W103 INTRODUCTORY CREATIVE WRITING
Scott Sanders

Lecture:
9982 12:20p-1:10p M (105 students) 3 cr.
Discussion:
9983 9:05a-9:55a WF (15 students) Ashton, Teter, Wright, Eigenmann residents.
9984 10:10a-11:00a WF (15 students)
9985 11:15a-12:05p WF (15 students)
9986 11:15a-12:05p WF (15 students)
9987 12:20p-1:10p WF (15 students) Ashton, Teter, Wright, Eigenmann residents.
9988 12:20p-1:10p WF (15 students)
16002 10:10a-11:00a WF (15 students)

This is an introductory course on the writing of poetry and fiction, designed for students who may or may not have much experience in creative writing, but who are eager to learn more about it. Through guided practice in writing, and through assigned readings, lectures, and workshop discussions, students will gain a better understanding of how stories and poems are made. They will also learn to read as writers, noticing not only what a piece of writing says, but how it goes about saying it.

The class meets three times a week, on Mondays for lectures and on Wednesdays and Fridays for small workshop sessions. The lectures will deal with the elements of poetry and fiction, drawing on assigned readings from our textbooks, and will also introduce in- class writing exercises. Those exercises will be developed over the course of the week, and will be discussed, along with examples of published poetry and fiction, in the workshop sessions.

We will use two anthologies, one for poetry—most likely either J. D. McClatchy, ed., The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetry or Czeslaw Milosz, A Book of Luminous Things—and one for fiction—most likely either Tobias Wolff, ed., The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories, or Nadine Gordimer, ed., Telling Tales.

Faithful attendance and active participation in class discussion are required. There will be two exams, which will cover materials assigned and discussed in the Monday lectures. Grades will be based on those exams, on class participation, and on a culminating portfolio consisting of significantly revised original student work (five poems, one short story, and all drafts).

NOTE: This course does not satisfy the English composition requirement.