|
SyllabusE614—THE TEACHING OF CREATIVE WRITING Professor Joyce Peseroff Office: Wheatley 6-062 Office Hours: W 4:00-5:00; 6:00-7:00 Phone: 617-287-6714 and by appointment E-mail: joyce.peseroff@umb.edu SYLLABUS Texts: Burroway, Janet. Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft, 2nd ed. (NY: Longman, 2006) Leahy, Anna, ed. Power and Identity in the Creative Writing Classroom (Clevedon, England, UK: Multilingual Matters, 2005) Ritter, Kelly and S. Vanderslice, eds. Can It Really Be Taught? (Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 2007) Selected articles from Writer’s Chronicle, AWP’s 2008 Pedagogy Forum and on electronic reserve (password: creative) Access to the Internet so you may use the class Contribute website ObjectivesIn a 1989 interview, the writer Jane Kenyon answered a question about her status as “junior poet” in a household that included her husband, Donald Hall: “…Don is at the point in his career where he’s getting to be thought of as quite a statesman of poetry, someone with a lot of answers. And he is someone with a lot of answers. He knows things nobody else knows. But I also know things nobody else knows. It’s funny how everything in your life, every experience, everything in your reading, everything in your thinking, in your spiritual life—you bring it all to your work when you sit down to write. And he knows what he knows and I know what I know…” The teaching of creative writing requires two related endeavors. First, we empower students by valuing their imagination, granting them authority and encouraging each student’s individual voice. Second, we introduce them to craft and the ways of reading like a writer, asking not “what does it mean?” but “how is meaning made?” Everyone knows “things nobody else knows.” The successful teacher of creative writing helps each student discover those things while providing a firm grounding in the art of poetry and fiction so the writer can effectively express them.
We’ll begin by discussing our own chosen examples of good writing, building through a diversity of texts a consensus of qualities we wish to develop in student work. We’ll consider methods to educate the imagination, ways to encourage and empower student voices, and create lessons on aspects of craft in poetry and fiction. Pedagogical questions we’ll address include: How do we encourage creativity? How do we value diversity among individual voices? How does a writing exercise elicit a response that adds to students’ understanding of what they’re doing? What’s a good sequence of exercises, and what should students read to enhance their understanding of technique? How should students share their work—in a workshop, in small groups, on an on-line bulletin board, or in another format? How should creative writing be evaluated? This seminar will include teaching techniques useful for students in elementary and secondary school as well as in two-year and four-year colleges. The course also addresses classroom management; since creative writing can be deeply personal, topics regarding content —involving privacy, transgression (violent, sexual, racist, homophobic writing, etc.), or emotional need— will be included. You’ll leave the course with the practical and theoretical tools necessary to construct a curriculum for their own classroom use, and an understanding of issues involved in exploring creativity. MethodsEach week, we’ll read from assigned texts and discuss them in the context of reading, writing, invention, craft, and best practices in the classroom. We’ll begin with some discussion of creative writing as an academic discipline, and the nature of “educating the imagination.” This will include a discussion of what good writing is, and how it can be identified, as well as perspectives from authors on the practice of writing. During the following weeks we’ll focus on Burroway’s elements of craft, drawing on readings and exercises from her textbook/anthology as the basis for our discussion, while learning how to develop our own imaginative exercises and use them in the workshop setting. The final weeks will focus on issues in classroom management and evaluation.Requirements1) One example of a noncanonical text you consider an example of good writing to be posted on the class website DURING CLASS, with a short (2-3 page) discussion of what makes this an exemplary piece to be handed in to me. DUE WEDNESDAY, 2/4.2) Two short papers (3-5 pg) in response to an aspect of theory or pedagogy discussed in an article from Writer’s Chronicle (posted on website in Resources), on electronic reserve, or in a chapter of Leahy or Ritter/Vanderslide. YOU MAY HAND THIS IN AT ANY TIME BUT IT IS DUE THE LAST DAY OF CLASS (5/13)
3) Attendance at one poetry or fiction reading during the semester, with a brief (1-2 pg.) written response. DUE LAST DAY OF CLASS (5/13) BUT THE EARLIER YOU COMPLETE THE ASSIGNMENT THE BETTER. 4) A final project consisting of ONE one-page, single spaced pedagogy paper in poetry and ONE one-page, single-spaced pedagogy paper in fiction modeled on samples from the AWP Pedagogy Forum to be posted on the class website by Wednesday 4/29. Then, from the writing exercises you and your classmates have posted, choose one in fiction and one in poetry. Do the exercises and include the writing you generated as a result, along with a 2-3 page discussion of your process. You may choose your own exercises or someone else’s. Your portfolio of 2 pedagogy papers, 2 completed exercises and 2 process discussions is DUE WEDNESDAY, 5/20.
