CRWR 185 A-Z - Special TopicsSemester Hours: 3
Fall, Spring
Special topics related to the creative writing genres. Subjects are to be selected yearly.
Current Special Topics
CRWR 185E - Character & Conflict
Characters need or desire something. They proactively try to get it. Obstacles, both external and internal, get in the way, causing conflicts. How characters deal with these conflicts essentially defines who they are and gives shape to the story. You can’t have a strong story without strong characters, and you can’t have strong characters without a strong conflict.
In this advanced fiction writing workshop, students will concentrate particularly on the idea that character drives action, and that action grows out of conflict, conflict being defined as a character’s needs or desires meeting external or internal opposition.
Students will be required to complete three short stories over the course of the semeter. Students will workshop their first drafts with the class, receive verbal and written notes from their peers and from the instructor, and then submit revised copies of their stories based on those notes. Only the revised drafts will be graded.
Students will also be asked to read a number of published stories and excerpts, analyzing the work with an eye to how the authors set their characters up against obstacles, and how the characters’ journeys move forward primarily through the process of engaging the conflicts created by those obstacles.
CRWR 185S - Sad Girls, Honey
Sad Girls, Honey focuses on the study of poetry and poetic techniques through the music and poetry made by what society deems as “sad girls”. Specifically, the course includes studies and workshops based on original sad girl poets like Sylvia Plath and Emily Dickinson to artists from the modern pop music canon like Lana Del Rey, SZA, Mitski and perhaps the most popular and prolific female lyricist of all, Taylor Swift.
CRWR 185T - Writing Your Life in Poetry
“Anyone who has survived [their] childhood has enough information about life to last [them] the rest of [their]days.” - Flannery O’Connor Our personal stories are an essential part of who we are. When we draw on our own experiences in our writing, be it in prose or poetry, we often gain deeper insights into our lives and give others the opportunity to contemplate theirs. In this poetry workshop, students will write and share original autobiographical work, examine aspects of poetic craft such as rhythm, imagery, density, line, and sound, and engage in vibrant discussions about the vagaries of memory, truth (upper and lower-case), construction of the lyrical self, and so much more. In addition to writing a new autobiographical poem every other week and keeping a writer’s journal, each student will give an oral presentation on a poetry collection chosen from a recommended reading list. Students will also read a diverse array of published works and study how other poets represent and narrate the self.
Prerequisite(s)/Course Notes:
WSC 001 and CRWR 133 . May be repeated for credit when topics vary. As individual subjects are selected, each is assigned a letter (A-Z) which is affixed to the course number. Specific titles and course descriptions for special topics courses are available in the online class schedule.
Add to Personal Catalog (opens a new window)
|