3rd column, hopefully

On the Syllabus

Each student, in her own way, engages with the other students’ work, mindful at all times to be respectful and considerate. Moving about the space is permitted, but only when you have the floor. Otherwise, you are always seated and engaged. You submit work based on guidelines, and you will read and respond in written form to your classmates’ submissions.

Do not hold back. What you have to say is important, whether the rest of us know it or not. The assigned materials are designed to help you with creating a solid foundation upon which to build. You are expected to read them all by any specified due date and be prepared to engage in any direction and on any level the class takes when you come to learn.

To each of the assigned readings you will write a 1-page (300 word) response in your own words, focusing on some craft aspect. Each response will deal with a different aspect of the genre. You will compose 2 pages of poetry, 5 pages of both fiction and creative nonfiction. Your final project will be 15 pages of either poetry, fiction or creative nonfiction.

You will be put into groups and assigned a project that you will do collaboratively. The end result will be a work in any of the genres. You will have to clear this project with me in advance. You are expected to have fun with this and to really use your imagination. You will present this to the class, a twenty-minute project.

Based on what you offer on the first day of class as creative works you feel are seminal and/or indispensable to the serious creative writer, one of such suggested works in each of the three genres will be assigned as class readings and will be treated in the same manner as the pre-assigned readings. A vote will be taken and in the event that a decision is not clear cut, I will be the one to decide what pieces will be added to the syllabus.