5) Attendance: Your attendance is necessary and required; please call or e-mail me if you must miss a class. Your are limited to TWO unexcused absences. *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 at 617-287-7430. **Please note that this syllabus is subject to change and that you are responsible for being aware of any changes. A class e-mail list will be distributed so you may contact other students regarding what you’ve missed should you be absent from class. I look forward to working with all of you.
Week 1 (1/28): Why Write? Interview with John Gardner http://www.atticusbooks.com/gargoyle/Issues/scanned/issue11/gardner.htm Adrienne Rich, “Woman and Bird,” http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16410 Discussion—What are the goals of a creative writing class? How do they differ depending on the setting in which we teach? In-class exercise on metaphor.
Week 2 (2/4): MEET IN COMPUTER LAB FOR CONTRIBUTE TRAINING Post texts or links to texts for discussion this week and 2/18, or bring 16 hard copies. Discussion—what is good writing and what texts exemplify it for you? Be prepared to discuss the text you’ve brought in. What common qualities of good writing do teachers want from students? What does it mean to “read like a writer”? How does Haake’s response to imitation and modeling reflect your own experience as a student/writer? Week 3 (2/11): NO CLASS--AWP conference in Chicago Week 4 (2/18): Continue discussion of exemplary texts. T. Gavin, “Teacher Teaching Himself,” website (Resources); K. Haake, “Against Reading,” (Ritter/Vanderslice, p. 17-23); Pedagogy paper: Bauch Week 5 (2/25): Educating the Imagination: Vision and Empowerment Discussion—How do we nurture students’ imagination, grant it authority, and create useful processes for student writers? Robert Coles, M. Fornes, L. Hyde, J. Patton, “Educating the Imagination,” Educating the Imagination, 1-24 (electronic reserve); Patrick Bizarro, M. McClanahan, “Putting Wings on the Invisible,” Can It Really Be Taught? p.77-90; Wendy Bishop, “Valuing the Community of Undergraduate Creative Writing;” “On Being in the Same Boat: A History of Creative Writing & Composition Writing in American Universities” (Resources); Sandra Alcosser, “Causing Each Tentative Voice to Speak,” (Resources); Joseph M. Moxley, “Creative Writing and Composition: Bridging the Gap” (Resources). WEEKS 6-9: ELEMENTS OF CRAFT Week 6 (3/4): Image, Narrative and Setting. Burroway, pg. 3-41, 128-215, 272-277, 310-315; Pedagogy papers: Brauer, DiGiorgio, Pierce, Williams Week 7 (3/11) Character, Dialogue and VoiceBurroway, 42-127 Douglas Unger, “Angles on Dialogue” (website) Pedagogy papers: Ansfield, Grimes, Levan 3/18—Spring Break: No class this week Week 8 (3/25): Screening of Janet Burroway, “So, Is It Done?” DVD on revision process.Week 9 (4/1): Sound and Sense: Prosody, Rhythm, Rhyme and Poetic FormBurroway, 308-10; 316-22; 393-99 Pedagogy paper: Groom
