|
SyllabusEnglish 210-2 Fall 2009 MWF 10-10:50 am Wheatley—Room 2-126
Greg Stenta Office: Room # 49, Sixth Floor—Wheatley Office Hours: Monday 11:00 am to 12:00 pm & Wednesday 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm or by appointment Email: gregorystenta@aol.com Phone: Please call the Creative Writing Office at 617-287-6736 and leave a message. Email is the best way to reach me.
Required Text:
Course Goals:
This course is an introduction to the process of writing poetry and fiction, and is designed to embolden you to think and write creatively, enable you to read and respond critically/helpfully, and introduce you to the terminology and basic elements of writing craft. In a supportive, nurturing environment, we will examine a variety of published poems and stories from our text, emailed PDFs, as well as—just as importantly—each other’s work, in an effort to shed light on what makes for effective writing (including, but not limited to: image, voice, dialogue, character, conflict and setting).
The poetry and fiction you produce for class will be inevitably influenced by the texts we read, and each other. During the course of the semester, you will complete in class writing exercises, and out of class assignments, including individual and group exercises, free writing, and formal assignments. By working in both poetry and fiction, and receiving feedback (in the form of written and oral critiques) from your peers and from me, you will begin to develop a working understanding of how poetic and narrative techniques work. It is hoped that by the end of this course, you will have learned to write more creatively about the things that matter to you. Everyone has something unique to say about his or her world; this course aims to help you develop the skills to deliver your poetic and fictional expressions in an artistic, engaging way.
During the first two thirds of the course, we will read and write poems with emphasis on imagery, rhythm, and voice, and we will read and write fiction paying close attention to character development, conflict/plot, setting and dialogue. The third part of the semester will be devoted to the continuation and revision of your work in both forms. Throughout the semester, we will be “work-shopping” each other’s work, first in small groups and then as a class. More information on work-shopping will follow.
Course Requirements:
1. Creative Writing: This isn’t a literature class—your (creative) participation, along with the readings is needed to make this class a success. You are responsible for one weekly out-of-class writing assignment, as well as in-class exercises as assigned. Most of your writing will take place out of class. These assignments will lead to a final portfolio of work that will include 5 poems (5-12 pages) and 1-2 complete stories, story beginnings OR story fragments (6 – 15 pages total), all of which will go through at least one revision. Please note that you are expected to revise throughout the semester—we will discuss, as a class, the idea of revision.
Both original and revised versions of all creative work (poems and stories) are to be included in the final portfolio, for a total of 22-45 pages of work. While no individual poem or piece of fiction you hand in will be graded, the complete portfolio is a measure of your growth as a writer over the course of the semester. Some of your favorite work may just come to you. However, there’s no time to wait for inspiration to strike! Writing is a daily habit that must be developed. You’ll be surprised what interesting work you do, once you start setting times to write, if you don’t already. It’s important for both your grade and your growth as a writer to keep up with the weekly writing assignments.
***The final portfolio is due by noon on Friday, December 18th. If you would like your portfolio back from me, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope in which I can mail it to you. Or, you can pick it up after grades are submitted in the graduate creative writing office. *** 2. Reading: You are responsible for weekly reading assignments from the text, as well as emailed PDFs. You should be prepared to discuss each week’s reading during the first class meeting of each week. You will be responsible for writing 2 brief Craft Response Essays in response to reading done for the course (1 - 2 double-spaced pages) over the course of the semester (one in response to a single poem, one in response to a piece of fiction). Craft Response Essays should focus on one of three things: 1) the way a particular craft element discussed in class is being put to use; 2) why and how a particular image, phrase, line, etc., really struck you, and why/how it’s effective; or 3) any craft-based question the poem or story raised for you. Craft Response Essays shouldn’t be summaries of what the story or poem was about or what a story reminded you of from your own life. Rather these papers should engage critically with something we have read, asking the question “how/why did the author do that?” Craft Response Essays will be graded. You will also be responsible for bringing in five typed-up poems, lyrics, or story segments from unassigned reading to share with the class. These will be “anthologized” by me, and distributed electronically to the class. I will also be a part of this, bringing in five poems I find interesting. Please make sure to credit the author and book when you type these up. We will spend a few minutes of most class sessions reading and discussing these pieces, and you will write a one to two page introduction to this anthology at the end of the semester.
3. Literary Reading Attendance: You will need to attend one Literary Reading outside of class. You will write a short (1-2 page) response paper on the reading. I’d like this about 2/3 of the way through the semester—please see the syllabus for a specific date. Your response paper should focus on what you found interesting or uninteresting about the reading, and how hearing the work helped or didn’t help illuminate the text. This paper will be graded.
4. Class participation: This is an interactive, discussion-based class. Your presence and participation are necessary and required. Aside from discussing published pieces we read outside of class, and completing in-class writing assignments, you will be split into small groups where you will be required to “workshop” your classmates’ work and be “work-shopped” by your classmates. Part of this process involves written critiques of your classmates’ work. You will be required to write a total of four Classmate Critiques in response to the work of the classmates in your small group. Each short letter will consist of at least the following: two things you felt were strengths of the piece, two inquiries into or questions about the piece, and one helpful suggestion. Pay special attention to Burroway’s suggestions on page xxvii of the Invitation to the Writer section of the Introduction for help with this. More specific instructions for critiques and workshop participation will be given out later in the semester. These critiques will be graded.
