Course Outline of Record

Item	Value
Curriculum Committee Approval Date	09/09/2020
Top Code	150700 - Creative Writing
Units	4 Total Units
Hours	72 Total Hours (Lecture Hours 72)
Total Outside of Class Hours	0
Course Credit Status	Credit: Degree Applicable (D)
Material Fee	No
Basic Skills	Not Basic Skills (N)
Repeatable	No
Grading Policy	Standard Letter (S),  Pass/No Pass (B)
Associate Arts Local General Education (GE)	OC Humanities - AA (OC1) OC Active Participation - AA (OC2)
Associate Science Local General Education (GE)	OCC Humanities - AS (OSC2)
California State University General Education Breadth (CSU GE-Breadth)	CSU C2 Humanities (C2)

Course Description

Familiarizes students with writing techniques in fiction, poetry, and scriptwriting through close reading in all three genres, careful text analysis with an emphasis on methods, and extensive writing practice. Students will produce original work in three genres, which they will revise based on detailed responses from instructor and peers. ADVISORY: Eligibility for ENGL C1000. Transfer Credit: CSU; UC. C-ID: ENGL 200.C-ID: ENGL 200.

Course Level Student Learning Outcome(s)

1. Analyze rhetorical strategies in published poetry, fiction, and drama, based on an understanding of the formal elements of each genre and the expectations of readers, and apply those strategies, as appropriate, to the process of revising and editing original work.

Course Objectives

• I Reading skills:
• I. 1. Identify the fundamental features of poems, stories, and dramatic works.
• I. 2. Explain and correctly employ the terminology of poetry, fiction, and drama.
• I. 3. Devise, recognize, and apply general standards for critically evaluating poetry, fiction, and drama, taking into account the traditions from which each work emerged.
• I. 4. Analyze writer strategies for maximizing the impact of their work and apply those strategies, as appropriate, to the process of developing original poetry, fiction, and drama.
• I. 5. Respond to peer work, analyzing rhetorical strategies and evaluating each submission for its overall effectiveness.
• II Writing skills:
• II. 1. Write a series of original poems, stories, and scenes.
• II. 2. Discriminate between productive and problematic approaches to poetry, storytelling and scene development.
• II. 3. Utilize techniques, such as journaling, quick drafts, freewriting, imitation, and structured in-class writing assignments, to generate raw material to be shaped into original imaginative writing.
• II. 4. Identify audience and adjust voice and tone accordingly.
• II. 5. Experiment with poetic, narrative, and dramatic form via in-class writing exercises.
• II. 6. Recognize and exploit the interplay between various sections of original work.
• II. 7. Enter into a discourse with established writers by responding in writing or in discussion groups to their essays on craft.
• II. 8. Generate written evaluations of the original poems, short stories, and dramatic scenes of peers in a workshop setting, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of works-in-progress.
• II. 9. Apply critical skills to successfully identify the strengths and weaknesses of their own original work.
• II. 10. Gain proficiency in basic revision techniques and apply those techniques during the revision process.
• II. 11. Edit original work to eliminate surface errors and to meet basic publication standards.
• III Ancillary skills:
• III. 1. Develop greater appreciation of poetry, fiction, and drama.
• III. 2. Apply research skills, as appropriate, in preparation for writing.
• III. 3. Perform peers original dramatic scenes in class.
• III. 4. Develop awareness of publication requirements in different venues.
• III. 5. Understand basic marketing techniques.
• III. 6. Read original writing to the class in an open mic presentation.

