COURSE CALENDAR: ENGLISH 71 (online section)

Prof. Alan Soldofsky

Fall 2006

 

Poetry, non-fiction, and fiction assignments are to be drafted and handed in to the instructor by announced deadlines.  NOTEBOOK assignments should be completed on a weekly basis. You will be sent postings and web links that will be included in your reading assignment.  Weeks will be identified on the calendar by Mondays.

 

 

AUGUST 23   MANDATORY CLASSROOM MEETING:  Introductions and orientation. Motives for creative writing:  Who do you write for? Writing about your identity.   Defeating the inner censor.  Writing with detail.  Defining poetry: the ways a poem differs from prose.  We will divide into small writing groups.

           

PRE-COURSE WRITING DIAGNOSTIC:  Complete the Pre-Course Writing Diagnostic assignment by August 28:  Write a poem or 250-500 word prose piece titled Self-Portrait, modeled on “Self-Portrait” by Adam Zagajewski.  This is a diagnostic writing sample, and will not count toward your final grade.  Submit the writing sample as an attached Word file by clicking on the Pre Diagnostic link under the Final Portfolio icon on the ENGL 71 homepage.

 

READING ASSIGNED:  Creative Writing Guide (abbreviated CWG) Chpts. 1, 2 & 3.  Adrienne Rich “Ghazals,” (158 – 159).  Bird by Bird (abbreviated BBB): “Getting Started”(3 - 15),  “Writing Groups” (151 - 161). Poetry: “Introduction” (11 – 17).

Click on the following web site for basic tips on writing poetry (bookmark this site and use it during the remainder of the poetry unit):

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/creative/Poetry/tips.htm

 

WRITING ASSIGNED:   Write a poem in the form of a Ghazal (see pre-writing activities).  The poem must be at least 10 lines long, and not longer than 20 lines. (See the file labeled Ghazal on Web CT.)  Complete your personal profile and post it on Web CT using the tool for “student homepages.” You should post your draft on your small group’s discussion board by August 28.

 

                        JOURNAL/NOTEBOOK: In CWG Writing for Ideas and Practice (“WIP”) 1-1, Answer questions number 5, 6, and 9.  Describe in your journal/notebook using specific details and concrete language the following things: the place where you write (or the place you would like to write); why it is better for you to write in solitude or to write in a place where there are other people around; the routine you will establish for yourself over the semester to complete the writing and reading required in this class.  If you can, take a photograph of the place where you write and post it on your home page for the class.

 

                        TEST YOURSELF: Take the quiz labeled Test Yourself: Week 1 on Web CT.

 

(WEEK OF)

AUGUST 28   DUE: Poem in Ghazal form (draft), post as an attached Word file to members of your writing group (by August 28).

 

WRITING GROUPS:  Post responses and revision suggestions as a threaded message to other members of your group using the Writing Group tool for your small group . 

 

ONLINE WORKSHOP:  Group A to post Ghazals for class members to read and discuss (by August 30).  Follow the criteria in the Discussion Guide posted for Week 1 to generate your critical response.

 

READING ASSIGNED: CWG: Chpts 4. BBB: “Short Assignments,” “Shitty First Drafts,” and “Perfectionism” (16 – 32).  Poetry: “Introduction” (17 – 23).

 

WRITING ASSIGNED:  Write a poem consisting of images that construct a representation of your sense of yourself—either objective or subjective.  (Open the file labeled Image Poem worksheet on Web CT found in the Week 2 folder under poetry.)  Base the poem on an old photograph or an object (such as a car, an article of clothing, pair of shoes, or something in your home).  Your image poem must use at least one metaphor or simile.  Select a poem from Poetry: A Pocket Anthology or The Creative Writing Guide on which you model your poem (in terms of voice, style, line, or form).  List the title, author, and page number of the poem you modeled yours on when you turn it in.

                                

JOURNAL/NOTEBOOK:  Write responses to the following exercises: CWG “WIP” 4-3, # 2; 4-4, #1, 2; 4-5, #1, 3; 4-6, #1.

 

TEST YOURSELF: Take the quiz labeled Test Yourself: Week 2 on Web CT.

