Other expenses: On Saturday, October 16^th, we will travel to Madison to attend the Wisconsin Book Festival, where we will enjoy a day of writing-related events. Though the trip is primarily for fun, it’s also educational, and required, so make arrangements as necessary. Admission to events will be free of charge, but there may be some expenses for travel and food (generally speaking, the trip is easily manageable for less than thirty dollars—often much less).

COURSE DESCRIPTION

English 211 is an introduction to the arts of storytelling, poetry, and essay writing—ancient functions of language that carry on to this day. Though these arts are ancient, the teaching in the course will be driven by the stylistic conventions of contemporary writing. In short stories, poems, and essays written by today’s most prominent voices, students will find models of literary art. In The Creative Writing Guide, students will find descriptions of the writing life, the writing process, and the challenges of publication, in addition to many useful exercises designed to help young writers get started. In peer workshops and instructor conferences, student writers will get feedback on their drafts, designed to guide their processes of revision. By the end of the semester, students will have experienced both frustrations and successes as writers, and will have a sense of direction as they continue to pursue the art of the word.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

§ Acquire the disciplined practice of creative writing: this begins with paying attention to the world in an artistic fashion and taking notes. It also includes the standard “writing process,” as it’s taught in composition: drafting, re-reading, revising, editing, and finishing individual works.

§ Gain confidence with and competence in the conventions of writing in poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction.

§ Experience the intersection of art and craft in writing—in other words, come to understand how writing choices on the level of the word, the sentence, the paragraph, and the organization of the whole text come to create aesthetic effects such as the image, suspense, believability, and resolution.

§ Gain control of writing in a variety of contexts and at a variety of levels.

§ Ultimately, the writing goals listed above will help students to achieve the course’s primary objective: to create successful works of literary art.

§ Participate effectively in a workshop community.

§ Locate and participate in the community of writers and artists at Viterbo.

§ Locate and engage the larger community of writers that extends beyond the university.

COURSE POLICIES

Under no circumstances should students use the creative outlet that this class offers as an opportunity to perpetrate verbal violence against another class member, the course instructor, a member of the Viterbo community, or any other real person who we all know. Students who commit acts of verbal violence in the writing workshop may be expelled from the course.
Students should exercise personal judgment about whether an individual piece of creative writing might be offensive to the class, and therefore inappropriate for the workshop. There are no set rules for this; obviously, sexual content, violence, prejudice, and other potentially offensive subjects are often integral elements of great literature. In general, if you question whether your piece is appropriate for the workshop, talk to me about it before you submit.
The Viterbo University Catalog stipulates that students who miss more than 15% of class time (6 classes) due to unexcused absences may fail. Only absences due to Viterbo-sponsored events are considered excused. Absences due to illness, family responsibilities, vacations, etc. are unexcused.
Late work may be accepted under extreme circumstances.
Viterbo University policy applying to nondiscrimination on the basis of disability: “it is the policy of Viterbo University to comply with the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act and regulations issued thereunder to the extent applicable to Viterbo University.”

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING:

The course is based on a 1000 point system. Here’s the scale:

910-1000 A

880-909 AB

810-879 B

780-809 BC

700-779 C

600-699 D

below 600 F

Original Work (600 points)
Your primary work this semester will be in composing, revising, and finishing stories, poems, and essays, which will be collected in a portfolio at the end of the semester. Though each unit of the class—beginning with creative non-fiction, then fiction, then poetry—will present deadlines for drafts and finished products, all work is considered in process until the final portfolio.

Creative non-fiction draft 40 points

Finished creative non-fiction essay 160 points

Fiction draft 40 points

Finished short story 160 points

Three poem drafts 40 points

Three finished poems 160 points

Final Portfolio with Critical Introduction (100 points)
The final compilation of each student’s work, presented in the final portfolio, will include a critical introduction of 3-5 pages, single spaced. In that introduction, students must draw on the concepts we have discussed this semester in order to articulate the stylistic and thematic intentions of their work. Students should cite the work of at least two writers encountered during the semester’s reading. Students will be required to workshop a draft of the critical intro about two weeks before the end of the semester. Those who fail to present a full draft will be penalized one letter grade on the final evaluation of the intro.

