Helpful Resources for the Serious Writer

Amy Holman, An Insider's Guide to Creative Writing Programs: Choosing the Right MFA or MA Program, Colony, Residency,Grant or Fellowship, Prentice Hall Press, 2006.

Wendy Bishop, Keywords in Creative Writing, Utah State University Press, 2006.

Required Resources

Frequent access to email, the Web, Blackboard, and a word processor. Materials for the final chapbook, which at minimum will be a folder with at least 23 pages of paper.

Aims of this Course

• to complete a chapbook of fiction and/or poetry;
• to learn beginning skills necessary for writing short fiction and poetry;
• to help you locate and explore your own centers of interest in a setting both supportive and challenging;
• to learn how to access local and national resources for creative writers;
• to improve critical awareness, which includes understanding the standards and expectations of various literary communities, especially within the established (noncommericial, non-mass market) fine arts;
• to understand "literature" as both corpus of knowledge to be studied and as ongoing, evolving, living enterprise;
• to enjoy stories and poems, and to explore a variety of course readings for models.

In some ways this class is like the proverbial arts enclave:  a comfortable meeting place for writers who are seeking the support, feedback, and stimulation of other writers. We sit down together, share and discuss our writing. That's the gist of it.

This is also an academic experience, of course, and I do need to ultimately assign a grade for each student. Though much of the class is student-directed and open, you'll complete some assigned projects as well as a self-published chapbook.

Grades

Grading is based on a simple point system, in which your aim is to earn as close to 100 as possible. You’ll start the semester with 0, then earn credit for the coursework described below. To arrive at a specific number of points for a given assignment, I generally first assign a grade where Outstanding=A; Very Good=B; Fair=C; Poor=D; Unacceptable=F. I then fine-tune that letter grade judgment with points.

At the end of the term, I tally the points you've earned for all course work and determine a semester grade where

88-100 pts. = A
75-87 pts. = B
62-74 pts. = C
49-61 pts. = D
below 49 = F

Workshop (10 pts.)

Workshopping is the heart of this course: good-spirited, large-group discussion of work written by class members. Everyone must submit material for workshop at least twice, though you are free (time permitting) to submit more. Each session earns you 5 pts., for a max of 10. Click here for full instructions. Note too that some of our workshop sessions will likely be conducted online as written critiques.

You will complete an assortment of short exercises, in-class writing, quizzes, Blackboard postings, brief small-group projects, writing prompts, excursions outside the classroom, and any number of mysterious and challenging something-somethings. Expect the unexpected. Daily work of this sort is worth a check-plus, check, or check-minus. Please note, however: I reserve the right to adjust your end-of-semester numerical score to account for an especially weak or strong showing in your flapdoodle work. I'll always alert you well in advance if your grade is in serious danger.

Projects (45 pts. or 45% of semester grade)

The projects are assignments designed to give you practice with a variety of skills and approaches. Everyone will turn in a draft for written instructor feedback. Any project draft may be used as a workshop submission, and any completed project may be included in your chapbook and count as chapbook credit.

You will complete the following:

Cyber Class (check system)

Work completed independently, as part of our hybrid course arrangement, receives a check-plus, check, check-minus, or minus. This record will be factored subjectively into my overall assessment of your performance at the end of the term. That is, a semester record of especially weak or strong performance in your cyber class work may result in a adjustment of your semester score toward a higher or lower final grade. I'll always alert you well in advance if your grade is in serious danger. Cyber class work will likely overlap with our other weekly work (hoodoo-flapdoodle).

Each week's cyber class work is due by class time on Fri.

Chapbook (30 pts. possible or 30% of semester total)

"A tree crying out to be covered with leaves."

Your chapbook will be a self-published collection of your completed stories and/or poems. It will contain work which has been conscientiously revised (mainly with the help of workshop feedback), may include your projects as well as other pieces you've written independently, and may also include any hoodoo-flapdoodle material which evolved into usable work. Click here for full chapbook instructions.

Portfolio (15 pts. possible or 15% of semester total)

What To Do If You Miss a Class

Late or Missed Course Work

Workshop

Workshop activity (whether you are critiquing or being critiqued) may be completed late with timely and sufficient notice to the instructor and the class. Any late written material should go in the Late Work forum of our Bb Discussion Board.

Hoodoo and Flapdoodle

This work can be made up within a week of the time it was assigned. Any late material should go in the Late Work forum of our Bb Discussion Board and you should inform me that you've turned it in.

Cyber Class

This work can be made up and/or revised any time between the three respective check sessions.

Chapbook and Portfolio

These are handed in at the end of the term and will not be accepted after midnight on May ____. Exceptions are only made with documented evidence of serious harship or illness.

Feel free to visit, call, or email me if you ever have questions or concerns.

Disclaimer! I believe in the creative as well as practical value of spontaneity. I also believe that disorder is always there, lurking in any plan or scheme no matter how carefully devised— especially my own. I therefore reserve the right, if the occasion warrants it, and with ample advance notice to you, to alter some of the details on this page as the semester progresses. Fundamental aspects of the course, such as basic requirements and aims, will not change.

A Note to English Majors

During their senior year, English majors generally enroll in the English Capstone course (Engl 467), during which they assemble a portfolio containing representative written work from NDSU English courses. The English Department evaluates these portfolios to assess its undergraduate programs, analyzing how student work meets departmental outcomes. In order to facilitate the preparation of senior portfolios, English majors are encouraged to save copies of their written work (in electronic and hard copy) each semester.

Departmental Outcomes

This course meets at least three English Dept. outcomes:

• Outcome 1: English majors will be able to write and speak effectively for a variety of purposes and audiences in a variety of genres and media.
• Outcome 2: English majors will be able to read (analyze, interpret, critique, evaluate) written and visual texts.
• Outcome 7: English majors will develop professionalism exhibited in such qualities as self-direction, cooperation, civility, reliability, and care in editing and presenting the final product.

General Education Outcomes

This course has been approved for the Humanities and Fine arts category in General Education because it 1) “promotes the appreciation of aesthetics and the expression of creativity”; and 2) “systematically explores cultural and intellectual forces shaping events, individual expression, and social values.”

The course meets the following General Education Outcomes:

#1: “Communicate effectively in a variety of contexts and formats.”

#6: “Integrate knowledge and ideas in a coherent and meaningful manner.”

Americans with Disabilities Statement/Students with Special Needs

Any students with disabilities or other special needs, who need special accommodations in this course are invited to share these concerns or requests with the instructor as soon as possible.

Student Conduct

All interactions in this course including interactions by email, weblogs, discussion boards, or other online methods will be civil and students will demonstrate respect for one another. Student conduct at NDSU is governed by the Code of Student Behavior. See http://www.ndsu.edu/ndsu/vpsa/code/ for more information.

University Statement on Academic Honesty

All work in this course must be completed in a manner consistent with NDSU University Senate Policy, Section 335: Code of Academic Responsibility and Conduct. http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/policy/335.htm

Any instances of deliberate plagiarism in English 323 will result in an F for the course.