Advanced Writing and Creative Writing

							                                     Creative Writing
                                        Fall 2010

ENGW 3002.31B CREATIVE WRITING: FICTION
TH        2:10-4:40 PM         Staff
This is a fiction writing workshop. Since good writing is entwined with the art of reading
closely, we will study fiction by accomplished writers such as Grace Paley, Flannery
O’Connor, and Vladimir Nabokov, and we will pay special attention to aspects of
narrative such as building tension, constructing character, and creating a voice. Students
will explore the context and form of their own fiction, and by the end of the semester,
students will have written and revised one or two short stories or novel chapters.
This is a blended course that will meet both in person and online.
Prerequisite: ENGW 1102

ENGW 3010.31B CREATIVE NON FICTION: MEMOIR
W     11:20 AM -2:00 PM  Sorrentino

What is a memoir? How does it differ from biography, journalism, or history? Is a
memoir obliged to be fair and unbiased? What constitutes acceptable creative license,
and when, if ever, does creativity verge on intolerable fabrication? Most importantly,
how do various kinds truth emerge from the pages of the best memoirs, even when those
truths differ from the facts, or when the facts can’t possibly be known? In this course we
will consider these topics, through reading and discussion of excerpts from selected
memoirs, and structured assignments drawing on our own experiences to create brief,
nuanced works of creative nonfiction. Readings may include the work of such authors as
Edward Dahlberg, Keith Waldrop, David Shields, Frederick Exley, and other to be
announced.
Prerequisite: ENGW 1102

ENGW 3011.31B ADVANCED FICTION WRITING
TH    2:10-4:40 PM  Steinke

This is an advanced workshop course (for students who have completed Fiction Writing
I), designed to help students further develop their skills in writing fiction. By the end of
the semester, students will complete, revise, and polish at least two complete stories or
novel chapters.
This is a blended course that will meet in person and online.
Prerequisite: ENGW 1102

ENGW 3012.31B ADVANCED POETRY WRITING
T  5:25 PM-8:00 PM  Daniel
During the semester students will read and discuss poetry, contemporary and otherwise,
and then will practice writing it. In workshops, students’ work is discussed with the hope
of not only improving an individual poem but also with the hope of finding some more
general truths that might improve the future work of the entire class. In a classroom
environment that is both supportive and inspiring, students also become familiar with
many contemporary poets and their various points of view and the various traditions out
of which their work arises. Students in this advanced course will be required to work
independently and to actively seek models among contemporary poets as found in current
books, magazines, and journals.
This is a blended course that will meet both in person and online.
Prerequisite: ENGL 2001 or ENGW 3003
This course is open to students majoring in Creative Writing only.

ENGW 3020.31B READING AS A WRITER
M      2:10-4:40 PM Staff

An examination of craft and form in literary masterworks, both classic and contemporary,
from the practitioner’s perspective. Texts will be analyzed to answer the questions “How
does it work?”; “What narrative techniques or approaches to characterization does the
writer employ?”; “What are the works’ stylistic elements?”; “How can these elements be
employed in new fiction?” Students will be expected to engage in discussions, write three
analytical papers, and, using as a model one of the texts studied, generate a short work of
fiction.
This is a blended course that meets both in person and online.
Prerequisite: ENGW 1102, and ENGW 3002 or ENGW 3003
This course is open to students majoring in Creative Writing only.

ENGW 3025.31B READING SPORTS, WRITING SPORTS
TF    9:55-11:10 AM  Benson

A course in how we work sporting events into a mental narrative as we watch, talk them
through with other spectators, and refigure these representations into feature articles and
literary works. We will focus particularly on sports in America. We will watch sporting
events, live and on film, read or watch commentaries and representations of those events,
and write our own works that report, analyze, and re-imagine sporting competition.
Underlying our reading and writing will be an awareness of how sports reflects,
challenges, and interprets the conflicts, values, and identity of the larger culture and
society.
This is a blended course that will meet both in person and online.
Prerequisite: ENGW 1102


ENGW 4001.31B SENIOR WRITING PROJECT
W  11:20 AM-2:00 PM Daniel
This course is limited to students who are senior Creative Writing majors. This is a
workshop and forum for students who are completing their Senior Writing Project.
Students will prepare their final portfolio of writing in the genre of their focus (fiction,
poetry, or non-fiction). Students will read and discuss published works in all three
genres, but the focus of the course will be on student writing. Student writing will be
discussed in a workshop format and in conference with the instructor.
This is a blended course that will meet in person and online.
This course is open to Seniors only