit writer’s clearinghouse) for appropriate ways to contact publishers. The experience in sum further exposes them to the expectations and conventions of national writing communities.

DB) Web Publication Actvities

Knowledge of wWeb writing skills and web resources for writers isare increasingly important to any well-rounded education in the Humanities and Fine Arts. Because materials on the Web can be accessed by an incredibly large and sometimes unpredictable audience, students are forced, in producing those materials, to anticipate the wide range of concerns and views held by that audience. Creative writing for the Web thus enlarges their comprehension of national and international perspectives.

In English 323, students may variously write for NDSU’s Blackboard Discussion Board Forums; for weblogs (online personal journals and notebooks produced through ); for CD or DVD; for NDSU’s Blackboard Discussion Forums, where instructor-designed questions are posted; and for personally created websites (part of an optional new media writing assignment—see “Sample Course Document #3 below), and for established online journals and magazines. One example of web-related work I routinely assign involves the Writer’s Link resource I’ve developed online (see “Textbooks/Course Materials” above). Students are asked to research online regional, national, and international journals via Writer’s Link, locate a suitable journal for their work based on journal age, size, and demographic, and then prepare materials (a cover letter and manuscript) for submission to that publication. (They must also study resources at Poets and Writers Inc. for appropriate ways to contact publishers.) The experience in sum exposes them to the expectations and conventions of national and international writing communities.

C) Studio Workshop

The writer’s workshop is a collaborative, social, active method of learning. By its very nature as open discussion and interaction among varied students, it forces awareness and struggle with competing perspectives. English 323 attracts students from all over campus of many ages and backgrounds, as a Major requirement or elective, as well as a completely voluntary means of personal enrichment. Its workshops are consequently lively and diverse, and students necessarily finish the semester with a broader grasp of perspectives in the fine arts and in culture generally.

Activities which meet Outcome #6: “Integrate knowledge and ideas in a coherent and meaningful manner.”

A) Chapbook Activity

The most importantmain requirement for English 323—production of a bound collection of creative work—is excellent practice in integrating knowledge and ideas meaningfully. In a broad sense, literary writing by its very nature is the search for coherence and meaning, and any good poem or story shows a seamless connection of thought and feeling, idea and action, form and content. The creative writing chapbook is an inherent and especially effective means of achieving Outcome #6.

5. Evaluation of General Education Outcomes

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

Studio Workshop Products as EvaluationAssessment Tool for Outcome #1

Student progress and success in workshop sessions provides one means of evaluating how the course is meeting Outcome 1.

Writers: to fulfill the workshop requirement for the course, students must submit a minimum of three poems, stories, or other works for group critique. Following each of their three mandatory wworkshop sessions, they write a brief reflective essay in which they demonstrate their commitment to improvement. Each essay must:

1. summarize the feedback received during the session, explaining what was learned about the strengths and weaknesses of their writing;

2. explain how they plan to revise the piece in question, based on the feedback they received;

3. address the possibilities and directions for future new work which came out of the session;

4. put their thoughts into the larger context of their overall progress and development as a writer;

5. put their thoughts into the larger context of fine arts writing, its aims, methods, and habits of thought;

6. include all standard conventions (format, editing, proofing) for college-level expository prose.

Critiquers: in addition to submitting work for discussion, all students must be active readers of work under review and participate fully in discussion of their classmates’ submissions. Attendance is therefore heavily stressed, recorded, and factored into final grades. I also occasionally give quizzes on worksheet material for a given week, to be sure critiquers are prepared.

Miscellaneous Activity Products asPublication and Community Events as EvaluationAssessment Tools for Outcome #1

Student publications and performances provide additional means of assessing Outcome #1.

To receive credit for a public performance, students must attend and participate effectively, according to conventions for oral performance. They must engage in rehearsal sessions; they must be present and prepared with written work which has been through the workshop process; they must engage their audience with eye contact and voice projection; and they must read slowly enough to allow listeners to grasp sometimes difficult, obscure, or experimental content. Their work and performance, finally, must be appropriate to the age, education, and expectations of their audience.

