Introductions
Writing: who? what? why?
Reading for craft
Notebooking exercise--Memory Chain or Sentence Starters, from Writing True
Assignment: write a non-fiction scene (a scene from your life or a story you've been told, something you've witnessed, etc.), using descriptive detail to draw readers in.

8/31

Drop-in poem: Dean Young, "Another Ocean."
Syllabus questions
Intro to Creative Non-Fiction--from Writing True
Subjective / Objective exercise (from chapter 1 of Writing True)
Introduction to workshopping--workshop one exercise

Two

9/5

Assigned readings--Diana Kappel-Smith: "Salt"
In-class exercise: re-write a paragraph from the assigned reading by changing every sentence type to create a different feel.
Look at Specifications for Creative Non-Fiction
Discuss essay ideas
Look at the writing process (added to syllabus)

9/7

Look at Chapter 5, "Finding Voice." Exercise from that chapter.
Look at Chapter 4, "Taking Shape," especially "A Repertoire of Forms."
Assigned reading--David Sedaris, "Let it Snow" (208) and Anne Fadiman, "Do Doctors Eat Brains?" (304)

Three

9/12

Peer workshop on essays (40 points)
Intro Michelle Noteboom in terms of modernism/post-modernism

9/14

Revision--Q & A on essay one
Poems in class, prepping for Michelle Noteboom event

Four

Monday, September 18, 7:00 PM, FAC Recital Hall--required attendance for Michelle Noteboom's reading.

9/19

In-class writing on essay
Michelle Noteboom visits class

9/21

Essays due
Writers' notebook due
Begin fiction unit

Five

9/26

Assigned reading--Sherman Alexie, "This is How You Say Phoenix, Arizona," and Margaret Atwood, "Death by Landscape"
In-class invention writing--beginning fiction from character. Think back about a kid you used to know but don't know anymore--someone that scared you, or made you feel bad or weird or good--someone you reacted to. Write a short, descriptive story about what that person was like, using one or two examples to illustrate. Then write about what that person's doing now. Be inventive. In fact, feel free to make it up.
About character: what do you need to know?

9/28

Response writing due on Atwood--two questions: First, look closely at how Lucy and Lois are defined in the story. How does Atwood distinguish Lucy from Lois both earlier in the story (34-36) and later (36-40)? In particular, notice how the actions or events in the story, however small, are used to distinguish the two characters. Second, trace the use of "landscape" in the story. Obviously, it's part of the title, but how are landscapes introduced to the story, how are they important to the story's action, and how are they part of the story's conclusion? What overall effect does "landscape" have on you, as you read the story (or what effect do you think it's meant to have)?
In-class invention writing--inventing plot.
Look at student writing of fiction.

Six

10/3

Hand back essays--discuss revision
Assigned reading--Mark Richard, "Strays" (542) and Toni Cade Bambara, "Raymond's Run" (46)
Fiction specifications
In-class invention writing--experimenting with voice
Story as character(s) in situation

10/5

In-class writing--revisions of essays or work on fiction--bring what you need to work in a computer lab (story or essay file on flash drive).
Response essay / character sketches and plot previews

Seven

10/10

Assigned reading--Thom Jones "Cold Snap" (373) and Joyce Carol Oats, "Ghost Girls" (488).
In-class writing--setting as detail
Response essay / character sketches and plot previews due

10/12

Revisions of creative non-fiction piece due
Assigned reading: two student stories "The Paper Bag" and "Gloves and Coats"
In-class writing on fiction draft--bring what you need to work in a computer lab (story file on flash drive).
3:30 PM in FAC Recital Hall--Bill Stobb and David Krump read / perform the original short story, "The Calls," by Bill Stobb

Eight

10/17

Draft workshop on fiction piece (40 points).

10/19

No class--instead, please attend The Pump House Regional Arts Center's monthly reading, featuring former UW-L professor Bob Treu. 7:00 PM at the Pump House, corner of King and Front Streets, downtown La Crosse.

Nine

10/24

Short story due
Writers notebook due
Begin poetry

10/26

Begin poetry.