Class participation will also include posting your work to the class website prior to workshops.
5. Attendance: You are allowed no more than FIVE unexcused absences. Unexcused absences are ones you have not notified me of in advance. Please take the time to email me if you find you cannot make class. In case of emergency, I appreciate contact with you as soon as possible. Don’t just disappear—let me know what’s happened to you. Arriving late will be converted to an absence at the rate of 3:1. Please exchange phone numbers or email addresses with someone in class to find out about a class you’ve missed. If you exceed five unexcused absences or, for any reason, miss more than eight classes, you may FAIL the course.
Out of respect for your classmates and me, please turn cell phones off for the duration of each class period. Texting, checking messages, emailing, etc. during class is unnecessary and rude. Please also refrain from eating during class, and take care of all personal needs prior to or after class. It is disruptive to have people coming in and out of the classroom.
6. Conferences: You will be required to attend two 15-minute progress conferences with me near the midway point and the end of the semester. Weeks 7 and 14 (see schedule for dates) are set aside entirely for these. To each conference, you are expected to bring all of your creative work (poems, fiction, revisions) produced so far; to the second, you will also bring a brief self-assessment. We will discuss the state of your portfolio and any specific questions you have about how to move forward. Conferences are an important part of this course and will be graded. As you will not be attending this class during conference weeks, missing a conference is equivalent to three classes and will be counted as such. I encourage you to schedule meetings with me at any other point during the semester, or show up for my office hours, to discuss your work, your progress, course expectations, readings, etc.
Grading:
Please note that you will not be graded on “talent” for this course. Rather, your grade will be a reflection of your growth and development as a writer, as well as your adherence to the course requirements outlined above. To determine your grade, I will weigh the timely completion of creative assignments; the growth displayed in your portfolio (first drafts to revisions); your critical responses to class readings, attendance at a literary reading, and responses to the work of your classmates; class participation; and class and conference attendance.
Your grade will be determined as follows: 25% - Response Papers (2 Craft Response Essays; 1 Literary Reading Response) 25% - Portfolio (timely completion of assignments; revision efforts; growth; self-assessment and introduction to class anthology) 25% - Class participation/Attendance (discussion, web-posting, etc.) 15% - Workshop (4 Classmate Critiques; discussion) 10% - Conferences Quizzes may be given throughout the semester.
Students with Disabilities If you have a disability and feel you will need accommodations in order to complete course requirements, please contact the Ross Center for Disability Services (M1-401) at
Plagiarism and Academic Honesty Plagiarism is defined as the attempt to use or pass off as one’s own the ideas or writings of another. This includes copying from a friend, downloading material from the Internet and pretending it’s yours, or using passages either reproduced word-for-word or paraphrased from another’s writing without giving the author credit. If you’re confused about the right way to quote sources, please see me and I’ll be glad to clarify. Because plagiarism involves stealing someone’s ideas, it’s considered a serious matter in academic life. Therefore, anyone committing plagiarism risks failing the course.
All students are accountable to the definitions and the regulations concerning Academic Honesty contained in the University of Massachusetts Boston “Code of Standard Conduct.” For more details see: www.umb.edu/student_services/student_rights/code_conduct.html.
Poetry Unit Syllabus ***This syllabus is subject to change with notice, due to snow days, etc.***
Bold=Burroway (textbook) Week 1: Course Introduction / Metaphor/ Cliché
W 9/9: Course Intro F 9/11 What is Poetry? Joyce Peseroff, Lloyd Schwartz, Pablo Neruda, & Sylvia Plath—Metaphor and Cliché In-class writing exercise (Metaphors and Clichés)
Week 2: Image in Poetry M 9/14 Invitation to the Writer (pgs. xxi – xxviii) Chapter 1: Image (3-15) *Anthology Material Due*
W 9/16 William Carlos Williams (PDF) Mark Strand (PDF) Charles Simic (PDF)
F 9/18 In-class writing assignment *Poem # 1 Due* Week 3: Voice in Poetry M 9/21 Chapter 2: Voice (37-50) Frank O’Hara (PDF)
W 9/23 Charles Bukowski (PDF) Walt Whitman (PDF) Gertrude Stein (emailed link to Picasso Poem) F 9/25 In-class writing assignment *Poem # 2 Due*
Week 4: Sonnet, Villanelle, and Haiku: M 9/28 Chapter 9: Poetry (309-325) Shakespeare (PDF) Elizabeth Barrett Browning (PDF) Shelley & Keats (PDF)
W 9/30 Elizabeth Bishop (PDF) Theodore Roethke (PDF) Dylan Thomas (PDF) F 10/2 Haiku Packet (PDF) In-class writing assignment *Poem # 3 Due* Week 5: Setting M 10/5 Chapter 4: Setting (131-153)
