Creative Writing Syllabus - Garces Memorial High Schoolteachers.garces.org/mdetloff/Creative Writing Syllabus (B).pdf · Creative Writing Syllabus Instructor: ... Writing Journals

Garces Memorial High School Creative Writing (AY 2017-18)

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Creative Writing

Syllabus

Instructor: Mr. Mark Detloff

Garces Memorial High School

(661) 327-2578

www.garces.org

email: [email protected]

Course Description: This course is designed to encourage students to explore and expand their

creative faculties and abilities, and to facilitate student writing in the areas of

short fiction, poetry, drama, and historical fiction. Students will engage and

critique numerous exemplary texts while at the same time developing an

ongoing process for self-reflection concerning their own creative work. As a

means to foster group discussion and as a method to garner feedback, students

will be asked to write formal responses to other student work throughout the

course. Instruction in various literary techniques will direct the student’s

writing, culminating in the completion of a self-selected “goal project” at the

end of each semester.

Student Outcomes: 1. Students will become familiar with the concepts of literature, particularly the

elements of poetry, fiction, and drama.

2. Students will employ the concepts of literature to analyze professional texts.

3. Students will employ the concepts of literature to write their own original

manuscripts. Once finished with the course, students will have written several

poems, stories, and dramatic scenes.

4. Students will employ the concepts of literature to evaluate critically the

quality of their own manuscripts and the manuscripts of others.

5. Students will learn to revise manuscripts based upon the critical evaluations

received in writing workshops.

Texts and Materials:

Thiel, Diane. Crossroads: Creative Writing in four Genres. New York:

Pearson/Longman, 2005.

Lawerence, Jerome and Robert E. Lee. Inherit the Wind. Ballantine Books:

Random House. 2003.

3-Ring binder (or folder) for handouts

Loose-leaf paper (or spiral notebook)

Pens and pencils

Access to computer, laptop, or tablet (iPad)

Flash drive or online computer folder for storing all class work.


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Grades: Grades will be determined according to the total amount of points accumulated.

Typically, assignments fit into the following categories:

10 pts. – Classroom assignments or short homework assignments (almost daily)

20 pts. – Writing Journals (collected and scored three times per semester)

20 pts. – Tests/quizzes (infrequent checks for understanding)

40 pts. – Contemporary Reading Report

50 pts. – Workshop Submission (three per semester)

50 pts. – Workshop Critique (at least two, but others may be assigned)

200 pts. – Self-selected “Goal Project” (end of semester assessment)

Assignments:

Classwork/Homework

These are short, technique driven exercises designed to practice literary

devices and forms as they are presented in class. While ample time will be

given in class to work on daily assignments, occasionally the student may

need to finish the tasks at home.

Writing Journals

Students will be expected to keep an ongoing writing journal throughout

the semester. These are informal reflections on the various writing

experiences throughout the course, exploring in more detail the difficulties

and the successes, the struggles and the breakthroughs, the conceptual

justifications and the textual revisions. In short, they are self-reflections on

the student’s individual writing progress. Students will also be encouraged

to use the journals as a means to practice and explore their craft.

Contemporary Reading Report

As students progress through the course, they are requested to read a work

by a contemporary author (something published within the last five years).

This could be a novel, a collection of short stories or poems, a drama, or a

work of historical fiction. While reading the contemporary text, students will

keep a simple reading log, and once finished with the text, the student will

give an oral report to the class.

Workshop (submissions and critiques)

Students will need to submit at least three samples of original work for class

discussion. These may be extensions or revisions of daily class assignments,

part of the “goal project,” or something else entirely new. The class

discussion will be led by the student who wrote the formal critique.


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Goal Project

This is intended to be the one major project the student is working toward

the entire semester. This could be a collection of poems, a short story or

two (depending on length), a chapter from a novel, or part of a play or film

script. Students will meet with the instructor early in the semester to

determine the nature and parameters of their self-selected “goal project”.

Several follow-up meetings will be conducted throughout the semester to

assess progress and to determine completion date.

