Creative Writing 122--Syllabus
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The mission of South Suburban College is “To Serve Our Students and the Community through Lifelong Learning.”
Creative Writing—English 122-001
  Fall 2008, MWF 11:00-11:50 a.m.
                    Mr. Kulycky


Very Important: Please use Times New Roman font (or an equivalent) in 14-point size when composing all of your work. Save your work to your free Yahoo! e-mail account in the folder “Creative Writing” and, if you choose, to a flash (thumb) drive.
Also--

Absolutely no cell phones are allowed in class--nor may a person leave the room to answer a cell phone in the hall. If a student is concerned about problems at home, the caretaker at home should call Campus Police at 1-708-596-2000, Extension 2235, and an officer will come to class with any information for that student.

I. Course Description: For the first eight weeks we will discuss the art of prose-fiction—novels, novellas, plays, and short stories. In the second eight weeks we will discuss lyric poetry—both classical and free-verse forms. Although we will read from The Norton Introduction to Literature , the emphasis will be upon student-writing. Most of the class-time will be spent critiquing the work that has been submitted by the students.

II. Text: Booth, Allison, J. Paul Hunter, and Kelly J. Mays, eds. The Norton Introduction to Literature. Shorter 9th ed.
New York: Norton, 2006.

III. Assignments (A list of readings is attached to this syllabus—section IV):

(1) Short stories by Connell, Poe, Chekhov, and Chopin to be read by September  8th

(2) Short stories by Hemingway, Maupassant, Kafka, and O’Connor to be read by September 22nd

(3) Ibsen’s A Doll House and Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun to be read by October  6th

(4) Week’s-worth Journal due on Friday, October 10th

(5) Mid-term exam on October 10th

(6) Fiction Critique due on October 10th

(7) Poems to be read and re-read by October 27th

(8) Poetry Critique due on December 5th (last day to hand in late-work)

(9) Final Exam—Week of Monday, December 8th

(10) Creative work due over 16 weeks: at least 40 pages of manuscript excluding tests and assigned papers of which 20 pages must be handed in by October 10th

IV. Assigned Readings:

Short Stories

Richard Connell, “The Most Dangerous Game,” (e-mailed file)

E.A. Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado,” p. 123

Anton Chekhov, “The Lady with the Dog,” p. 218

Kate Chopin, “The Story of an Hour,” p. 449

Ernest Hemingway, “Hills like White Elephants,” p. 128

Guy de Maupassant, “The Jewelry,” (e-mailed file)

Franz Kafka, “A Hunger Artist,” p. 242

Flannery O’Connor, “The Lame . . .” p. 375


Plays

Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun, p. 1621

Henrik Ibsen, A Doll House, p. 1508



Poems

Anonymous, “The Twenty-third Psalm,” p. 711

W.H. Auden, “In Memory of W.B. Yeats,” p. 774

W.H. Auden, “Musée des Beaux Arts,” p. 808

William Blake, “The Tyger,” p. 978

Gwendolyn Brooks, “First Fight. Then Fiddle.” p. 784

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “How Do I Love Thee?” p. 595

Countee Cullen, “Yet Do I Marvel,” p. 916

Emily Dickinson, "After Great Pain,” p. 960

Emily Dickinson, “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass,” p. 747

Emily Dickinson, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death, p. 980

Emily Dickinson, “I Dwell in Possibility,” p. 694

Emily Dickinson, “The Brain Is Wider than the Sky,” p. 982

Paul Laurence Dunbar, “Sympathy,” p. 986

Paul Laurence Dunbar, “We Wear the Mask,” p. 986

John Donne, “Batter My Heart,” p. 712

Robert Frost, “Stopping by Woods . . .” p. 989

Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken,” p. 988

Robert Herrick, “Delight in Disorder,” p. 697

Robert Herrick, “Upon Julia’s Clothes,” p. 806

George Herbert, “The Collar,” p. 809

Gerard Manley Hopkins, “God’s Grandeur,” p. 994

Gerard Manley Hopkins, “Pied Beauty,” p. 695

Langston Hughes, “Harlem (A Dream Deferred),” p. 820

Langston Hughes, “The Weary Blues,” p. 919

Ben Jonson, “Still to Be Neat,” p. 697

John Keats, “When I Have Fears,” (e-mailed file)

Philip Larkin, “Church Going,” p. 760

Li-Young Lee, “Persimmons,” p. 631

Christopher Marlowe, “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” p. 885

Claude McKay, “The Harlem Dancer,” p. 923

Claude McKay, “Harlem Shadows,” p. 922

Claude McKay, “The Tropics in New York,” p. 923

Claude McKay, “The White House,” p. 923

Edna St. Vincent Millay, “[What lips my lips have kissed . . .]” p. 787

Sharon Olds, “The Victims,” p. 764

Mary Oliver, “Singapore” (e-mailed file)

