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English
12: Creative Writing
Wayland-Cohocton High
School
Course Overview and Outline
Mr. Folts
Genres/ Units of Study
Poetry
Fiction
Playwriting
Creative
Non-fiction
Course Calendar
Creative Writing Links
Course Description:
The
course will focus on the reading and writing of short fiction and poetry. Short
fiction will be read in order to review and reinforce student understanding of
the literary elements of a narrative (point of view, plot, character, setting,
mood, tone). Short fiction will be written in order to demonstrate a functional
understanding of these elements. Poetry will be read in order to review and
reinforce student understanding of the literary elements of verse (rhyme, meter,
rhythm, alliteration, imagery, simile, metaphor, enjambment) as well as the
genres of verse (narrative, lyric) and several common forms of verse (sonnet,
blank verse, free verse, haiku). Poetry will be written in order to demonstrate
a functional understanding of these elements, genres, and forms.
Course
Objectives
- Students will understand
and participate in a recursive writing process that includes
prewriting, drafting, revising/conferencing, editing, and publishing.
- Students will demonstrate
an understanding of literary elements and techniques through use in their
writing.
- Students will engage in
literary criticism and evaluation of texts which provide examples of the
literary elements and/or techniques that they are exploring.
Course Requirements
- In-class and
outside-of-class readings and writing assignments.
- Participation in class
discussions and criticism of student drafts.
- Submission of one creative
work to the literary magazine, Starred.
- Ten (10) poems.
- Three (3) short stories (2
at least 4 pgs long).
- One (1) short (one-act)
play.
- A final publication.
Final Publication
The final publication will be a
compilation of your creative work from the whole course. It will take the form
of a chapbook, completed in Microsoft Word, printed and bound in some manner to
read like a real book. The first section will be an introduction to your
works. You will write this last, only after you have completed all of
your revisions. The first work in “your book” will be a revised version of one
of your writings—what you consider to be your best work this year.
 Materials
List
·
Composition Notebook
·
Folder
·
Pens
·
Loose leaf Paper
·
Flash Drive (to save typed stories and
poems—may be used for other classes)
Course Calendar
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Week/Genre |
Description |
Writing Due |
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1
Intro |
Topic(s):
The Writing Process, Journals, Rituals
**Set up classroom
“habits” for focused writing time.
Creativity--Randomness
and Discipline
Readings:
Chapter 2
Responding to Prose
Chapter 2
Writing with Power
Chapter 3
The Young Writer’s Handbook
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Journal Writing
“Who I am as a Writer”
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2
Poetry |
Topic(s):
Strong Images and Sensory Details
Readings:
“How Poetry Comes to
Me” –Gary Snyder
“Keeping Things Whole”
–Mark Strand
“If a Babyonian…” –H.L.
Hix (Poetry)
“Canned Food Drive”
–Kathleen Lynch (Poetry)
“Poetry as No Big
Deal” from Writing With Power
Chapter 4
The Young Writer’s Handbook
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Image Poems
Haiku/ Tanka
Abstract Idea Poem |
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3
Poetry |
Topic(s):
Figurative Language
Metaphor, Simile,
Extended Metaphor, Personification,
Synesthesia
Readings:
“Odes” Keats and Neruda
“Night is a Cistern”
–Adam Zagajewski (Poetry)
“Blue-Crested Cry”
–Jennifer Reeser (Poetry)
“Pompeii” –John Brehm (Poetry-
elegy)
“Figures of
Speech” from Poem-Making
“Writing Poems”
from The Young Writer’s Handbook
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Lyric Poetry
Odes
Elegies
First 5 Poems Due |
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4
Poetry |
Topic(s):
Sound Devices
Alliteration,
Assonance, Consonance, Onomatopoeia, Rhythm, Meter, Syllabic Emphasis,
Scansion
Readings:
“Daddy” –Sylvia Plath
“The Waking” –Theodore
Roethke
“Villanelle” –Campbell
McGrath (Poetry)
“Some Kind of Hunter” &
others –Megan Grumbling
“Getting There” –J.
Allyn Rosser (Poetry)
Sonnets
Spoken Word Poetry
Song Lyrics
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Sonnets (Shakespeare v.
Petrarch)
Villanelles
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5
Poetry |
Topic(s):
Text Devices
Stanzas, Line Breaks,
Concrete Poetry, Word Play
Readings:
“Cuckoldom” –BJ Ward (Poetry)
“American Poetry in the
New Century” –John Barr (criticism)
“Letters to the Editor”
from November 2006 issue of Poetry
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Sestinas
Concrete Poems
Narrative Poems
Second 5 Poems Due
(10 Total) |
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6
Fiction |
Topic(s):
Descriptive Language/ Texture
Nouns and Verbs
Readings:
“Hills Like White
Elephants” –Ernest Hemingway
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7
Fiction |
Topic(s):
Round vs. Flat Characters
Readings:
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First Draft of Story 1
Due |
|
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8
Fiction |
Topic(s):
Narration—Making an Entrance/ Point of View
Stream of
Consciousness, Past or Present Tense
Readings:
“Thirteen Hundred Rats”
–T.C. Boyle
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9
Fiction |
Topic(s):
Conflicts/ Dilemmas
Readings:
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First Draft of Story 2
Due |
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10
Play-
Writing |
Topic(s):
Playwriting Conventions/ Dialog
Readings:
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Character Study Pages
Due |
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11
Play-
Writing |
Topic(s):
Character Study/ Motivation
Readings:
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One Act Play Due |
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12
Creative
Non-fiction |
Topic(s):
A New Genre
Readings:
What is Creative
Non-Fiction?
http://www.class.uidaho.edu/druker/nonfic.html
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13
Creative
Non-fiction |
Topic(s):
Readings:
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14
Choice |
Topic(s):
Goal Setting/ Deadlines for a Writer
Readings:
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Writing Proposals Due
at end of week |
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15
Choice |
Topic(s):
The Writing Seminar
Readings:
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16
Choice |
Topic(s):
Readings:
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17
Final
Project |
Topic(s):
Readings:
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18
Final
Project |
Topic(s):
Readings:
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Revision of Major Works |
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19
Final
Project |
Topic(s):
Readings:
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Introductions
Prefaces |
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20
Final
Project |
Topic(s):
Readings:
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Chapbooks Finished &
Printed
Public Reading |
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