 

 

 

SEPT. 4          DUE: Image poem (draft), post copies as an attached Word file to members of your writing group (by September 6).  If you can, also post the photograph or picture of the object your poem is based on. 

 

WRITING GROUPS: Post responses and revision suggestions to image poems. 

 

ONLINE WORKHOP: Group B to post their poems for all class members to discuss (by September 7).

In preparation for posting comments on the Ghazal poems, click on and read http://www.du.edu/~mtursi/revising_poetry.html. 

 

READING ASSIGNED: CWG Chpt. 5. BBB “School Lunches”; “Polaroid’s”; “Character” (33 – 53); Poetry: “Introduction” (23 – 27); poems by Edwin Arlington Robinson (202 – 205).  Click on the following link to read narrative poems by Edwin Arlington Robinson: http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/robinson/

Click on the following link to read about irony in poems and follow the links contained on the page: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/irony_def.html.  Click on the following link to learn ways to revise and improve your poems: http://www.du.edu/~mtursi/revising_poetry.html. 

 

WRITING ASSIGNED:  Write a narrative poem (from the point of view of a persona or character, who is not your self).  Open the file labeled Narrative Poem worksheet on Web CT under Week 3 under poetry.  Select a poem from Poetry: A Pocket Anthology or The Creative Writing Guide on which you model your poem (in terms of voice, style, line, or form).  List the title, author, and page number of the work on which you modeled to your poem.

 

JOURNAL/NOTEBOOK: CWG: “Writing to Warm Up” # 4;”WIP” 5-2, # 3.

Make a list of five strange sounding or ugly sounding words—recall Galway Kinnell’s poem “Blackberry eating (CWG 68). 

Write prose paraphrases of “Eros Turannos” and “Richard Corey” A Pocket Anthology 203 – 204 & 205). 

Copy two poems into your journal/notebook from A Pocket Anthology that you find that contain a number of strange sounding words. 

Draft a poem (you don’t have to finish or turn the poem in) that includes the names of foods.

 

TEST YOURSELF: Take the quiz labeled Test Yourself: Week 3 on Web CT.

 

 

 

SEPT. 11        DUE: Persona poem (narrative poem), or dramatic monologue (draft) posted as a Word file to members of your writing group (by September 13). Include a brief note about who the speaker of the poem is.  (If it is modeled on another poem, also attach the model poem with yours.)

 

WRITING GROUPS: Post responses and revision suggestions to the narrative poems.

 

ONLINE WORKSHOP: Group C to post their poems to the whole class for discuss (by September 14).

 

READING ASSIGNED: CWG: Chpt. 6. BBB: “Plot (54 – 63). A Pocket Anthology: “Introduction” (27 – 32).  Click on the following link to learn more about using allusion in poetry:  http://www.milforded.org/schools/foran/rscaramella/allusions/

Click on the following web site to learn more about writing poetry “for the ear”: http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/creative/Poetry/ear.htm

 

WRITING ASSIGNED: Write a poem containing an allusion. The allusion may be to: a Classical or Biblical myth, another poem or poet, a work of fiction, a literary character or author, a film, a work of visual art or an artist, a musical work, group, or musician; or a historical event or person, or person in pop-culture.  (Open the file labeled Allusion Poem Assignment worksheet on Web CT under Week 4 under Poetry.)  In addition, do research on the Internet about the subject your poem alludes to. Include the research in the form of notes or links to web pages which you will attach to your poem. Your poem should also be written in fixed stanza form (select any stanza form of your choice) and must be written rhymed or unrhymed iambic pentameter.

 

JOURNAL/NOTEBOOK:  CWG “WIP” 6-1, # 2 (also scan these lines for rhythm) scan the first stanza or first four lines of a poem you choose from The Pocket Anthology. Write your own parody of William Carlos Williams’ “This Is Just to Say,” (CWG 142-143).

 

TEST YOURSELF: Take the quiz labeled Test Yourself for Week 4 on Web CT.

 

 

SEPT.    18     DUE:  Poem containing an allusion to be posted as a Word file to members of your writing group (by September 20).  Include with your poem a brief note describing what your poem makes an allusion to. Provide any background information about the topic of your allusion that would help your reader better understand the poem.

