Creative
Writing Workshop: Life Narratives—Americans in Transition
Dr.
Eleanor Swanson
Office: Carroll
Hall 124
Office Hours: TTh 8:00-9:00; W
8:30-11:30
Other times available by
appointment
Telephone: 303.458.4147
e-mail: eswanson@regis.edu
or eswanson2@mindspring.com
website: http://academic.regis.edu/eswanson
Texts
“I think of the…blistering
crackle of energy in a room when one is reading…work to others. Every word counts.” (Susan Griffin, Made
from This Earth)
This writing workshop will
identify writing as an important and passionate social act, which involves
writing about your world, as well as the larger world in which many
voices have been and continue to be routinely silenced. We will focus on the writing of poetry and
fiction, with the intent of producing a portfolio of work that can engage a
diverse audience with words that can empower, clarify, challenge cultural
assumptions and help form community. We will discuss questions such as
these: Who is a writer? Why write? How
does one become a more powerful writer? What is the role of the writer? And more.
8/20-9/11
8/20: Introduction to course
“I loved poetry, and I loved
words. But what was beautiful had to
serve the purpose of changing my life, or I would have died. If I cannot air this pain and alter it, I
will surely die of it. That’s the beginning of social protest.” (Audre Lorde, Black
Women Writers at Work)
For Tuesday, 9/2—Read:
“To Love the Marigold: The Politics of Imagination”;
What is Found There, (hereafter, Rich), pp. xii-xv and Chapters I-VII; The
Poet’s Companion (hereafter, A&L), 11-13, 65-73, 14-38
Write: #6, p. 28, #1 or #4, p.72 (A&L); a one or two
page response to Rich’s Notebooks
8/28: Mary Ellen Carroll and
Melissa Nix will join our class to discuss service learning with us,
specifically as it applies to this class.
We will also discuss possibilities for service learning placements.
CCS 300, cont.
NOTE: All students will be required to engage in at
least twenty-five hours of service learning specifically for this class.
9/4: Discussion of Rich and A&L.
For Tuesday, 9/9—Read:
40-189, Rich, and Write a one or two page response to these chapters; Read
85-114, A&L.
Please let me know your service learning placement by 9/9.
Week 4-5
9/16-9/25
9/16, Discussion of Rich and “The Poet’s Craft” in
A&L, cont.
9/18, Workshop, student poetry. Write: #1 or
#3, p. 92, A&L); Final Project Progress Report due 9/18 (#1)
9/23, Conclude discussion of Rich, 190-250; Write
a response to these closing chapters.
For 9/25—Read 115-128, 138-160, 171-192,
A&L; and write, #1, p.127.
9/30-10/9
Continue discussion of “The Poet’s Craft” section in A&L
Workshops: class poetry
Response
Paper due 9/30
Mary Ellen Carroll and Melissa Nix join us for a discussion of work in
progress: writing and service placements
10/14-10/16 Final
Project Progress Report due 10/14
(#2)
Workshops, class poetry, through 10/14
10/15, selections from Fiction Workshop Companion
Response Paper due 10/16
10/21-11/6
No class Tuesday,
October 21 (Mid-semester break)
Response Paper due 11/6
11/11-12/4
Final Project Progress Report due 11/13 (#3)
Thanksgiving Holiday: Thursday, November 27
Final Portfolio, Service Learning Self-Report/Self Evaluation and Final
Project Self Evaluation due Tuesday, December 9
Final examination period: Tuesday, 12/9, 3:30-5:30
CCS 300, cont.
Response Papers/interim assignments
(including progress reports) 15%
Participation 15%
Workshop Commentaries
Optimally,
these will include marginal notes, comments
and questions, as well as a concluding comment. I will review these, then pass
them on to writers. 20%
Service Learning Self Report/
Service Learning Quality/Quantity 15%
Final Project 10%
Final Creative Portfolio
(you may choose either a poetry or fiction emphasis) Note that portfolios will be evaluated not only on the basis of "final" drafts, but also on evidence of significant revision. Include all of your drafts in the portfolio.) 25%
Attendance policy
Students in this class may take up to four absences without penalty. With the fifth absence, the student loses one full letter grade on his/her final grade for the course. With the sixth absence, the student fails the course.
With six absences in a two-meeting-per-week class, the student has missed three full weeks of a fourteen-week course. That’s over 20% of the course’s classroom time, and the English Department feels that students shouldn’t miss that much of the class’s content, no matter the reason. The line maybe arbitrary, but in the our judgment the student will benefit more by retaking the class than by trying to make up independently what he/she has missed through absence.
A student whose absences are the result of truly exceptional or catastrophic circumstances may petition the English Department for an exemption from this policy. The Department will review the petition, and its decision will be final.
Students
with disabilities
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990 and Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, I will make every effort
to meet the reasonable accommodations request of students with documented
disabilities. (If you have a documented
disability, please see Joie Williams as soon as possible; her extension is
3666. Following your meeting with Ms.
Williams, please meet with me to discuss your accommodation request.
Plagiarism policy
Representing the work of others as your own, no matter the source (scholarly essays, Internet, student work, purchased papers, etc.) will result in failure of the course.