Term: Fall 2017, Spring 2018
This is an advanced course; Students should be juniors or seniors and writing on a grade appropriate level.
Marianne Moore once described poetry as the ability to create “imaginary gardens with real toads in them” and Edgar Allen Poe viewed short stories as the best possible work in prose (for Poe poetry was the truest literary art). If you would like to create gardens or learn more about writing a short story then this is the course for you. By performing a series of activities and projects designed to stimulate the creative process, each student will explore a variety of forms, including fiction, expository prose, and poetry, with the objective to encourage the development of the writer’s authentic voice and style. Selected readings, including models and critical guides, will support the course’s writing activities. Ultimately students will create an electronic portfolio that reflects their development as a writer.
Topics & Concepts:
- Topic 2: “Getting Started
- Topic 3: “Description, Setting, and ‘Problems'”
- Topic 4: “Standing in Someone Else’s Shoes”
- Topic 5: “Plot Management”
- Topic 6: “Characterization”
- Topic 7: “Ya gotta talk”
- Topic 8: “What’s in your story”
- Topic 9: “The Best Words in the Best Order”
- Topic 10: “Sonnet”
- Topic 11: “Should you apologize or just ask for forgiveness?”
- Topic 12: “You now have permission to whine”
- Topic 12: “Meet the Villanelle”
- Topic 13: “The Poem as a political/cultural commentary”
- Topic 14: “Mathematical Challenge”
- Topic 15: “Welcome to Hollywood”
- Topic 16: Final Assessment
Offerings and courses subject to change. Please refer to the VTVLC Student Information System as the most up-to-date resource of current offerings and required materials for courses.