To receive credit for attendance at a public reading, students must produce a detailed report which summarizes and reflects on the event, explaining its significance to the course, theirthe student’s writing, their student’s understanding of literature, and their student’s experience of the literary world. This report is intended to demonstrate and enhance student awareness of writers’ communities in the F/M and Tri-College area and the world at large.

To receive credit for journal publication, students must submit evidence of their Writer’s Link research in the form of a brief reflective essayport, along with a self-stamped and addressed envelope containing cover letter and materialwork for submission.

To receive credit for any new media or Web work, students must effectively publish that material on a disk, portable drive, or the Web so that it is readable on a variety of systems on and off campus. It must be formatted, edited, and proofed according to needs of its particular target audience, it must abide by NDSU Web guidelines, and it must fulfill the specific requirements and instructions for any particular assignment, with adequate attention to audience.

Outcome #3: “Comprehend the concepts and perspectives needed to function in national and international societies.”

Quizzes and Reports on Diverse Course Readings and Videos As AssessmentEvaluation Tools for Outcome #3

Factual quizzes and short summaries or minute papers allow for assessment of Outcome #3. These mechanisms allow the instructor to determine how well any given class is grasping the perspectives contained in those readings and videos. (see “Sample Course Document #2 below.)

Web Publication as Evaluation Assessment Tool for Outcome #3

To receive credit for web publication in its various formats and contexts, students complete one or more electronic assignments, including: Blackboard Forum postings and debates, weblog entries, Website or new media creative projects, and online journal submission. Evaluation of these assignments effectively allows for assessment of Outcome #3. That is, the extent to which students succeed with these assignments indicates the extent to which the course is meeting the outcome, and allows the instructor to evaluate that outcome.

Studio Workshop Productsarticipation and Reflective Essays as EvaluationAssessment Tools for Outcome #3

Student participation in workshop sessions, both as writers and critiquers, their completion of three reflective essays, and semester attendance records all reveal the extent to which Outcome #3 is being met.

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

Chapbook Production As EvaluationAssessment Tool for Outcome #6

A successful chapbook collection must integrate knowledge and ideas coherently and meaningfully. Evaluation of the chapbook assignment thus provides an effective mechanism for assessing Outcome #6. See “Creative Writing II Ssyllabus” material below for details about chapbook evaluation criteria.

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Creative Writing II Syllabus

Department of English

English 323 (3 Credits)

Days and times of course

Semester and Year

Instructor:  Cindy Nichols

Office location:  SE 318F

Office hours:  *

Office phone:  231-7024   

E-mail:  Cindy.Nichols@ndsu.edu

Texts and Online Materials

Paula Geyh et al, ed. Postmodern American Fiction: A Norton Anthology, 1st edition (W. W. Norton & Company 1997)

Neil Astley, ed. Staying Alive: Real Poems for Unreal Times. (Miramax Books 2003).

Online Class Library:

Writer’s Link

Skittish Libations

Harmonious Confusion

Form and Poetry

Links to Poetry and Fiction Free on Web

Other Materials and Costs

Several notebooks or a large binder for in-class writing as well as for storing and organizing lots of removable paper. Pocket stapler. Frequent access to email, the Web, and a word processor. Materials for and costs of the final chapbook.

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Course Description and Aims

Welcome to Creative Writing II, imaginative writing with a concentration in one or two genres. The emphasis in this course is on developing critical awareness and gaining an introductory acquaintance with the literary fine arts.

This course has been approved for 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 General Education Outcomes #1, 3, and 6 through the studio workshop method of learning, through the production of a chapbook collection of creative work, through participation in community events, through diverse readings and video viewings, and through varied work with electronic new media and the Web.

