Creative Writing

U.C. Clermont College

Spring Quarter 08

34 ENGL 211 001 CREATIVE WRITING M W F 1:00 PM    1:50 PM    CCSTUDNT 245

“There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination. Living there, you'll be free if you truly wish to be.”  Willy Wonka, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

Instructor	Assistant Professor, Dr. Joel Peckham—Ph.D. in English with a Dissertation on American Literature from The University of Nebraska, Lincoln, 1999
Office Location	CCSNYDER S272B
Office Hours	M,W,F  12pm-1:30pm
Office Phone Number	(513)558-1249
Email Address	joel_peckham@yahoo.com
Homepage	http://www.joelpeckham.com

Course Description:   This course is designed as an introductory workshop in creative writing.  Because of class size it will be impossible to have comprehensive feedback for each creative work.  But each student will receive feedback from the professor and will experience a classroom workshop on at least one occasion.  Because Clermont College offers a Junior-Level Nonfiction course, the class will focus exclusively on the genres of Poetry, Fiction, and Drama.   The readings for this class will be selected due to how they reflect each writing technique being focused on for that week.  While I do understand that artistic taste is subjective and quality depends on the context in which the work is being presented, the context of this course is that of the University and I will grade and respond to work with the assumptions and expectations that reflect that environment.  That means that I expect students to learn and write within the conventions of contemporary poetry and fiction as it is best represented in established professional publications such as Poetry, The Southern Review, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The Hudson Review, and The Cincinnati Review.  Most of the readings for the quarter will be from Heather Seller’s new textbook, The Practice of Creative Writing.  Currently that book is on order.  Therefore much of the first month’s readings will be from handouts from the professor.   Because I do not expect students to have familiarity with writing or reading contemporary poetry, fiction, or drama, the course will focus on the generation, the production, the revision, and the final editing process of creative writing.  Or as Heather Sellers calls it, “the practice” of Creative Writing.  Students should expect that they will be asked to extensively revise their work and expand their writing skills and techniques.  Just as with the learning of a musical instrument, many of the drills and exercises may seem tedious or pointless (and occasionally, just a little nuts), but they are crucial to the stimulation of creative juices and the mastery of the art—allowing us to explore the really fun stuff later on.  And just as with musical training, students may be asked to try on styles and genres that they may not ultimately wish to pursue.  I am not asking for students to become the writers I want them to be.  Rather, I wish to help them become the best writers that they can and that means practice, experimentation, hard work and a good deal of courage.  I also want to remind everyone taking this class that I expect them to have fun.  Nothing kills a good-time like a creative writing Debbi Downer—the student who is negative about everything, afraid of everything, and unwilling to try anything.  Imagine the classroom as a workshop yes, but one that could be found in Willy Wonka’s factory. 

And remember . . .

“Everything in this room is eatable. Even *I'm* eatable. But that is called cannibalism, my dear children, and is in fact frowned upon in most societies.” Willy Wonka, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

Course Materials:

Required Textbook: 

The Practice of Creative Writing, Heather Sellers

Other Materials:

Writing instruments (blue or black pens and/or pencils)

College Rule Notebook Paper

Journal Notebook

USB Portable Device

Money for photocopying your Chapbook

Student Learning Objectives: By the end of the quarter, students will be able to demonstrate the ability:

1. identify and discuss the elements of creative writing;
2. evaluate and critique poetry and fiction
3. understand and comment on the ethical issues involved in creative writing, including plagiarism, and in the literary works read and discussed in class;
4. write contemporary poetry and fiction

Course Content: 

1. Poetry: You will write, revise, and edit five poems set in the town from which you grew up, of which you know well, or which you invented. We will read other author’s works, learn terminology, and the basic skills and techniques for writing poetry.400pts

2. Short Story: You will write, revise, and edit one short story set in the town from which you grew up, of which you know well, or which you invented. We will read other author’s works, learn terminology, and the basic skills for writing fiction. If the short story does not meet the assignment requirements, you may be asked to write a second, new story, instead of writing the revision 400pts.

3. Learning Folder: Students will maintain a learning folder in which they keep in-class writings, exercises (at least 2 from each chapter), pop quizzes, and reading responses (at least 1 for each set of readings). 100pts.

4. Chapbook:  Students will create a chapbook of their best work.  It will be at least 10 pages in length and will include the best of the student’s revised work. 100pts.

NOTES ON THE WRITING PROCESS

While there is no single writing process, students must complete a specific writing process to hand in finished writing at the end of the quarter

Step 1) Complete in class all writing prompts, pre-writing, brainstorming, and free-writes on your topic

Step 2) Complete a rough draft

Step 3) Submit that rough draft for peer review

Step 4) Revise a significant portion of the work based on a specific piece of advice given by one of your peers

Step 5) Hand in the author’s letter, the original draft and the new draft (revised, typed, and saved on a computer disk). Clearly label everything.