Ten

10/31

First poems from handout packet
Choose a poem you like from each of the first two sections of Deborah Bernhardt's Echolalia. Come to class prepared to discuss what you liked about it.
Write a short poem in response to one of the poems you've read. Begin the poem with "I know you said _____, but..." or something like that. "When you said the butterflies use their nerves / I thought of you stuck in traffic / wired through with everywhere you needed / to be." Etcetera etcetera. Speak to the poem as if it were your friend's poem. Or... if this exercise doesn't work for you, write a different kind of poem. Just come to class with a short draft of a poem.

11/2

Choose a poem you like from each of the last two sections of Deborah Bernhardt's Echolalia. Come to class prepared to discuss what you liked about it.

Eleven

11/7

VOTE!
Deborah Bernhardt in class
7:30 PM--Deborah Bernhardt reads in the FAC Recital Hall. Required attendance.

11/9

Specifications for poetry
Small group poem workshops--everyone brings 4 copies of 2 poems for peer review (20 points).

Juliet Patterson The Truant Lover "American Reverie," (38) Robert Hass, "Meditation at Lagunitas" (from the photocopy packet)

Twelve

11/14

Juliet Patterson The Truant Lover "From the Velocities" (39), "45 RPM" (40), "New Year's Eve," (43), "Stolen from a Branch" (70).
In-class exercises: Here/Where You Are (from "New Year's Eve"), and "weird logic" (from "From the Velocities").

11/16

Juliet Patterson at 3:30 in MC 404. Attend if you can, but not required.
Response essay due on Echolalia. Read either of the reviews (Stride magazine or Diagram magazine) of Echolalia and respond with your thoughts on the book (based on your reading of it, Deborah's in-class appearance, and her reading in the recital hall). Answer any of the following questions: do you agree with the reviewers that this is good, innovative poetry? what's the value of poetry that uses language in these ways? within the book, what poems do you find most instructive to you, as a writer? Use specific references to the review and to Deborah's poems to support your thoughts & opinions. I'll be looking to see that you're engaging Deborah's works in a sincere effort to learn from her poems. Use MLA style for formatting quotations, but don't worry about a works cited page.
7:00 PM--Juliet Patterson reads at the Pump House. Required attendance.

Thirteen

11/21

Small group poem workshops--everyone brings 4 copies of 2 poems for peer review (20 points).
Fiction revisions due

11/23

THANKSGIVING

Fourteen

11/28

Instructions for portfolio (see syllabus).
Instructions for Individual Readings (see below).
Resume poetry workshop from 11/21.
List exercise--based on Billy Collins's "Picnic, Lightning" in the photocopy packet.
Response essay due on Juliet Patterson. Choose one shorter poem of Juliet's that you connected to. Then compare that poem to one of Deborah's shorter poems that you connected to. What are the differences in how these poems work. Perhaps there are differences in subject matter, but try to go beyond those. How do the poems differ in terms of how they use the page? How do the poems differ in terms of how they move forward from one idea to the next to the next to the next? How do they differ in terms of a sense of completeness or wholeness at the end? Certainly, there may be ways the poems are similar, too, and those are worth mentioning, also, but focus on the things that make the poems different. Conclude by suggesting some things you might learn, as a young writer, from how these poems work.

11/30

Small group poem workshops--everyone brings 4 copies of 2 poems (new or revised) for peer review.

Poems due.

Fifteen

INDIVIDUAL READINGS: each of you will have 15 minutes to present a sampling of your semester's work. You should read excerpts from at least two of the three genres we've worked in--creative non-fiction, fiction, and poetry--and should provide some introductory material for each piece. In that introductory material, I'd like to see you talk about what you were intending to accomplish, any influences from our course readings, and how you think the piece is working, at its current stage. The reading will be worth 25 points (this is an additional 25 points, not on the syllabus, so the total points for the course will now be 1025, instead of 1000). I will evaluate your reading based purely on your apparent level of preparedness and the clarity of your presentation.

12/5

Individual readings: Reuben, Leah, Mark, Amanda, Jonathan

12/7

Individual readings: Becca, Lindsay, Zach, Nathan, Henry

Final Exam Period

Friday, 12/15: 7:40 - 9:40 AM

Portfolio due

to course syllabus to Viterbo Home to Viterbo library

to Bill Stobb's home page to English Department home page