 

WRITING GROUPS: Post responses and revision suggestions to the poems containing allusions. 

 

ONLINE WORKSHOP: Group D to post their poems for the whole class to discuss (by September 21).

 

READING ASSIGNED: CWG: Chpt. 7 and “Sestina from the Home Gardener” (160 – 161).  BBB: “Looking Around”; “The Moral Point of View” (97 – 109).  Poetry: “Introduction” (33 – 42). 

 

WRITING ASSIGNED:  Write a poem in closed (patterned) verse-form.  (Open the file for the closed-form assignment sheets under Week 5 under Poetry for the form in which you want to write your poem.)  Select a poem from Poetry: A Pocket Anthology or The Creative Writing Guide on which you model your poem (in terms of voice, style, line, or form).  List the title, author, and page number of the work on which you modeled your poem.

 

JOURNAL/NOTEBOOK: CWG: “WIP” 7-6, #1. Scan the first stanza or first four lines of any poem you choose in a closed form from The Pocket Anthology. (A list of closed form poems contained in the anthology can be found in the index.)

 

TEST YOURSELF: Take the quiz labeled Test Yourself for Week 5 on Web CT.

 

 

 

SEPT.    25     DUE: Traditional patterned verse-form poem, posted as a Word file to members of your writing group (by September 27).  Be sure to label the poem according to the verse form or pattern you used.

 

WRITING GROUPS:  Post responses and revision suggestions to the poems written in a traditional patterned verse-form.

 

ONLINE WORKSHOP: Group A to post their poems for the whole class to discuss (by September 28).

 

READING ASSIGNED:  CWG Chpt. 8, (162 – 173).  BBB “Set Design, “False Starts,” “Plot Treatment,” “Do You Know When You’re Done” (74 - 94). Me Talk Pretty…: “The Learning Curve” (83  – 96).  Go to the Online Course Book to learn about using details in your non-fiction writing, and avoid “telling too much” (exposition).  Also click on the following link to improve your writing by “showing, not telling”: http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/creative/showing.htm

 

WRITING ASSIGNED: Start work your non-fiction piece (if you haven’t already).  Research factual background material from the library or Internet.  Arrange to conduct an interview (if your piece requires interviewing the subject).  Complete a 250-word proposal that describes the article or essay you are writing.  In the summary describe the main idea you have for writing this piece, it’s main components or scenes, and what research materials you have compiled (or persons you’ve selected to interview).

 

JOURNAL/NOTEBOOK: CWG “WIP” 8 – 1, # 2, a & b; 8 – 6, #1, 2. Find materials on the Internet or in the library that will give you background or useful facts pertaining to the subject on which you are writing your non-fiction piece.  Make a list of these source materials, even those which you are not sure you will use. 

 

TEST YOURSELF: Take the quiz labeled Test Yourself for Week 6 on Web CT.

 

 

 

OCT.      2       POETRY PORTFOLIO DUE:  SUBMIT POETRY PORTFLIO BY OCTOBER 4.  Compile the five assigned poems as well as other poems you may have completed in a single Word file.  Upload the file via the Final Poetry Portfolio uplink under the Final Portfolio tool on the ENGL 71 Homepage.  Submit your journal/notebook for the poetry unit via the Poetry Notebook uplink under the Final Portfolio tool.

 

DUE:  Proposal for the non-fiction piece, posted to members of your writing group (by October 5).  Must include list of bibliographic sources and other research materials you expect to use.

 

                        WRITING GROUPS: Post response to and revision suggestions for group members’ non-fiction proposals.

 

ONLINE WORKSHOP: Group B (by October 6) to post their non-fiction proposals (or drafts) for whole class to comment on. 

 

READING ASSIGNED:  CWG: Chpt. 8, (173 – 182).  BBB: “Dialogue (64 – 73).  Talk Pretty One Day: “Genetic Engineering” (32 – 38); “Smart Guy” (239 – 247).

Garrett Hongo, “Kubota”: (click on link)

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/g_l/hongo/volcano.htm

 

WRITING ASSIGNED: Develop a first draft of your non-fiction piece.  Write the first page(s); develop an effective opening hook.  Work the factual material into your draft. Include dialogue if appropriate. 