Step 6) Sign up for an appt. with Dr. Peckham to discuss this draft

Step 7) Meet with Dr. Peckham for a 15 minute appt., receive feedback and W.C. referral, and take notes during the appt., (At this time nothing or very little will be written on the paper and no grade will be offered. This meeting is meant to warn students regarding possible grammar hotspots that they need to review and to give suggestions regarding content, organization, and style)

Step 8) Revise paper based on your notes

Step 9) Optional Go to the writing center and get feedback on your revision.

Step 10) Optional Make another appt. with Dr. Peckham for review of the paper. (I will not review a paper for a second time unless the student has already shown the paper to someone at the writing center.

Step 11) Hand in all Drafts and revisions at the end of the quarter.

WHAT IS A REVISION? PLEASE READ THIS!!!!!!!

Revisions are substantially re-written poems and stories. A revision is NOT a work that has been corrected for grammar. If there isn’t a substantial amount of revised or re-organized material I don’t need to see it yet, will not change the grade, and will feel that you are wasting my time or worse, grade-grubbing by showing it to me. Grade-grubbing is a kind of academic bullying and I don’t appreciate or reward bullying. A student must revise, both between their workshops and meetings with the professor and between their meetings with the professor and that end of the quarter and students are encouraged to revised continually and to seek out as much feedback as possible. Students must also be aware that the professor is human and therefore somewhat limited in time and resources. Students are therefore encouraged to go to the writing center for additional help before meeting with the professor about re-writes. In other words: meet with the professor, get feedback, re-write the paper, go to the writing center for feedback and then come back to see the professor (see NOTES ON THE WRITING PROCESS).

Assessment:

Students will be assessed based the grading rubrics handed out separately at the beginning of the fiction and poetry portions of the course. The rubrics will be based on scales of 400 points and will provide students with a sense of where they stand. The grade is provisional, however, and the rubric should be read as an indication of what the work would receive and where the student might focus his or her energies in revising the poems or story. The final grade will be arrived at through adding up the cumulative total of the four course requirements and averaged out of 1000 pts.

For example, a student who received the following scores--380/400 (poetry), 330/400 (fiction), 80/100 (learning folder), 85/100 (chapbook)—would have a cumulative total of 875 out of 1000 or an 87.5% (B+).

Of course I reserve the right to raise or lower a student’s grade depending upon classroom participation and / or disruption. A student who participates and contributes to the overall learning environment of the class could see a substantial increase in his or her grade. Conversely, if a student is disruptive or non-participatory in a manner that actual damages the learning environment, that student may find his or her grade substantially damaged.

Exam (chapbook and final revision submission deadline):         

CODE OF ETHICS / BYLAWS:

Mutual Respect:

All members of this writing community exist on equal terms as scholars, writers, and as human beings. All cultural backgrounds, belief systems, lifestyle choices, etc. deserve and will receive respect. Community members will address each other with appropriate decorum. Any form of discrimination and/or prejudice, verbal or otherwise, is unacceptable. Violators may be asked to leave the classroom.

Attendance:

This course is process oriented with a heavy emphasis on class participation, discussion, and revision. Missed classes, therefore, will negatively affect student grades.

Students will receive 2 "free," unexcused absences (a free absence does not mean that you can make up a pop quiz on the day you have missed). After that, each absence will result in the deduction of 50 full points from your grade total (out of 1000). An excused absence requires supporting documentation and (preferably) prior notification. Illness, Family Emergencies, University sponsored field trips, and Automobile Accidents are reasons for missing class. Hangovers, tests in other courses, dates, and defective alarm clocks are not.  At the beginning of every class I hand out a sign-in sheet for that day. If your name is not on it, you are absent. If you come into class after the sheet has been passed around, you are absent. Show up on time.

Withdrawals:  Students seeking to withdraw from the class must follow the withdrawal guidelines for the relevant quarter at UC-Clermont.

Plagiarism:  1.  Submitting another's published or unpublished work, in whole, in part, or in

paraphrase, as one's own without fully and properly crediting the author with footnotes, citations or bibliographical reference. 2.Submitting as one's own, original work, material obtained from an

individual or agency without reference to the person or agency as the source of the material. 

3.Submitting as one's own, original work, material that has been produced through unacknowledged collaboration with others without release in writing from collaborators.

ADA:  Students with Disabilities:  The policy of the University of Cincinnati Clermont College

requires students to self-identify and provide proper documentation to Jennifer Radt, 732-5327

Academic Director of Disability Services, located in the Student Services Building.