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Course Descriptions


Creative Writing Course Descriptions

 

 

W206 Introduction to Creative Writing

W206 is a general introduction to creative writing that provides students with a broad understanding of the craft and style of creative writing genres. Students will start by working with language to understand better how they express themselves already. Then they’ll engage in a series of in-class writing exercises in which they will practice techniques and devices aimed at stretching the limits of expression in their writing and understanding such aspects of craft as image, voice, character, and story. Students will then move on to investigate specific creative forms and specialize in genres by writing a series of poems, a fully-developed short story, or a short work of creative nonfiction. Students will also learn workshop protocol and strategies for revising their work for a comprehensive portfolio they will submit at the end of the semester. Students should prepare to be active members of the class discussion, participating in group work, full-class workshops of their peers’ work, and leading our conversations about course readings and student writing. 

 

W207 Introduction to Fiction Writing

An introduction to the techniques and principles of fiction writing. Written assignments, workshop discussion of student work in progress, seminar study of classic and contemporary examples in the genre.  W208 Introduction to Poetry Writing   This course offers an introduction to writing poetry. Students are invited to experiment with the fundamentals of poetry (language, imagery, metaphor, and voice) while deepening their knowledge of poetic structure (line and form) as well as rhythm, and music. Using Steve Kowit’s wide-ranging text In the Palm of Your Hand as our map, we’ll explore a broad landscape of contemporary poetry, trying our hand at everything from dream and memory poems to incantations and manifestoes in verse. Students should expect to be active participants in the classroom discussion. Students will work in small response groups, lead class discussion and activities, and share their poems in a workshop format. To broaden their awareness of and appreciation of contemporary poetry, students will also read and respond to a book of poems of their choice and attend and report on a poetry reading.  Text: Steve Kowit, In the Palm of your Hand  

 

W280 Literary Editing and Publishing Literary Editing and Publishing

W280 offers theory and practice in the development and production of literary publications.  Individual and group exercises and formal written assignments analyze and evaluate potentially publishable poetry, fiction and essays with the aim of developing students’ personal and professional aesthetics. As well, a complete issue of IUPUI’s student literary magazine, genesis, will be edited (under the direction of Senior Editors) during the semester.  Students will learn to think more effectively about the nature of editing diverse creative work, learn to better ascertain and understand writers’ intentions, and explore their own aesthetic proclivities and potential biases.  Practical considerations of editing such as readers’ expectations, publication design, and promotion will be covered as well.  Acting as meaningful go-between for writers and readers is at the heart of the purposes of W280.  Requirements include reading assignments and written responses to them.  Several pieces of formal writing will also be due: critical analyses of “least and most favorite” literary works, comparative analyses of published poems and stories, editors’ “blurbs” for journals real and imagined, analytical “proposals” for the publication of poems and stories selected from among submitted work, and a retrospective on the work of the semester.  In addition, group projects will include editorial critique of published journals, editorial meetings regarding submissions to genesis, and the conceptualization of a new publication.  Regular class attendance and out of class conferences with the instructor and groups are expected.  A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF OUT-OF-CLASS EFFORT AND TIME ASSISTING THE BUSINESS ELEMENTS OF GENESIS WILL ALSO BE EXPECTED.  Texts:  The Pushcart Prize XXIX: Best of the Small Presses, 2005 Edition; Bill Henderson, ed.; Spreading the Word: Editors on Poetry; Stephen Corey and Warren Slesinger, eds.  The Whole Story:  Editors on Fiction; Warren Slesinger, ed. 

 

W301 Writing Fiction  

W301 is an intermediate workshop in fiction writing that provides students the opportunity to develop their craft as writers while deepening and broadening their knowledge of the nature, forms, and possibilities of fiction. Students should prepare to be active members of the class discussion, participating in group work, full-class workshops of their peers’ work, and leading our conversations about course readings and student writing.  Prerequisite required: W206 or W207. 

 

W302 Introduction to Screenwriting

The goal of this course is to introduce the craft of screenwriting through practical exercises and in-class workshops. Students will be presented theory and guidelines on topics such as story ideation and design, story development, script formatting, scene design, dialogue and character, script revision, and script marketing. With instructor guidance and classmate feedback, students will craft a story and scenes for an original motion picture screenplay.  This course will emphasize classic story design and a structured writing process as a reliable method of creating a marketable script. Story theory and screenwriting guidelines presented in this course are drawn from the works of noted screenwriting teachers and authors including David Trottier, Robert McKee, Syd Field, Linda Seger, Lew Hunter, and Linda Cowgill.

 

W303 Writing Poetry

W303 offers students continuing opportunities to develop their craft through the intensive reading and writing of poetry. Students will be asked to imitate or write in conversation with several American poets, such as Elizabeth Bishop, Charles Simic, Lucille Clifton, and W.S. Merwin, in order to broaden their stylistic range. To become more comfortable performing poetry aloud, students will several times offer readings of their work and perform from memory a poem by one of the writers in our texts. We will also write series of poems that are thematically or stylistically linked, while reading works by contemporary American poets who explore "Americanness" in poetic sequences of their own We will study, Martin Espada’s incisive, often sardonic poems, which merge his Puerto Rican family’s history and the European colonization of the Americas; Denise Duhamel’s The Star-Spangled Banner, featuring the laugh-out-loud monologues "Where to Find Feminine Protection While Traveling in a Foreign Country" and "Nick at Nite"; and Tyehimba Jess’s formally innovative reinvention of blues legend, Leadbelly. W303 requires a significant time commitment from students: it is for writers who are serious about developing their craft.  Prerequisite required: W206 or W208. 