In this course you will:

• complete your own bound chapbook of creative work;

• participate actively in workshop sessions both as a critiquer and a writer;

• begin to understand the standards and expectations of various literary communities, especially within the established (noncommercial, non-mass market) fine arts;

• understand "literature" as both corpus of knowledge to be studied and ongoing, evolving, living enterprise;

• learn to locate and explore your centers of interest in a setting both supportive and challenging;

• learn how to access local, national, and international resources for creative writers and gain an introduction to the local writing scene;

• read living authors from a variety of national, ethnic, and philosophical backgrounds;

• improve critical awareness and become increasingly aware of the variety of critical perspectives throughout the fine arts.

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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 assignments described below. To arrive at a specific number of points for a given assignment, I generally first assign a grade where Very Good=A; 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 90-100=A, 79-89=B , 68-78=C, 57-67=D, below 57=F.

Note: though attendance and participation are not graded, I keep careful records of both throughout the semester. Your own record may affect your semester grade in cases where attendance and participation have been particularly good or bad. That is, I reserve the right to over-ride a straight numerical tally with a subjective (though informed and documented) judgment about overall performance in the class. In the case of especially poor attendance and/or participation, I will inform you early in the semester about any potential danger to your grade. If you are ever in doubt about your standing in the class, feel free to contact me: Cindy.Nichols@ndsu.edu.

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Assignments

• Chapbook (50 pts./50% of semester total)

• Workshop and Workshop Reflective Essays (30 pts./30%)

• Community Events (performance and/or attendance) (20 pts./20%)

• Weekly Work (check/no check for satisfactory/unsatisfactory)

Chapbook

A chapbook is like a regular book, but shorter in length, less expensively produced, and generally self-published. At the end of the term, you will have a chapbook made of 5 completed fiction and poetry projects, along with any other work you think would fit well and make for a satisfying whole. The projects are worth 10 pts. each. Your chapbook materials should have undergone thoughtful and active revision, and include work which has been through the full workshop process. You will also bind your collection in a cosmetically appealing way, providing the conventions of any book: title page, contents, dedication page, pagination, notes, etc. (We will discuss ways to bind your work and printing options available on campus and in the F/M area.)

Note: your chapbook format and contents are, to some extent, negotiable. If you're very interested in a different sort of writing, and/or are actively engaged in a project of your own, feel free to run it by me. OR: if one or more of your projects don't work to your satisfaction, you may substitute them with alternatives (but NOT work from some previous class). Likewise, you may opt to complete a wholly electronic “book” rather than a hardcopy manuscript. I'll try, as much as possible, to tailor the course to suit your interests. The fundamental requirements and criteria of the course, however, will always remain the same.

Audience and Purpose : any avid reader of quality fiction and poetry. Assume your audience is well-read in both literature and the arts (but still actively learning), likes to be surprised by new perspectives and daring uses of language, and also wants to be moved. Your audience for these projects is not especially interested in formulaic writing of any kind, nor anything intended primarily or exclusively for the commercial mass market. And this audience will likely come from diverse backgrounds, ethnically, geographically, philosophically. Your purpose is to move and provoke your reader, and to demonstrate what you've learned about writing poetry and fiction.

Evaluation criteria: Your chapbook should follow the instructions stated above. The final version of each project should adhere to the criteria established in its respective assignment. Be sure as well to carefully edit and proofread your work for surface errors (mechanical and grammatical). "No iron can pierce the heart with such force as a period put just at the right place" (Isaac Babel, qtd. by Carver, "In Writing").

Very Good = A (9-10pts.)

Good = B (7-8pts.)

Fair = C (5-6pts.)

Poor = D (3-5pts.)

A (44-50pts.) = Very good

B (37-43pts.) = Good

C (30-36pts.) = Fair

D (23-29pts.) = Poor

Workshop and Workshop Reflective Essay

Everyone will submit material for friendly, constructive workshop discussion a minimum of three times in the semester. When it's your turn to be workshopped, you'll email the class a copy of your work by noon of the day prior to class. Don't forget to paginate your work, provide your name on the work, and use standard Times 10-12-pt. font. We'll all print it out and read it ahead of time,, then discuss it in class.

