Creative Writing & ENG511

Instructor: Laura Wight

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Designed for students who enjoy imaginative writing in a variety of genres including poetry and creative nonfiction.  Students read published authors and analyze their work and use them as a springboard for their own creations.  Students ultimately create a portfolio of poetry and  a personal memoir.

COURSE OUTLINE

Module 0: Course Intro

In this module, you will find information about the course structure, pacing, Grading policy, and expectations. You will also learn about and how to contact your instructor, and participate in your opening course discussion.

Module 1: Poetry

The goal of this module is to invite you to break free of any preconceived notions of poetry you might bring with you and create original poems guided by a variety of lessons designed to stretch your creative writing muscles.  You begin the poetry module by diving in, playing with language and exploring the poetry that surrounds us in our everyday lives.  Then you will look at poetry written by some past masters and  try out various forms to see how structure can push creativity. Finally you will  read poetry by contemporary poets who are shaping the poetry scene today and use their work as inspiration for your own writing.  Ultimately, you pull all your learning together to create an anthology that showcases and reflects on your poetry work from the class.  

Module 2 : Memoir

A memoir is a story drawn from real life.  It has all the elements of a story: a narrative arc with a beginning, middle and end.  The events are shaped and told to communicate a universal truth.

Memoirs show a person overcome an obstacle and change in some way.  The line between memoir and fiction is debatable.  It should not include purely made-up events, but memory and point of view are often blurry.  You begin by reading at least one memoir of your choosing and evaluating the effectiveness of the choices its author makes.  You  use your reflection on the memoir you read to inform the writing of you own memoir.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

• Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
• Analyze the structure of texts
• Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
• Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences.
• Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
• Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
• Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
• Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
• Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
• Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

NUMBER/DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENTS, PROJECTS, ACTIVITIES, etc

There are 39 assignments and 2 major assessments in this course.

MATERIALS

Various poems selected by the instructor and a memoir selected by the student.  All course materials are included in the online course, or obtained by the student from a school or local library

TIMELINES & METHODS FOR EVALUATING STUDENT PROGRESS

Students are expected to log in daily, work a minimum of an hour a day, and submit weekly work to make satisfactory progress towards completion of the course.

Progress will be evaluated each week, with an overall "Grade to Date" entered into the Everett Public Schools eSchool (online grades) system most every Wednesday.  Students can look at "Grades" inside their Canvas course at any time to see what their grade is on individual assignments.

CREDIT

• This course meets the state and district graduation requirements in the area of 0.5 Elective credit
• Course Length - One Semester

WEEKLY STUDENT CONTACT

• Weekly contact will be conducted through a submitted assignment with instructor feedback.
• Students who do not submit an assignment are expected to email or call their instructor.
• Each student is expected to spend a minimum of five hours per week on this course.
• Additional hours may be necessary to complete the course successfully with a passing grade.