335
Creative Writing 1
ENGL 335
Spring 2020
Calendar Description
Designed to assist students with an interest in developing their creative writing skills in various genres, this course consists of supervised practice, discussions of craft, and peer critiques.
Course Description
Students joining ENGL 335 should have a basic understanding of creative writing genres and an interest in developing their writing skills. The course materials, readings and assignments are aimed at expanding students' knowledge of writing techniques, critical analysis and editing strategies.
The course will focus on poetry and prose writing through one major project scaffolded over the 12-week term. By the end of the course, students will have a complete, edited and polished written work to submit. We will work together though online discussion forums and workshops to ensure each student receives sufficient feedback to develop their work.
This course focuses on workshops that depend on classmates sharing their work and ideas. If you have any concerns about sharing your work, please contact me as soon as possible to arrange an option that is more stable for you.
From the beginning of the term, students will choose a genre (poetry or prose) for their final project and work on gradually constructing a short story (fiction or non-fiction) or a chapbook of poems. Descriptions for each of these projects can be found under "Final Project" page in the "Assignments and Activities" section.
Students have three major commitments in this course spread out over a 12 week period:
- Contribute to weekly group discussions (25 points).
- Participate in peer review workshops and peer critique (45 points) .
- Complete the final project (30 points).
Check out the grade breakdown grade breakdown here.
Learning Outcomes
Through this course students will:
- develop writing skills and techniques in order to produce effective creative written work.
- learn how to give and receive feedback from peers through workshops and group discussions.
- complete and develop a final written project ready for publication.
Texts and Materials
All reading materials will be provided through Learn. Under "Contents" you will find a section for weekly reading materials and another for additional resources. The reading materials will be part of our weekly discussions; you can find the required reading/ discussion topic on the schedule. In the "Additional Resources" section, I will include articles and links to websites related to writing strategies and techniques.
Contact Information
Post your course-related questions to the Ask the Instructor discussion topic. This allows other students to benefit from your question as well.
Questions of a personal nature can be directed to your instructor.
Instructor: Lamees Al Ethari
lalethari@uwaterloo.ca
Your instructor checks email and the Ask the Instructor discussion topic frequently and will make every effort to reply to your questions within 24–48 hours, Monday to Friday.
Schedule
|
Week |
Readings & Discussion Topics |
Activities & Assignments |
Due Date |
Points |
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Week 1 May 11- May 17 |
Introduce Yourself |
Create a Video |
2.5 |
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|
Morley, “Chapter 5: Processes of Creative Writing” (pp. 125-133) Schneider, “Introduction: Writing with Others” (pp. 177- 181) |
Submit Your Project Choice |
Closes: Sunday, May 17 (11:30 pm) |
5 (out of 30 points of the Final Project mark) |
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Week 2 May 19- May 25 |
Images and Details Burroway, “Concrete, Significant Details” Minot, “Chapter 4: Images: The Essential Element” |
Participate in the Weekly Discussion Topic |
Closes: Monday, May 25 (11:30 pm) |
2.5 |
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Submit Section 1 of Your Project to “Draft Share 1” Short Story: 500-600 Words OR Chapbook: 2-3 Poems |
Closes: Monday, May 25 (11:30 pm) |
1 (out of 5 points for the Workshop mark) |
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Week 3 May 25- May 31 |
Building Characters Burroway, “Chapter 4: Character” |
Participate in the Weekly Discussion Topic |
Closes: Sunday, May 31 (11:30 pm) |
2.5 |
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|
Tobias Wolff, “Bullet in the Brain” |
Participate in Workshop 1 |
Closes: Sunday, May 31 (11:30 pm) |
5 |
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Week 4 June 1- June 7 |
Settings Bailey, “The lesser Angels of Fiction: Setting and Time” Excerpt from Lien Chao’s Narrative Long Poem, “Silence of the Wild Land: Qing Ming, Homebound for Mt. Hua Bao” |
Participate in the Weekly Discussion Topic |
Closes: Sunday, June 7 (11:30 pm) |
2.5 |
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Submit Section 2 of Your Project Short Story: 500-600 Words to “Draft Share 2” OR Chapbook: 2-3 Poems |
Closes: Sunday, June 7 (11:30 pm) |
1 (out of 5 points for the Workshop mark) |
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Week 5 June 8- June 14 |
Sound Minot, “The Sound of Words” Scholes, Comely, Klaus and Staines, “Music” |
Participate in the Weekly Discussion Topic |
Closes: Sunday, June 14 (11:30 pm) |
2.5 |
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Participate in Workshop 2 |
Closes: Sunday, June 14 (11:30 pm) |
5 |
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Week 6 June 15- June 21 |
No Discussions |
Submit Section 3 of Your Project Short Story: 500-600 Words to “Draft Share 3” OR Chapbook: 2-3 Poems |
Closes: Sunday, June 21 (11:30 pm) |
1 (out of 5 points for the Workshop mark) |
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Submit Peer Review Analysis 1 |
Closes: Sunday, June 21 (11:30 pm) |
10 |
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Week 7 June 21- June 28 |
Voice and POV Burroway, “Voice” Bailey, “Dialogue” |
Participate in the Weekly Discussion Topic |
Closes: Sunday, June 28 (11:30 pm) |
2.5 |
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Participate in Workshop 3 |
Closes: Sunday, June 28 (11:30 pm) |
5 |
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Week 8 June 29- July 6 |
Developing the Plot Bailey, “The ‘Why?’ Behind the Power of the Plot: Shaping the Short Story” Minot, (Poetry) “Internal Order” |
Participate in the Weekly Discussion Topic |
Closes: Monday, July 6 (11:30 pm) |
2.5 |
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Submit Section 4 of Your Project Short Story: 500-600 Words to “Draft Share 4” OR Chapbook: 2-3 Poems |
Closes: Monday, July 6 (11:30 pm) |
1 (out of 5 points for the Workshop mark) |
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Week 9 July 6- July 12 |
Proofreading and Editing |
Participate in the Weekly Discussion Topic |
Closes: Sunday, July 12 (11:30 pm) |
2.5 |
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Participate in Workshop 4 |
Closes: Sunday, July 12 (11:30 pm) |
5 |
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Week 10 July 13- July 19 |
Checking In: How is the Writing Process Going? |
Participate in the Weekly Discussion Topic |
Closes: Sunday, July 19 (11:30 pm) |
2.5 |
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Submit Section 5 of Your Project Short Story: 500-600 Words to “Draft Share 5” OR Chapbook: 2-3 Poems |
Closes: Sunday, July 19 (11:30 pm) |
1 (out of 5 points for the Workshop mark) |
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Week 11 July 20- July 26 |
No Discussions |
Participate in Workshop 5 |
Closes: Sunday, July 26 (11:30 pm) |
5 |
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Submit Peer Review Analysis 2 |
Closes: Sunday, July 26 (11:30 pm) |
10 |
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Week 12 July 27 - August 2 |
Checking In: Final Edits & Polishing Your Drafts |
Participate in the Weekly Discussion Topic |
Closes: Sunday, August 2 (11:30 pm) |
2.5 |
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Submit Final Project by August 5, 2020 |
Closes: August 5 Wednesday (11:30 pm) |
30 |
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