Following each required workshop session, you will write a brief reflective essay. This piece (2-at least 3 pages, typed, double-spaced, and stapled) should do the following:

1. summarize the feedback you received during the session, explaining what you learned about the strengths and weaknesses of your writing;

2. explain how you plan to revise the piece in question, based on the feedback you received;

3. address the possibilities and directions for future new work which came out of the session;

4. put your thoughts into the larger context of your overall progress and development as a writer;

5. put your thoughts into the larger context of the literary fine arts.

Purpose and Audience: the purpose of the essay is to help you think about and best use the feedback you receive in workshop. 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. The workshop sessions are for all of us, while the reflective essays are for me and for yourself. They should demonstrate your commitment to improvement, help me to evaluate your progress and seriousness as a student, and assess how well this course meets General Education outcomes.

Evaluation criteria: Each workshop session/reflective essay is worth 10 pts. Your essays should conscientiouslyarefully follow the instructions described above, and each should include a heading which reads, "Workshop Reflective Essay." Provide well-developed and focused paragraphs, and be sure your essays are edited and proofread for lapses in clarity, style, and mechanics.

Very Good = A (9-10pts.)

Good = B (7-8pts.)

Fair = C (5-6pts.)

Poor = D (3-5pts.)

A (9-10pts.) = Very Good

B (7-8pts.) = Good

C (5-6pts.) = Fair

D (3-5pts.) =Poor

Community Events

As part of your introduction to what writers do, you'll attend two outside-of-class literary events (a reading, a talk, a workshop, etc.), worth 10 pts. each. I'll announce events as I learn about them, but it's primarily your responsibility to find out when and where such events are held in our community and the Tri-College universities. (Consider this a problem-solving exercise: where in our community are such events held? How does a person find out when they’ll be held? Who organizes these events and how is information about them disseminated?)

Following each event, you'll write a brief reflective essay. This piece (2-3 pages, typed, double-spaced, and stapled) should do the following:

1. summarize the event with plenty of specific, concrete, descriptive detail;

2. reflect on the event's significance to our class, your writing, your understanding of literature, and your experience of the literary world. Avoid judging the event ; I'm mostly interested in what understanding  you gained about writing and writers.

Audience and Purpose: these reports are for your instructor. They are intended to show me that you've made an effort to participate in relevant events which are ever-ongoing in F/M or any community. They are also meant to show that you've reflected on those events and their significance to your own work.

Evaluation criteria: in addition to heeding all instructions given above, each of your brief essays should include a heading which reads, "Community Event Reflective Essay." Provide well-developed and focused paragraphs, and be sure your essays are edited and proofread for lapses in clarity, style and mechanics.

Very Good = A (9-10pts.) = Very Good

Good = B (7-8pts.) = Good

Fair = C (5-6pts.) = Fair

Poor = D (3-5pts.) =Poor

Weekly Work

We'll complete a variety of short exercises and activities throughout the term, intended primarily as reading or video-viewing checks, as writing prompts, and as methods for practicing particular skills. These will receive a check/no check in my book, indicating satisfactory or unsatisfactory work. This record will give me a broad view of your participation in the class, your understanding of reading and video material, as well as your interest in improving your writing. An especially strong or weak showing in these weekly assignments will likely affect my judgment of your chapbook, especially in borderline cases. Activities may include postings to our Blackboard Forumweblogging, small group exercises, Lannan Video sessions, Poetry on Wheels submissions, and a spoken word performances in front of the class and class visitors. In short, this daily work will be extremely varied. Expect the unexpected.

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Class Attendance and Participation

Because this is a workshop and discussion-oriented course, your attendance is vital. You will often be working with your classmates in collaboration, and they will frequently depend on you to be present and prepared. I therefore keep careful track of who is present, aware, and participating in class. An especially strong or weak showing in attendance and participation will likely affect my judgment of your chapbook, especially in borderline cases .