 

JOURNAL/NOTEBOOK: CRW: WIP 8 – 8, # 1; 8 – 9, # 1, 2; 8 – 10, #1, 2.  Find an article that you can download or attach via a link in your journal/notebook that could be a model for your non-fiction piece.

           

TEST YOURSELF: Take the quiz labeled Test Yourself for Week 7 on Web CT.

 

 

 

OCT.      9       DUE: Draft of the opening page(s) of your non-fiction piece, post it to members of your writing group for comments (by October 11).  If you changed your non-fiction proposal, post the revised proposal to your writing group.

                        WRITING GROUPS: Post response to and revision suggestions for group members’ non-fiction proposals. Also post responses to group members’ lists of sources.

 

                        ONLINE WORKSHOP: Group C to post their non-fiction proposals, with attached list of sources as well as drafts-in-progress for whole class to comment on (by October 12).

 

READING ASSIGNED: CRG: (182 – 187); also from “Stop-Time” (240 - 246) “Coming of Age in Mississippi” (247 – 252).  BBB:  Talk Pretty One Day:  “You Can’t Kill the Rooster” (60 – 68); “Me Talk Pretty One Day” (166 – 173).

 

WRITING ASSIGNED:  Complete the full draft of your non-fiction piece. Incorporate all appropriate factual background material into the draft.

 

JOURNAL/NOTEBOOK: CRW: WIP 8 – 11, # 1; 8 – 13, # 1.  

                                

TEST YOURSELF: Take the quiz labeled Test Yourself for Week 8 on Web CT.

                                                                                                                                      

 

 

OCT.      16     DUE: Completed draft of the non-fiction piece, posted as a Word file to members of your writing group (by October 18).

 

WRITING GROUPS: Post responses to and revision suggestions for group members’ non-fiction piece completed drafts. 

 

ONLINE WORKSHOP: Group D to post their non-fiction drafts with attached list of sources for whole class to comment on (by October 19). 

 

READING ASSIGNED: CRG: Chpt. 9; also “Popular Mechanics” by Raymond Carver (252 – 253).  Also “The School” by Donald Barthleme (click on): http://books.regehr.org/misc/school.html

BBB: “Plot,” “Broccoli”; “Radio Station KFKD” (110 - 121).

 

WRITING ASSIGNED:  Flash Fiction piece. Write a one-scene or two-scene short story (750 words maximum). Use the Barthelme and Carver stories as models.

 

JOURNAL/NOTEBOOK:  CRG: WIP 9 – 1, # 1; 9 – 3, # 1; 9 – 4, # 2, 3; 9 – 5, # 2, 3; 9 – 6, # 3.

 

TEST YOURSELF: Take the quiz labeled Test Yourself for Week 9 on Web CT.

 

 

 

OCT.      23     SUBMIT NON-FICTION PIECE WITH ATTACHED LIST OF SOURCES BY OCTOBER 26.  Upload your non-fiction article or essay (with the attached list of sources) as a single Word file and submit it via the Final Non-Fiction Mss. link under the Final Portfolio tool on the ENGL 71 homepage.  Also submit your journal/notebook for the non-fiction unit via the Non-fiction Notebook uplink under the Final Portfolio tool.

 

DUE: First draft of Flash Fiction piece: post as a Word file to members of your writing group (by October 25).

WRITING GROUPS: Post comments and revision suggestions for first draft of the Flash fiction piece.

 

ONLINE WORKSHOP:  Group A  to post completed flash fiction piece for comments and revision suggestions by all class members (by October 27).  (We will workshop eight Flash fiction pieces during the week).

 

READING ASSIGNED: CRG: Chpt. 10 (204 – 210). Vintage Contemporary Short Story Anthology (CSS): Joyce Carol Oates, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” (CSS 347 – 365).  “Hills Like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemmingway (click on the following link): http://www.shortstories.computed.net/hemingwayhills.html

 

WRITING ASSIGNED:  Revise Flash final draft of Flash fiction (short short-story).  Begin brainstorming on your second Flash fiction or longer short story.

 

JOURNAL/NOTEBOOK: CWG: “WIP” 10 – 1, #1, 3.  10 – 2, # 1, 2. 