Week 10 (4/8): Development and Revision Discussion—Why and when to revise; what we want from student revisions; resistance to revision; radical revision. Donald Hall, “Flying Revision’s Flag,” http://www.onlinepoetryclassroom.org/how/index.cfm?prmPageID=6 Burroway, 216-241; Power and Identity in the Creative Writing Classroom, Chapter 10; Kim Haines, “Radical Revision,” http://interversity.com/seeingandwriting/node/114; Juanita Willingham, “Radical Revision: My Road from Fairy Tale to Catharsis,” http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/1788 Pedagogy papers: Platt, Ramey
Week 11 (4/15): What If?—Developing writing exercises in fiction Ron Tanner, “Rules & Reality in Fiction;” Frederick Busch, “What a Writer Might Need to Hear,” website (Resources). Pedagogy paper: Kane Week 12 (4/22): Life Is Like—Developing writing exercises in poetry Gerald Stern, from “Life is Not a River,” website (Resources). Pedagogy paper: Harrington WEEKS 13-15: Ecology of the creative writing classroom Week 13 (4/29): WorkshopDiscussion—The model and metaphor of the creative writing workshop; purpose and practice of peer review; the experience of the student/writer; additional methods and models for teaching creative writing. POST YOUR PEDAGOGY PAPERS TODAY"You…and Your Workshop,” Burroway, xxvii; “Reading, Writing, Teaching in the Classroom: Fiction Workshop” (Writer’s Chronicle Summer 1978; handout); Michelle Cross, “Writing in Public,” Can It Really p. 67-75 Week 14 (5/6): Classroom management Pedagogy papers: Cavitt, Pridgeon J.G. Lott, “The Yin and Yang of Teaching Creative Writing,” website (Resources) Power, Chapters 5, 9, 10 D. Garcia, “Italicized Writing,” website (Resources)
Week 15 (5/13): Evaluating Creative Writing J. Schumacher, “Fibbers, Nappers, Hens: Grammar and Grading in the CW classroom,” website (Resources); Power, Chapters 6, 11 1 PAPER ON AN EXEMPLARY TEXT DUE FEBRUAY 4 2 PEDAGOGY PAPERS (1 Poetry, 1 Fiction) POSTED ON WEBSITE DUE APRIL 29 1 PAPER ON POETRY OR FICTION READING DUE MAY 13 2 SHORT RESPONSE PAPERS to theory or pedagogy articles DUE MAY 13 FINAL PORTFOLIO DUE MAY 20: 1. Your own pedagogy papers (1 fiction, 1 poetry) 2. Your own creative writing produced by following exercises in your own or other class members’ pedagogy papers (1 fiction, 1 poetry). Please indicate whose exercise you’re using. 3. Two 2-3 pg. process papers, 1 for poetry and 1 for fiction, on the exercises you chose.
APPENDIX AWP Newsletter/Writer’s Chronicle articles on pedagogy are available on line through AWP’s E-Link <www.apwriter.org>. AWP also maintains a Pedagogy Forum, and after each annual conference publishes a collection of papers from this forum available to the public for $15.