Missed Classes: when you miss a class for any reason, you must contact your classmates for notes, schedule changes, and any instructions you missed. Do not come to me for that information. You may contact me later, of course, with informed, specific questions, but only after first contacting several classmates. You will be held responsible for anything discussed or assigned in each class meeting, whether you are present or not.

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. See . for further information.

Note: any instances of deliberate plagiarism in English 323 will result in an F for the course.

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 for more information.

Feel free to contact me any time with questions or concerns:

Cindy.Nichols@ndsu.edu (Email is the best way to reach me.)

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Creative Writing II Schedule

Following each date below are reading or other assignments due for that day. PAF = Norton Postmodern American Fiction. SA = Staying Alive: Real Poems for Unreal Times. 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 our schedule is somewhat flexible and because this is an intensive workshop course, it's vital that you attend regularly and keep up with current announcements.

Week 1—(Introduction to course. Email procedures. Meet class members. Adjourn to computer cluster to post Blackboard Forum self-profiles and responses to art questions. Extra credit online poetry entrance survey. Examine art perspectives wheel, and compare/contrast different understandings of the creative process.)

Week 2—Read Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” and Ray Carver’s "Cathedral," both available online. Print out, but do not complete, “Questions about ‘Cathedral.’” Also print out Fiction Project assignments.

(Continue discussion of art/literature perspectives. Begin work with fiction as craft: character development, plot and scene development. Snow snack? Go over workshop procedures.)

Week 3—Read O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story,” Márquez, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," and Shang, “Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo” in PAF.

(Comprehensive reading quiz to date. Continue discussion of fiction as craft: unconventional plots; plot as worldview.character development and setting. Writer’s tools: library and field work, visualization, the art of description, and Harmonious Confusion exercises. Lannan video: Márquez. Workshop.)

Week 4—Read literary comics and Joyce’s hypertext work in PAF. Read also Calvino, selections from Invisible Cities, available online.

(Reading quiz. Small groups work with stories: stretching the boundaries of fiction. Dollar bill exercise. Workshop. Conference sign-up.)

Week 5—(Student-teacher conferences: fiction projects.)

Week 6—Read poems by Bishop, Neruda, and Popa in SA. Print out Poetry Project assignments. Meet in computer cluster, TBA.

(Reading quiz. Go over Writer’s Link and journal submission assignment. Begin work with poetry. Luminous ObjectHarmonious Confusion object exercise. Respect for “the thing itself,” then segue to surrealism and leaping poetry. Post in-class writing to Blackboard Forum.)

Week 7—Read “Poetry and Form” materials in our Class Library. Read also Bishop (2), Stafford, Wright, and Brooks in SA.

(Reading quiz. Discussion of readings. Discuss Poetry Project #2. Traditional form. Poetry on Wheels short-short poem assignment.)

Week 8——(Lannan Videos: Brooks, Harjo and Amichai. Planning and printing the chapbook. Workshop.)"Do not commit your poems to pages alone, sing them I pray you" (Virgil qtd. by Amos). “Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud" (Hermann Hesse qtd. by Amos). “Speak, so that I may see thee.” (Ben Jonson).

(The oral tradition in a postmodern world: Slams, Open-Mikes. Lannan Videos: Ginsberg and the Beats. What makes a good oral performance? Workshop.)

Week 9—"To read a poem is to hear it with your eyes; to hear it is to see it with your ears." Octavio Paz). Visit the New Media links in our class library; look over these websites carefully before class.

"To read a poem is to hear it with your eyes; to hear it is to see it with your ears." Octavio Paz).

(Reading and video-viewing quiz. The visual tradition: Brazilian concretists. New media presentation. Conference sign-up. Language as pliable material. Workshop.)

Week 10— (Student-teacher conferences: poetry projects.)Writer's Link reports due. Planning and printing the chapbook. Lannan Videos: Harjo and Amichai. Workshop. Conference sign-up.)

