Course Description
Theoretically
Speaking
Creative Writing develops the
student’s ideas and experiences into artful and clear literary expressions. Using literary forms across genres, the
student generates and rediscovers ideas resulting from their initial
inspiration. The student strengthens
their communication through the practical applications of creative writing
techniques. The development of these
skills is intended to insure the student’s success in not only creating the
literary art object but to improve critical thinking skills, understanding of
literary works, and the use of rhetorical techniques in essay writing across
the curriculum. The course improves and
develops the whole student academically, psychologically and spiritually. The
course studies specific genres formally to define the parameters of each and,
ultimately, express the student’s thoughts in that particular form. The course will use literary forms as a
category, guidelines and model. The
literary techniques of the models will be located, analyzed, and put into
practical use.
Student Success in the Course is measured in effort, improvement,
and completion of writing projects, consisting of a clear rubric.
Grading Policy
You are required to complete a minimum of one project every two weeks as well as actively participate in the classroom writing exercises from the blog and journal writing.
Quarterly Grade
Projects
40%
Blog Activities 30%
Journal Writing
30%
Final Project= 1/3 of the final course
grade- when we are closer to the end of the semester, the project
definitions below will be clearly defined.
Google Docs
Journals entries will be kept on Google Docs. So, if you do not have a g mail account, then
you should set that up right now. Make
sure that the address is appropriate for school and that it is a g mail
account. The Blog activities will also
be kept on Google Docs- you will “share” these with me- my e mail- buyce@bishopmaginn.org (by the end of the
class period) so that I may grade them. Projects,
throughout the semester, and the Final Project, will also be saved on Google
Docs; when you are finished with these works, you will “share” them with me so
that I may evaluate:
Eventually, you will transform selected journal writing and
your blog activities into completed projects.
- Journal Writing
Your instructions for the Journal Writing Activity will
either be on the blog post for that day or I will explain it to you verbally at
the beginning of class. If you are late
and/or disrupting class or using your cell phone to text, tweet, Facebook etc,
points will be deducted from your Journal grade. Do not share your Journal Writing while you
are in the process of responding to the topic- this is your own information; I
will be merely observing the quantity of your writing in the first 10 minutes
of class and your level of focus, during that time.
- Blog Activities- will be from posts on the blog, usually
submitted through “share” from google docs each class
- Projects are evaluated on the following criteria:
1.
your application of classroom activities
2.
the overall presentation and effort (exhibited in the
final product)
3.
success in achieving the intended effect of the art
piece.
Class Process
The process for class time is simple:
- journal writing on a selected particular topic that relates to the class writing/ brainstorming activity: this is graded on how much you write within 10 minutes at the beginning of class. Being out of uniform, late, etc factors into this grade. Silence and focus is also a part of this grade.
- access the blog to view the most recent post- complete the task. Before class is over, “share” the completed work to my e mail
- Approximately every two weeks produce a project that relates to our journal ideas and blog activities.
Final Project Forms
Short Story
Collection of Poetry
Fringe
Genres
3
Flash Fictions or Prose Poems
Novella
Rewriting
of an Antique Story or Tale
Allegory
Changing
Point of View
Screenplay
One
Act Play
Three
to Five Act Play
Genre
Revision
The
Writerly Perspective of an Art Piece
