English 502-702 Fall Semester
See attached sheets for grade assessment and more detailed assignments
Dorothy Sutton 3 hours
credit office hours: MWF 2:00-3:30;
5:30-6:00 W&F; T and Th 3:15-5:00
phone: 859-623-6071
Tue. 4:45-6; after each class & willingly by appointment
dorothy.sutton@eku.edu Other phone and / or
e-mail address: ________________________________
OBJECTIVE: studying poetry and fiction for better understanding of literature,
striving not
for marketing but for excellence (complex, honest, fresh approaches). High
school and
Junior High teachers may organize a unit on teaching creative writing on that
level in lieu of one of the assignments below. Extra assignments will be given
to graduate students.
TEXT: The Practice of Poetry by Behn and Twichell; Three Genres (Minot) optional for
undergrad
ALSO NEED: Looseleaf notebook to keep everything (See
attached sheet).
If there is any student in this class who is in need of academic accommodations
and who is registered with the Office of Services for Students with
Disabilities, please make an individual appointment with the course instructor
to discuss accommodations. Upon individual request, this syllabus can be made
available in alternative forms. If any student who is not registered with the
Office of Services for Students with Disabilities has need of academic
accommodations, please contact the Office directly either in person on the
first floor of the Turley House or by telephone at 622-1500.
SCHEDULE OF MAJOR
ASSIGNMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS
WEEK
1 Introduction to course & to each other, texts,
expectations, etc.
2 Labor day. no class.
3 Poem # 1 due from all. Always bring 16 copies (includes
one for teacher).
Work not handed in when due receives F. No
late work is accepted.
Workshop poem # 1, group I (grads.) NOTE: You
cannot explain your
work until after our discussion.; Turn in exercises
from Part One PP.
4 Workshop poem # 1 for group II (undergrad); Poem # 2 &
exercises Part 2 due; Three Genres (grads) Chapts
1-3
5 Sept 22 Poet, Editor Georgia
Review speaks to class 6-7; break; 7:30-8:30 reading Kennamer
Room Keen Johnson
6 Exercises Part Three due; Workshop group I, poem 2; 3
Genres chapts. 4-7
7 Poem # 3 due; Workshop group II, poem 2. 3 Genres chapts 8-11
8 Oct. 13 no class Columbus Day
9 Exercises from Part Four due; workshop poem 3
for group I; 3 Genres Part II Fiction, chapts. 12-14
10 Workshop poem 3, group II; exercises Part Six due. 3 Genres, more chapts on short fiction.
Grad
students bring their extra poem (poem 4)
11 Exercises Part Seven (revision); Workshop poem 4 (extra poem grad students);
Discuss short story (reserve for undergrad?) from Three Genres.
12 750-1000 word story due (1 copy to read from, 1 for
teacher); Pizza snack (bring
$1 & drink);
Group 1 reads short stories (others take notes); discuss
13 Group 2 reading & discussion as above
14 Thanksgiving
15 ALL PORTFOLIOS DUE (Keep copies of things you need. I have to turn
these in
to English Dept. for about 6 months);
Evaluations; Private Conferences; Group I
alphabetically every 12-15 minutes;
Week 16 Private Conferences group II
##Dept. Policy: more than 2 absences means failure in evening class
===================
GENERAL AND PARTICULAR GRADE ASSESSMENT IN CREATIVE WRITING
Goals: To read deeply and with understanding; to write powerfully and effectively; to think; to develop a greater appreciation of poetry and fiction by studying it from the inside, and to develop a readable, interesting, and diverse portfolio of writing.
YOUR FINAL GRADE IN THIS CLASS WILL BE BASED ON MY ASSESSMENT OF YOUR OVERALL PERFORMANCE THIS SEMESTER.
In your writing, I look for freshness and originality, some complexity of thought, insight, and effective use of language (allusive, figurative, with some images, including rhythm and sound repetition for poetry). There is no right and wrong of creative writing, but some writing is far more effective than others. Your writing must apply to real-life situations, events that relate to you in some way (may be another character, century or country, but underlying theme is universal and timeless. Ability to empathize essential here). You will be expected to attend readings and/or lectures by professionals as assigned.
Grades are performance based:
You are to be reading good work constantly to gain expertise. I ask
you please to be open to suggestions by teacher and other students, not to be
constantly on the defensive.
I. Tests or quizzes when necessary
II. EXERCISES (Grads do any one from each of the 7 sections in PP; 2 from 5 of
the sections (optional); undergrads do one from each of 7 sections) handed in
on due date
III. ATTENDANCE (Please see Attendance Policy), interest,
participation in discussing student and professional work
IV. WRITING PORTFOLIO (notebook) with 5 labeled dividers as below.
These are checked mid-term; turned in end of semester (returned at private
conference)
1. (Labeled and dated) writing in progress. IMPORTANT:
KEEP ALL DRAFTS OF ALL YOUR WRITING. NOTE: (GRADUATE STUDENTS: An
extra poem) Label your revisions. One copy each final
revision all together in the front.
3. Evaluations of your work by fellow students--Always sign these! with my evaluation on top.
4. Notes (labeled and dated) from writers who visit class, from visits to
professional readings/lectures. Optional: copies of poems you like, record of
places to send, etc.
A small notebook for purse or pocket to record on the spot ideas & phrases is recommended.
Students, after assessment, will fall into one of four performance levels:
I. (A)
II. Proficient (B) Better than average
III. Room to grow (C) These novices and apprentices
lack experience but
show promise
IV. (F) The only failure is laziness, carelessness, not attending, not
handing in assignments.
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Recommended poems for further study:
HOPKINS: All or parts of"God's Grandeur,"
"Spring," "The Windhover,""Binsey
Poplars," "Spring and Fall," "Inversnaid,"
the "terrible sonnets" (Carrion, No Worst, I Wake and Feel,
Thou Art Indeed Just).
A. E. HOUSMAN All poems, esp. "Loveliest of Trees," "To an
Athlete,""Terence"
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS, All poems, esp. lines from "The Second
Coming," "A Prayer for my Daughter (Considering that, all
hatred driven hence...)" "A Dialogue of Self and Soul (I
am content...everything we look upon is blessed)"
EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON "Mr. Flood's Party"
ROBERT FROST All poems, esp. "Mending Wall," "After
Apple Picking," "The Road Not Taken,"
"Birches," "Fire and Ice," "Stopping by Woods,""Acquainted with the Night,"
"Two Tramps in Mud Time"
WALLACE STEVENS lines from "Sunday Morning"
T.S. ELIOT lines from "Prufrock," "The Waste Land,"
"Little Gidding"; from "Old Possum's
Book of Cats"
W. H. AUDEN "In Memory of W.B. Yeats"
DYLAN THOMAS "Fern Hill" "Do Not Go Gentle"
Wilfred Owen "Dulce et Decorum Est"
EE Cummings "I Sing of Olaf"
Theodore Roethke, "The Waking"
Richard Wilbur "Love Calls Us to the Things of This World"