Week 12—"Do not commit your poems to pages alone, sing them I pray you" (Virgil qtd. by Amos).

(The oral tradition. Slams, performance art, and open-mikes. Lannan Videos: Ginsberg and the Beats. What makes a good oral performance? Workshop.) (Student-teacher conferences: poetry projects.)

Week 13—(Video-viewing quiz. Advertising and rehearsals for performances next week. Chapbook prospectus. Workshop.) (Intensive workshop. Advertising for performances next week. Lannan Videos: Brooks and Glück.)

Week 14— Writer's Link reports and submission envelopes, with cover letters and submitted material, due by class time.

“Speak, so that I may see thee.” (Ben Jonson).

(Oral performances by SE fountain, weather permitting. Workshop.)

Week 15—(Meet in computer cluster TBA for extra credit online poetry exit survey. Finish all remaining workshop pieces. Course wrap-up. Course evaluation.)

Finals week—Chapbooks are due in my hands by 5pm on _____. Any chapbooks, community event reports, or workshop reflective essays turned in after 5 pm will only be accepted with documented evidence of serious hardship.

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Sample Course Document #1: Workshop Guidelines

For workshop sessions to be successful, it’s important that you come prepared and participate energetically. Feel free to propose debatable ideas and views, and likewise feel free to courteously contest the ideas and views of your classmates or instructor. Please remember as well that I keep careful records of attendance and participation. For full Workshop and Workshop Reflective Essay instructions, see our syllabus.

To Writers

← Take notes! You’ll need these for the brief reflective essay which is due after each of your workshop sessions. You’ll need to:

← summarize the feedback you received, explaining what you learned about the strengths and weaknesses of your writing;

← explain how you plan to revise the piece in question, based on the feedback you received;

← address the possibilities and directions for future new work which came out of the session;

put your thoughts into the larger context of your overall progress and development as a writer.

← 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. (Be sure to review the Workshop Reflective Essay assignment for details.)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.

After the class has conscientiously discussed your work, please don’t reply with, “I just whipped this thing out in two minutes and don’t really care about it.” Turn in materials that you’ve worked hard on and do care about. Otherwise, it’s not worth our time.

←

← Remember: just because you didn’t intend for something to be in your poem or story doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Likewise: just because you DID intend for something to be in your poem or story doesn’t mean it WORKS. works.

← Avoid the common fallacy whereby you justify a poor segment of writing by claiming that you meant for it be confusing. Confused writing is virtually never good, effective, or moving. Your work may evoke the experience of confusion, but this is different from work which actually is confusing or is written is a confusing way.

← Finally, kick your ego personal out the door, learn something, and have fun.

← Kick your ego personal out the door, learn something, and have fun.

To Critiquers

← Read workshop pieces thoughtfully and thoroughly ahead of time. Jot some notes as memory aides.

← ALWAYS balance compliments with suggestions for improvement.

← Try to draw on class discussions, exercises, lecturers, etc. I.e., apply what you’ve been learning.

← Reflect and draw on the “art perspectives wheel” which we had up on the board the first week or two of class.

← Don’t forget: your turn is next!

← Finally, Kkick your personal ego out the door, learn something, and have fun.

←

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Sample Course Document #2:

Comprehensive Reading Quiz On Setting and Theme in Fiction

Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues”

Carver, "Cathedral”

O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story”

Márquez, "AVery Old Man with Enormous Wings"

Shang, “Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo” Instructions: for each of your responses below, support any assertions with clear reasoning, specific references to the stories, and plenty of concrete, particular detail. Provide 1-2 good, well- developed paragraphs for each number. Mechanics are not especially important in this quiz, but you should edit your writing for clarity and coherence.

Evaluation: check/no check. Answers must include specific detail and examples.