 

TEST YOURSELF: Take the quiz labeled Test Yourself for Week 10 on Web CT.

                                                                                                                   

 

OCT.      30     DUE:  Final draft of Flash Fiction piece: post as a Word file to members of your writing group (by November 1).

 

WRITING GROUPS:  Post comments and revision suggestions for first draft of the Flash fiction piece. Follow the instructions in CRG “Writing On Your Own” #3 (by November 3). 

 

ONLINE WORKSHOP:  Group B to post completed flash fiction piece for comments and revision suggestions by all class members (by November 3).  

 

READING ASSIGNED: CWG Chpt. 10 (210 – 223); also “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston (273 – 281).

BBB “Jealousy” (133 - 144).  CSS: “Murderers ”by Leonard Michaels (342 - 346).

Read the file labeled “The Wrong Suitcase” by Maeve Binchy.

Click on the following link to learn more about building plots:  http://teenwriting.about.com/cs/plotting/ht/BuildBetterPlot.htm

www.readwritethink.org/lesson_images/lesson401/PlotStructure.pps 

 

WRITING ASSIGNED:  Begin working on your longer short story.  Sketch a scenario for the storyline, and develop a main protagonist(s) and antagonist(s).

 

JOURNAL/NOTEBOOK: CWG “WIP” 10-7 #2, 4; 10 – 8.  Analyze one of this week’s stories: “Murderers,” “Sweat,” or “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings.”  Summarize the back story.  Note the initial event that starts the rising action.  List other events that occur during the story’s rising action.  What event takes place at the story’s climax?  What happens at the story’s resolution?

 

TEST YOURSELF: Take the quiz labeled Test Yourself for Week 11 on Web CT.

 

 

 

NOV.      6      DUE:  A detailed scenario for your longer short-story to members of your writing group, (by November 8). Include a sketch of the back story, information about the characters, and any scenes you have written.  You may post the whole draft if it is completed.

 

WRITING GROUPS: Post comments and revision suggestions to scenarios and character sketches (or longer-story drafts) back to the authors.

 

ONLINE WORKSHOP: Group C to post revised first or completed second flash fiction piece for comments and revision suggestions by all class members (by November 10). 

 

READING ASSIGNED:  CWG: Chpt. 11 (224 – 229); “Two Kinds” (312 – 320).  BBB:  “Calling Around”; “Someone to Read Your Drafts” (151 - 171).  CSS:  “Rock Springs” by Richard Ford (162 - 184); “Emergency” by Denis Johnson (274 - 285).  “Haircut” by Ring Lardner at the following link: http://www.shortstories.computed.net/lardnerhaircut.html

Click on the following link to learn more about using an unreliable narrator in first-person point of view:

http://www.odessa.edu/dept/english/dsmith/pov.htm

 

WRITING ASSIGNED:  Continue working on your longer story or your second Flash Fiction piece. Or revise your first story.

 

JOURNAL/NOTEBOOK: CWG “WIP” 11-2 # 1, 2, 4.

 

TEST YOURSELF: Go to the quiz labeled Test Yourself for Week 12 on Web CT.

 

 

 

NOV.      13     DUE: Post first draft of your longer story as a Word file to members of your writing group (by November 15).

 

WRITING GROUPS: Post comments and revision suggestions about the longer story back to the authors in your group.

 

ONLINE WORKSHOP: Group D to post their stories for the whole class on the Workshop discussion board to discuss (by November 16).

 

READING ASSIGNED: CRG: Chpt. 11 (229 – 239).  BBB: “Letters,” “Writers Block” (172 - 182). CSS:”The Things the Carry” by Tim O’Brien (366 - 384).  Read “Bullet in the Brain” by Tobias Wolff: http://www.esiee.fr/~bureaud/jaime../BulletintheBrain.pdf.

Read “The Blue Hotel” by Stephen Crane: http://www.4literature.net/Stephen_Crane/Blue_Hotel/

Click on links to learns more about selecting first person, third person and omniscient narration: 

http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/units/short_story/tells.htmlWRI

http://www.math.grinnell.edu/~simpsone/Connections/Fiction/POV/

 

WRITING ASSIGNED:  Continue to work on or revise your longer story or your second Flash fiction piece. Or you may revise your first story.

