Department of English, Foreign Languages, Journalism
Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences
English 386 -- Creative Writing, Poetry
Course Syllabus -Spring 2003
Instructor: Bill Church
Office: SS/C 222-O
Phone: 816 271-5966
email: church@missouriwestern.edu
Office Hours: 1 - 2 MW, 12:00- 1:30 TTh, and by appointment
Class Meeting Time and Room: 9:30 - 10:50, TTh, MC211
Required texts: The Practice of Poetry, Behn & Twichell, 2002 Mochila Review
Students with Disabilities: Anyone who has a disability that prevents the fullest expression of her or his potential to succeed in this course must notify me in writing as soon as possible so we may discuss course requirements, options, and accommodations.
Course Description: Creative writing is hard, serious work. It is a study of language as demanding as any literature or linguistics course. By reading our texts, creating our own work, and seeking feedback on it, we will learn methods of writing and revising, forms to use, and standards for judging poetry. We will regularly complete exercises from our text in hopes that they trigger poems. Otherwise, this course will be a primarily a guided workshop atmosphere in which we create original poetry, share it, critique it, and revise it until it becomes for readers an experience worth remembering. Creative writing courses provide stimulation, inspiration, and motivation. They provide a forum and an audience, myself being but one member of that audience. Your regular attendance and full engagement as both reader and writer, therefore, are crucial to the success of this class and your success in it.
Goals:
* To create quality poetry in a variety of poetic forms
* To foster aesthetic distance from your work and sharpen your judgement of it
* To sharpen your aesthetic judgement of other writers' work
* To learn and apply a variety of writing techniques
* To read for craft and technique
* To respect and value the orality of poetry
* To practice and appreciate extensive revision
* To become conversant with key terms
* To seek distinctions between poetry and other genres
Methods:
* Analyze published poetry collectively and individually, orally and in writing,
* Draft a minimum of one poem per week
* Revise ten of those poems for your final portfolio
* Write cover letters analyzing your drafts and revisions
* Participate in public poetry readings
* Write a final exam in which you analyze your semester's growth
Grading:
To pretend that the grading of all writing is not at least partially subjective would in itself be a fiction. With that in mind, I'll divide your grading into two categories.
Objective Components
1. Required number of poems, correctly formatted and submitted on deadline
2. Number of revisions submitted on deadline
3. Cover letters completed to length on deadline
4. Final exam completed to length
5. Acceptable quiz scores
6. Critiques written to required length and submitted on deadline
7. Regular, punctual attendance
8. Participation (reading your original work) in one open-mic session.
The reading may be on or off campus, so long as I can attend to evaluate.
Subjective Components
1. Quality of drafts
2. Quality of revisions
3. Quality of critiques
4. Quality of cover letters
5. Quality of final exam
Students who satisfy all the objective components will have earned a C for the class, unless the work shows utter disregard for craft, clarity, and correctness. Students who wish to earn higher grades will want to concentrate on quality. While quality is a judgement call, it is far from capricious. When evaluating, I will concentrate on technique and especially on your willingness to apply the techniques we will be learning. Genuine effort that shows genuine learning, as proven in your revisions, cover letters, and final exam, will go far toward earning the higher grades because the quality will improve.
The highest grades will go to the students whose effort, intellect, and talent allow them to produce the most engaging and well crafted writing. Portfolios from these writers will contain multiple drafts of every work, thoughtful reflective letters, and thoughtful questions for me to answer. Likewise, students who receive the highest grades will have received the highest quiz scores, contributed meaningfully to class discussions, offered insightful and encouraging feedback to peers, and met all deadlines for drafting and submitting work, in addition to fulfilling the attendance requirements.
Additional Opportunities:
First, I highly recommend that you attend as many open-mic readings as possible to listen and to share your work. Several will be held on campus and in the community throughout the spring. You will gain immeasurably from hearing others read and learning how others respond to your work. Second, the Mochila Review would welcome your assistance reading manuscripts, which would let you interact with poetry submitted by publishing writers. Good writers are always good readers. Both of the above opportunities will make you a better writer, increasing your chances for earning high grades and getting published. Please understand that these aren't "bonus" points. They are simply opportunities to accelerate your growth.