Wilfred Owen, “Dulce et Decorum Est,” p. 823

Dorothy Parker, “A Certain Lady,” p. 647

Dorothy Parker, “One Perfect Rose,” p. 722

Linda Pastan, “Marks,” p. 706

Sylvia Plath, “Morning Song,” p. 675

Sylvia Plath, “Black Rook in Rainy Weather,” (e-mailed file)

Ezra Pound, “The River-Merchant’s Wife . . .” p. 599

Sir Walter Raleigh, “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd,” p. 892

Theodore Roethke, “My Papa’s Waltz,” p. 691

William Shakespeare, “Th’ Expense of Spirit . . . Shame,” p. 769

William Shakespeare, “Let Me Not . . . of True Minds,” p. 611

William Shakespeare, “That Time of Year . . .” p. 704

Edmund Waller, “Song,” p. 721

William Carlos Williams, “The Dance,” p. 767

William Carlos Williams, “Raleigh Was Right,” p. 892

William Carlos Williams, “The Red Wheelbarrow,” p. 694

Sir Thomas Wyatt, “They Flee from Me,” p. 651



V. Requirements: Please hand creative work in only on Wednesdays . You may write stories, poems, or essays for a grade. All work must be entirely your own and should be recent. It should be double-spaced, Times New Roman or equivalent font at 14-point size, with pages numbered, and saved to your e-mail account and, if you so choose, to a flash drive. I’ll not share any of your work with the class unless I have received your permission to do so.

     The last day that creative work will be accepted is December 5th. At least twenty of the required forty pages of creative work must be handed in by October 10th.

     The Journal, which is to be handed in by October 10th, covers seven days, preferably seven consecutive days. Each day’s entry should be at least ½ pages long, double-spaced.

Addendum—thanks to David Cooke:
     Except for the one week-long journal, students will not be required to demonstrate proficiency in every genre. Each person is free to write from preference. Even personal essays or letters may be submitted for consideration toward a grade in this course. The intent is to promote creative thinking about one's own life's content and direction and then to express that creative perception into whichever form most pleases the writer.

     A minimum of forty pages of creative work is required. Both the Fiction Critique and the Poetry Critique should be at least 1½ pages long, double-spaced. We will write an incoming impromptu composition, a mid-term impromptu composition, and an exiting impromptu composition on the day of the final exam. Forty pages of creative work must be handed in by each student in order to satisfy an Illinois State requirement for Creative Writing classes.  At least 20 pages are due by October 10th. 


VI. Grading: The two assigned, out-of-class compositions, the week’s-worth Journal, the first in-class impromptu, and the mid-term and final impromptus will constitute 50% of the grade in the course. Creative work, which can be handed in on any Friday, will comprise the other 50% of the grade. Late work, or a make-up impromptu or test, loses a full grade, from A to B , B to C, and so forth. The grade will be composed of two aspects: content, which includes creative conceptualization and balanced development, and grammar and punctuation. Most unassigned work can be corrected and re-submitted for another grade provided that the revisions are substantive and extensive. Please do not hand in essays or reports that you have written for other classes.

VII. Attendance: Since this is an undergraduate course, good attendance is mandatory. A student with more than ten absences will fail this course.

VIII.Office: Room 3162; Voice Mail: 596-2000, Ext. 2305

              Office Hours: F 10:30-10:55, MW 3:00-5:00 p.m., or by appointment

e-mail: mikekulycky@yahoo.com or mkulycky@southsuburbancollege.edu

Web page: http://learn.southsuburbancollege.edu/mkulycky

Grammar files are to be found on the Web at this page: http://learn.southsuburbancollege.edu/mkulycky/four.htm




Good Luck!


Files for Study


Fiction
A Story Is Action--a Power Point Presentation

The Fact of Fiction--a Power Point Presentation

What Is a Story--a Power Point Presentation

The Novel, Short Story, Play, and Film Script

Free Movie Scripts

URLs for Novels for Exhibit

How to Read a Novel--George Landow

Stories from the Internet

Hans Christian Andersen--The Emperor's New Clothes

Brothers Grimm--Hansel and Gretel

Brothers Grimm--Snow White

Connell, Richard--The Most Dangerous Game

Maupassant, Guy de--The Jewelry

Poetry

What's in a Poem--from SoYouWanna

What Is a Lyric Poem?--a Power Point Presentation


Karen Steffen Chung--How to Read a Poem

English Prosody-- Rules of Poetry--by Karen Chung

Quick Guide to Prosody--2-25-07

Poetry and Prosody Links--2-25-07

Poets and Poetry Archives on the Web--2-25-07

Japanese Haiku Masters

Billy Collins Interviewed by Elizabeth Farnsworth


Poems from the Internet

Keats, John--When I Have Fears

Oliver, Mary--Singapore

Plath, Sylvia--Black Rook in Rainy Weather