The Writer’s Notebook (100 points)

Any successful writer has acquired the simple habit of writing down ideas. Some of these will be good ideas, and will turn into successful stories or poems. Other ideas, for whatever reason, will not gain the writer’s full attention, and will stall out after that first act of jotting down. In English 211, the Writer’s Notebook is designed to instill in students the habit of writing down ideas, periodically, informally, in ways that may lead to further work. Each week, students must produce three separate notebook entries, each at least 100 words in length. Some of these may be written during in-class exercises. Others may be based on exercises described in The Creative Writing Guide. Others may be based on the personal observations and ideas of each individual student. The notebook will be collected three times during the semester—once at the end of each unit, and then again at the end of the semester, in the final portfolio.

Written Responses to Readings (5 x 20 = 100 points)
Five times, throughout the semester, you will be required to respond in writing to one of the week’s assigned readings. Most often, these responses will be readings of individual essays, stories, or poems, though they may occasionally deal with essays about the writing process. Your responses should be both critical and creative, showing your detailed attention to the text at hand and your ability to apply the knowledge you gain from reading to your own imaginative process of writing. In fact, your responses may consist of short creative works of your own, followed by an explanation of how your piece relates to the reading at hand. Your responses will be turned in on their particular due dates, then graded and returned to you as promptly as possible. After that, make sure to save them for inclusion in your final portfolio.

Course Participation (100 points)
Nowhere is the positive contribution of each student more important than in the writing workshop. Students who hope to earn an A in course participation must come to each peer workshop prepared to offer constructive criticism to each writer presenting work that day. It is imperative, not just for our workshop, but for each of you as adults, that we are able to communicate our readings of each other’s works without aggression, in a spirit of compassion and community. Use of questions and qualifiers are wonderful ways of introducing thought-provoking interpretations without seeming to want to control discussion. All ideas are welcome in the workshop, as long as they are offered, not forced upon us. In no situation should a student target another member of the workshop with language or actions intended to insult, humiliate, or otherwise harm a peer. To earn a B in participation, students must be frequent, always-constructive contributors to discussion. Quieter participants can be assured of a C, as long as they are not disruptive of the course in any way. Ds and Fs will be reserved for those whose presence disrupts the course (this may include frequent tardiness or other course-disrupting behaviors as well, not just talk).

THE GENERAL EDUCATION PROGRAM AT VITERBO

English 211 serves as a G5 course, and therefore partially fulfills the Fine Arts requirement in the Viterbo General Education program. As the Undergraduate Catalog specifies, General Education courses promote “particular skills, attributes, and values…. rooted in the mission of the University and its liberal arts tradition” (43). Though English 211 will offer a wide-ranging learning experience, our General Education program stipulates that students should understand the specific ways that their courses help to foster core values. Therefore, I include in this syllabus the following descriptions of how English 211 fulfills Viterbo’s General Education requirements. My hope is that students will gain a coherent sense of values sponsored by their liberal arts education.

English 211 fulfills the following General Education requirements, in the following ways:

Thinking: “Students engage in the process of inquiry and problem solving which involves both critical and creative thinking.” As students engage with the conventions of different genres, and then create their own texts within those genres, they practice critical and creative thinking in close proximity. In addition to the thinking required to write creatively, students will also use thinking to write the critical introduction to their portfolios, and to respond to course and peer texts.
Life Values: “Students analyze, evaluate and respond to ethical issues from informed personal, professional, and social value systems.” Assigned course writing and reading will relate closely to life values, as stories, essays, and poems often relate to value systems. In addition, successful participation in a writing workshop involves ethical analysis and behavior.
Communication: “Students communicate effectively orally and in writing in an appropriate manner both personally and professionally.” As students work toward professional quality creative writing, they will learn to control the ways that their writing communicates to an audience. In addition, students will need to communicate effectively in the peer workshop, and in other assigned writings.
Aesthetic Sensitivity: “Students engage in artistic experiences and reflect critically upon them.” Assigned course reading and writing will help students become more aesthetically sensitive, as students will learn to respond to the aesthetics of writing in new ways.
Cultural Sensitivity: “Students understand their own and other cultural traditions and demonstrate a respect for the diversity of human experience.” Readings in poetry, fiction, and the essay will expose students to a variety of cultural experiences. Students will draw on their own cultural traditions to create original work.
Community Involvement: “Students demonstrate responsible citizenship through service, resulting in personal growth and community influence.” Students will have the opportunity to organize, attend, and perform original work at a variety of public readings. Such attendances constitute community involvement because they build, in crucial ways, the cultural life that’s so central to a healthy community. Moreover, although the performance of a poem in a public space may not feed a hungry person, it may feed a hungry soul. As the great William Carlos Williams once argued, “It is difficult/ to get the news from poems/ yet men die miserably every day/ for lack/ of what is found there.”

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