 

JOURNAL/NOTEBOOK:  CRG: “WIP” 11 – 5; # 1, 2, 3.

 

TEST YOURSELF: Go to the quiz labeled Test Yourself for Week 13 on Web CT.

 

 

NOV.      20     DUE:  Post new or revised story (your completed second or third) as an attached Word file to members of your writing group (by November 22).

 

WRITING GROUPS: Post comments and revision suggestions about any of your group members’ revised or new stories to the authors.

 

ONLINE WORKSHOP: Group A and B to post their stories for the whole class to discuss (by November 22).

 

READING ASSIGNED:  CRG: “Follow the Eagle” by William Kotzwinkle (281 – 283); “The Woman Who Came at Six O’clock,” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (281 – 291).  Read “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, found on the Week 14 Organizer Page.   BBB “Index Cards,” “Calling Around,” (133 – 150).  Read the Magic Realism Worksheet on the Week 9 Organizer Page.

 

WRITING ASSIGNED:  Continue working on or revise your longer story or your second Flash fiction piece. Or revise your first story.

 

JOURNAL/NOTEBOOK:  Read the following links to read about “magical realism”: http://www.public.asu.edu/~aarios/resourcebank/03findmagicalrealism/

http://www.oprah.com/obc_classic/featbook/oyos/magic/oyos_magic_read.jhtml

Read this interview with writer Isabel Allende about magical realism:

http://www.angelfire.com/wa2/margin/nonficCZWEnglish.html

Write a short scene or piece of flash fiction in your journal/notebook that uses the technique of magical realism.

 

TEST YOURSELF: Go to the quiz labeled Test Yourself for Week 14 on Web CT.

 

 

 

NOV.      27     DUE: Post new or revised story to members of your writing group as an attached Word file (if you have not already had a second story commented upon by the group (by November 29).

 

WRITING GROUPS: Post comments and editing suggestions about any of your group members’ revised stories to the authors.

 

ONLINE WORKSHOP: Group C and D to post their stories for the whole class to discuss (by November 30).

 

READING ASSIGNED:  CSS “Tall Tales from the Mekong Delta,” by Kate Braverman (89 - 107); “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver (108 – 124);  “A Romantic Weekend ” by Mary Gaitskill; (185 - 206).

 

WRITING ASSIGNED:  Complete revisions of your second or third story.

 

JOURNAL/NOTEBOOK: Compare the reliability of the narrators in the stories you read for this week. Rank the narrators according to who is the most reliable, who is the least reliable.  In a sentence for each story, describe in what way the main character is changed at the end of the story.

 

RE-WRITE YOUR DIAGNOSTIC WRITING SAMPLE “SELF-PORTRAIT”:  Upload the re-write of your Self-Portrait as a Word file by clicking on the Post Diagnostic link under the Final Portfolio icon on the ENGL 71 homepage (DUE BY DECEMBER 1).

 

TEST YOURSELF: Go to the quiz labeled Test Yourself for Week 15 on Web CT.

 

 

 

DEC.      4      DUE:  Completed draft of your second or third short story (or Flash Fiction piece), posted to members of your writing group (by December 6).

 

WRITING GROUPS: Post comments and revision suggestions about any of your group members’ revised or new stories. 

 

ONLINE WORKSHOP:  Post re-writes or completed new stories as an attached Word file for final workshop discussion (all groups).

 

JOURNAL/NOTEBOOK: Complete all notebook and pre-writing exercises.

 

 

 

DEC.   11        SUBMIT ALL COMPLETED SHORT STORIES:   Upload your fiction portfolio by no later than December 13 via the Fiction Manuscript. link under the Final Portfolio tool on the ENGL 71 homepage.  Also post your fiction assignments in your journal/notebook via the Final Portfolio tool on the ENGL 71home page  NO WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER DECEMBER 13.

 

 

DEC.   18        ABOSOLUTE FINAL DEADLINE TO SUBMIT LATE ASSIGNMENTS OR FINAL REVISIONS OF PREVIOUSLY SUBMITTED WORK (ONLY WITH INSTRUCTOR’S PERMISSION).