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Lecture Content

Introduction to the fundamentals of poetry via text, lecture, and discussion, employing writing exercises designed to help students develop techniques for translating ideas into words, with an emphasis on imagery, economy, and precision. Tapes and videos may be used to enhance the learning experience. The features of poetry are explored through analysis of published works, with attention given to the basic elements of the genre, including imagery, metaphor, meter, allusion, enjambment, theme and historical/cultural context. Theoretical works or commentaries by poets may be assigned and discussed. Lecture/discussions examine the strategies writers use to achieve particular effects, with an emphasis on how students might apply these stragegies to their own work. Students respond in writing to published poems, demonstrating their understanding of technique and practice. Students practice generating words and developing ideas through in-class writing exercises, such as quick drafts, letter poems, writing from photos, collaborative verse, line break practice and imitation. Students attempt formal modes, such as sonnets, villanelles and sestinas. Students submit original poems for in-class workshop responses from their peers. Students evaluate each others work via peer review. Students acquire a range of revision techniques, which they apply to their own original work. Instructor provides written and verbal responses to student works-in-progress and to final portfolios. Introduction to the fundamentals of fiction via text, lecture and discussion, employing writing exercises, journal entries, drafting, and evaluation techniques designed to help students develop skills for shaping a compelling narrative.  Fundamental elements of fiction, such as plot, character, conflict, significant sensory detail, setting, point of view, and use of dialogue, are introduced via lecture, discussion, and practice. Structure is analyzed via traditional and contemporary models. Students acquire the vocabulary of fiction, learning what is meant by terms such as protagonist, narrator, irony, exposition, turning point and denouement. Fiction theory and practice is introduced via discussion of writers published accounts of their own processes. Students read, analyze, and respond to published works, paying special attention to the techniques writers use in order to achieve desired effects. Students apply newly acquired techniques through a series of directed writing exercises, such as character sketches, dialogue prompts, point-of-view switches, single-syllable stories, description practice, and shifts in register and voice. Students generate original short stories for in-class workshop, responding verbally and/or in writing to the stories of their peers. Instructor evaluates all student work via written and verbal responses. Revision techniques are introduced and applied to original stories. Instructor evaluates student portfolios in writing and in conference. Introduction to the fundamentals of drama, via text, lecture, videos, writing practice, and performance. Differences are delineated between the genres of film, television and stage, with an emphasis on the common features of fiction and dramatic art, such as conflict, dialogue, characterization, setting, and chronology. Introduction to fundamental concepts and terminology of stage craft, including the three-act structure, building scenes, beats, objectives, motivation, obstacles. Analysis of video excerpts of motion pictures and/or plays that demonstrate particular dramatic components, such as monologue, dialogue, pantomime, conflict, dramatic irony, and peripety. In-class writing exercises may i nclude improvisation, collaborative scenes, dialogue, monologue, and setting descriptions. Students study published works via close reading and analysis of individual scenes and/or a full-length play. Students respond in writing to published scenes and plays, paying particular attention to techniques for handling dialogue and conflict. Students submit original scenes for cold readings and evaluation by their peers. Instructor responds verbally and in writing to original scenes. Students revise original scenes, based on feedback from instructor and peers. Optional: Anthology Publication. Lecture/discussion of publication requirements and methods. Lecture/demonstration of editing techniques. Introduction to the selection process for an in-house anthology. Peer editing of works for publication. Lecture/discussion of graphics, layout, and cover design. Assembly of final anthology. Staged open readings from the final anthology.

Method(s) of Instruction

• Lecture (02)
• DE Live Online Lecture (02S)
• DE Online Lecture (02X)

Instructional Techniques

Lectures, classroom discussions, demonstrations and in-class writing practice. Students will participate in large and small group workshops. Videotape may be used to enhance the learning experience when deemed appropriate by the instructor. Students may receive specific feedback to works-in-progress during office hours.

Reading Assignments

Students will spend approxiimately 30 hours per semester reading published stories, poems, and plays, engaging in class discussions of those and other works. Students will also read and respond to each others original writing in a workshop setting.

Writing Assignments

Students will devote approximately 30 hours per semester to original creative work, including daily in-class writing, responding in writing to published works, and developing original poems, stories, and plays, which they will revise for a grade.

Out-of-class Assignments

Students will spend approximately 30 hours per semester developing original poems, short stories and dramatic scenes, extensively revising at least one work from each genre. Students will also write responses to published works and will engage in written and verbal peer review. In some sections, students may be required to assemble a portfolio of all of their original and revised work, including in-class writing exercises.

Demonstration of Critical Thinking

Critical thinking skills will be evaluated on the quality of students written responses to published works and on their participation during in-class text analyses and workshops.

Required Writing, Problem Solving, Skills Demonstration

Student writing skills will be evaluated on the quality and effort put into their drafts and revisions of original poetry, fiction and drama, as well as on their in-class writings, written responses to published works, peer review sessions and overall participation.

Eligible Disciplines

English: Masters degree in English, literature, comparative literature, or composition OR bachelors degree in any of the above AND masters degree in linguistics, TESL, speech, education with a specialization in reading, creative writing, or journalism OR the equivalent. Masters degree required.

Textbooks Resources

1. Required Gwynn, R.S. Literature: A Pocket Anthology, 6th ed. New York: Longman, 2015 Rationale: - 2. Required Hayes, T. American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin, ed. New York: Penguin, 2018 3. Required Nguyen, V. T. The Refugees, ed. New York: Grove Press, 2017 4. Required Lawn, B. 40 Short Stories: A Portable Anthology, 5 ed. Macmillan Higher Education, 2017

Other Resources

1. Various short story, poetry or drama anthologies, subject to availability.