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

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

WEEK 9: TkACHING CREATIVE WRITING TO CHILDREN

Topics: How do children learn to write creatively? What works with different age groups? Why incorporate creative writing into the elementary school curriculum? How does creative writing help children learn?

Readings: Koch ( I -337); Cowan, "The Arts and Emergent Literacy" (P).

WEEK 10: TEACHING CREATIVE WRITING TO ADOLESCENTS AND YOUNO ADULTS

Topics: How can teachers encourage middle- and high-school students to write creatively? What do young people learn from writing creatively? What methods and exercises work best with this age group?

Readings: In-class screening of Shirley Brice Heath's ArAS/rrw; judith Rowe Michaels's, "Risking Intensity" and "Writing Your Own Poem" (P).

WEEK 11: URKATIVK WRITING IN COLLEGE-UNDERGKADS AND MFAs

Oral Presentations

Topics: Why is it that most college-level creative writing instruction happens in MPA programs? History, strengths, and limitations of the MFA model. Trends in teaching creative writing at the undergraduate level.

Readings: Bishop, "Afterword" (Bishop/Ostrom 280-308); Penza, "Creative Writing and Its Discontents" (P); Maisello, "It's Okay to be Creative: A Role for the Imagination in Basic Writing Courses" (Bishop/Ostrom 208-216).

WEEK 12 : TAKING CREATIVE WRITING PUBLIC-READINGS AND ANTHOLOGIES

Oral Presentations; Draft of Seminar Paper Due

Topics: Importance of public readings, publication, and other public "products" to a creative writing course or workshop; model programs; putting together a student reading or publication.

Readings: "Word of Mouth: Staging a Revolutionary Reading" and "Throwing it Down (On Paper, In a Book)" (Muller 135-148, 177-190); Chihak, "Success is in the Details: Publishing to Validate Elementary Authors" (P).

WEEK 13: PROFESSIONAL ISSUES

Oral Presentations

Topics: Who teaches creative writing? Who should teach it? Can working creative writers be happy as school or university teachers? How should teachers of creative writing be trained? What's the relationship between composition specialists and creative writing specialists?

Readings: Kostelhantz, "Teaching and the 'Alternative' Writer" (P); Lardner, et al., "Composition and Creative Writing" (P).

WEEK 14 (11/26.11/28): PROFESSIONAL ISSUES

Oral Presentations

Topics: Professional opportunities and obstacles for creative writing teachers; trends in creative writing programs and courses; publishing and job market concerns.

Readings: Ritter, "Professional Writers/Writing Professionals: Revamping Teacher Training in Creative Writing Ph.D. Programs" (P).

WEEK 15 (12/3,12/5): FINAL CONNECTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

Oral Presentations; course evaluations

Topics: Final reflections and questions. Readings: No readings this week; work on polishing your portfolio.

*Course Packet Table of Contents

Emig, Janet. "Writing as a Mode of Learning." Cross-Talk in Camp Theory. Ed. Victor Villanueva. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1997. 7-15.

Komuyakaa, Yusef. "Poetry and Inquiry." Blue Notes: Essays, Interviews, Commentaries. Ann Arbor, MI: U of Michigan P, 2000. 25-30.