Tests and Quizzes

Since this course is primarily a workshop oriented experience, there will be

only a few tests or quizzes (ones essentially designed to assure mastery of

the literary techniques addressed in class).


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1st Semester Calendar

Week 1: Introduction to course

Creative Process & sources of inspiration

[Crossroads – “Memory and Imagination” and “Telling Lies to tell the Truth”]

Assignment: Inspiration Cards – students create a fictional response based on

inspirational quotes/images/famous speeches/movie scenes (etc.)

Week 2: Sharing Favorites & Establishing Writing Journals and Reading Projects

Bring in a favorite piece of writing and explain its impact

[Crossroads – “Keeping a journal”]

Assignment: Set-up writing journal and establish reading project.

(Authors on Writing – excerpts, video clips, interviews)

Week 3: Building Blocks of Fiction (Character Profiles)

[Crossroads – “Inside a Character’s Mind”]

Assignment: Character Profiles – Students fill out a profile for characters in an upcoming

assignment.

Week 4: Building Blocks of Fiction (Character Sketches); Establish “Goal Project”

Various characters (samples from literary fiction)

[Crossroads – “Populating a Piece” and “vignettes”]

Assignment: Students use the character profiles created earlier to write sketches or

vignettes; submit work for Workshop 1.

Week 5: Building Blocks of Fiction (Character & Dialogue) and Workshop 1

Literary Samples (“Hills Like White Elephants” and “Misery”)

[Crossroads – “Compelling Characters” and “Writing Between the Lines: Subtext”]

Assignment: Characters in Conversation; Workshop 1

Week 6: Building Blocks of Fiction (Setting & Plot); Writing Journals Due

Literary Sample (“How I Met My Husband”)

[Crossroads – “Setting the Story” and “Populating a Plot”]

Assignment: Write two scenes, complete a plot chart; submit work for Workshop 2


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Week 7: Conflict, Tension, and Point-of-View; Workshop 2

Literary Sample (“The Wife’s Story”); numerous excerpts with different POV

[Crossroads – “A Spell of Trouble: Conflict and Tension” and “How You See It”]

Assignment: Create a single moment from three Points-of-view; Workshop 2

Week 8: Voice, Tone, and Style

[Crossroads – “A Question of Style,” “Conditional Voice,” and “Shifting Tone”]

Assignment: Create a mini-story or fragment of a short story emphasizing voice, tone,

style.

Week 9: Catch-up; Workshop 3

Assignment: Catch-up; Workshop 3

Week 10: Introduction to Poetry; Check on “Goal Project”

Poetry Smorgasbord – Students are presented numerous poems

Assignment: Dialectical Reading Journals for three poems

Week 11: Poetry – Diction; Writing Journals Due

Literary Samples (“Jabberwocky” & Humpty Dumpty’s Interpretation; “Poetry,” Moore)

[Crossroads – “Origins of Words” and “Parts of Speech”]

Assignment: Word Shuffle (ala “magnetic poetry”) & Word Collage

Week 12: Poetry – Imagery; Workshop 4

Literary Samples (“The Forge,” Heaney; “A Knife,” Kavadias; “Spice,” Lindner)

[Crossroads – “Using All of Your Senses” and “Sound, Sense, and Nonsense”]

Assignment: Imagery from Images (students write verse from various images using as

much of the senses as possible); Workshop 4

Week 13: Poetry – Figurative Language

Literary Samples (“The Road Not Taken,” Frost; “The Writer,” Wilbur)

[Crossroads – “Making Metaphor: Image, Symbol, Metaphor Revisited”]

Assignment: Verse Samples (metaphor, personification, symbol)


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Week 14: Poetry – Rhythm, Rhyme, and Meter; Workshop 5

Practice (in class)

[Crossroads – “Rhythm and Refrain” and “Hearing the Beat”]

Assignment: Create a poem that uses meter; Workshop 5

Week 15: Poetry – Forms vs Free Verse

Literary Samples (“My Confessional Sestina,” Gioia; “Shakespearean Sonnet,” Gwynn)

[Crossroads – “Free Verse: Origins and Seasons” and “Stanzas” and “Forms”]

Assignment: One Topic/Two Forms (students take one topic and write it in two different

poetic forms; submit work for Workshop 6.