Stories covered:

Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues”

Carver, "Cathedral”

O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story”

Márquez, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings"

Shang, “Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo”

1) The stories we’ve read over that last two weeks include a range of very different settings.

a. How, specificallyexactly, would you saydo these settings vary from story to story?

b. What specific historical and cultural differences inform each setting?

c. Based on our recent class discussions aboutof craft and development of setting, , what tools would you say each writer is using to make vivid a place and time?

What specific historical and cultural differences inform each setting?

2) What details of time and place and time in these stories were unfamiliar or strange to you? Identify a sample detail and explain what you now understand about that item, based on your reading of the story.

3) Think for a moment about the settings in these stories and your own recent work with short fiction.

a. How might the different settings in these stories inform your current drafts?own work with short fiction?

b. Where are you from, and what would be important considerations in rendering your own home environment in a story?

c. How would such a rendering vary depending on your targeted readership?

4) Thematically, each of the above stories involves an encounter with the unknown or an encounter with the Other. Explain how this is so.

5) How, according to recent class discussion and lecture, might the artistic process itself be “an encounter with the Other”?

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Sample Course Document #3: New Media Poetry Project

Poetry Project #3, Option 2

The Visual Tradition: Concrete and New Media Poetry

Points possible: 10 (or 10% of semester grade)

Background

Like oral verse, visual poetry has also been around since antiquity. Early in the 20th century, a school of Brazilian "concretists" brought the genre into the modern era, and it is now flourishing in the form of electronic, new media poetry-art. The resources of digital media are of course terrific for any kind of visual art, and new media poets are currently experimenting energetically with poems that include animation, audio, and interactivity with the reader.

We'll discuss some basic conventions of visual design in class, then do a quick electronic survey of this sort of visual poetry in class, which you may also investigate on your own. Go to:



Other resources can be found at:

• NDSU ITS Technology Learning Center (a very good resource for assisting students with Web projects!)

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Instructions

After you’ve had a good introduction to this kind of work, you'll create your own new media piece. This means that you can produce anything from a visual poem with simple, hardcopy paper materials—to a complex work produced in Photoshop and Flash, and meant to be viewed online.

If you decide to do the latter, be sure to get an early start, as this kind of work can be time-consuming and sometimes glitch-prone. Also, online work should include some kind of website framing, to introduce the piece to a very broad potential Web audience. You should in this case follow what are now standard guidelines for Web publication, and include a navigation bar, contact information, an introductory page, and an “About” page, where you will establish your identity and credentials.

If your finished project includes a CD or DVD, you'll simply add that disk to your chapbook using an attached slip jacket or envelope).

Audience and Purpose

Your audience for this piece is any serious reader who is open to innovation in poetry. If your work will appear online, it’s important that you consider as well a very large and possibly unpredictable Web viewership. This means that your readers/viewers may need special orienting to help them understand what they are looking at. Be aware too that this audience may be especially varied in age, geographic location, education, and literary suasion. These considerations should strongly affect your introductory page in particular.

Evaluation Criteria

Your new media poem should show bold innovation and willingness to experiment. (An adventurous spirit here is more important than technical proficiency, though all materials should, for the most part, “work” properly in their respective media. I will, however, take into account the scope and difficulty of your piece and our time constraints.) Your poem should include a strong visual dimension, along with standard verbal considerations. Take care to heed conventions for visual design, as discussed in class, and be sure, as always, to edit and proof your work.

Material designed for the Web should show special attention to a broad and unpredictable audience.

Grading Scale

Very Good=A=9-10 pts.. Meets all of the stated criteria and instructions exceptionally well. Excels in inventiveness, originality, and energy, relative to work produced generally in 323. Well-edited and proofed. Possibly publishable.

Good =B=7-8 pts. 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.

Fair=C=5-8 pts.. 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.

Poor=D=3-4 pts. Meets few of the criteria. May not heed or understand instructions. May be sloppy, unproofed, unedited, and/or very perfunctory and uninspired.. An unsatisfying poem, saved by at least minimal attention to at least one important facet of the assignment.

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