English 190:
Creative Writing
Winter 2006
Ms. Mary Rosalez
rosalez@alma.edu
Office: SAC 334
Phone: 463-7270

Office Hours: M 2:30 – 4:30
T  1:00-3:00 or by appt.
Trusting your own mind is essential for writing.  Words come out of the mind ~ Natalie Goldberg, wild mind

Course Description
I want to open this syllabus with three statements: One – Creative writing only becomes good creative writing with time, practice, and lots of work.Two – Good creative writing comes from creative reading.  You can’t have one without the other.Three – I cannot teach you how to be a good creative writer; I can only guide you.

These three statements will shape our entire semester.   Thus you will be writing an awful lot—every single day—but you will also be throwing away a lot of crap.  You will be reading a lot.  And I will do everything I can to help you.  In a perfect world, you would be sitting here just out of a love of learning and I wouldn’t have to give you anything but kudos; as it is, you are here for a grade and I have to give you one.  I will do my best to make this as objective as possible.  Most of all, though, this class will be fun—and it will be a lot of work.  Those who love to write don’t mind working at it.  If you don’t love to write, I hope you change your mind by the end of this semester!

Required Texts

Writing Down the Bones – Natalie Goldberg
Good Poems – Garrison Keillor
A Relative Stranger – Charles Baxter
Bash – Neil Labute
The Next American Essay – John D’Agata

Course Goals:

1. To help you notice things—details, images, comparisons, moments of truth
2. To help you express yourself artistically with words
3. To help you create and explore various kinds of poetry, short fiction, drama, and creative nonfiction
4. To create a supportive atmosphere where we can be kind yet honest and constructive with each other
5. To let you share some of your writing in a public reading and to submit it to OffKILTer
6. To leave this course feeling that you want to write more

Writing

Drafts: (25%) Every Friday you will hand in at least three pages of new writing—poems, a short story or part of one, some drama, an essay or part of one—basically whatever you have been working on that week.  These will not be graded but you will receive credit with checks based on your effort and your response to the things we have been working on.  Other drafts—second, third…tenth—may be handed in at any time, whenever you have another draft and would like more feedback and, again, will receive credit with checks.  Each piece that you decide to keep working on must go through at least four revisions at some point during the semester—and every revision must go by me before I will grade the piece.  Final drafts will appear in your portfolio and will only be graded at that point.  More info in a handout.

Portfolios: (50%) You will have two portfolios due during the semester, one at mid-term and one during finals.  Each will be graded on a 4.0 scale, with the midterm valued 1/3 and the final 2/3.  So if you got a 3.5 midterm and a 2.4 final, your portfolio grade would be a 2.7 (a B/C) for half your final grade.  I will provide a detailed handout of the required contents of your portfolios, but the important thing to remember now is to SAVE EVERYTHING, all your drafts, etc.  This doesn’t just mean hard copy drafts, but also when you type a draft, save it as draft 1, then when you revise, don’t type over draft 1 but save it as draft 2, etc. 

Participation: (25%) While it is not particularly easy to grade something as subjective as participation, because of the nature of the class I think it is both possible and important for you to feel some obligation to contribute to our class sessions and to the shaping of knowledge.  Your grade, however, doesn’t only depend on showing up and talking a lot.  It also depends on your willingness to ask questions, challenge ideas, be prepared, show courtesy, connect with other comments, and demonstrate a desire to construct knowledge.  All of this occurs only when you read the material and engage in class discussions, do your journals, etc.  And since this is worth 25% of your grade, you obviously cannot do well in this class without this.  For most, this isn’t a problem, but those who most often lose participation points are those who don’t come to class.  A handout details this more clearly.

Journals: Most class periods will begin with a brief freewriting session based on some prompt (these will vary).  What you write during these freewrites need never be seen by anyone but yourself; they are meant to get your brain moving, your hand moving, you words flowing.  These will serve as grist for your poetry and stories.  They are, however, ultimately important; they are the basic ingredient of the course.  Being in class and keeping your hand going during this time will also be part of your participation grade.

Presentations: You will have to do one presentation for each genre for a total of four presentations.  These presentations will consist of a “performance” of a piece and some analysis and explication of what you have read, then you will lead a follow-up discussion of the piece.  The purpose is for you to help others understand the piece: its meaning, construction, diction, etc.   These will be considered as part of your participation grade.

Friday Workshops: Each Friday, when you bring your pages to class to turn in, you will also bring extra copies to class to share with others in a group.  This will be a time for you to get feedback from others besides me—I’m certainly not the only person who knows how to read and appreciate creative writing.  Being in class on Fridays will be extremely important and, again, working well in these workshops will be part of your participation grade.

Other Business
Blackboard:   I like to use Blackboard (Bb) to reduce paper and confusion.  One of the things I do is post all assignments for the following class period, so if you miss class and want to know what, if any, homework is due, please check Bb; don’t email me (unless, of course, I forget to post the homework!). All handouts will also be on Bb.

Plagiarism: It is a crime, literally, to say you wrote something when you didn’t.  Plagiarism means using someone else’s words and calling them yours.  If I suspect that you have turned in something you did not write, I will ask for evidence of originality: freewriting, journaling, etc.  If indeed you have plagiarized, you will be immediately dismissed from my class.  I have no tolerance for cheating in this course.  Hand in crap if that’s all you have, but don’t insult me and compromise your integrity.  Besides, you’d be surprised: sometimes crap can fertilize excellent writing.  (For details on AC’s academic integrity policy, see page 30 of the Academic Catalog or go to http://www.alma.edu/content/catalog/1-college_regulations.php).

Late Work:  Because of the nature of this course, handing things in when they are due is essential.  I can only provide feedback on work you have turned in.  What this means is that I will not accept late work.  If you don’t turn in your drafts on Friday, you get a zero.  If you aren’t prepared for your presentation, zero.  Plain and simple.  If you are absent for whatever reason but still have your work done, feel free to email it to me by class time and you will still receive credit.

Attendance: It is very difficult to succeed in this course without regular attendance.  So I’ll give you 3 freebees—you don’t need to tell me anything at all.  However, for every absence beyond three, I will lower your grade by one-half letter grade. (E.g. If your course grade is a “B” and you have four unexcused absences, your final grade will be a “B/C”) Please contact me promptly if you are having problems and cannot attend class. If you know you will be absent on a particular day, please see me at least one week in advance to make arrangements.  Remember, though, that participation cannot be made up.

Breakdown of Grade Values:
Drafts                            25%
Portfolios                      50%
Participation                  25%
Total                            100%

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