Week 16: Poetry – Dramatic (Poems that tell a story); Workshop 6

Literary Samples (“Traveling Through the Dark,” Stafford; “Indian Education,” Alexie)

Assignment: Create a “Dramatic Poem”; Workshop 6

Week 17: Writing Journal Due; Outside Reading Report

“Goal Project” Interviews

Week 18: Goal Projects Due

Week 19: Final Exams


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2nd Semester Calendar

Week 1: Fiction vs Nonfiction vs Historical Fiction

Samples (“Memoir? Fiction? Where’s the Line?” and “Am I Blue”)

[Crossroads – “From Memory to Memoir” and “Researching a Life: Biographical Sketch”]

Assignment: Research a historical time, place, or person (to be used later)

Week 2: Historical Fiction I

Samples (Excerpts TBD)

[Crossroads – “Living Sources: Gathering and Using Information” and “Writing about

Place”]

Assignment: Nonfictional Source followed by Fictional Scene (place/setting)

Week 3: Historical Fiction II; Set-up outside reading project

[Crossroads – “A Piece of History” and “Finding the Emotional Truth”]

Assignment: Nonfictional Source followed by Fictional Scene (characters & dialogue)

Week 4: Spotlight on Inherit the Wind; Workshop 1

[Read dramatic scenes and then watch film.]

Week 5: Spotlight on Inherit the Wind; Set-up “Goal Projects”

[Read dramatic scenes and then watch film.]

Week 6: Facts vs Fiction (Scopes Monkey Trial & Inherit the Wind); Writing Journals Due

Assignment: Analytical Essay – Compare the fictional trial to the historical Scopes trial

and analyze the effectiveness of the dramatic adaptation.

Week 7: Introduction to Drama; Workshop 2

[Crossroads – “Drama in Action” and “Opening Scenes”]

Assignment: Class generates “opening scene” and then individual students finish.


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Week 8: Dramatic Tension

Sample (“Triffles”)

[Crossroads – “Writing on the Edge: Desire and Dramatic Tension” and “Dramatic Twist:

From Real to the Fantastic”]

Assignment: Drama scene with tension.

Week 9: Punching Up the Dialogue; Workshop 3

Good vs Bad Dialogue (examples)

[Crossroads – “Making Dialogue Dramatic” and “Look Who’s Talking: Unique

Characters”]

Assignment: Drama scene where the dialogue reflects character type

Week 10: Directing the Stage & Stage Direction

The physical stage and examples of stage direction

[Crossroads – “Setting the Stage”]

Assignment: Create a scene with stage direction.

Week 11: Playing around with plays; Workshop 4

Performing the scenes & revising scripts after you hear them.

Assignment: Performing scenes & revising scenes

Week 12: Moving from stage to screen (writing movie scripts)

Examples of movie scenes (accompanied by scripts)

Seeing the scene through a lens (the language of cinema)

Assignment: Starting a movie script (including camera angles)

Week 13: Including the camera in the conversation; Workshop 5

Examples of film conversations (with scripts)

Assignment: Create a dialogue for a film scene (include camera direction)

Week 14: Storyboarding for film; “Goal Project” interview; Writing Journals Due

Examples of storyboards

Assignment: Create a storyboard for a film scene


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Week 15: Filming the scene I; Workshop 6

Assignment: Use iMovie and iPads to film a scene

Week 16: Filming the scene II; Viewing the films

Assignment: Continue to use iMovie and iPads to film scene

Week 17: Writing Journal Due; Outside Reading Report

“Goal Project” Interviews

Week 18: Goal Projects Due

Week 19: Final Exams

Documents

Creative Writing Syllabus - Garces Memorial High Schoolteachers.garces.org/mdetloff/Creative Writing Syllabus (B).pdf · Creative Writing Syllabus Instructor: ... Writing Journals