 

W305 Writing Creative Nonfiction

An intermediate course in writing and reading creative nonfiction with seminar study of classic and contemporary examples in the genre and workshop sessions in which student work-in-progress will be evaluated and critiqued.  Primary text: Phillip Lopate (editor): The Art of the Personal Essay. Students can be expected to produce work in several areas of creative nonfiction, including memoir, portrait/self-portrait, reportage, and analytic meditation.  Prerequisite: W206 or submission of acceptable manuscript to instructor in advance of registration. Lopate observes: "Distinguished from the formal essay by its friendly, conversational tone, its drive toward candor and confession, and its often quirky, first-person voice, the personal essay offers above all a feast of individuality. It seizes on the minutiae of daily life—fashions, rituals, vanities, family life, romantic foibles, the pleasures and pangs of solitude—and the great social and political issues of the day, from a daring, opinionated perspective."

 

W366 Language, Dialects, and Writing

Catalog Description:  Is standard written English fixed and immutable or a living language variety? This course explores the definition, history, and politics of standard written English, the influence of home and community languages, and the uses and representation of linguistic diversity in both fiction and non-fiction texts.  Instructor and Contact Information: Kim Brian Lovejoy, Ph.D., Department of English, CA 501M 274-2120 (Office), 278-1287 (FAX), klovejoy@iupui.edu Office Hours: MW 12:00 – 1:00 P.M. and at other times by appointment. Course Overview and Objectives: This course explores the intricacies of the English language that enable writers to communicate their ideas in multiple and diverse ways, in both fiction and non-fiction texts. In the culture or institution of literacy, one dialect or language variety is sanctified as proper for writing—the so-called “grapholect,” or Edited Written English. But we are seeing more and more significant publication in dialects of English previously considered oral (e.g., by Alice Walker, Gloria Anzaldua, Geneva Smitherman, Lois Ann Yamanaka, Sapphire, and others). Much English literature judged canonical today was written in dialects considered at the time to be “low” and oral. Indeed, the English language and all the Romance languages were once oral dialects considered unsuitable for publication. In this course, we will consider the language variety or dialect called “correct” or “standard written English,” its meaning, history, and politics. We will view this dialect against the backdrop of a multicultural, multilingual nation drawing on the English language as a means of articulating other identities and realities besides those expressed by mainstream writers. In addition to examining home and community language varieties from a sociolinguistic perspective, and their relationship to “standard” English, we will examine their uses and representation in a number of fiction and non-fiction texts. The course will be organized in three parts:  I. Standard Written English: Definition, History, Politics II. Home and Community Language Varieties: A Sociolinguistic Perspective. Language and Identity. Language Attitudes. Educational Issues and Policies.  III. Written Language Varieties: A Working Definition The Role of Vernaculars or Dialects in Writing. Analysis and discussion of various fiction and non-fiction texts.

Course Goals

 

W401 Advanced Fiction Writing

Prerequisite: W301. Study and practice in the writing of fiction. Analysis of examples from contemporary literature accompanies class criticism and discussion. May be repeated once for credit. 

W401 will use regular writing exercises to offer practice in various elements of the fictional art.  Students will be expected to generate and complete at least two well-rounded and technically accomplished stories of their own device.  Exercises will be shared with critical peer groups and stories shared with the entire class in a workshop setting.  Students will also be expected to develop their critical sense by offering formal critical statements to their peers. They will also write several short papers analyzing technique in published work.  Please note that this class will expect work in the form of short stories, not of the novel.  Texts:  Writing in General and the Short Story in Particular by Rust Hills.  Best American Short Stories 2005.  Sudden Fiction.

 

  W403 Advanced Poetry Writing

W403 is an advanced workshop in the study and craft of poetry aimed at providing experienced students with an opportunity for an in-depth inquiry into contemporary poetry and an active workshop for exploring their own poetry writing. This version of the course will take a look at some current trends, dipping into some of the most celebrated poetry collections, literary journals, and anthologies published in the last couple of years. Students will assess the language, style, approach, and forms of contemporary poetry in an attempt to take the pulse of what’s being written today. After imitating a few of the poets they discover, students will embark on blazing their own trails in poetry series with at least some attention to form. One critical project will be required. Don’t expect any dead poets in this class!

 

W407 Advanced Creative Nonfiction Writing

W407 is an advanced workshop in the craft of creative nonfiction, with special attention given to defining the genre and its craft, as well as looking at, analyzing, and imitating works in specific subgenres of creative nonfiction such as memoir and travel writing.  After reflecting on the work that they’ve done in the larger genre, students will first be asked to “specialize” in a subgenre of creative nonfiction, creating an annotated bibliography of specific works in that subgenre, and planning out a project of interrelated pieces that they will draft throughout the semester and revise for a final portfolio.  Students will read at least two collections of contemporary creative nonfiction, as well as additional selections from collections and anthologies.  Students should expect to lead class discussion on works read for class, as well as directing workshops of their fellow students’ works.   

 

Note:  For a complete listing of courses with days and times, refer to the IUPUI Schedule of Classes. These course descriptions are meant as a general guide to aid in your course selection; syllabi, textbooks, and requirements are given on the first day of class. In some cases, an instructor’s name is given, and that means the description that follows applies when that instructor teaches the course.