ENGLISH 890: STUDIES IN COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC "TEACHING CREATIVE WRITING: THEORIES AND PRACTICES"

Composition Studies, Fall 2003 by Dawes, Kwame, Friend, Christy

COURSE DESCRIPTION

English 890: Studies in Composition and Rhetoric is a seminar designed for graduate students in English at the University of South Carolina, a public research university with a population of approximately 25,000 students, about 8,500 of whom are graduate students. The course counts as elective credit for MA and PhD students in English majoring in composition and rhetoric, American literature, or British literature; for MFA students majoring in creative writing; and for MAT and MT candidates in English Education. It is described in the course catalog as an intensive course on "topics selected by the instructor for specialized study" that "may be repeated for credit as topics vary."

SYLLABUS

Teaching Creative Writing: Theories and Practice

THE COURSE

Are you a poet or fiction writer eager to share your craft with others? A composition teacher interested in expanding your courses to incorporate creative writing? Or a scholar curious about the nature of creativity and the differences between writing an academic essay and composing a poem? These are just a few of the issues we'll explore in this course.

Team-taught by a member of the creative writing faculty (Kwamc Dawes) and a member of the composition and rhetoric faculty (Christy Friend), this course will offer a broad-ranging introduction to theories, research, and methods of teaching creative writing. We've designed the course not just to prepare you to teach fiction and poetry in various settings, but also to give you an opportunity to engage in serious discussion about the larger theoretical, aesthetic, and pedagogical contexts that shape the teaching of creative writing. You'll have a chance to try out the ideas we discuss: As part of your work in the course, you'll teach one or more workshops in a classroom or community venue and reflect on that experience with your classmates.

MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS:

* A course portfolio containing several projects:

1. A retrospective cover letter reflecting on and assessing your work during the semester (3-5 pages; 10% of course grade).

2. 3 short reaction papers to course readings ( 15% of course grade).

3. Short, weekly creative writing exercises ( 10% of course grade).

4. A teaching unit for a creative writing course or series of individual creative writing workshops, created with a particular venue in mind. The unit will consist of an introduction that grounds your materials in relevant theory or research; lesson plans, handouts, and other class materials; and one or more samples of student work with your comments. Note: You must actually teach your unit or a portion of your unit in a classroom or other site approved by the instructors (15-20 pages; 30% of course grade).

5. A seminar paper that engages a theoretical, pedagogical, or professional issue related to teaching creative writing (7-12 pages; 25%; of course grade).

* An informal oral presentation based on your teaching unit (20 minutes; 10% of course grade).

COURSE TEXTS:

* Behn, Robin, and Chase Tvvichell, eds. The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises from Poets Who Teach. New York: Quill, 1992.

* Bishop, Wendy, and Hans Ostrom, eds. Colors of a Different Horse: Rethinking Creative Writing Theory and Pedagogy. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1994.

* Czikszentimihalyi, Mihaly. Creativity. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.

* Hugo, Richard. The Triggering Town: Lectures and Essays on Poetry Writing. New York: Norton, 1979.

* Koch, Kenneth. Rose, Where Did You Get That Red? Teaching Great Poetry to Children. New York: Vintage, 1990.

* Muller, Lauren, et al. june Jordan 's Poetry for the People: A Revolutionary Blueprint. New York: Routledge, 1996.

* Course packet of additional articles*

GRADING

You'll receive a letter grade in the course, based on your course portfolio and your oral presentation. We'll pick up assignments on their due dates and write comments on them, and we'll be happy to discuss your progress whenever you like-but we won't put a final grade on anything until you turn in your portfolio at the end of the term. This system will give you time to refine each piece, so that you can leave this class with a polished portfolio of teaching materials that you can build on throughout your teaching career.

TEACHING REQUIREMENT

The teaching unit assignment requires that you actually teach some or all of the materials you design. If you're already teaching at a school or university, you might arrange to present a workshop or series of workshops there. You might also arrange to offer a creative writing workshop or workshops at a community site or for an organization you're involved with. Or you might want to inquire about participating in one of the community workshop series sponsored by Split P Soup: Poetry for the Community, an outreach program sponsored by the English department. If you have trouble thinking of a site, we can help- just ask.

OUR SCHEDULE?

Abbreviations: P = Course Packet; books are designated by author. Weekly in-class writing exercises from Behn and Twichell TBA.

WEEK 1 : GEUTNG STARTED