Frances Payne Adler, “Multicultural Students: Bearing Witness, Willing Power,” Vol. 28, #2, pg. 9
AWP Guidelines for Writing Programs and Teacher of Writing, Vol. 15, #2, pg. 8
Charles Baxter, “The Model,” Vol. 15, #2, pg. 1
Michael Berryhill, “Teaching Writing,” Vol. 12, #6, Pg. 1
Julie Brown, “The Great Ventriloquist Act: Gender and Voice in the Fiction Workshop,” Vol. 26, #1, pg. 7
Maxine Claire, “Oral Literature and the Teaching of Creative Writing,” Vol. 24, #2, pg. 1
Toi Derricotte, “Baring/Bearing Anger: Race in the Creative Writing Classroom,” Vol. 28, #2, pg. 13
Thomas Gavin, “The Teacher Teaching Himself,” Vol. 31, #5, pg. 12
Jane Hirshfield, “Telescope, Well Bucket, Furnace: Poetry Beyond the Classroom,” Vol. 34, #5, pg. 14
Tony Hoagland, “The Great Mistakes: Teaching Flawed Poems,” Vol 24, #2, pg. 14
William Holinger, “Student Attitudes on Writing Courses,” Vol. 13, #2, pg. 6
Donald Justice, “Solitude or Community: Writing as It Is Taught,” Vol. 9, #5, pg. 1
Dinty W. Moore, “Cross-Cultural Concerns in the Classroom,” Vol. 24, #4, pg. 1
Jonathan Penner, “Authority in the Classroom,” Vol. 13, #2, pg. 1
Marjorie Perloff, “Theory and/in the Creative Writing Classroom,” Vol. 20, #2, pg. 1
“Poet-l@lsuvm: The Virtual Poetry Workshop,” Vol. 27, #1, pg. 19
“Reinventing the Undergraduate Poetry Workshop: Results from a Nationwide Survey,” Vol. 27, #5, pg. 21
Dave Smith, “Notes on Responsibility and the Teaching of Creative Writing,” Vol. 10, #3, pg. 1
David Stanton, “Boundaries and Frames: Non-Transference in Teaching,” Vol. 22, #1, Pg. 1
Gerald Stern, “Life Is Not a River—Some Thoughts on Teaching Poetry,” Vol. 20, #2, pg. 6
Wayne Ude, “Young Writers on the Mean Streets: Creative Writing and Urban Violence,” Vol. 26, #2, pg. 1
BibliographyBishop, Wendy and David Starkey. Keywords in Creative Writing (Logan, UT: Utah State U. Press, 2006). Concisely explains crucial terms and concepts related to the writing process, types of writing, theory, teaching, creative writing as an academic subject, and the business of publishing. Bernays, Anne & Pamela Painter, eds. What If? 2nd ed. (NY: Longman, 2004). Writing exercises for fiction writers that are imaginative, provocative and useful in high school and college. A favorite of Profs. Fulton and Melnyczuk Behn, Robin and Chase Twichell. The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises from Poets Who Teach (New York: HarperCollins, 1992). Developed by dozens of contemporary writers, these group and individual exercises explore sounds, structure, revision, imagery, chance, and the unconscious among other subjects. Edgar, Christopher & Ron Padgett, eds. Educating the Imagination, Vols. I-II (NY: Teachers and Writers Collaborative, 1994). Essays and ideas for teachers and writers on the source of creativity, inventing language, and practical classroom issues. ----Old Faithful: 18 Writers Present Their Favorite Writing Exercises (NY: Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 1995): Exercises in poetry, fiction, memoir, and playwriting for students in elementary grades through high school. Fussell, Paul. Poetic Meter and Poetic Form (NY: McGraw Hill, 1979). The “classic” textbook on rhyme, meter, and formal invention in English poetry. A favorite, with Rhyme’s Reason, of Prof. Thomas O’Grady’s. Hollander, John. Rhyme’s Reason, 3rd ed. (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 2000). Defines and illustrates forms and means of English verse “without ever ceasing to be funny.” (Paul Fussell) Koch, Kenneth. Talking to the Sun (N.Y.: Henry Holt, 1985): Anthology of poems paired with paintings and other objects from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Collects adult poems from many cultures that can be read and understood by younger children, yet the artwork makes it an appropriate teaching tool for all ages. Myers, D.C. The Elephants Teach: Creative Writing Since 1880 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006). A history of writers in academia, ultimately critical of the way creative writing has ensconced itself in the university. Webb, Charles Harper, ed. Stand Up Poetry (Iowa City: Univ.of Iowa Press, 2002). An eclectic anthology of contemporary poems that share one quality—they’re all lively and accessible. Although the cover is a bit misleading—these poems aren’t “raps” or “slams”—it reflects the “stand-up” poem’s pizzazz and interest in contemporary culture. Ziegler, Alan. The Writing Workshop, Vol. 1 (NY: Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 1981): Topics including the writing process, form and content, revision, feedback, inspiration, some rules and guidelines, and other aspects of running a successful class. Other resourcesAcademy of American Poets <www.poets.org> Associated Writing Programs <www.awpwriter.org> Teachers & Writers Collaborative <www.twc.org>
|
||||||||||||||
 |