W 10/7 Continue Setting Discussion F 10/9 Discussion of Workshop Format Short in-class Writing Assignment Revision of Poem Due: Post by 7 PM on Sunday, 10/11 *Poem # 4 Due* Week 6: Character: M 10/12 —NO CLASS, Columbus Day Holiday—
W 10/14 Small Group Work shopping # 1 (Poem) Sign up for Conferences F 10/16 Chapter 3: Character (79-93; 117-122) *1st Critique/Letter Due & Poem # 5* Week 7: No Class (Conferences): M 10/19 No Class—Conferences W 10/21 No Class—Conferences F 10/23 No Class—Conferences ***End Unit I***
***This syllabus is subject to change with notice, due to snow days, etc.***
Bold=Burroway (textbook) Week 8: Character Continued
M 10/26: Chapter 3 (100-117) Junot Diaz PDF W 10/28 Getting Started: In-class writing exercise on Character Hempel PDF Character Continued
F 10/30 Louise Erdrich PDF *2-3 Pages of Fiction Due (focus On Character)/First Reading Response Paper Due (Poetry)* Week 9: Setting in Fiction M 11/2 In-class writing assignment: Setting Hemingway PDF Lahiri PDF
W 11/4 Burroway DVD (Is it Done?) F 11/6 1. 20 Minute Discussion of Revision 2. !Poet Alex Gang Visits Class! Q & A Period
*3-6 pages Fiction Due (Focus on Setting) * Week 10: Story in Fiction M 11/9 In-Class Writing Assignment: Story !Fiction Writer Jenn De Leon Visits Class!
W 11/11 —No Class: Veterans Day—
F 11/13 Hemingway PDF *2nd Craft Response Paper Due (fiction) and Post your Fiction (No more than eight pages) by 7 pm Friday* Week 11: Fiction Workshop # 1: M 11/16 Discuss Your Fiction: How is it going? George Orwell or Albert Camus Essay PDF
W 11/18 Workshop 1st half of each story in your group *Be prepared to write a letter on one student’s story* F 11/20 Workshop 2nd half of each story in your group *Write a letter to over the weekend to your classmate in your workshop whose story you chose and post a poem by 7 pm Friday evening* Week 12 Poetry Workshop # 2: M 11/23 Poetry Workshop *Be prepared to write a letter to one student in your group*
*2nd Critique Letter to classmate (1 copy for me/1 copy for the student you chose and Story # 2 due (no more than 8 pages)* W 11/25 Discussion: How is your Poetry Going? Charles Simic Essay PDF
F 11/27 —No Class: Thanksgiving Holiday—
Week 14: Fiction Workshop # 2 M 11/30 Workshop 1st half of each story in your group *Be prepared to write a letter on one student’s story* *3rd Critique Letter Due (2 copies)
W 12/2 Workshop 2nd half of each story in your group F 12/4 Discuss Your Fiction: How is it going? George Orwell or Albert Camus Essay PDF *4th Critique Letter Due (bring 2 copies) and Reading Response Paper Due* Week 14: No Class (Conferences): M 12/7 No Class—Conferences W 12/9 No Class—Conferences F 12/11 No Class—Conferences ***End Unit II***
Week 15: Reading, Discussing, and Sharing Our Work: M 12/14 Bring a Poem or Story Segment to Read Out Loud to the Class ***Portfolio Due Friday, December 18th at noon***
Conference Guidelines:
Conferences are fifteen (15) minutes. E 210-2 Guidelines for the Rest of the Semester Posting Assignments: It is your responsibility to post all assignments to the class website as indicated below— For: Post as: Label as: Post by:
Work shopping: It is your responsibility to come to class on the days of work shop and be ready to comment on student poems and stories in your group. Please remember to print out the poems/stories in your group ahead of time from the website. This will be done similarly to English 101 and 102. Please note that, if possible, each student in the group should receive a letter from another student. Please work among yourselves to ensure this happens.
On “Literature Days,” we’ll take five minutes after class business and other writing exercises or listening to poetry or fiction read aloud, to write in journals about the readings for the day. Please bring your journals every day. This is a chance for you to review the reading, and write about it. I want everyone prepared to talk about the writings when we are finished this exercise. The Class Anthology: We will do our best to look at this every week. However, you must bring it to class on the days assigned. Quizzes: Open book quizzes may be given throughout the semester, each time we enter or re-enter a unit. The first quiz will definitely be on 10/16/09. Please bring your book and have studied the material ahead of time. Homework: Although I announced this in class, the homework is always on the first page of the webpage. Please refer to the website if you have any doubts about what is assigned. Go to: http://www.litandwriting.umb.edu/Fall2009UndergraduateCourses.htm, and click on 210-2. The username is “Stenta,” and the password is “creative.” Attendance: Your attendance in this class is essential; please remember that your attendance and participation affects your grade! Questions? If you ever have any questions, contact me at gregorystenta@aol.com. If you need to see me, my office hours are as follows: M 11:00 – 12:00 W 12:30 - 2:00 Office: Wheatley # 6-49
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
617-287-7430.