CRW3120 - Beginning Fiction Writing
Dr. <Name>
This is a beginning level writing workshop. One half of the course will be spent reading fiction and defining specific components of craft. The second half of the course will be a workshop where we explore and discuss your own fiction writing.
| Week | Topic | Assignment | Due Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
Week One |
Introductions and course policies |
Post bios and “Why I Write” response. Respond to each others’ posts by the end of the week. |
01/07/08 |
Week One |
Point of View |
READ: Chapter Seven: Call Me Ishmael, Point of View, Part 1, pp. 196-211, also pp. 235-244. Read Jamaica Kincaid’s story “Girl” (213) and Charles Baxter’s story “Gryphon” (248). READ: Also read Robert Olen Butler’s story “Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot:” (261) and “Royal Beatings” by Alice Monroe (217). Read the handout on Genre v. Literary Fiction. |
01/07/08 |
Week Two |
Character |
READ: pp. 94-106, also 127-144 to get some ideas on how to characterize, how to develop your characters. Read Mary Robison’s “Yours” (117), Sherman Alexie’s “The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation Doesn’t Flash Red Anymore” (119). TAKE QUIZ on the reading POST RESPONSES on the discussion page for each of the story threads: WRITE CHARACTER exercise. Turn it in the digital drop-box to be graded. READ: Louise Erdrich’s “Saint Marie” (156) and Chinua Achebe’s “Girls at War” (145). POST RESPONSES on the discussion board to each of the story threads. |
01/07/08 |
Week Three |
PLOT |
READ Chapter 2, “The Tower And The Net” pp 27-41. Also, read Mary Hood’s “How Far She Went” (46). In all these selections, be thinking of plot outlines. TAKE QUIZ on the reading. DISCUSS the readings. READ: William Carlos Williams’ “The Use of Force” (42) and Tim O’ Brien’s “The Things They Carried: (67) Keep thinking of plot outlines. WRITE: Plot writing exercise. POST the exercise in the digital drop-box to be graded.
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01/07/08 |
Week Four |
Setting and Theme |
READ: Read Tobias Wolff’s “Bullet in the Brain,” (190)**** WRITE: Setting Writing Exercise and the Time Writing Exercise. POST these to the discussion page under the thread for your name. POST RESPONSES on the discussion page for the story thread. You should be working of drafting your short story by this point. READ Chapter 10 on Theme: pp. 303-313. Also read Frederick Busch’s “Ralph The Duck” and Grace Paley’s “A Man Told Me The Story Of His Life” (307).
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01/07/08 |
WEEK Five And SIX |
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POST your workshop short stories by the end of week four. WORKSHOP |
01/07/08 |
| WEEK Six |