Midterm grades:
I do not want this class to be about grades. I do understand that your grades are important to you, for many reasons: scholarships, pride, accomplishment. Mine were important to me. Rest assured, your semester grades will fairly reflect your effort and ability. The problem with midterms, however, is that grades too early can discourage writers. Besides, midterm grades appear nowhere in your records. They are merely an act of communication, primarily to tell you if you are failing a class.
I encourage you to continue improving your work until we run out of semester. Although I will provide you feedback on every major project, I will not assign letter grades to individual pieces. The only letter grade I will assign is the one on your complete portfolio due Tuesday, April 22. At midterm, I will submit a "C" for students whose work is complete to date and whose absences are below the limit. I will submit an "F" for students whose work is incomplete or grossly unacceptable and/or who have exceeded the absence limit.
Attendance:
* you may miss all or part of two classes without penalty beyond missed points;
* the third and fourth absences (more than ten minutes of any class) will lower your final
grade by one-half letter per absence;
* the fifth absence results in an automatic "F," and you should withdraw immediately;
* I reserve the right to waive the penalties for extenuating circumstances, though I accept no obligation to do so.
Because so much of the content of this class involves working with manuscripts in progress, attendance is crucial. Although all of us will occasionally experience an emergency or illness that causes us to miss class or arrive late, students who succeed will minimize absences and tardiness.
Excused Absences: Common sense must prevail. I may grant special consideration to students who can document extenuating circumstances or who are representing MWSC. However, students need to notify me of planned outings in advance and turn in their work or take their quizzes before each absence. I may verify the absences of students representing the college by contacting the appropriate MWSC personnel.
Portfolio: Your complete portfolio is due Tuesday, April 22, at the beginning of class. It is to include everything you have generated except for class notes and quizzes. Please keep everything, including mine and your peers' comments, as well as copies of all the critiques you gave your peers. Please please please save all of your work on at least two disks. If at all possible, save to a ZIP disk and to a hard drive. The more precautions, the better. Also, label your drafts so you can tell which is which instantly. As for the portfolio cover, you need nothing elaborate, though you may be as elaborate as you like. The packaging will have no bearing on your grade.
Academic Honesty: I know you're not here to cheat, but I'm required to post this warning. It's simple. If I determine a student has tried to present another writer's work as his/her own, the project receives a zero with no opportunity for revision. Any student who cheats twice receives an F for the course. Students allowing someone else to use their work are just as guilty as students taking credit for what they didn't write. Therefore, the cheater who supplies material receives the same penalty. In addition, I will forward in writing the names and acts of all involved students to the chairperson of the English department and to the Dean of Students. The burden of proof is on the student, so the best defense is for students to keep all their drafts and notes that led to the questionable work.
Make-up Work: This course doesn't lend itself to make-up work. When we read and discuss works in class, we can't recreate that experience. Nor can in-class writings and group work be recreated later. And obviously I can't allow make-up quizzes after we've gone over the answers in class, which we will always do. Therefore, in most cases, missed work is permanently missed. If you miss class, please be sure to have your assignment ready for the next meeting.
Classroom behavior: As stated in the MWSC Student Handbook, instructors "may establish additional classroom rules and expectations for conduct in the classroom. Behavior which disrupts the classroom environment or interferes with other students' ability to learn may be grounds or justification for dismissal from the classroom" (28). Sleeping, conducting private conversations, using computers for other than assigned purposes, eating, drinking, damaging property, and using vulgar or deliberately offensive language are some of the more common acts that can damage the learning environment. Likewise, all telephones are to be silent during class time. No headphones may be worn, no music listened to, no homework done for other classes. Let's establish a cordial and respectful atmosphere in which we can have fun while learning together.
Final Exam: Tuesday, May 6, 8:30 - 10:20