Welcome to Jake Agatucci's Summer Term
WR 240 - Introduction to Creative Writing: Nonfiction
Class Syllabus

This class runs from June 25th to Aug. 10th during Summer Term 2007.
For the first two weeks of Summer Term, the classes meet on Monday and Tuesday from 2:30-4:30. Days and times for class meetings after week two are TBD.

 

Below you will find general information about WR240, such as a Basic Description, Required Textbook, Class Structure Overview, , Course Prerequisites, Miscellaneous Requirements, Assignment Descriptions, Weekly Schedule .

Brief Description from the COCC Course Catalog

WR 240 - Introduction to Creative Writing: Nonfiction
Introduces students to writing creative nonfiction, adapting the personal essay to multiple purposes, such as science or nature writing, travel writing, memoir, biography, and journalistic essay. Prose craft exercises, critical reading of published authors and responding constructively to other student work are essential learning processes. Recommended prerequisite: WR 121.Credits: 4 Lecture: 4

 

Required Textbook:

Miller, Brenda, and Suzanne Paola.  Tell It Slant. 1st ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2004.

General Class Structure Overview

Of the non-fiction sub-genres explored in Tell It Slant over the course of Weeks 1-2, you will be encouraged to choose one based on preference (though you are free to work in multiple non-fiction sub-genres as well). With this preferred sub-genre in mind, you will then be asked to create a project proposal aimed at creating a "work in progress" portfolio representing a collection of non-fiction writing. This project is meant to develop over the course of the 8 weeks of summer term, culminating in a body of non-fiction work that you may continue to revise on your own after the class ends.

As a source of material, this project will connect with the field-trips you will experience through your Eng140: Shakespeare in Ashland and Geography 207: Geography of Oregon classes. In this sense, the project can be broken into two parts, one where the writing is focused on the Ashland field trip and another that focuses on the Fort Rock/Newberry Crater and Steens Mountains field trips. This means you will have to construct your project proposal with these future experiences in mind. That said, the nature of your proposed projects may be adjusted and revised when you return from each of these field experiences. At the end of the term, all the writing from both parts of the project will be submitted together as a single multi-work project portfolio.

Class Prerequisites

Basically, to take this class you need to be comfortable with writing in general and should be motivated to engage various types of creative writing and produce some of your own.

Project Proposal: Your Project Proposal is a written document expressing your intended creative writing non-fiction focus for the term, where your project may combine any of the non-fiction sub-genres covered in Tell It Slant. That is, this assignment asks you to express in writing the nature of the project that you will be working on this term and make clear the sub-genres in which you are interested. This requires a bit of vision on your part, but that is to be expected for such an assignment. You're proposal will ask you to discuss how you will use your corresponding trips to Ashland, Fort Rock/Newberry Crater, and The Steens Mountains as sources of material about which you can write (NOTE: in addition to these class-based experiences, you may incorporate other personal or observational experiences into your project proposal). The Project Proposal will be introduced during our first class and it is expected that you will consistently draft and revise it over the course of the first two weeks of instruction. The Final Revision of your Project Proposal is due Monday, July 9th (right before the Ashland trip). A second, and much shorter, part of your proposal will be due July 30th (right before you leave for the Steens Mountains).

Small-Group Work: Over the course of Weeks 1-2, we will work on preliminary assignments that correspond to the different non-fiction sub-genres we'll be studying. You will be asked to work in small groups to collaborate on and turn in some of these assignments. In turn, over these two weeks you will also continually revise your Project Proposals, consulting frequently with your classmates and your instructor as you prepare a Final Revision for Week 2 submission.

Post-Ashland Project Draft: The week after you return from Ashland you'll be asked to produce a complete draft of the first-half of your project (i.e., all the creative non-fiction material you proposed to write in the Part 1 section of your Project Proposal). The work associated with this part of your project--a minimum of two separate works of non-fiction--must be submitted in "polished" draft form for instructor-student conferences .

Post Steens Mountains Draft: The week after you return from the Steens Mountains you'll be asked to produce a complete draft of the second-half of your project (i.e., all the creative non-fiction material you proposed to write in the Part 2 section of your Project Proposal). At the beginning of Week 7, the work associated with this part of your project--a minimum of two separate works of non-fiction--must be submitted in "polished" draft form for instructor-student conferences .

Final Project Portfolio: A polished "work in progress" version of your Creative Non-Fiction Project, combining the work from both the Ashland and Fort Rock/Steens Mountains portions of the class. NOTE: The Final Project Portfolio should include at least 12 pages, combined, of non-fiction writing. Keep this in mind as you plan and revise your project over the course of the term.